PlumRAM Plus 4G Volte Unlocked Rugged Flip Phone AT&T T-Mobile – Black

There is much to dislike about this phone. the user interface is primitive and awkward ( I don't mean compared to smart phones, I mean it's primitive and awkward compared to other feature phones) Texting is particularly difficult (again, compared to other flip phones I have owned) But probably the most serous defect is that the phone would chronically drop service when you move from one cellular "cell" to another. This is in an area with good cellular coverage. I would frequently find that after having driven to a different part of town, the phone was no longer usable. It would not receive phone calls, you could not make phone calls. Curiously, it would receive voice mail notifications. This was usually how I discovered that I had missed calls, as I would get a voice mail notification. Despite the notification, I would be unable to retrieve that voice mail, not make any outgoing calls. Nor would I ever get a "missed call notification" Looking at the display, there was no indication that the phone had failed, the icons indicated that it was in contact with the network and receiving 4G service .. but you were not. You would have to turn the phone off, then turn it back on again, and it would establish contact with the network, and would work normally ... until you moved into the area of a different cell antenna, then it was lather, rinse, repeat. After numerous missed calls, I got a different phone.

A bit of background....verbose but ultimately helpful:The discontinuation of 3G resulted in my parents' mobile provider (AT&T postpaid ) sending them "free" Alcatel 4G VoLTE capable phones. Easy directions to activate were included ....except the phones would not activate. My parents had a grandfathered plan that was $25 a month and their phones were so old that they had mini sim cards, instead of micro or Nano. After hours on the phone with AT&T customer service personnel I went to an AT&T store to see if I could get Nano Sim cards for the new phones because obviously the mini sim cards would not fit. They told me that they could not activate the phones and they could not honor their current plans. They wanted to put each of my parents on a $75 per month unlimited data plan and they would have to get new nano SD cards for the new flip phones. I told them my parents do not use data and that is why they use flip phones and not smartphones. Very long story short, even AT&T prepaid plans were more expensive because they needed a minimum of four lines to be affordable. There are two people involved, my mother and my father. I talked them into leaving AT&T and I returned the free flip phones obtained from AT&T and canceled their service.I have been on Mint mobile with a $15 per month plan for years and it's fine for me, I have a low-end smartphone and it does everything I need. I bought ultimately several different what type of non smart phones for my parents. A few were incredibly difficult to navigate, a few like this one just did not seem to work adequately on Mint mobile. I will know focus on the Plum Ram plus 4G LTE itself.For anyone wondering I can tell you from using many different flip type non-smartphones this truly is one of the most intuitive to use * and* offers a nice grip for anyone with large hands or with dexterity issues.A long press on the red telephone button turns it on and also turns it off. A quick press of the red button and ends a call. It was easy to enter contacts (I didn't bother trying to import from my Dad's prior phone).The keypad has large buttons and there's a center menu button and around the perimeter there are printed arrows. This was very important to my parents because phones with an unlabeled "ring" around the center button that essentially acts as a four-way arrow was very hard for my parents to operate. They have no trouble with this phone. It's very comfortable in one's hand and is light but feels substantial.When I first activated it on Mint mobile, I had significant problems with the phone not completing calls, not receiving calls and dropping them. I emailed customer service but received what looked like a cookie cutter response that did not really address my question. When I sent a follow-up message I got the identical response from them that I had the first time. I should note that their website has a phone number which I never tried. It's possible their customer service is better by phone.By this point in the very long story, my dad really liked this phone. No it didn't really work LOL but he liked how it operated and he liked the feel in his hand. I ended up going with a different phone for my mother, which I reviewed separately (Easyfone A1 Prime 4G Pro, too slippery for my father's large hands ). Neither phone was working well on Mint.I finally went to a nearby T-Mobile store, hoping they could help because mint works on T-Mobile towers. Long story short they let me put in a T-Mobile sim card and it worked fine. I canceled mint and I signed my parents up each with T-Mobile prepaid $15 a month. Their phones work fine. When on Mint mobile my father's Plum phone never displayed 4G VoLTE but it did on T-Mobile. I won't say a call never drops but it's very rare and usually happens in a crowded Big Box Store where the signal fluctuates.I bought a second oem battery here on Amazon , as I liked my parents to carry a charged spare battery with them.Lastly the Cradle charger would be nice for someone with dexterity problems. I personally have not used it because I usually charge the phone for him and use the micro USB charger on the side of the phone. It is nice that there are both options however.I hope this review helps some of you I feel like I'm forgetting to mention some things but I'll edit if anyone has questions.

The sellers description said that this phone was able to be used with mint and mint said it wouldn't be, false advertising and second time I've had to do this with this seller, never buying from this seller again because of how much of my time they have wasted, the first phone I got from them (the black version of this one) was supposed to be unlocked but it wasn't, and now this one was supposed to work with mint but it didn't and mint phone service said that the signal wouldn't work. so be careful from buying from the seller because the product isn't always going to be unlocked or actually be compatible with the phone service there saying it's supposed to be, I've wasted a month buying two of their phones from them because of their false advertising. This phone does not work with mint.

It said it was T-Mobile compatible but after roughly 2 or 3 weeks couldn't make or receive calls. Waste of money.

So looking for a cell phone that uses 4G but is not a smart phone. Well this phone does fit that narrative. It has a nice charger that allows you to just set it into the charger receiver and it will charge and you do not have to plug that little micro USB cable in to it EVER. NICE. Did not have any trouble hooking up to M i n t mobile so we are happy. Cons: Well for the price I would assume there may be a con or two. I will relay one: The phone itself.... the actual plastic exterior of the phone feels like a cheap kids toy. That is okay for me at this point. I probably would keep looking and would only buy this one if there were no others that fit the bill.