Best Unlocked Smartphones for Tracfone Prepaid - Updated for 2024!
Tracfone offers a good selection of smartphones to use with their prepaid cell service, including Apple devices, Samsung, and many other smartphones (including several options under $100). However, consumers can also bring almost any unlocked phone to use with Tracfone BYOP program and that means more options, more freedom, and newer phones!
So what's the best phone to bring to Tracfone's BYOP (Bring Your Own Phone) program? There are many different options, but the phones we have listed below are some of the latest smartphones that offer an excellent balance of value and performance while staying under $500.
For specific details on the requirements for activating a phone with Tracfone, see our Guide to Transferring/Activating a Smartphone with Tracfone or visit our Tracfone BYOP page (which also has a large list of phone options).
We are choosing these phones based on a variety of factors including popularity, value, cost and performance. These are some of our best suggestions of phones that will fit most user's needs. In the end, each person needs to understand what they want out of a phone, and choose a phone according to that.
Most Tracfone users decide to use BYOP because they want a phone with the latest features and more performance compared to most Tracfone smartphones, plus a wider selection of devices. In our list, we only include phones priced between $100-$499 as the majority of our readers are looking for a phone in that price range.
Now let's take a look at the list!
Best Unlocked Smartphones to use with Tracfone
Organized by price
Google Pixel 8a - $499
Google's latest in their 'budget' smartphone lineup. The Pixel 8a offers a 6.1" full HD OLED screen, 8GB RAM, 128GB or 256GB internal storage, 64MP rear camera and Android 14. The device comes unlocked with 5G network capability and both eSIM and NanoSIM options. The Pixel 8a offers many high end features but at a more reasonable cost. There is no external SD card slot, and charging speeds are on the slow side, with 18W wired, 7.5W wireless. The Pixel 8a is new for 2024 and replaces the 7a from last year.
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G - $399
An updated mid-level model with several high-end features and looks while staying moderately priced, the A35 5G will be a popular option for Samsung fans. It has a 6.6" full HD Super AMOLED screen with excellent brightness, Exynos 1380 processor, 6GB RAM and 128GB storage (other variations have 8GB RAM and up to 256GB storage). The A35 also features expandable storage, Android 14 and 50MP triple rear camera setup. There is no wireless charging, but it does include IP67 waterproof rating. The A35 5G includes a handful of similarities to last year's Galaxy A54, and adds on with a few updates. Tracfone also offers this device, locked to their network.
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G on Amazon
Google Pixel 6a - $299
The Pixel line of smartphones from Google have been an extremely popular lineup due to their excellent specs and relatively affordable price compared to high-end smartphones. The Google Pixel 6a 5G features all the specs of a great phone, including a full HD 6.1" screen, Google's Tensor processor, 6 GB RAM, and 128 GB internal storage. It also has a some impressive features on the dual 12MP rear camera, the latest Android OS (12, with future upgrades), and 5G capability. It is compatible on all the major networks, including Tracfone (Verizon). The 6a is now a few years old, but still a competitive option with the reduced price and Google's solid update policy.
Get the Google Pixel 6a 5G on Amazon $450 now $299
Motorola Moto G Power 5G (2024) - $279 (list price $299)
The latest device in Motorola's popular budget phone line, the Moto G Power 5G (2024) builds on previous models and offers several great upgrades we don't always see at this price point It has solid performance thanks to a Mediatek Dimensity 7020 which is a nice improvement over the 2023 model, and comes with 128 GB internal storage, 8 GB RAM, and an external MicroSD slot. The 5,000 mAh battery provides up to 2 days of use, and can be recharged wired (30W) or wirelessly (15W). The Power comes with a headphone jack, NFC and runs Android 14. The 50MP rear camera is okay, but there is no wide-angle shooter that offers some nice features. At the $200-$300 price point, there are many different great options such as the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G and Google Pixel 6a 5G (often on sale at $299) but the 2024 Power is a competitive option.
Get the Moto G Power 5G (2024) on Amazon
OnePlus Nord N30 5G - $249
A competitive budget phone with a growing fanbase, the Nord N30 features a 6.72" full HD screen, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage and Snapdragon 695 5G processor. It comes with Android 13, and an update to 14, as NFC, 5G and 3.5mm headphone jack. The Nord N30 has a 108MP triple rear sensor, and large, 5,000 mAh battery with 50W charging speed. There is no waterproof rating, and the device has been available since mid-2023, but the features are quite competitive for the price.
Get the OnePlus Nord N30 on Amazon
Motorola Moto G 5G (2024) - $179
A budget version of the 2024 Power, the Moto G includes some similar features, and a much lower price. It offers a 6.6" HD screen with 120hz refresh rate, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage and runs Android 14. The Moto G also includes 5G network compatibility, NFC and a 3.5mm headphone jack for those that still prefer a wired connection. There is no wireless charging, nor a waterproof rating, but this device is already discounted from the original retail price ($199).
Get the Moto G 5G 2024 on Amazon
Samsung Galaxy A15 5G - $199
The budget option from Samsung has a few updates over the previous model, but maintains an affordable price point. It comes with a 6.5" full HD Super AMOLED screen, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage (some versions have up to 8GB RAM, 256GB storage) and Mediatek Dimensity 6100+ processor. The A15 runs Android 14 and includes NFC and 5G network compatibility. For fans of Samsung, this device offers an excellent screen and reasonable performance at a great price. It is also available from Tracfone as a locked device.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G on Amazon
That concludes our list of the the best smartphones to use with Tracfone. We hope this list serves to provide some ideas of different phones available to use with Tracfone BYOP.We want to hear from you! Share your current/favorite phone you use with Tracfone in the comments below!
Also join in on the discussion on our Facebook page where more than 3500 followers already get the latest news and information in their feed.
Don't miss out on our monthly list of Tracfone Deals, Discounts and Sales which also include unlocked phones and Tracfone smartphones.
Also take a look at our list of the Latest Tracfone Smartphones to see what is new from Tracfone.
And we just shared the 10 Most Common Tracfone Questions Answered.
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I got a Moto G4 Plus from Republic Wireless. It was on the T-Mobile network using a GSM SIM, and I didn't get cell reception at my workplace. I tried to take the phone to Tracfone using their CDMA BYOP SIM Kit, but two CDMA (Verizon) SIMs did not work, no matter what Tracfone 'support' suggested I try. I finally gave up and was able to activate the phone using a GSM (AT&T) SIM. I know the phone is supposed to fully support CDMA, and it could see the CDMA SIMs, but the cell voice/data radios showed 'off' while the CDMA SIMs were in the phone. I'm presuming this is possibly a one-off hardware issue with my phone, since I've heard of others using CDMA with the G4 Plus. Thankfully, I get adequate AT&T cell signal at my desk now.
ReplyDeleteI have a byop question. I have been on the byop program for a long time. I have found a phone that I like but doesnt work with Verizon. I have been using tracfone byop cdma Verizon sim for a long time and might have to switch to the gsm at&t one. Is that possible, and if so how hard is it to do?
DeleteNot hard at all. First buy a byop sim kit. Then I recommend using the Tracfone chat system to get a rep to do the transfer.
DeleteHello Peter,
ReplyDeleteI am considering a Moto G4 or G4 Play. Do you know if it would be possible to activate a GSM line and a CDMA line (with 2 different phone numbers) in one device? I tried to contact Tracfone with this question but I don't think I was able to make myself understood.
I just bought an unlocked GSM phone from BestBuy (Thanksgiving night) that was mentioned on the Tracfone Review site under "Black Friday Deals."
ReplyDeleteI also purchased a Tracfone BYOP Activation kit for $1.00. The phone has not yet arrived but the BYOP-kit has but the box it came in looks different than the BYOP-Kit sold on the Tracfone website and mentioned here -- the kit is in a little blue box probably like the ones you see at Walmart, etc. I also noticed somewhere on or in the box there was a date stamped of "2015", as well the SIM card for GSM says AT&T on it, and it is from my understanding Tracfone throws all GSM phones onto T-Mobile towers and all CDMA phones onto Sprint towers which is why people complain that once they leave their coverage area for the towers or coverage they are stuck with, they have no service since we know Tracfone no longer allows roaming.
So my question is: Will this activation kit and GSM/AT&T SIM work for me, or do I have to buy the new BYOP Activation SIMS that Tracfone has thrown out there since their cancellation of roaming and so-on?
Thank you.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/tracfone.html
I just bought a new Nexus 5X (the very last Nexus phone -- came out in late 2015) since one of its selling points is its compatibility with all four carriers. Well, it looks like that doesn't always hold true when applied to TracFone. They wouldn't let me activate it using the CDMA/Verizon SIM card because their system was rejecting my phone's IMEI, so I had to settle for using the GSM/AT&T SIM. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOne of their phone reps actually told me that the only Verizon phones that work with BYOP are ones that have been used for six months. True? I also noticed that in TracFone's BYOP SIM Kit, the CDMA SIM card reads "compatible with used LTE Verizon phones". I never know what to believe, since their phone reps tend to not know what they're talking about half the time. One of their other guys even said the six month thing is wrong.
I'm just wondering if it's possible to buy some Verizon Galaxy S5 on eBay that no one's ever touched, and activate it on TracFone right away.
In reply to Anonymous on November 26, 2016 at 1:40 PM
ReplyDeleteNot sure if the SIM kit you got will work or not, are you sure it isn't a Net10 SIM kit?
As for Tracfone, they use both Verizon and ATT cell towers, as well as TMobile.
You could always try activating your phone, and if it doesn't work, stop by your local BestBuy or Target as they usually have Tracfone SIM kits for $1.
Hope that helps
Does the Nextbit Robin work with the BYOP program for GSM/ AT&T with Tracfone? I have been unsure whether or not it is going to work after doing a bit of research and I don't want to buy it if it does not.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
I have the Samsung galaxy luna 4g And it says 3g at the top and my wife has the same phone and hes says 4g how do i fIX THAT?????
ReplyDeleteI posted back in November about problems getting a Moto G4 Plus working with Tracfone CDMA (Verizon). Since then, I got my wife a Moto G4 Plus, identical to mine, to replace her Tracfone LG Ult 2 on CDMA. I got a CDMA/GSM SIM kit from Best Buy for $1 and had the service transferred from her LG to the Moto using a CDMA SIM - and it worked perfectly the first time. So her phone is on Verizon (CDMA) and mine's on AT&T (GSM). I'd rather be on Verizon, but oh well, it's working and I get cell reception at my workplace. I also figure if we're out and about together, there's a better chance at least one of us will have cell reception. :)
ReplyDeleteMine is a Blu R1 HD (16GB version) and I love it. I got the ad-free version because I like to believe a device is truly mine instead of shared with Amazon. Anywho, I've had it since summer and it's worked great for me. It's dual-sim which is great for traveling and accepts a micro-SD card up to 64GB. You get a lot of phone for $110.
ReplyDeleteHave owned Tracfones for over 10 years.....I would buy a new one just about every other year from HSN, because it would come with a one year card, making the phone, essentially, free....I joined the BYOP plan, because most of the Tracfone phones specs, basically sucked, if you wanted a smartphone that could actually do things, like a tablet.....
ReplyDeleteI Bought a ZTE Axon 7 mini, and easily connected to the GSM network with the $1 Sim Kit, you can get at any Dollar Store....transferring minutes was easy also....the mini is 5.2", 32GB, 3GB Ram, Amoled screen, 423 PPI, 1080P, FINGERPRINT SCANNER, added a 32GB micro SD card, and has compass & gyro, so I can use my VR googles with it.....and the stereo speakers are unreal....and I got it on sale for 199.99.....couldn't be happier with this phone....
I have a 1st gen Moto G and a Moto X (2014 I think) that have both worked fine on Tracfone using Verizon's CDMA network for more than a year now. Last week I just bought two of the new Moto G5 Plus which were just released. My old Moto X had a nano SIM card, so I transferred it to the Moto G5 Plus and it seems to be working fine.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the old 1st gen Moto G did not have a SIM card, so I couldn't do that with my wife's new phone. Instead I bought the Tracfone BYOP kit to get a nano SIM and then called Tracfone to activate it and transfer her number to it. They were unable to register the Moto G5 Plus, though. Clearly the phone itself is compatible with the network itself since it works just fine with my old SIM card, but they currently won't register it as a new phone. I don't know if the problem is just that the Moto G5+ is so new and isn't on their list yet, or something else.
Now I'm trying to decide if I need to buy a cheap old phone that I can use to activate a SIM card, and then just transfer the SIM card to my wife's phone like I did for mine. Any suggestions?
Quick follow up: I guessed that the reason my new Moto G5+ worked was because I hat put an already valid Tracfone CDMA SIM in it. The first time I started that new phone with my old SIM card there was a message that it might take 5 minutes to register or something like that, and then it worked. So I wondered what the Tracfone BYOP web site would say about it; was it considered eligible or ineligible? Turns out the IMEI number of that phone was acceptable, presumably because it was now a "known" phone now because it had been registered to work with my old SIM (it was about 48 hours later; I'm not sure if the registration is immediate or might take a day or two before it gets into the Tracfone website's database).
ReplyDeleteNext I put the new never-used SIM card in my registered Moto G5+ phone, and used the web site to activate it and transfer my wife's phone number to the that SIM. Once that went through (took about 12 hours), I put that new SIM card in her Moto G5+ (the one they said they couldn't register) and it had that message about waiting 5 minutes, and then it all worked. So now both of the new phones are working.
So if you get a new Moto G5+ and Tracfone says they can't register it, see if you can temporarily put an existing SIM card in it (from a friend or family member's phone, for example) and let it register the phone that way, then try activating it via the web site to get your own SIM card and transfer your old number to it. Thought I'd update this here in case it helps someone else.
The biggest problem with Tracfone. Is that when they have a new phone. It takes them over a year or more to roll it out to all the areas.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem with Tracfone. Is that when they have a new phone. It takes them over a year or more to roll it out to all the areas.
ReplyDeleteReally? Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro was just released in June and I got it after defective one sent back and waiting 4 weeks after ordering with RMA on July 14th. So no it does not take a year for them to put new phones available. Where are you hiding? Under a rock?
I purchased a Moto G4 Play for use with my Tracfone account as it was at the top of the list of recommended phone on this webpage. I tried to activate the phone with the Tracfone Bring Your Own Phone SIM Card Kit and it didn't work. When I turned the phone on it gave me a message asking for a SIM Network Unlock PIN. Tracfone Technical support says it is because the phone is not compatible with Tracfone service.
ReplyDeleteRe: Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteIs it an unlocked Moto G4 Play or is it a carrier locked one? Some phone companies like Verizon, ATT and others will sell their own locked version, at a lower price, and they may not work with Tracfone. I've successfully used a Moto G4 Plus with Tracfone BYOP.
Please note that I only use my Tracfone for an "extra" phone, such as selling things online, or when my other services (T-Mobile and ATT) did not work when visiting rural Wisconsin. I have been using Tracfone for 5 years and the service and customer services has been great. My normal phone is an iPhone 7 and I was tired of using the Tracfone LG Android phone - I'm sure that Android is great, but I'm just not used to the nuances and I don't want to take the time to learn, so I purchased a used (unlocked) iPhone 6 on eBay. I purchased the SIM card kit from Walmart ($9.99). I inserted the card in the phone and followed the online instructions and waited for activation. The message states that if it doesn't activate within one hour call the customer service number. I waited for four hours and finally called customer service. I was connected to a person fairly quickly, but they couldn't help, so they connected me with a tech person who was very, very helpful. This person made all of the necessary changes, had me test the calling, texting, and Web features before she completed the call. Again, I don't use this phone much, but it's a great backup when traveling. As for the cost of the service, Tracfone is fantastic. When my service is within 6 months of expiring, I go online and purchase the 60 day, 500 minutes option and when checking out I take the offer of adding 365 days of service for $50, so I get triple minutes and 14 months of service for less than $100. I've done this every year; in fact, my current service does not expire until November 2019.
ReplyDeleteI have a Verizon Prepaid Moto G4 Play that I'm using on the BYOP and it has worked great! I'm very happy with it.
ReplyDeleteLG V30 unlocked works GREAT
ReplyDeletewith TracFone BYOP Triple SIM KIT.
Does anyone know if the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus will work with Tracfone's BYOP program? I'm considering getting the phone and realize that 4G LTE may not work at all, but it would appear to work with AT&T/T-Mobile and 3G. Also are there APN settings available for Tracfone?
ReplyDelete@bluedragon. I would like to know the same about the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
ReplyDeleteThis week, TracFone told me my unlocked Huawei Honor 6x that I bought from Best Buy was incompatible with BYOP. Is that correct? Is there a way to make it work anyway? What makes a phone incompatible?
ReplyDeleteDo other services like Cricket have a longer list of compatible phones? I've had a TracFone for over ten years, but I may have to switch.
Re: Anonymous
ReplyDeleteIt could be that the Honor 6x isn't compatible with the type of service Tracfone offers in your area. There are two types of cell phone networks - CDMA and GSM, and it could be that the Honor 6x is only CDMA compatible while service in your area is mostly via GSM. You may be able to activate the phone anyway, and it might be fine.
I just upgraded from the 4S to an iPhone SE 128 gb. Just haven’t been able to add it to my account. Other than that, everything is fine. I purchased a new unlocked iPhone for $238 and purchased a Verizon SIM from TracFone. Love the extra room and the
ReplyDeleteSpeed!!!
Ok. It was there. I just had to edit the name. Couldn’t do it through the tracfone app, had to go to the website and sign in.
ReplyDeleteUsed Google Nexus 5x makes a nice BYOP phone. It even updates itself OTA to Android 8.1 Oreo.
ReplyDeleteI live in VT where Verizon has the best coverage. Bought a Google Pixel XL, 32G, unlocked Verizon version. I used Tracfone/Verizon sim card. Connects to 4GLTE. It came with stock Oreo then upgraded to Pie. Now just got notification for Android 10 (Q) update available. I will hold off for a bit. Great phone. I consider myself a light duty user, so this phone is way overkill for my needs. Thought I would root it, but haven't really needed to yet.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the Samsung Galaxy A50 is NOT compatible wit TracFone.
ReplyDeleteMike said "Unfortunately, the Samsung Galaxy A50 is NOT compatible wit TracFone."
ReplyDeleteWhat leads you to believe this Mike? There was no indication it wouldn't be compatible, should be fin as a BYOP, and in fact even Samsung has released a TF branded version of it:
https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/phones/galaxy-a/galaxy-a50-tracfone-sm-a505uzkatfn/
If you buy an unlocked retail A50, it should just be a matter of a sim swap and activating that.
Can Blu B100DL ,be unlock???
ReplyDeleteCan i activate my phone
ReplyDelete