ZTE Concord Android phone, FAR with Solavei prepay, no contract

Solavei, a T-Mobile MVNO, is already looking like a great deal...$49 a month (and no hidden extras) for unlimited voice, text, and data, with a 5GB soft cap. It's also one of the very few prepay services which includes conditional call forwarding (TMOB Monthly 4G doesn't), so it works with YouMail and Google Voice.

Now they're offering a ZTE Concord smartphone for $99, with a $20 per month rebate credited to your account over the first five months. That runs rings around a two-year contract with a $200 ETF.

They also offer credit to your account for referrals. That's a big part of their business model, since they seem to be a community-supported service with little or no direct support.

Linky: Solavei Free Android Smartphone Deal

Enjoy! Carl

Thought it was a 4 gig cap? Then EDGE after?

a. Is this true unlimited data- or is there a cap and/or throttling over 2/3/4/5 GB per month ???
b. What version of 4G are they offering ??
c. Do they offer roaming if they have no coverage in an area you pass thru/

It's 4G HSPA+ with a 5 GB cap, EDGE speed afterwards. Domestic voice roaming is included. Domestic data roaming is apparently at 2G speeds. I don't see that as a big deal for me, since domestic data roaming is off on my phone anyway, and if it's enabled, they'll cap it at 50MB. If I go over that, they shut off my data altogether.

I'm not sure I understand the Amway comparison. It's $49 per month, all up. You can get credit for referring new Solavei members. Is that how Amway works?

BYOD is allowed. I have that phone, it is very low end, but at least it's free at this point. I told everyone I'd just buy it off them and make them a deal on a better phone in their price range then eBay it if they didn't want it.

Can't complain too much about free.

It's ok for a kid or teen.

If someone would do a Cyanogen port it would be decent. I hope that happens.

conncarl said:   It's 4G HSPA+ with a 5 GB cap, EDGE speed afterwards. Domestic voice roaming is included. Domestic data roaming is apparently at 2G speeds. I don't see that as a big deal for me, since domestic data roaming is off on my phone anyway, and if it's enabled, they'll cap it at 50MB. If I go over that, they shut off my data altogether.

I'm not sure I understand the Amway comparison. It's $49 per month, all up. You can get credit for referring new Solavei members. Is that how Amway works?

http://www.solavei.com/how-it-works/compensation

Probably this structure reminds of Amway.

spdracer5g said:   I actually find the Solavei service to be a reasonable offering, and at $45 it would be a great deal, for me T-Mobile based service is as good as AT&T, and better than Sprint. I don't however care one bit for the Amway like marketing angle they are pushing. If they offer a good deal, and provide solid customer service, they will do well and make money, the way the operate now is going to turn more people off than it attracts, and that will be their downfall.
While I agree with you mostly, and myself have used words like "ponzi scheme" and "Amway" to describe Solavei in the past, now that I think about it there business model is just fine. You can sign up and use Solavei without playing any of that referral crap. They have it in place as a social advertising method that works very well on college campuses. I don't have any issue with that since none of that marketing is required to use the service.

So it's a bit tacky the way they market their service, but again it only involves you if you participate in it. No different than "friends and family" referrals that other carriers offer.

I'd probably get it if they offered 5 gigs of full speed data before throttling. I am on the T-Mo $30 plan (100 minutes, unl text, 5gig of unl data at 4G/throttled after) and works great. I use right at 5 gigs of data per month. With the refill cards totaling $28.50/month, it's better than Solavei, IMO. I ported my number to GV and have a work issued iPhone with unlimited minutes (and Obi at home), so the 100 minutes doesn't matter to me. All I really need is data.

Edit: This is the kind of thing that makes Solavei's strategy tacky. Some guy is selling a NIB 16gig Nexus 4. His ad states that you MUST activate Solavei as part of the sale.

L o L. This idiot is trying to strongarm you into processing a referral if you buy the phone. That's not how it works buddy.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=23506803&cat=&lpid=&sear...

Isn't the whole point of Solavei the whole referral thing? If you are not interested in the referral model, you can just get Straight Talk for t-mo (it's not capped at 2gigs like the at&t one) for $45 or less with coupons and whatnot.

Update Dec 25th: Just read another report from a friend on Facebook who is at SIX gigs and hasn't been throttled. Netflix, speedtests were mentioned.

Sorry, it's ugly formatting. I'll clean it up later for my use, been meaning to make a comparison anyway. This isn't exhaustive.

Re-attacked on the tethering. They say no data only devices. Nothing but phones. Tethering supposed to be coming. When will the carriers get that data is data? Stop screwing your customers. Just soft cap it and be done. It's my loaf of bread, let me slice it how I like or whatever.

This is the official answer. YMMV. It's pretty openly discussed in the community, and I've never heard of a warning. I think this is the 'wink nudge' category, but again, YMMV. Technically the contract mentioned only not using it as a modem and tethering. Making your phone a hotspot might be defensible if it came down to it until/unless they change the verbiage. I don't see how they would detect an Android tablet vs. Android phone either. IMEI maybe. I know people who have used Android tablet/iPhone a bit and nothing has been said.

Solavei has a few things better than Straight Talk:

-4GB soft cap
-pretty sure Straight Talk data speeds are managed based on what I read, Solavei tested the higher for me than postpaid. No mention of it in either TOS that I could find though.

Doesn't appear throttled to me out here. I don't have a ST SIM to test.

Down speeds were:

Tmob: 5291KBPS down 1474 up
Solavei: 7744KBPS down 831 up

Test machine was HSPA 42 Nexus 4 in the burbs in Houston. This was with two bars of 'H'. I imagine they are comparable but one person has both APNs in his phone and switches because he claims on is faster up and the other faster down.

-Roaming: Straight Talk says Mobile Web Services will not work outside the Straight Talk GSM Area. Solavei is "(including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) " Everything works, but you might be on EDGE only data. This is the same as T-Mobile postpaid. (Traditional contract.) Text/Calls/Data all fall into that same area.

-Conference calling included

-Call forwarding included. Can be done from the settings in your phone. No mention of it on Straight Talk

One Thing I didn't like in the Straight Talk terms:
"You further agree that Straight Talk may assess a $10 fee, or such other fee as authorized by law, each time a payment is declined by your credit card issuer." OUCH!

A wash might be the Pay as You go International Rates for each. $10 minimum on Solavei, UK is about 2 cents. Dig into that I did not.

I *THINK* that ZTE phone they are giving for free is SIM unlocked which might be handy.

Stated as Coming:
"The following services will be available after our Nationwide Launch:
◦ Wi-Fi Calling
◦ Visual Voicemail
◦ International Roaming"

There may be some other stuff, but it's not much more money but has more features. Typical conundrum. The referral program on top of that means to me that $49 plus tax isn't unreasonable. Personal taste, but a little legwork reduces your bill every month. Tax varies from $0 to a high of $7.31 personally.

They've added some features I won't bore you with since we're just talking from a potential customer perspective, and it appears they listen to customers based on the words I've heard.

This kind of falls into something like a franchise: one Starbucks might be horrible, bad service and coffee, but you love to go to the other one.

Your Solavei gal/guy is good, calls you back, knows what they are doing, flashes their own ROMs, etc. or they might be an ignorant PITA. As for price/features, it's pretty close and almost boils down to personal choice. I also don't like Wal-Mart. Or Amway. No accounting for taste I guess.