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Is an under $20 cell phone service worth it? Pure Talk is one of the no-contract phone operators you can get a service from as low as $20/ month ($16 with multiple lines). The amount still gives you access to quite some lovely perks, such as coverage in rural areas. And when you go through Pure Talk reviews online, a large percentage seem contented with their service.
Of course, the Pure Talk rating on consumer reviews platforms like Trustpilot is still not as good as that of Red Pocket. But a score of 3.5 stars is above average, and more than most small carriers have been able to achieve.
In these online reviews, a lot of consumers seem most impressed with the Pure Talk customer support team. But when looking for a phone service, there are other crucial attributes to consider, which I plan to take you through in this guide.
Verdict: 7 Best Things on Pure Talk No-Contract Phone
- Pure Talk has budget-friendly plans
- Pure Talk has high-priority data
- Pure Talk has decent data speeds
- Pure Talk has free phone deals now
- Pure Talk sell fully-unlocked phones
- Pure Talk has eSIM activation on iPhone
- Pure Talk has lovely phone plan discounts
Pure Talk Reviews: An Overview of the No-Contract Phone Service
| Feature | Pure Talk |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Parent Company | Telrite Holdings, Inc. |
| Type of Service | Prepaid |
| Carrier Network | AT&T (QCI 8) |
| eSIM support | YES |
| 5G Download Speeds | 280+Mbps |
| LTE Download Speeds | 70+Mbps |
| Unlimited Minutes | YES |
| Unlimited data | YES (With Cap) |
| Family Discount | YES |
| Calls to Mexico/ Canada Call | YES (At a Fee) |
| Mobile Hotspot | YES |
| WiFi Calling | YES |
| Extra Perks | Sell Fully Unlocked Phones |
I’m not going to lie Pure Talk is the best no-contract phone out there. But as you can see in my summary chart above, the provider does offer some lovely features. And the overall best of these features is the service available through AT&T towers, the largest GSM network in the country.
As a prepaid carrier, Pure Talk gives you the freedom to join or leave anytime. You can also subscribe even when in bankruptcy or with poor/ bad credit. Then there’s no need to worry about a security deposit, which may be mandatory when joining a Major Network with an inferior or dicy credit history.
A few other pros and cons of Pure Talk Wireless include:
Pro
- It supports eSIM activation
- Sell fully unlocked cell phones
- Has some great phone & service deals
- Includes domestic roaming free of charge
- Supports WiFi calling & texting feature
- It doesn’t deprioritize data during congestion
Cons:
- It throttles data on all service plans
- Lacks international texting or free texting
- The carrier doesn’t support eSIM on Android devices
Pure Talk Wireless Reviews: Features & Perks of the No-Contract Phone
Join Instantly on eSIM
Before all else, Pure Talk doesn’t have physical stores you can visit to buy a service. The company’s an online-only phone service, which is how it has managed to bring you service at budget-friendly rates.
To join Pure Talk online is a breeze. You’ll just need to visit www.puretalk.com. Then locate the “DEVICES” tab and select whether to “shop phones” or “bring your own”.And if you opt to bring your device (BYOD), you’ll get the prompt to purchase a physical SIM card or join with eSIM.
When you have a BYOD phone with eSIM capability, Pure Talk allows you to activate your service instantly. You won’t have to wait for the physical SIM kit, which can take overnight (at $15) to two days (at $3.99) to deliver.
Unfortunately, Pure Talk eSIM activation is only available on Apple devices- iPhone XS, XR series, and later, for now. Android users can only check out their service orders with a physical SIM card.
Get Coverage in the Rural Areas
Pure Talk is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which is a phone carrier without cell towers. The brand has made a deal with AT&T to resell its network. And this deal now includes Pure Talk having access to a high network priority than other carriers on AT&T.
Speaking of access, AT&T network is usually accessible in even remote/ rural areas, where T-Mobile has poor/ no service. It’s the reason the Pure Talk coverage map shows you have at least 4G LTE in areas like Paulina and Prineville, Oregon. But when you compare T-Mobile’s Tello vs Mint coverage maps, these two locations have zero signal.
Enjoy Network Roaming for Free
Although AT&T has coverage in metropolises and remote areas, there are still points the carrier doesn’t have enough towers. AT&T is the only carrier network of Pure Talk, which means the places without coverage will affect the MVNO customers as well.
The good news is that Pure Talk has partnered with some local carriers to offer domestic roaming. This feature becomes active when you’re in a roaming partner of Pure Talk and has enabled the roaming button on your device.
Pure Talk network roaming here in the US is free of charge. The roaming feature you’ll need to pay is when in Canada or Mexico.
Pure Talk launched the roaming option in Canada and Mexico back in 2021. But since it’s an add-on feature, you’ll need to pay an extra $10.
Data Speeds are Good
Is the data speed on an MVNO as fast as its Carrier Network? When you have a good phone, AT&T usually can peak at up to 2000+Mbps on the 5G+ mmWave. But on Pure Talk, the speeds are relatively slower, peaking at the range of 200+Mbps- with 280Mbps the highest I’ve seen. (I believe the carrier has capped the 5G data speeds at 200Mbps range).
Despite the impressive speeds, 5G is still inaccessible to many areas. If on 4G LTE, the Pure Talk website claims you’ll have a data speed in the range of 4-35Mbps. But I’ve noticed a good phone can record up to 70+Mbps during off-peak hours.
Related article:
- Comparing Pure Talk vs Consumer Cellular
- Different Between Pure Talk vs Cricket Wireless
- Pure Talk vs Patriot Mobile
Get Amazing Phone Deals
I’ve been checking out Pure Talk even before I decided to create this blog page. In those years (until early this year), the MVNO was never among the favorites on device deals. But this just changed.
Pure Talk is now among the companies that give free phones when you switch. The free phone you get is the recently-released Samsung Galaxy A14 5G-enabled Android (with access up to 5G mid-band N77). You’ll be able to redeem up to two discounts per account (one for each line).
In addition to the freebie, Pure Talk still has an instant discount of $50 up to $250. The phone discounts are also available to new customers, with the exact amount saved varying with the selected service plan.
Note:
Pure Talk sells fully-unlocked phones, which means you can use on other compatible carriers with no issues.
Do you remember you can join Pure Talk with BYOD? Your BYOD must be either of the phones that are compatible with Pure Talk service. And this means the devices must have at least bands 12 or 17 for LTE connectivity. Then frequency bands N2, N5, N66, N77 (C-Band), N258, or N260 for 5G.
Service Plans & Pricing… Not Bad
Pure Talk is a nice option if looking for a budget-friendly phone service with high network priority. It has the cheapest phone plan at $20, which then drops to as low as $16 with a family discount. See below.
Chart 2.0: Pure Talk Basic Phone Plans
| 2GB Plan | 4GB Plan | 6GB Plan | 10GB Plan | 20GB Plan | |
| Price with 1 Line | $20.00 | $25.00 | $30.00 | $35.00 | $45.00 |
| Price with 2 Lines | $18.00/ line | $22.50/ line | $27.00/ line | $31.50/ line | $40.50/ line |
| Price with 3 Lines | $17.00/ line | $21.25/ line | $25.50/ line | $29.75/ line | $38.25/ line |
| Price with 4+ Lines | $16.00/ line | $20.00/ line | $24.00/ line | $28.00/ line | $36.00/ line |
| Talk Minutes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Text Messages | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| High-Speed Data | 2GB | 4GB | 6GB | 10GB | 20GB |
| 3G Unlimited Data | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| Video streaming | (HD Quality) | (HD Quality) | (HD Quality) | (HD Quality) | (HD Quality) |
| Extra Perk | N/A | N/A | $100 phone discount | $100 phone discount | $150 phone discount |
Chart 2.2: Pure Talk Unlimited Cell Phone Plans
| Unlimited Plan 1 | Unlimited Plan 2 | |
| Price with 1 Line | $55.00 | $65.00 |
| Price with 2 Lines | $49.50/ line | $58.50/ line |
| Price with 3 Lines | $46.75/ line | $55.25/ line |
| Price with 4+ Lines | $44.00/ line | $52.00/ line |
| Talk Minutes | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Text Messages | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| High-Speed Data | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Premium Data | 60GB | 60GB |
| 3G Unlimited Data | YES | YES |
| Mobile Hotspot | 15GB | 25GB |
| Video streaming | (HD Quality) | (HD Quality) |
| Extra Perk | $200 phone discount | $250 phone discount |
Thanks to the many Pure Talk cell phone plans, it’s so easy to find the right choice for your needs. $20 for the cheapest service is still relatively pricier than a competitor like Red Pocket (with plans from $5). But as mentioned earlier, the carrier is on the QCI 8, which brings you faster data speed than those on QCI 9 (like Red Pocket).
If you’d like to save more bucks, Pure Talk has a family discount (multiline discount), where you can save up to 20% on each line. Then for our protectors (active & veteran military), there’s a 15% discount that you can redeem with even single SIMs. (Call customer care at 1-877-820-7873 to get help with the military discount).
Furthermore, when joining for the first time, Pure Talk has an ongoing offer where you can save 50% off your first month. This means you’ll get the 2GB plan at only $10, 4GB at $12, 6GB at $15, 10GB at $17, 20GB at $22, Unlimited-1 at $27, and Unlimited-2 at $32
Please Note:
- The prices I’ve listed here on the charts are as it appears on the Pure Talk website. However, it doesn’t include the taxes, which fall between $2 and $3 depending on the plan selected.
- If shopping for a company, there’s a Pure Talk Business category that brings you shared pool plans of 10GB to Unlimited Data. The plans go from $30 ($25 with 4+ lines) to $60 per line.
- In both the consumer and business categories, Pure Talk has data-only phone plans you can use with a tablet. However, these plans are more of add-on packs, as they require an existing regular plan to even place an order.
Don’t Forget Pure Talk Throttles Your Data
Although there is still more to cover in my Pure Talk review, these are the most crucial details to know if interested to join.
Again, the carrier isn’t the cheapest MVNO on the AT&T network. But we’ve seen at the amount you pay, there’s extensive coverage (even in many remote areas), domestic roaming, high-priority data, et cetera.
In the high-priority data part, Pure Talk is on the QCI 8, the second highest network priority level on AT&T. Thus, when the towers are experiencing congestion, you’ll have relatively faster data speeds than a person on Red Pocket (QCI 9) or Boost Mobile (also QCI 9).
Nonetheless, don’t forget Pure Talk throttle all cell phone plans, whereby your service starts with high-speed data before dropping to 256kbps.
Even in the two Unlimited plans Pure Talk throttle data to slower speeds after reaching the 60GB limit. Thus, the phone may not be ideal for a heavy data user- say you use more than 60GB a month. But it’s better than most MVNOs, especially those who run on T-Mobile usually have a 35GB high-speed cap.
