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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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[–] • 2 pts (edited )

I have owned a number of OnePlus phones and have been very happy - OnePlus phones come with an OS (Oxygen) that's very close to stock Android, and the company is very friendly to you running a custom ROM if that's what you're looking for. Thought the price has gone up through iterations it's still less than a "Flagship" phone, but with really nice stats, especially the "Pro" models. These phones use many of the common cell "Bands" (3/4/5G/LTE) - I am on AT&T, and my parents are on Cricket - the phones work perfectly with both providers. We buy our phones direct from the oneplus.com site and swap the sim over - no need to let the provider know what we're doing as frankly it's none of their damn business.

The only downside I will point out is that we don't benefit from WiFi calling, though the phone is capable of doing this AT&T (in my case) chooses to not offer this functionality. It's not a phone limitation, and though I have had MANY calls with AT&T, they have the stance that enabling this on accounts with only the devices the sell is a "benefit" customers get. We have been given a free microcell as well as upgraded units to live around this limitation in our home.

T-Mobile just started carrying this brand in the last 2 years, but not being a T-Mobile customer I can't say how hard they push it, or if it was a one-and-done event, so this might not "Technically" qualify as not-recognized, it's still certainly not mainstream.