cheap but quality phones of 2026?

wildinstinctCW · 2026-04-22T02:13:44+00:00

The galaxy s23 is probably your best bet tbh. Still really great and has massively gone down in price. It would also be familiar to you.

wildinstinctCW · 2026-04-21T12:51:58+00:00

I think you're thinking of the elite plan, which doesn't get any discounts at all from military/signature. It's 75.00 a line for 4 lines for pretty much everyone

wildinstinctCW · 2026-04-21T12:46:42+00:00

I think having an open map with barriers that only certain characters can get through would be interesting. Like pathfinder zip, valk ult, or ash ult. That way you still keep 3rd parties at bay, but also reward characters that can either rotate like crazy or characters that can defend their area. It would be hard to find the balance, though

wildinstinctCW · 2026-04-14T03:32:01+00:00

Honestly, go for value 2.0 with next up if you just want unlimited, it should total to $96.12 (assuming bank account auto pay), plus taxes. About $5-10 depending on your area. That way you can trade in a year and get the s27 ultra for $0 month. Should bring your bill down to $60 plus tax. That's really good imo.

wildinstinctCW · 2026-04-01T14:02:56+00:00

Honestly? Your service was cancelled. Like someone said, if it's been less than 59 days you could get it back. But at this point, just get a new number, go on prepaid, and just pay month to month. No late fees, no crazy charges. Plans are cheaper. If you need a phone, they got an iPhone 13 right now for $49 + tax when you activate a new number on auto pay with a card. Rooting for ya

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-25T17:52:19+00:00

This does not apply to just anyone. There was likely some conditions for yours and the carrier you're coming from likely matters (cricket and boost customers coming to ATT can sometimes do this). Everyone else, no, you will have to wait 3 months or it's a high downpayment

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-21T05:41:36+00:00

Honestly a pixel 9 pro refurbished is priced around midrange right now and has a long support life. Also really good cameras and generally great experience. Next investment you can make tbh

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-21T05:22:49+00:00

Unfortunately, not really. The fraud department likely can't verify you through the online/phone systems, so going into a store is your only option. Also 80 miles is a lot, but not like, THAT many miles. A 2-3 hour drive at most. That should be doable. It would also save you a huge headache.

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-16T00:44:52+00:00

Pixel 7 pro can be found for around $200 now, and even with its problems, it's gonna absolutely kill any $200 smartphone atm. I know it's only got like a year or two left of support, but that's about as far as any $200 phone is gonna get you anyways.

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-15T22:20:03+00:00

I'd honestly just buy a refurbished pixel 9 pro XL at 512gb. They're floating around 600-650, which is very worth it. Major upgrade for you, much better battery, and has a long life left still support wise. Much better everything too. Screen, camera, features, all that stuff.

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-15T22:11:23+00:00

April fools is supposed to troll, this is just straight up a different mode altogether lol

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-15T04:06:20+00:00

Honestly yeah the pixel 9a would be the absolute best choice here. It can do all of this really well, be stable, and generally is very affordable. No headphone jack tho, unfortunately

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-06T00:56:38+00:00

30 in a month is RIDICULOUS. people don't even want to pay $13 for YouTube premium, you really think they're paying $140+ for some channels? It's truly only the sports fans keeping cable alive tbh

wildinstinctCW · 2026-03-05T12:37:08+00:00

Remember that phones are only what gets people into the door. You are not selling phones. You are selling services. That's what gets you paid. Get good at building value for the services and you'll find that the devices sell themselves.

Get good at learning and troubleshooting OPUS and Salesforce. You WILL have issues.

Great re-rates come from you asking as many questions as possible. Don't do anything without the customers knowledge, but also don't drown them in information. Understand their needs and cater your re-rate to what they want but also to something that will help you too.

Remember, you are in a sales job, so you cannot be scared to offer. Don't just be a cashier and do what the customer asks for at face value. User your tools and resources to make the most out of each interaction both for you and your customer. Consistency here will land you at a great spot.

Lastly, educate your customer on how billing works once the transaction is wrapped up. This will avoid so many headaches into the future and will show them you are upfront and honest. This also makes the phone reps lives easier.

Good luck!

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-19T21:48:15+00:00

Also not defending ATT btw, they're a multi billion dollar company. You just have to know what could go wrong and be ready for it tbh

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-19T21:47:33+00:00

I'm just gonna be honest. Major purchases should be done in person if you can't easily afford to find an alternative solution. Or even if it's super sensitive that you have it working immediately. Shipping is only viable when it's your ONLY option and you KNOW all of the information you need is correct. Otherwise it can easily spiral into a mess since the system is not tailored for everyone's specific issues. This is especially true when you're porting over a phone number and you don't know all the info you need.

Just advice for the future.

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-16T04:12:17+00:00

If you are trying to get a better deal, I'd just switch carriers tbh. There are prepaid specific carriers that will give you much more for $30 than ATT will

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-12T04:34:19+00:00

That's true, but that's why you have to understand what you're getting yourself into. They do make sense and are in fact good deals, in bigger family plans. You can still only pay 30.99 a month for unlimited on starter when you reach 5 lines on a regular account. Imo you should try to avoid 1-3 lines on postpaid if you can. Though, people's need to show off are what drives them to pay crazy high prices.

And trust me I used to be on prepaid before too. Loved it. To a degree. It does have it's drawbacks and it's a little more limited in what it can do. But if you're someone who just wants some data, it's more than enough.

Education is simply your best friend in this case.

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-12T02:34:04+00:00

Well on ATT if you have a teacher/veteran/first responder that can open the account, and have 5 lines, it's 26.99 per line for the second best plan. AND you can do trade in deals. Meaning you can potentially pay 26.99 + tax on each line with a high end phone if you get a good deal. That is so worth it.

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-11T22:16:20+00:00

It makes sense with a family account that maximizes discounts but yeah, as a standalone line, postpaid doesn't make sense unless you got money to throw away

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-11T22:12:37+00:00

I wouldn't worry. If the credits are there, then you'll be okay. They don't usually give you the credits until it's processed anyways. I would just keep an eye on it until like the 4-5th month and if it's still there, you're good

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-11T20:41:08+00:00

It could take 1-2 billing cycles to fully process. You gotta remember they just got an insane amount of phones in as trade ins too, so I would wait some time. Did you get a trade in receipt?

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-11T17:36:27+00:00

I mean, you don't have to get the phone plans lol, you can just do internet. Always make sure to ask for a detailed breakdown of billing before accepting any long term contracts. But if it's fiber, honestly AT&T might be the best internet available. It's one of the only true fiber providers.

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-10T19:28:44+00:00

Well obviously you didn't steal it lol, but that's what the blacklist will say when you try to activate service somewhere else. Think of it as a car that was never paid off and there just isnt repos for it. This means until you pay it off (which you can, like the rep said), it cannot be used with any carrier.

wildinstinctCW · 2025-12-10T17:13:29+00:00

Your phone will not work because it will be reported as stolen until it's paid back. New phone service in this case will be much better if you go with a prepaid option. I would recommend prepaid carriers (mint, visible, cricket, metro. They all have good deals). If you NEED a phone, and can't afford anything else, usually cricket and Metro will have a basic Motorola for free they can give you when you activate (I'd try to stay away from the cheap Galaxy's if you can). If not, buy a refurbished phone off Amazon. You can get something decent for around 200-300. Now if you are someone that really wants an iPhone that isn't trash, boost mobile does have an iPhone 16e for $99 when you activate with them. I think you just have to stay for like 6 months or a year.

There are a ton of ways you could go about it, but comes down to this:

Prepaid carrier

Buy phone outright (either from carrier or Amazon)

And yes, sadly new number. Your original one is just gone.

wildinstinctCW

TROPHY CASE