Cheap GSM Phones
 

I just got back from a 3-week project in Malawi.
While I was there, the Motorola RAZR I was using died, so I had to get another phone. I have Sprint here in the US, so I wasn't looking to buy a full-on 3G Phone or Blackberry or anything like that. Just something cheap that would make/take calls and maybe send text messages.

For MK5500(about $35) I got a Vodafone 125(actually made by ZTE from China) that is probably the most perfect just-a-phone I've ever used.
It doesn't sync with Exchange, doesn't play MP3s, doesn't have games or web-access, it's just a phone. But the battery lasts for days, has the most ridiculously easy to use interface I've ever seen on a phone and is practically throw-away cheap.

For being the complete and total gadget and feature-hound that I am, I'm amazed how much I like the darn little thing.

The team I was with was shocked at how much I gushing about it. Isn't it embarassing and limiting, perhaps even a bit emasculating, to have to use such a thing when I'm used to something feature-rich like RAZR or Treo ?
The ZTE-125 isn't even *color*

My response to them was "No, not really. For being just-a-phone, it's nearly a perfect object. The phone most people in North America and Europe have have all sorts of features on them, but either the carriers have deliberately hobbled or disabled them or they're hidden behind the most awful excuses for a user interface I've ever had the displeasure to wade through and are annoying to impossible to use".

I'm back now in SF and back on my Treo 650 and it's okay. I certainly make heavy use of the web browser and the SMS capability and the GPS tracking software I have loaded on it, but I'm definitely keeping my ZTE for travel to places that use (real)GSM. It was a steal and it just works.

It would be interesting to hear from people who've also acquired phones/gadgets not necessarily aimed at Western/First World consumers.

My favorite phone ever was a Nokia 8260, and it didn't do much by today's standards:
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=65

My [very close] second favorite phone ever was a Nokia 6230, a small improvement:
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=408

Simple is good.

When I was with sprintPCS years back, I bought a Nokia 3120 (unlocked from Orange UK) on ebay UK for international travel. Even though I carry my smartphone with me when I travel, I still tend to use the 3120 more. It has a very simpe interface and the thing just works flawlessly!

I have a Nokia 6610m its US based and I got it from a friend who
was kind enough to unlock it before giving it to me.

I've had it for over 5 years and its still going strong. The battery lasts
for a week, it has excellent reception (better compared to the blackberry,
razor, a sony and a samsung phone - I've used em all)

I've dropped it a few times, got splashed with water, driven over
and its at a point that I have to tape the back cover shut. .. but
its still going strong. I wish I can buy the same one again.

Have a couple of Motorola F3's that are really "just a phone" I used last week in London and Venice. Got them unlocked for $25 each on eBay, bought a SIM and was in business. Great reception and voice quality. Two versions though, one for European GSM Freqs and one for USA Freqs so if you want one, make sure which version you get and the phones "language" may be anything from Hindi to Spanish.;)

Cheers

I've got a little unlocked Nokia that I keep around for international travel. They don't sell the model any longer but I've seen other simple Nokias on the internet for as little as $20.

As much as I love my iPhone, using a simple phone on vacation is very liberating. And I find the Nokia operating system the most logical and easy to use.

I just bought an iPhone 3g, which fits the description. Pretty easy user interface. Basic phone features: none of that newfangled MMS stuff or video recording. No Java. 3G non-functioning most of the time. Only problem is it doesn't travel well with it's ATT lock and poor battery life.

I broke my phone in China a few years ago and went for the cheap 2nd phone option too. Decided that since I may well end up carrying two phones whilst away I wanted something small. Wound up using the Panasonic G51 for a good while. It's not actually that simple - has several annoying UI issues - and it's now ancient (you can still get them on ebay though) so the battery life isn't great. But it's TINY. So stupidly small I can pop it into the change pouch of my jeans. Why can't someone come out with a modern equivalent. Even so, I have a couple as spares now.

The Ericsson T39 fits the OP's description. It's a beautiful and solid piece of work, with surprising features, tri-band, unlocked, used it in UK, throughout Europe, and Turkey. Picked it up a few years back for like 30 bucks on E-bay.

[The contacts capability is weird though.]

I still have a Nokia 3310 which I bought a few years back from an O2 store in London. Now, whenever I'm back in the UK I just pop in a prepaid SIMcard and go about my business. I think I paid like GBP30 back in the day. The phone is terribly heavy and dreadfully dull but I guess it does the trick.

Whilst in Buenos Aires last month, I needed a throwaway phone and picked up an LG MG160a. I really love it, and it only cost me US$40. Such a delightfully simple phone and very compact.

Here in the US, I use a Motorola C168i which was $5 during last year's Best Buy Day-After-Thanksgiving sale. It was sold for use with their prepaid service, but I just popped in a normal AT&T SIMcard and it works fine.

Simple phones are the best!!

Prepaid TMO Motorola V195
 

I'm waiting for them to be returned and then will ask TMO to unlock. Small, simple, BT but no camera.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...50&postcount=3

It's funny how that happens; one of my first cell phones was a Kyocera K7 Rave ($29.99) from Virgin Mobile. Even though now I use an iPhone or a Nokia E61i; I look back on that Rave with fond memories. It was just a phone with a lousy crippled web browser, but it worked perfectly. Never crashed, great sound qualtiy, excellent reception..

How difficult is it to ask TMO to unlock this one? please keep us posted.
- thanks!

I have a V195 that t-Mobile unlocked for me. It was very easy.

You have to have had service for at least 90 days, and at the time I did it, I believe I was told that I had to have refilled the phone within the last 30 days.

More information is out there, for example, here:
http://wiki.howardforums.com/index.p...obile_Handsets

I've been TMO user since days of Omnipoint and they were usually the most friendly when it came to unlocking phones. Haven't tried in a couple of years and hopefully won't have to wait for the 90 day period - I will come back to post as soon as the two darn phones are returned (this week?).

In my experience, they will be sticklers about the 90/30 day rules. From their website:

This used to be my "overseas" phone, before I got a quad band Blackberry. I love it for its simplicity and durability - but the slow UI is annoying.

I LOVED that phone... But yeah, the OS is terribly slow, but the worst part is that most of them out there nowadays are FAKES :(

I've actually got 3 of them here, one is real, the other 2 are Chinese knockoffs...

I had no idea it was such a fake-worthy phone. I got mine off ebay several years ago. It's branded Orange. Though come to think of it, I think it was shipped from Hong Kong.......

I have an unlocked Blackberry 7105T now for international GSM usage (my primary phone is a KRZR), and used a Nokia 6200 previously. The lack of the fourth GSM freq on the Nokia meant very poor reception some places so I wanted a Quad Band phone. I carry 2 phones when I travel internationally because I don't like switching out SIM cards on my primary phone (the sim card is VERY old, and I am afraid if it dies ATT will force me to one of their new plans).

The Blackberry is used as just a phone (no data access). I like the built in alarm, calculator, bluetooth, quad band, speakerphone, bright screen (doubles as a flashlight in a pinch), and the fact it charges from a regular sized USB cable (Motorola phones don't).

The only drawback is the 7105T is kind of big but I can live with it.

I still carry my old 6230 as a backup. It's very compact, has a camera and bluetooth, does the Internet and MP3's, and even has an FM radio. Has a sensitive receiver. In good shape, unlocked ones still sell for $80 or more on eBay. A great phone.

And mine has the special engineering firmware that lets me get in to netmonitor mode and see all the technical info on neighboring cells and which cell I'm on. :)

Great minds think alike. :D I paid a guy in Boston $25 to upgrade my 6230's firmware so that I could get into the field test mode.

I'll see your mere mortal cheap handsets and raise you:

The Nokia 6310i

You can still buy it brand new in Australia... :)

While I was properly brought up to never publicly question another's choice of cell phone, I none the less must point out some significant facts:

1. The 6310i is significantly bigger at 129 x 47 x 21 vs the elegant 6230 at 103 v 44 20.1.

2. The 6310i is significantly heavier at 110.6 g vs the svelte 6230 at 96 g.

3. The 6310i has no FM radio.

4. The 6310i cannot play MP3's.

The 6310i appears to be part of the same family as my old 6340i, which my 6230b replaced. My 6340i was a good phone. I could put it in field test mode and it has an external antenna connector which made it very handy for pointing the directional antenna when setting up a cellular repeater. I still have my 6340i, too.

A brief 6230 reminiscence: before I had a Thinkpad with Bluetooth, I used the IR connection of the 6230 to connect to the IR of the Thinkpad and provide me with a EDGE Internet connection. You couldn't move much because you had to keep the IR beams aligned. :)

I used to do that too!

T39 was very nice.

I actually had something a little older and still kinda of regret selling it.

T28. Also flip. Smaller. Lighter. Man miss that shade of green.

OMG...you're me right?

Those were my phones along with an Ericsson T28.

Now its still a Nokia. A E60 soon perhaps to be the E71

Heh, I've got the T39, which was the successor to the T28. All good stuff.

Now I"m a Blackberry convert.

Just called TMO CS via my regular TMO account and asked them to unlock the two prepaid Motorola V195s. She was extremely cooperative and took both the mobile number and IMEI numbers - so I now patiently wait 24 hours for an email notice and unlock code (and keep my fingers crossed!)

Wow - two hours later get two emails from TMO with unlock codes. Mission accomplished and two cheapo prepaid unlocked phones for backup use.