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Mobile broadband startup FreedomPop made some waves in the wireless industry back when they announced the $40 OverdrivePro, a mobile hotspot that gave users 500MB of free 4G data on Sprint’s network — for life. It was disruptive, crazy, and perhaps that’s why they managed to raise a cool $16 million to get off the ground.
Today, FreedomPop is back again, announcing their all new wireless cellphone service that looks to take on pricey carrier plans. FreedomPop gives customers 500MB of data, 500 text messages, and 200 voice minutes free. For life. The catch? You’ll have to live with the now ancient HTC EVO Design 4G which will run you $100 (refurbished). It’s the only option currently available. While all of this might sound like a tough pill to swallow, keep in mind this could make a great option for those that aren’t heavy cellphone users (the young or elderly). Also, there are additional plans for more talks and datas.
- $8 a month – 500 minutes of talk, unlimited text messages, 500MB of data
- $11 a month – unlimited talk, unlimited text messages, 500MB of data
The most interesting part is how FreedomPop was able to offer such low prices for service. While the company operates on Sprint’s network (another caveat), they route all calls and SMS messages through the data network, leaving Sprint’s voice network untouched. Also, because FreedomPop’s specially provisioned EVO Design 4G isn’t capable of accessing LTE, you’ll be stuck to Sprint’s spotty WiMAX network.
FreedomPop does mention that they have plans to add high-end LTE devices on their network in the near future, so it’s something to keep an eye on if you’re looking for a device a little . As for me? I think I might pick up the EVO Design, and slip it into my 8-year old cousin’s backpack for emergency situations. Can’t go wrong with free.
LoL what a humorous deal
i got an email from a G+ friend about this this morning…pretty cool for basic mobile needs…All you need is 3g to make calls and text..4g is just a bonus at these prices…
now that’s realistic expectation….I hope it works out too…..
placed my order….now I just need to wait maybe a month before these slow pokes process it.
IT’S A TRAP
If you are dumb enough to let it be. It always cracks me up when I see people complain about freedompop because they are too dumb to read.
Seriously, if I was dumb enough to fall in any of their traps (very strategically placed…..but also very obvious), I really wouldn’t want to advertise to the world about how big of an idiot I was.
$8 a month would be killer with a Nexus 5, or any sort of decent smartphone. I’d seriously jump ship right now if they had a good phone option. Though the lack of custom romming might worry me.
The EVO Design wasn’t a bad phone, just a boring phone.
Loving the Boogerman Avatar.
What did you expect for 99 bucks? Boring is good…..that means it’s stable and it goes about doing its job…..as my chromecast remote!
Umm is this too good to be true? I’m thinking of getting this for my little cousin
My little cousin too!
I wish we had this when we were kids!
me too
I wish they can ship those earlier. If it works well enough, my cousins are getting early christmas gifts.
Oh, my moms too….yes, that includes the mil.
500 mb of data? Hahahaha not for me but I Know some old guys at work with flip phones who may be interested :)
I can’t imagine this coming in handy except for as mentioned, very young or pretty old people.
I don’t know, I use most of my data at work and home where I could go on wifi. I think 500mb would be fine. Plus they charge $10/GB after, so even if you used 2.5GB, the limit companies like virgin mobile set, you’d only pay $28-$31/month instead of $35 and you’d have more minutes. The only downside is an even more limited phone selection.
Lame
Honestly this is a great deal. Of course I’m not going to kick my HTC One to the curb anytime soon but itz always great to have a backup.
Curious, how can they support wimax for life when we have heard sprint say they will be fazing it out?
That might be why they mention that they’ll be jumping on the LTE bandwagon in the near future. They can’t jump on it if Sprint hasn’t make it available yet.
Just an additional $10 per month if you want to up the data to 1GB per month.
If they could get a newer phone with actual battery life i’d be all over this deal. the days of 3x a day charging are beyond me though
When you use free or minimum charge service like this, there is no reason to keep data on. By turning everything other than the phone itself, you won’t drain the battery. If you are looking to use it like a smartphone all the time, this isn’t really for you. Pony up for the real thing.
You can’t turn data off, the whole service depends on it. It doesn’t use cellular.
Yes you can. You can turn data off or turn the phone off. If you are living on 200 minutes are month, this is obviously an emergency phone, outbound call only (mom pick me up) phone or a chromecast remote. You are either using your wifi at home or turning it on when you really need to use it. Don’t try to make it something it’s not.
Considering picking it up to use when I pull the SIM from my Verizon phone and putting it into my MIFI hotspot and forwarding calls to the Freedom Pop. Any catches if it just sits around not being used?
Also, good idea as a kids phone if you can force them to not chew up the data.
VoIP over sprint’s crappy slow and laggy 3G network, no thanks
I think that is pretty much the definition of hell.
ever heard of spoiled brat?
me too….I usually eat them before they get spoiled
I’ve tried VoIP over passable and bad 3G connections, it doesn’t work well at all.
Even on the best 3G connections VoIP is flaky.
You need a network designed for VoIP with priority built in for quality VoIP over a cellular link, like VoLTE, or some other service properly prioritized.
Call me a spoiled brat if you want, it doesn’t change the facts check out the reviews of various voip apps in google play, broken voice, echos etc are still all too common.
Btw, I’m in the process of leaving a VoIP provider line2, which was the best of all of them, because of the same problems over AT&T’s 4G/LTE network, because of constant voice issues. I know what I’m talking about,
If you want to call me a spoiled brat because I want voice calls to work, at least up to par with a standard 2G GSM voice call, then fine.
could be a nice backup when i don’t want to pay for the next month yet (pre-paid)
Freedom pop’s hotspot has served me well. I can upgrade from free to fee tier and back to free as needed. For my usage, it’s been mostly free. (under 500 MB a month)
Coverage is non-existent in my neighborhood, but I obviously don’t need it when I’m in my neighborhood:)
I’m, however, worried about the coverage for a phone. Unlike a hotspot, I need more access from the phone even if it’s slower.
Freedom is not very good at presenting detailed information about their services. Did anyone find out if their free service includes 3G coverage? (this costs extra for hotspot)
If it doesn’t, it’s literally useless as a free service.
If it does, sign me up, I will buy a refurbished EVO. In fact, give me 2.
So apparently 3g coverage is included. Sure, I know voip over 3g is sucky, but minimum coverage is all I need.
.