Why do you unlock cell phones ?

by Alex
(USA)

I have been using unlocked cell phones for the past two or three years due to one simple reason, it is easier to switch my plan to fit my needs and still keep it within a reasonable price.


Bringing an unlocked phone to a carrier usually allows you to get a better plan at a much cheaper price than when signing a contract with a carrier. I currently pay $45 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data which is a steal compared to the same service usually costing over $100 per month over the course of a two year contract.

By bringing my own device to a prepaid service, I can also leave that service whenever I choose without having to worry about an early termination fee. I can normally save over $1,000 over the span of two years by not dealing with carrier’s and their contracts.

The cost of an unlocked cell phone is also relatively cheap since you will be saving much more money of the course of two years by having a cheaper costing service. I’ll normally purchase a new unlocked cell phone every year or two and can resale my old unlocked cell phone to help pay for the cost of a new one.

The unlocked cell phones also normally have a higher resale value due to them being be to be used on multiple carriers.

Another great thing about unlocked cell phone is that you can normally customize them to your liking and remove unwanted bloatware or restrictions that have been put in place by the carrier such as losing the ability to create a wi-fi hotspot with your device. By using an unlocked cell phone on a prepaid service, most of these features can now be used without additional fees and overage costs.

I think that unlocked cell phones will become much more mainstream over the next decade. With carriers such as Straight Talk and T-Mobile really putting the pressure on traditional carriers like Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint, people are starting to realize they can save much more money by using unlocked cell phones with prepaid service providers.