Wifi calling plans are a great way to save money, but if you aren’t always covered by Wifi, then it’s nice to have a backup. That’s where Wifi first companies like Republic wireless and Scratch wireless come into play. These companies both offer specific phones that allow consumers to make calls, texts and browse the web for free when connected to wifi, but provide cellular connections as backups as well. There is, however, a catch.
In order to use Scratch Wireless’ service, you must purchase a phone through Scratch. And, until recently, there was only one option: the Motorola Photon Q, a rather unimpressive mid-range device that is rather outdated by now. But, if that wasn’t enough of a choice for you, then Scratch Wireless has added a second device: the Coolpad Arise. And that’s about where the good news ends.
The Coolpad Arise is an impressively underwhelming option for a surprisingly high price. Shipping with Kitkat 4.4, this Chinese phone has a 2 MP camera, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB memory. It has a dual-core processor and doesn’t support 4G speeds. Of course, that last bit might not be as relevant for Scratch customers, as you’re likely on Wifi most of the time anyway.
What really confuses me about this device is the asking price. You can preorder the Coolpad Arise from Scratch Wireless for $100 and it is expected to ship on June 10. However, the device itself is actually a couple years old and on sale through Coolpad’s website for around $30. Which, with those specs, is far more what I would expect to pay for a phone that doesn’t look like it’s going to do anything other than the bare minimum with any efficiency.
Of course, having more than one choice has got to be worth something, right?
I understand that not everyone wants a super fancy device, and Scratch does have a good niche market for some customers. But really, if you intend to use your phone for anything other than calling, you’d be better off to stick with the Photon Q, which is just better overall and doesn’t cost all that much.]]>
