Should You Get a Straight Talk SIM Card?

Use with Unlocked iPhones and other Smartphones

Can a Straight Talk SIM card let you use an unlocked iPhone  or other smartphone with a $45 Per Month Plan? Yes. This includes unlimited voice, messages and data? Yes. You have to get one of the new SIM cards sold separately and use it to activate your phone on the Unlimited plan.

Update: AT&T SIM Cards Now Available Again

AT&T-based SIM cards are now available again for Straight Talk and NET10. Not only are they available, but phones activated using them can use the 4G LTE network.

Both the AT&T  and T-Mobile SIM cards are available for use with GSM phones. The $45 unlimited plan is required, but you are no longer restricted to using only phones that Straight Talk offers. This now give you a huge selection of phones that you could potentially use with their plan.

Now, if you’re in an area where Straight Talk sells CDMA phones like the Samsung R355C or LG290C, then you may want to think twice about this as those phones operate on the Verizon network and may offer better coverage than what you would get if you activated a GSM phone. 

What Phones Can You Use?

Okay, so what phones can you really use? You can use any T-Mobile compatible phone or an unlocked GSM phone.

T-Mobile Compatible Phones

You can get a standard-size Straight Talk SIMcard to use with your T-Mobile compatible phone. This can be a phone that has come off contract or a prepaid phone that you want to use with the $45 unlimited plan. T-Mobile’s unlimited no-contract monthly 4G plan costs $50.

AT&T Compatible Phones

Note: This option is apparenly no longer offered.

For AT&T compatible phones, you could choose to get either a regular SIM card or a micro-SIM card. This phone could again be a phone that has come off contract or a prepaid phone that you want to use with the unlimited plan. AT&T’s monthly unlimited plan also costs $50 a month including voice, text and data.

Unlocked GSM Phones

But not Blackberry

You can also get any unlocked GSM phone except a Blackberry phone. Unlocked GSM phones are available from a variety of source such as Amazon and Walmart to name just two.

If you really want a Blackberry phone you'll have to get the 9310C directly from Straight Talk.

For unlocked (and AT&T compatible) GSM phones, you can also get the SIM card in the micro-SIM format for use with phones like the . . . .

iPhone 4

Yes, you can finally use an unlocked iPhone 4 or 4S with the $45 unlimited plan. I’m pretty surprised that they’re allowing this, because even the main carriers that offer the iPhone have been complaining about the huge amount of data that the latest iPhones with Siri voice recognition software use. These complaints are despite the fact that Verizon, AT&T and Sprint charge $80 and more per month for their iPhone voice and data plans. Now you can get all that data and cut your cell phone bill in half and still use an iPhone.

(Note: The iPhone 5 is available directly from Straight Talk and can also be purchased from Walmart on an installment plan. This description here is if you've already got an iPhone 4 coming off contract or have bought an unlocked iPhone 4.)

Disadvantages of using an iPhone with Straight Talk

If your iPhone is under contract, you will have to pay a termination fee which can be quite heavy. The AT&T termination fee is $325 minus $10 for each month served (!) on your contract. The cost of a new AT&T iPhone 4S starts at $199 for the base model. Note you have to use a GSM iPhone. The ones sold by Verizon and Sprint are CDMA phones and don’t use SIM cards, so they can’t currently be used with Straight Talk even though Straight Talk also sells other CDMA phones.

If you don’t want to pay a termination fee, you will have to get an unlocked Apple iPhone which can be pretty expensive. If you get one direct from Apple, the price starts at $649 for the 16 GB version. You can iPhones slightly cheaper from other sources.

The plans saving of about $35 to $40 a month should pay for the price difference within a year. Other options include getting a less recent version of the iPhone to reduce the initial cost.

Get a Straight Talk SIM Card

If you want to use an unlimited voice and data plan for $45 per month but want to use your own phone, get a Straight Talk SIM Card!