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There are good, cheap cell phones available on many websites that are unlocked and have no SIM card. Their brands are not recognized by the Major Providers. Verizon and AT&T won't touch them. I presume this may be because they are less profitable and harder to intrude on your privacy, but maybe there are other reasons.

Has anybody used one? Are there reliable cell service providers for them in the US?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

There are good, cheap cell phones available on many websites that are unlocked and have no SIM card. Their brands are not recognized by the Major Providers. Verizon and AT&T won't touch them. I presume this may be because they are less profitable and harder to intrude on your privacy, but maybe there are other reasons. Has anybody used one? Are there reliable cell service providers for them in the US? Thanks in advance for any advice.

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It depends on what carrier you want & what bands are available in your area.

If you really want to go for an off brand phone I suggest using a band scanner to find out what bands are available for the carrier you want in your area. You may only have 2 of the 5 & the phone you want says works with Verizon but is missing the 2 you need. lol So write them down once you order an overseas phone you're kinda fucked.

In an ideal world you have the bands written down for all pre-paids in your area.

Then go to kimobil and find a china phone you want that has the bands you need. catbox wasn't working so here's a 3 day image https://litter.catbox.moe/xccsz7.png

https://www.kimovil.com/en/

Tmobil $15 prepaid works with a Umidigi F1 for my area but not sure on yours.

If price is the factor you can wait for blackfriday wallmart & just get a pre-paid Samsung on sale for $45 bucks.