So what's Buddy? This is just one small phone companies. Pairing with Mega Pop Rock (included for free) users visits the big screen on demand and an eminently compact feature phone for responding to the text or making a quick call. The Rock would not be beneficial for everyone, but having the option for free is a great addition. Otherwise, the Mega Pop smartphone is the most you can get for the least money to Straight Talk.
Design, Quality, and Buddy Call
There is not much to say about Mega Pop design-it's about as strange as primary and phone arrives. A given size (6.39 by 3.32 by 0.34 inches and 6.42 ounces), but fortunately the grippy finish and rounded edges make it easy to find a comfortable and secure grip. One-handed use is a chore; could reach my thumb about one-quarter of the display without changing my grip. Power and Volume buttons are on the right side, and the removable back shows sealed 3,400mAh battery.
The 6-inch, 960-by-540-pixel LCD is one of the dullest we've seen in recent memory, proud of 183ppi measles-you'll notice many jagged text and graphics alias. Colors appear vivid and contrast is surprisingly solid, such as wide viewing angle. The panel itself appears to be of high quality, even if the resolution was not up to snuff.
Straight Talk, for those not familiar, is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that is unique in that it piggybacks on Verizon, Sprint, AT & T, or T-Mobile network depending on your area of coverage. You need to plug in your zip code when you purchase a plan, which then, Straight Talk designates the appropriate carrier network. Like most MVNOs, service plans are sans contract and generally less expensive than a comparable plan by one of the major carriers. $ 30 gets you 1,500 minutes, unlimited texts and 100MB of data; $ 45 will get you unlimited talk and text with 3GB of data with high speed, which is throttled to 64Kbps once you exceed your limit (no overages); $ 60 will get you the same as the $ 45 plan plus unlimited international calls.
The Mega Pop is a GSM phone that is most suited for the AT & T network, with support for GSM (850/900/1800 / 1900MHz), WCDMA (850 / 1900MHz), and LTE (700 / 1700MHz) network . Powered by our test SIM AT & T network and worked without issue on my test. Call quality is unimpressive in my testing. Earpiece volume is sufficient for the noisier, the external environment, but I noticed some hissing and popping errant calls. By sending mic tend to sound a bit muffled and overly digitized. Noise cancellation is weak, here, by letting many distracting background noise.
Also onboard is 802.11b / g / n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and radios. Wi-Fi unfortunately limited to the 2.4GHz band, meaning you will not be able to connect to the network broadcasting faster, less crowded 5GHz band. Bluetooth worked well in my testing and is great for accessory handset Buddy.
The Buddy accessories like phone features made in the past decade, but it is far thinner, lighter, and more compact. It is therefore absurd waifish and it almost feels like a mockup device. There is a standard number pad with dedicated navigation and call answer / hang-up buttons. The display is a 2-inch LCD that you can use to browse contact information, make calls, and send and receive text.
Who easily paired via Bluetooth with my test and let me shoot slick off the text and make calls, even had to use the T9 input for dating. The usefulness of a companion device such as Buddy really depends on your use case smartphone, which will vary from person to person. For heavy callers and texters, having Buddy lets you squeeze the Mega Pop a bag, leaving less encumbered your pocket. But heavy email users or those who want to read on their phones will find the Buddy much less useful.
Call quality was decent in my test, but earpiece volume for Bush is weak and transmissions through mic sound overly digitized. It is suitable for most of the conversations on the phone, but you'll get better results from the phone itself. Annoyingly, initiating a call to Bush being active display of Pop Mega, reduces some of the savings in battery that you can expect from using the handset. You can control the music of Buddy, but I would also supported more notifications, for now, all you get calls and texts.