@gardenman wrote:
I love my old Moto 5G Stylus. I'm not as big a fan of the Samsung A15. I'm not sure how much is the phone or the newer version of Android (14 instead of 11), but I like my Moto 5G Stylus much more. I may opt to replace the Samsung with an unlocked 2024 Moto 5G Stylus at some point. You can find them for as little as $230 (with 256 GB storage) these days and with Prime Day coming up before too long they might slip below $200. My service is good through September of 2026 so Tracfone's BYOP (bring your own phone) might be a good option for me.
The Samsung isn't necessarily a bad phone, it's just not as good as my older Moto and comes loaded with all kinds of apps I don't want and don't use. You have things like the Galaxy Store that eats 388 MB of storage, but I also have the Google Play Store that has the same apps and only needs 135 MB. "Just delete the Galaxy Store." You can't. There's a ton of Samsung apps that you can't delete that eat a lot of your storage and are redundant and I'll never use, but can't delete. Samsung Account 84.24 MB, Samsung Checkout 22.35 MB, Samsung Cloud 68.79 MB, Samsung Core Services 163 MB, Samsung Global Goals 88.11 MB, Samsung Health 276 Mb, Samsung Kids 25.35 MB, Samsung News 73.27 MB, Samsung Notes 239 MB, Samsung Pass 84.76 MB, and more. It's just bloated with their own branded apps that are redundant, unnecessary, and unused. And you can't get rid of them. Ugh!
Samsung's not creating brand loyalty with me. They're more driving me away. The phone in and of itself isn't bad. A tad more sluggish than my older Moto, but it's okay. It's just all of the other nonsense. Does anyone seriously need a Samsung branded web browser? I don't have any kids, but I'm stuck with Samsung Kids app?
I may bite the bullet and replace the phone with something better in the not-too-distant future. And it won't be a Samsung. An unlocked Moto G Stylus or a Moto G Power are my current top contenders. I'll be looking at the phone market in the coming weeks/months and may break down and buy a more modern (2024/2025) phone with less junk. The Samsung A-15 is just too much of a downgrade for me. It's sluggish, a smaller screen, has less storage, and comes loaded with apps I don't want and can't delete. I'm more of a Moto guy.
A lot of people love the Galaxy phones, so I thought I'd give one a try. Yeah. It's not for me. I'll stick with it for a while, but I doubt I make a full year with it. I'm likely heading back to a Moto.
@gardenman the '24 Power is on sale on the Tracfone website for $140. The '25 is $170. I've read the '24 has a better processor than the '25 and that is about the only difference between the two models. (They downgraded the '25 for some reason.) That being said, the '24 Power on Amazon is: unlocked--$170, TF locked--$150. The cheapest place right now to get the '24 is on the Tracfone website, but it does say that you have to purchase a plan with it, and the cheapest plan I see is a $15 plan, so it is ultimately cheaper to get it from Amazon.
Like you, I will be watching both phones to see if they go on sale during Prime Days at a price I can't pass up. I don't really need one. My '23 Power is rolling along just fine, and I've only been using it a year, but if I upgrade, the unlocked could be used on any phone service and the locked would be unlocked in two months. I have to renew my service by mid-May and have enough of everything so will only need to buy some texts or minutes and the $50 service plan to keep my Tracfone going for another year. I had thought for sure that TF would be offering a Motorola Stylus or Power bundle by now, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.
If the shopping channels don't offer the '24 or '25 Power or Stylus in a bundle in the next several months, and I end up having to buy a phone outright by this time next year, I am considering going with Tello instead of Tracfone. Tello uses T-Mobile towers, which work well where I live. They have customizable plans that are every bit as cheap as what Tracfone's 1500 plan comes out to be. (Of course, with the shopping channels' TF packages, you were getting a decent phone, too, but those days may be coming to an end.) On Tello, all texts are unlimited no matter what monthly plan you choose, and then you can choose 300/500/unlimited talk and 1-, 2-, 5-, or unlimited data. A person can even choose no date if they just want a talk/text phone. Everything is customizable. A bonus with Tello is that if you manually renew one day before your plan auto-renews, everything rolls over. And a person can change their plan at any time. I've looked at their website extensively, and it is very intuitive. They are supposed to have 24/7 good CS that you can reach by phone, chat, or email. I've read the phone center is in Bolivia, but the reviews I've read say that the reps don't have a strong accent so are easy to understand. They have great reviews on Trust Pilot and a lot of good reviews on YouTube.
Of course, if a person doesn't get good reception with T-Mobile, it is a moot point. But my plan is to use my old '21 Stylus and try the Tello service on it with a new phone number. I've checked on the website, and my Stylus will work with their service. Depending on what plan I choose, it will cost less than $10 to see how good the phone service is for a month. If it works well with no dropped calls or texts, clear connections, and good data speeds, I will likely switch my primary phone to Tello. (I will still have Tracfone as my primary phone service during this time--will just be experimenting with the Tello service on an old phone.)
Just thought I'd throw this suggestion out there for anyone who is looking for a possible replacement for Tracfone.
Blogs & Forums
Forums
Blogs
