Best AT&T prepaid phones
Going prepaid with AT&T and in need of a phone? Check out our favorites.
Sure, you could pick up a prepaid phone straight from AT&T, but if you’ll always have more choice by bringing your own unlocked device. That’s why we’ve rounded up the best phones you can buy outright to use unlocked on the carrier.
- Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge
- LG G5
- Nexus 6P
- HTC 10
- LG Nexus 5X
- iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge
A popular pick (and rightfully so) is the Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 edge. All that was awesome about the Galaxy S6 has been enhanced and Samsung keeps giving the people what they want.
The battery life in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge has been improved and extended considerably; in other words, bring on your busiest day and it will keep up with you. If your day involves rain or possible puddle or pool encounters, worry not; the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are waterproof. Take that, Mother Nature. The fingerprint sensor is conveniently tucked into the Home button and works like such a charm you’ll wonder how you’ve gone without one until now.
If you love photography with your Android phone, these are the phones you need to get your hands on. Photos turn out fabulously in just about any light and the Quad HD SuperAMOLED display on both phones keeps your pictures and streaming videos looking clear and sharp.
Need a little more convincing? Check out our reviews of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.
See at AT&T
LG G5
For something completely different, have a look at the LG G5. The modular design is a new direction for LG and it makes the phone a unique offering in the world of Android.
You want a great camera? LG’s got a great camera – three, in fact. Of course, you have your front-facing camera for those necessary selfies, but you also get two rear-facing cameras: a 16-megapixel main camera (same as the G4) and an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera. The fingerprint sensor is built into the power button on the back of the phone and it boasts impressive accuracy.
The Snapdragon 820 processor will keep you happily multitasking all day and the 5.3-inch Quad HD quantum display keeps your video streaming and app gaming in top form. The feel isn’t as premium as the Galaxy S7 series, but that’s what you’ll trade for the G5’s modular capabilities. The “Friends” ecosystem of add-ons includes items like camera modules that attach to the phone when you remove the base.
Want to know what we think about the LG G5? Check out our review.
See at Amazon
Nexus 6P
The latest Nexus phone has lived up to all the hype, and a long-awaited and well-executed phone from Google could be right up your alley — even as we enter the latter half of the year. You can’t buy the Nexus 6P from a carrier, but you purchase it unlocked and bring it to AT&T.
The camera holds up well next to many current Android phones, offering 8 megapixels for the front-facing camera and 12.3 megapixels for the rear-facing one. It works in bright outdoor light or shadowy indoor environments and features laser-assisted autofocus for accurate focusing in the dark.
The 5.7-inch display and aluminum body look and feel modern, industrial, and comfortable in your hands. The fingerprint sensor uses Nexus Imprint and is located on the back of the phone, which is a departure from the way some manufacturers have been doing it, but 6P owners tend to like this feature having its own space away from the home screen or bezels. The nippy 810 Snapdragon processor and strong battery life round out the reasons the Nexus 6P is a good buy.
There’s more to learn. Check out our review of the Nexus 6P to see what we have to say.
See at Amazon
HTC 10
HTC is back in a big way with the HTC 10, an outstanding 2016 flagship phone for the company that’s been a little quiet lately. Although it’s not offered directly from AT&T, the unlocked HTC 10 is compatible with the network and can be purchased from another retailer.
Crazy about music? Say no more: the HTC 10 features BoomSound Hi-Fi that’s going to make all of your music sound stellar. The front-facing tweeter and bottom-facing woofer give you more volume than you could possibly need (with some help from Dolby, no less), and there’s a dedicated amp in the headphone jack so that you can rock out in crystal clarity. The capacitive fingerprint scanner doubles as the home key; the set up for scanning is straightforward, easy, and secure.
The HTC 10 comes with either 32GB or 64GB of storage that can be expanded upon with a microSD card, which can be used as adoptable storage, so you’ll never run out of space for photos or music. The 5.2-inch Quad HD display can be a little hard to see in bright sunlight, but the 10 makes up for this in other areas.
Need to know more? Get all the details on the HTC 10 from our review.
See at Amazon
LG Nexus 5X
For a solid mid-range phone, look no further than the LG Nexus 5X. You’ll need to purchase it unlocked from another retailer and opt for the bring-your-own-device prepaid plan.
A smaller and lighter offering compared to other phones, the 5.2-inch display is clear and covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. The Snapdragon 808 Processor and dependable battery give you a full day of work and play without much to worry about in terms of bogging down the phone or searching for an outlet to charge up at. The phone is available in 16GB or 32GB, and for the price, you’ll be better investing in the 32GB model.
The camera is one of the phone’s best features, offering a 12.3-megapixel sensor for excellent color and detail capture. The phone also features Nexus Imprint fingerprint scanning, which sets up easily with six simple presses to the sensor.
See more on the LG Nexus 5X in our review.
See at Amazon
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
Yes, this is Android Central, but no, we’re not going to leave the iPhone off of the list when we’re talking about the best phones to use on AT&T. They have much to offer and are worth considering.
The iPhone 6s has a 4.7-inch Retina HD display and the iPhone 6s Plus tops out at 5.5 inches. Shutterbugs will rejoice at the 12 megapixel camera for still photos and the 4K video capabilities, and they can bring those still shots to life with the Live Photos feature, which animates an image using a second and a half before and after the image was taken. 3D Touch sensors also recognize the pressure your fingertips put on the screen to easily open apps or preview content.
Touch ID keeps your iPhone secure and the storage capacity ranges from the standard 16GB up to as much as 128GB. Not too shabby, iPhone.
Thinking about making the leap to an iPhone? Check out iMore’s reviews of the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus.
See at AT&T
More, you say?
If you need to see more options before buying, have a look at some of the best unlocked phones and see how they stack up.
Grab a limited edition Android Namey McNameface t-shirt now!
Google is having a bit of fun in the latest Android N Developer Preview by trolling us with a Namey McNameface Easter egg. While we doubt the name is going to stick for the final version, it’s still a great name and would make for a heck of a shirt, huh? Especially since when Google announced that it would be seeking submissions for the name of the update, it specifically called out Namey McNameface as something that should not be submitted.
So, before Google announces the official name for the next version of Android, why not grab one of these limited edition t-shirts for your collection. There are a few options available for t-shirt styles, as well as a sweatshirt option if you want something to wear when it’s a bit cooler. This will instantly become a collectors edition as Google announces the real name, making it even cooler to have. You want to be a cool kid, right? If so, hit the link below and grab one for yourself now, as you only have until June 27 to get your order in!
See at TeeSpring
‘Resident Evil 7’ is going back to its horror roots
Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 brings some substantial revisions to the series. The seventh major installment takes the franchise into virtual reality, but that’s just the start of the changes you’ll see when it launches on PS4 early next year. The studio is taking the opportunity to rewrite the “survival horror” game concept it helped pioneer, stripping away a lot of schlocky Resident Evil tropes, enemies and characters. Both the demo and trailer show a more terse, psychological kind of horror game, something that several games (including Konami’s loudly canned P.T. teaser) are looking to tap into. Action appears to takes a back seat to exploration and plain weirdness. It’s a great conceit, but it’s still a work in progress. Series producer Masachika Kawata explained to Engadget what’s happened to Resident Evil — and the challenge of ensuring that those playing on PSVR can stomach it.
To start, this Resident Evil is a different kind of experience, regardless of whether you play it with or without PSVR; both versions are presented with a first-person view. “It offers a more detailed, visceral experience of the game environment,” Kawata said. “But comfort optimizations are an extra challenge.”
In the short demo (playable now on PS4 with a PS Plus subscription), the game starts with you inside an abandoned house. The goal is to get the hell out of there, which is mostly a matter of exploring and interacting with things inside the house. Without spoiling it, the demo doesn’t offer much (or anything) in the way of weapons, but that’s not to say you won’t be able to fight back. “[After switching perspective to first person], I like how the control system works with combat. While we haven’t shown that just yet — it’s coming,” Kawata said.
According to Kawata, the first-person view also offers a “more detailed, visceral experience of the game environment … although comfort optimizations are an extra challenge.” It makes sense: If I’m meant to be the character in a VR game, looking through her eyes, then shaking the camera or switching the perspective will make for an uncomfortable experience. Kawata explains: “Like climbing a ladder: In the PS4 version, the camera pans out to show the character climbing down. In VR, we’d fade out from the view from the start of the ladder and fade back in once you’ve moved. These are the kind of things we have to look into and support [for VR players].”
Those aren’t the only VR issues that Capcom needs to tackle. My colleague Jess Conditt went through the wringer while playing the PSVR teaser, which made her feel severely nauseous. (I also had to take off the PSVR headset before finishing the demo, as I felt similarly queasy. And we’re not alone.)
Kawata admits there’s work to be done here: “There’s a lot of variables in place when you play VR, including how [the player] literally feels at the time that you play it,” he said. “It’s something that we’re comprehensively looking into, especially at events like E3, which is an opportunity to gather feedback from gamers that try it out. We’re optimizing Resident Evil 7, to make it the most comfortable experience we can make it.”
Whatever the problem, it highlights an important fact: Good VR is fantastic, but there’s nothing worse than bad VR.
According to Kawata, “We’re aware that the main issue, the freedom of movement of the VR headset, can sometimes clash with the right stick that adjusts your view on the controller. That seems to be one of the issues — one that we’re working hard to resolve.”
It could be the camera system, or it could be the lower frame rates on the PSVR compared to the competition. Whatever the problem, it highlights an important fact: Good VR is fantastic, but there’s nothing worse than bad VR.
With everything that’s changed, is this a Resident Evil title only in name? Despite those aforementioned changes across the latest installment, the game isn’t a reboot: It continues the storyline from RE6, albeit in a different way. No zombies or shotguns? You should be OK: “You can be assured that the experience will very much be a Resident Evil one,” Kawata added.
Making a full game in VR was a challenge, he said. “It’s a lot of work but I really think we’re starting to see the results of all that now.” There’s still time, at least, for the team to work out those (literally) stomach-sinking VR issues: Resident Evil 7 launches Jan. 24th, 2017.
This interview has been translated from Japanese as well as edited and condensed.
Game studio claims it lost $450,000 to key resales
Game key resales are theoretically ideal for players — you can buy that must-have title at a discount from someone who wasn’t going to use it anyway. However, SpeedRunners developer TinyBuild would beg to differ. It’s accusing G2A of facilitating a black market in game keys that amounted to $450,000 in potential lost sales at retail prices. The studio maintains that G2A is refusing proper help (including compensation) after fraudsters bought keys from the TinyBuild store using stolen credit cards and posted them on G2A, making a tidy profit while TinyBuild made nothing. Supposedly, the only way to get help would be to forge a deal with G2A itself and undercut its own retail partners in order to compete with the bootleggers. Simply blacklisting a range of keys wasn’t an option, either.
G2A, to no one’s shock, sees things differently. It believes that TinyBuild made “unjustified demands” of its store. It also argues that it suspended shady key sales before TinyBuild even got in touch, and that the developer isn’t being entirely honest about its revenues — it’s using the peak prices as its model, not the sale prices that frequently appear. G2A is giving TinyBuild 3 days (until June 25th) to deliver a list of “suspicious” keys that it wants to investigate.
The truth might be somewhere in between these two positions. G2A wasn’t the one who bought keys through shady means, and it did take steps to keep things clean without being prompted. However, this does suggest that both sides may need screening that discourages fraud in the first place — it’s rare that someone honest will buy or sell game keys in those kinds of quantities.
Source: Gamasutra (1), (2), G2A
Warrantless data searches narrowly miss Senate approval
A Senate amendment that would have allowed the FBI to search a suspect’s phone and online records without a court order came very close to becoming a reality today. The legislation, introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Richard Burr (R-NC) in the wake of the recent mass shooting in Orlando, missed the necessary 60 votes it needed to pass by just two votes.
The amendment in question was attached to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill earlier this week, Consumerist reports. And it would have allowed the FBI to use “National Security Letters” to demand that your internet or cellphone provider turn over certain account information including login history, call records and IP address. Unlike a court-ordered subpoena, which has to go through a judge first, a National Security Letter can be handed down from another government official.
While Senator McCain called the amendment a “no-brainer” and claimed it would prevent terrorists from “sneaking into this country,” his critics pointed out that it removes key checks and balances that insure citizens’ privacy and freedom.
“If this proposal passes,” privacy advocate and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said during the debate, “FBI agents will be able to demand the records of what websites you look at online, who you email and chat with, and your text message logs, with no judicial oversight whatsoever. The reality is the FBI already has the power to demand these electronic records with a court order under the Patriot Act. In emergencies the FBI can even obtain the records right away and go to a judge after the fact. This isn’t about giving law-enforcement new tools, it’s about the FBI not wanting to do paperwork.”
The amendment received 58 votes in favor, with 38 Senators voting against. Earlier this month, however, the House of Representatives voted down legislation that would have prevented the government from requiring technology companies from building in weakened encryption and security backdoors into their products. That legislation, which had won approval of the House twice in the past, lost a great deal of momentum following the recent shootings in San Bernardino and Orlando.
Instagram adds a translation feature for text inside the app
On the heels of announcing it amassed 500 million users, Instagram is adding a new feature to help its global audience better understand each other. The filter-driven photo and video app will get a translation tool “in the coming month.” When it arrives, you’ll be able to tap a “See Translation” link to make sure you know exactly what a bio, caption or comment says. Instagram currently supports 24 languages, but it did explain that older comments and captions may not be privy to the update.
Other social networks, like Twitter, offer a similar translation method for keeping pace with users around the world. While Instagram specified the feature was rolling out, some of us here at Engadget are already seeing it inside the app, so you may not have to wait long to use it. Now you’ll really know exactly what someone thinks about your brunch pics.
In the coming month, you’ll see a translation button on feed stories and profile bios written in languages different from your own. The Instagram community has grown faster and become more global than we ever imagined. And we’re excited that you’ll soon be able to understand the full story of a moment, no matter what language you speak. To learn more about translation on Instagram, check out help.instagram.com.
A photo posted by Instagram (@instagram) on Jun 22, 2016 at 10:00am PDT
Source: Instagram (1), (2)
Democrats use Twitter to amplify House sit-in over gun control
Democrats are currently staging a sit-in at the House of Representatives to demand a vote on gun control legislation, and Republicans aren’t happy about it — they’re declaring recesses to shut off cameras (which are controlled by the House) and downplay the protest. The Dems aren’t letting that get in the way, though. They’ve gone into overdrive using Twitter, Periscope and Facebook Live to advertise the sit-in and draw attention to their cause. Even C-SPAN has turned to displaying tweets and live streams in the absence of TV broadcasts from the House floor.
You could argue that this switch to social channels was inevitable. Publicity is key here — the Dems weren’t about to protest in relative silence, even if news outlets were destined to have indirect coverage. However, the sit-in says a lot about the difficulty of trying to control the media in the internet era. There’s a real chance that the anti-TV ploy could backfire, putting the spotlight on a move that (right or wrong) might have otherwise gone ignored by many people.
C-SPAN has no control over the U.S. House TV cameras. Now showing a @periscopeco from @RepScottPeters. pic.twitter.com/L3JeHuSdL5
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 22, 2016
From Newtown to Charleston… how long will it take for Congress to act? #NOMORESILENCE #goodtrouble pic.twitter.com/uH4G5HCQc5
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 22, 2016
Via: Wired
Source: John Lewis, Scott Peters, CSPAN (Twitter)
Simple Habit aims to de-stress you with 5-minute meditations
Yunha Kim knows a lot about stress. She founded Locket, an app that put ads on the Android lock screen, which was eventually bought up by the shopping app Wish. Starting and running her own company, naturally, was a stressful proposition, so she turned to meditation as a way to center herself. Now, she’s hoping to do the same for everyone with a new iPhone app called Simple Habit. It offers five-minute guided meditation sessions that you can do from practically anywhere, each targeted for specific situations.
While there are plenty of mindfulness apps out there — even Apple is getting in on the meditation bandwagon with Breathe in WatchOS 3 — Kim says Simple Habit differs by adopting a Netflix-like model. The app is free to install, and there’s also a quick introductory session that shows you what the experience is like. But to get access to all of the meditation lessons, you’ve got to pay $4 a week, $15 a month or $120 a year.
It might seem counterintuitive to pay up front for mindfulness training, but it looks like you get a lot for your money. (And it’s not as if meditation lessons are always free.) Kim has around 30 experts contributing lessons to the app, which from very specific (at work and stressed) to fairly general (morning meditation). With this many contributors, Simple Help should be able to keep its selections of lessons fresh, something that other relaxation apps often have trouble with. Kim is also working with a Harvard psychologist to ensure the lessons actually help you relax.
While sitting at my desk, I went through the “Improve Focus at Work” session. A calm and pleasant British woman guided me to sit down, stretch my shoulders, and then focus on my breathing. Over the course of the five-minute session, she had me focus on my left hand, every single digit and repeat the process for my right hand. Yes, it doesn’t sound very exciting, but that’s the point. It’s a simple way to clear your thoughts, focus your mind and hopefully make yourself feel less stressed
Simple Habit also has sessions going all the way up to 30 minutes, which will be helpful if you really get into the habit of meditation. Honestly, it’s not that hard to start meditating for free on your own, with some light research. That’s how I’ve been distressing for the past few months. But Simple Habit’s targeted sessions makes it easy for people with far less patience to relax. Eventually, you might find that you don’t need the app anymore for your meditation fix, but your time with it will have been well worth it.
Source: iTunes, Simple Habit
Sony will pay out millions to spurned PS3 Linux users
A long-running lawsuit stemming from Sony’s claim that its PlayStation 3 consoles would allow for third-party operating systems has finally come to a close. As Ars Technica reports, the class-action lawsuit could end up costing Sony millions of dollars for getting on the bad side of some Linux fans, and if you’re one of those Linux fans, you could be in for a $55 check.
The whole mess goes back six years, to when Sony disabled the “Install Other OS” feature with a PS3 software update, eventually claiming it did so due to piracy concerns. Sony also claimed the update was voluntary, even though opting out would break nearly every other major feature of the console.
According to the attorneys who brought the class action, up to 10 million console owners could have been affected. And under the terms of the deal they struck with Sony, they stand to make a cool $2.25 million of their own. As for those folks who had hopes of using their PS3s as a Linux box — they are eligible for that $55 payout assuming they can show “some proof of their use of the Other OS functionality.” If you knew about the Other OS function, but never quite got around to using it because you were too busy playing God of War III, you might still be eligible for a cool nine bucks.
As part of the deal, which still needs to be approved by a judge next month, Sony will need to alert users about the settlement via PlayStation’s own email database, as well as ads on popular tech and gaming sites. In the meantime, if you’re looking to run Linux on your PS4, you’ll have to resort to some actual hacking.
California’s last nuclear power plant to close in 2025
California’s nuclear-powered dream has an expiration date. The state’s utility conglomerate Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced yesterday that they will close the last remaining nuclear plants by 2025. They’ll replace the output with renewable energy and better efficiency in other stations. But, barring any changes to the moratorium on new plants, it’s likely the end for atomic power in the Golden State.
The plant closures were negotiated with environmentalists and labor unions, but unique state policies sealed their fates, PG&E’s CEO Anthony Earley told Scientific American. Specifically, SB 350 passed last year raised the state’s minimum energy needed to come from renewables to 50 percent. Despite PG&E’s requests, the bill left nuclear energy out of the sources it considers “renewable.” This, combined with the bill’s doubling of mandated energy efficiency, along with the rise of homegrown electricity, contributed to their decision to close the plants.
The moratorium on building new nuclear plants only exists until California finds a permanent solution for existing radioactive waste, but that’s another hurdle that doesn’t exist for renewable energy sources. Environmentalists believe this agreement could be a template for other states to shutter nuclear or fossil-fuel plants and replace them with renewable energy sources.
But the deal’s still on paper and awaiting approval by the California Public Utilities Commission. For it to be used as an example, its execution would have to avoid the mistakes made when California closed its San Onofre nuclear power plant back in 2013. To make up the energy shortfall, greenhouse gas emissions from power plants actually increased statewide.
Source: Scientific American
