I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study on a new cheap wireless plan for Collective Bias and their client Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions expressed are my own.
I have been using my Walmart Family Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 for about a month now and I am still just as impressed now with my experience as I was when I activated the phone.
After using the phone in more and more areas I frequent, I have found the coverage is at least as good as my other phone that uses a well known national carrier. Some areas are better and some areas are not, but much of it is exactly the same. For a cheap wireless plan, I find it impressive that the coverage is at least as good as our current family plan (which has limited talk minutes and data) that costs approximately $54 more per month than Walmart Family Mobile's plan with unlimited minutes, texting, and data.
After a month using the phone I have not needed to contact customer service or to troubleshoot a problem even once. Everything I need to manage my account is online. My unlimited plan from Walmart has been rock solid.
One of the most impressive parts of my experience so far is the phone itself. The Samsung Galaxy S3 was the alpha phone on the market up until the Galaxy S4 was released about a month ago. The Galaxy S series of phones dominate the market in nearly every measurable category, including speed, pixel density, brightness, and screen size. The list literally goes on and on (and yes, the Galaxy S3 beats the iPhone 5 in every category). I mention all of this because you simply do not expect to see this caliber of phone paired with the lowest price rate plan. Most pre-paid or budget plans offer either very basic phones or specially designed smart phone models that aren't full featured.
Since I already owned a Samsung Galaxy Note, I was very familiar with the functioning of the Galaxy S3 and the apps that were available for it. Every single app that I used and loved on my Note was available on my Samsung Galaxy S3 from Walmart. I did not not need to make any concessions at all. In fact, I set the phone up nearly identically to my Note so I was instantly familiar. There are ZERO restrictions on what apps you can install and how you use your phone compared to my higher priced plan.
I love how thin and sleek the Galaxy S3 is. It is amazing that such a svelte phone has such a huge and bright screen and so much speed. I hardly notice it in my pocket compared to my much larger Galaxy Note. In fact, it is much more convenient to carry the more compact and lighter weight 3S during my daily routine during and after work, as well as for taking photos and sharing them instantly at special events.
The camera in the phone is comparable to the one in my Galaxy Note. Pictures taken with plenty of light and with no zoom always look good. Further away shots with limited light can be a mixed bag however. The following photos are unedited to show you how the Galaxy S3’s camera performs . . .
Conditions: Well-lit, indoors, no zoom, red/blue decor, approximately 8ft away.
Conditions: Well-lit, indoors, no zoom, white/red/blue decor, approximately 1-1/2ft away.
I can say, after a month of using Walmart Family Mobile I have no complaints at all. I think this is my first time writing about a product or service where I could not even find one thing to criticize. That is fairly impressive as I am an accomplished complainer!
As long as Walmart Family Mobile continues to be the best wireless plan for such a low price (just $40/month for the first line), to be simple to set up and to manage, and to offer full functioned phones, I will be a fan. I can say with conviction that Walmart’s Family Mobile service will always be a contender for my business.
