Freedompop 2020 Review
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FreedomPop 2020 Review FreedomPop is becoming a popular phone plan because it has a range of affordable plans, including a free phone plan. I had decided to switch out my phone service from a no contract Tracfone (T-Mobile Network) due to not being able to send photographs with my texts using their basic phone plan. I had been using their LG306G phone with good results for a few years, until the last several months. I was finding the poor quality video camera that this phone has to be a factor in wanting to upgrade the phone. Their 1 year service for a basic phone was $199.99 for 1500 minutes, which comes out to $16.67 per month. I had been considering upgrading to a Simple Mobile (T-Mobile Network) phone at $50 for the new 2018 Motorola Moto 5e Android 8 phone and $20 per month for automatic renewal service with 3GB data and international calling, but then became aware of the cheaper FreedomPop service with a free phone and free service. FreedomPop uses the Sprint and AT&T networks that have good coverage of the USA. My needs were quite simple: • Local, national and occasional international calls. • Answering machine. • Texting. • Low data use for sending pictures occasionally. • Calling 911 emergency services. Like most phone plans, you have two options with phones: • Buy a FreedomPop phone. • Use an unlocked phone with their sim card. I decided to assess their service with both devices. The following were purchased: • FreedomPop certified refurbished ZTE Prestige 2 2017 Android 6 phone at $19.99 (free phone + $19.99 activation fee.) • Blu Vivo 5 Mini 2017 Android 6 unlocked phone at $55. I had also purchased one year of voice/text/monthly 1GB data service sim for $35 from Target. Target states: “For less than $5/month, get Unlimited Talk, Text, & 1GB LTE Data on FreedomPop's Nationwide 4G LTE GSM network, with FreedomPop's 12-Month Prepaid Plan - 3-in-1 LTE SIM Kit. Compatible with most unlocked Android/iOS GSM devices, including unlocked phones from AT&T, T- Mobile, Metro PCS, Cricket and other GSM carriers. The SIM card kit includes, nano, micro, and mini SIM cards. FreedomPop's 4G LTE SIM works nationwide in the US. Make free calls and send texts using our high speed network or over WiFi. With no contract and no cancellation fees, you can choose from a variety of flexible and affordable prepaid plans. You'll be able to pay for only what you need even if it changes from month to month.”. Over 300 Target reviews rate FreedomPop at 4 out of 5 stars. The FreedomPop ZTE Prestige 2 phone came with a 14 day free trail of their $30 monthly 2GB data plan and their $10 monthly premium service. International service is free for 100 minutes of call time per month. FreedomPop state that they will unlock their own phones on request after six months of service. Their small print disclosure for the phone purchase stated: “By clicking Activate, you agree to pay the amount Due Today. Your FreedomPop service will not begin until your device ships. Your subscription includes a 14-day(s) free service trial. At the conclusion of your free trial, your service will automatically renew at the provided rate found in your shopping cart of $34.98 every month. Additional taxes and surcharges may apply. When downgrading to the free plan, an account balance is required to protect ourselves from fraud and leakage, as data usage can be delayed up to 3 hours. Downgrade by logging into your FreedomPop account. Cancel service by contacting support, Monday-Friday between 9am-5pm PST at 1-(888) 743-8107.” Regarding the free 14 day offers, they could be turned off to avoid monthly bills during the first 14 days after the phone shipped by agreeing to put an undisclosed amount of credit into the account. So my “free phone & free service” had risen to $19.99 which was still very competitive with other phone carriers. My existing phone number could be attempted to be ported to FreedomPop, but they advised me to start with a new phone number and to transfer the old number later: “The porting process can take up to 2-4 business days. To ensure that you have full use of your FreedomPop service while the porting process is underway, we highly recommend that you select a New Number for use on a temporary basis. Should the porting-in process fail, you will still have full use of your FreedomPop service with the New Number selected.” I placed my order on December 8th 2018. They also offered me a Netgear AirCard 770S 4G portable hotspot for $4.99 with 14 days of free service, which I took. The clock on the 14 day free trial for the phone started as soon as I placed my order, even though I would not have them for at least a week, as they were in the mail. So my free 14 day trial was actually 7 or less by the time it arrived. My service start date was listed as December 8th 2018 and my free trail days were counting down! They were shipped from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. I received the hotspot on 21st December 2018. The phone took a lot longer and I received it on Saturday 29th December 2018. Their free phone plan appears to be based on WiFi and a Cellular data plan. You must use their voice over internet (VOIP) app to make phone calls and send texts. WiFi phone calls can be low quality with dropouts. VOIP calls tend to be lower quality than voice calls using the conventional cell phone voice service. It comes with 200 minutes of free voice, 500 free texts and 200MB of free data per month. This would be sufficient for anyone with low phone usage, but you may run into extra monthly charges with high usage. Unused voice/text/data does not rollover to the following month. Going over these monthly limits results in charges. They state: “As per our terms and conditions, because actual data usage may be delayed up to 3 hours, to protect ourselves from fraud and leakage, you must have minimum account balance to be on 100% Free account, if not, $20 will be added to your credit which can be used for data overage.” In plain English: They are saying that if you downgrade to free and are below a minimum unstated credit balance, you will be charged a $20 non-refundable fee that can be used for a later data purchase. Prior to downgrading my plans, I purchased a $10 credit for each account in an attempt to avoid the larger $20 charges for downgrading the service. They state: “Why do I need Account Credit? When you sign up for a FreedomPop talk,text and data plan, you are given a set allotment of MBs (megabytes). Browsing the internet, streaming movies, downloading applications and playing games will use the MBs that are in your plan. Because actual data usage may be delayed by up to 3 hours, to protect ourselves from fraud and leakage, when you come within 100MBs of your data plan limit you might be suspended. To avoid account suspension or service interruption, please add credit to your account. An account suspension will affect not just data usage, but calls and texts as well.” There are two levels of FreedomPop free services: “Our free plan provides you with 500 MBs of data per month on a phone, hotspot or tablet account, and 200 MBs of data per month on a SIM card account.” So it is best to buy your hardware devices from FreedomPop to get the larger data allowance. I downgraded my services on 21st December to the free plan. Both were showing that I had 3GB of data in each device. The phone was showing the following services: Premium 2GB 24.99 per month: • Talk Unlimited Minutes. • Text Unlimited Text Messages. • Data 2 GB. • Additional Data US$0.020 / MB. FreedomPop Phone Premier $9.99 per month: • FreedomPop Visual Voicemail: Receive, manage, and store voicemails and record personalized greetings. • FreedomPop Data Rollover: Rollover your unused data and bank up to 20 GB for use anytime. • FreedomPop Premium Voice: Ensure high-quality voice, even when network connection is low. • FreedomPop MMS Texting: The best way to send pictures and videos through text messages. • FreedomPop Data Compression: Get up to 2x your data with compression technology. • FreedomPop Private Internet: Ensure your internet, voice calls & texts are secure and encrypted. • FreedomPop Usage Alerts: Prevent pay as you go charges before going over data limits with usage alerts. • FreedomPop Pay As You Go Boost: Save 50% on your data when you go over your Basic 500MB plan limit. • FreedomPop Tethering: Turn your phone into a hotspot and connect up to 8 devices anywhere you go. • FreedomPop Speed Boost. Enjoy lightening fast internet speed, without any restrictions. • FreedomPop Ad Blocker: Block intrusive ads, pop-ups, and video ads to enhance browsing. • FreedomPop Sponsor Ads Free Messaging. Avoid banner ads in your messaging app. • FreedomPop Data Saver: Control your data usage with data throttle The phone downgraded to: Free Basic 200 • Talk 200 minutes. • Text 500 text messages. • Data 500 MB. • Additional Data US$0.020 / MB. The hotspot was showing the following services: Freedom Pop Premier $9.99 per month: • FreedomPop Data Rollover: Rollover your unused data and bank up to 20 GB for use anytime FreedomPop Usage Alerts. • FreedomPop Usage Alerts: Prevent pay as you go charges before going over data limits with usage alerts.