Red Pocket Mobile Review 2019
Keep your existing phone and number, or get a new phone or number.
Get the same high quality AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint service for a lot less.
Stop paying full price and start saving money with Red Pocket Mobile.

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 I've been getting free cellular service for the past couple of years using FreedomPop and a Google Voice number with the Hangouts app. I really like FREE service and don't mind the challenge, but FreedomPop keeps getting harder to deal with, and thus harder to recommend and explain so I don't recommend FreedomPop to friends much anymore. My wife and kids on Republic Wireless, which is a good service, but our plans have "grandfathered" pricing, and the new Republic Wireless pricing is not as compelling these days. Republic Wireless (and FreedomPop, and Google Voice) are also "VOIP" [Voice Over Internet Protocol] phone numbers, which some banks and service I've found won't recognize. So there can be an advantage at times to having a "traditional" (i.e. "real") phone number like you get from Red Pocket instead of a "virtual" VOIP phone number that you get from FreedomPop, Google Voice, Unreal Mobile, and Republic Wireless. In case FreedomPop goes belly up some day, or just becomes too much of a pain to deal with, I'm always keeping my eyes open for other inexpensive (and reliable) cellular service providers.

I've seen a lot of positive comments about RedPocket Mobile recently, and so I decided to check them out. I'm impressed by what I have learned so far, and may order a sim soon to test their service, though at this point setting up and using Red Pocket service seems refreshingly straightforward. You can pick any one of the four major US carrier networks for service (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint), and Red Pocket pricing is a lot less than AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint. That's probably in large part because you don't have to pay for all the TV commercials and other overhead. In any event, I've summarized what I've found out about Red Pocket below. If you have experience with them, leave a comment and let me know. Red Pocket has plans starting at $10 per month, so it's not very expensive to try them out for a month or two. You do not have to port your existing phone number in right away. You can get a new Red Pocket sim (free with any plan order) and get a new number. Try their service for a few days and make sure it works for you and you've happy with it, then port your existing number over for free.

ADVANTAGES:
 ✔ Red Pocket provides service on all four major US networks (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint) so you can select the best network for your area.
 ✔ You can keep your existing number (or get a new number)
 ✔ You can keep your phone (or get a new phone)
 ✔ Free international calls to 70+ countries
 ✔ Unlimited 2G data if you use up your LTE data (on 5GB and 10GB plans)
 ✔ Free tethering and hot spotting
 ✔ No contracts
 ✔ No activation fee
 ✔ No credit checks
 ✔ No overage fees
 ✔ Easy, simple, fair pricing and plans
 ✔ 14 day money-back guarantee
 ✔ Red Pocket Mobile has been in business for 14 years (since 2005) and currently has a A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (bbb.org)

Red Pocket provides service on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. All new plan orders include a FREE SIM card.

PRICING / PLANS (minutes | texts | data):
 $10/mo... 500 min | 500 texts | 500MB
 $15/mo... 1,000 min | unlimited texts | 1GB
 $19 mo... unlimited min | unlimited texts | 1GB
 $30 mo... unlimited min | unlimited texts | 5GB (plus unlimited 2G data)
 $40 mo... unlimited min | unlimited texts | 10GB (plus unlimited 2G data)

. Comments / Questions / Feedback:

Comment by Rich C on Monday, June 03, 2019
Hi Steve. Does Red Pocket use VoIP or a real cellular number? If so, seems like that might be the only benefit to them over Unreal Mobile's SIM - maybe customer support too. If their support is any good at all, they're probably better than Unreal Mobile's.

Reply by Steve (Cranial Borborygmus)
Hi Rich, Red Pocket provides a real cellular number phone number, unlike Unreal and FreedomPop, which provide a VOIP number that requires using the Unreal/FreedomPop app. I had high hopes for Unreal when it first launched, but it looks like they are starting to play the same games as FreedomPop, which is a shame. I'm still using my free FreedomPop service, but I'm not sure how much longer it will last based on the increasing games FreedomPop is playing. If and when the free service ends or when I get too tired of the games, I'll probably switch to Red Pocket or Tello.

Comment by Mark Morgan on Friday, June 07, 2019
I have been using RedPocket on 2 phones since summer of 2018 with their $60 500gb/100min/100tx plan. I am very satisfied. Porting was no problem and service on AT&T (for me) is the best for area I live. I am also one of the FreedomPop users (abusers) for over 2 years. Now that FP has been sold I expect that interest in alternatives will be high and Red Pocket would be my first suggestion. Mark

Reply by Steve (Cranial Borborygmus)
Hi Mark, Thanks for sharing your experience on Red Pocket. I just found out that FreedomPop (and Unreal) have been sold. The AT&T (GSM) sim side is going to Red Pocket, and the Sprint (CDMA) side is going to Ting. Ting has already announced they will end the free plans, and I'm sure Red Pocket will too, so there will be many of us "free loaders" looking for new service. I have a FreedomPop Sprint phone that I think I will just cancel. I also have four FreedomPop AT&T sims which will also need to be cancelled, but I'm going to wait find out more. I don't think there's any rush at this point. I'm assuming that Red Pocket and Ting will need to send emails to current FreedomPop customers to tell them what will happen. I just checked the FCC website and the FCC says that if your providers changes, the new provider must give you at least 31 days notice before changing anything, so I think we will still have free service for at least a month, but then we'll need to do something. At this point, I agree with you that Red Pocket looks like a great option, which is why they probably bought the FreedomPop GSM side of the business assuming that if they could contact the FP customers they would be able to convert quite a few of them to Red Pocket. Time will tell, and fortunately I think we still have some time to see what will happen. Thanks again for commenting!

Comment by Jeff on Sunday, June 09, 2019
Red Pocket is where I'd planned to go whenever the free ride ended or if I tired of FP hassles. As a very light user, their $60 per year plan will work for me. Double the data plus group messaging, MMS, and voice mail...what luxury :-). My spouse moved from FP to RP some time ago, the only issues were related to porting from FP, so having that (presumably) occur automatically at some point will be convenient for me.  I also have a FreedomPop Sprint phone. I may see about putting that one on Tello paygo for an elderly relative to use.

Reply by Steve (Cranial Borborygmus)
Hi Jeff, Thanks for sharing your wife's experience with Red Pocket. I think Red Pocket will end up with a significant amount of new business from their FreedomPop acquisition. I'm waiting for the dust to settle and to see if they have any special offers for incoming FreedomPop users, but I'm sure the free ride is over. It was fun while it lasted. I also have an existing Tello paygo account and sim that I can use for the time being if needed, but I'll probably end up at Red Pocket as well.

Reply by Jeff on Sunday, June 09, 2019
Same here, will wait to see. What are you going to do with all the free time that you will have, due to no longer needing to monitor the constant shenanigans at FreedomPop :-) . Thanks for all your efforts in that regard, you have been the most reliable source of FP info.

Comment by Chris on Thursday, June 20, 2019
I've been following your guides for some time now, most insightful I have found. I also enjoyed the free ride from FP until it basically ended, then Unreal until they started adding 'fees', so looking for what's next. Will check out Red Pocket and Tello, thanks.

Reply by Steve (Cranial Borborygmus)
Hi Chris, Thanks for your comment. It's always nice to hear from readers who have used my guides and have found them helpful. I really appreciate your feedback.

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