We will explain the disadvantages of affordable phones. Recently, the number of people using the so-called budget phone and the official name of the special telecommunications company is increasing.
I also came out with a communication fee of 70,000 won, but at the recommendation of my wife, I changed it to about 20,000 won per month, and I am very satisfied with data and calls. 헬로모바일 단점
However, there are some downsides, so let’s see what the downsides are.
If you want to recommend a budget phone carrier, please see below. 비지니스헬퍼
Affordable phone carrier recommendation
Affordable phone carrier recommendation, rate plan that suits me 👆
index
Disadvantages of affordable phones
Customer service connection problem
Tips to quickly connect to the Affordable Phone Customer Center
Lack of combined discount
Lack of membership service
Difficulty using Samsung Pay transportation card
Lack of overseas roaming plans
location tracking problem
Tablet and watch plan problems
Misunderstood Disadvantages
Call quality problem
Identity verification problem
organize
Disadvantages of affordable phones
Disadvantages of affordable phones
The disadvantages of affordable phones can be seen in seven major ways.
There are problems in that it is difficult to connect to the customer center, lack of bundled discounts, weak membership service, difficulty in using the Samsung Pay transportation card, and difficulty in roaming abroad.
Also, it is difficult to track the location and there are not many plans such as Apple Watch and tablet. Let’s make this part clear.
Customer service connection problem
Let’s start with the biggest problem among the disadvantages of affordable phones.
The low rates of the budget phone are great, but the customer center is small.
You may need to make inquiries, such as canceling a rate plan, reporting a loss, or applying for overseas roaming. A small customer service center is quite irritating for a budget phone user.
This is a big disadvantage because there are few affordable phone operators with offline stores.
When I first signed up for a cheap phone, it was difficult to connect to the customer center, so I signed up with information from a blog.
After signing up, I didn’t have to contact customer service, so I’m using it with satisfaction.
Tips to quickly connect to the Affordable Phone Customer Center
This is a tip to quickly connect to the Affordable Phone Customer Center. The customer center is usually open at 9 am.
It is said that calling as soon as 9:00 o’clock on Naver’s clock is faster.
Lack of combined discount
The basic rates are low, but the three major telecommunications companies offer Internet, TV bundle products and family bundle products.
If you use this, the price becomes considerably cheaper, but in the case of affordable phones, there are almost no combined discounts.
For your information, there is a combined discount product for the LG U+ network budget phone. Up to KRW 430,000 gift certificate and monthly internet fee discount of KRW 13,200.
In addition, with an additional 7% discount on Internet/TV rates, it is said that up to 110,000 won discount is possible for 3 years.
There are many other benefits, so if you are considering a combination product, you should check it out.
Lack of membership service
Affordable phones also have the disadvantage of lacking membership services.
In particular, the three major telecommunications companies provide decent services such as free movie tickets.
On the other hand, cheap phones have a weak membership service.
However, I don’t think it’s a big problem considering the high prices of the three major carriers.
Difficulty using Samsung Pay transportation card
It is pointed out that it is a little difficult to use the Samsung Pay transportation card on a budget phone.
You can use a transportation card only when you apply for a US SIM that supports NFC.
Because I did not know this part, I did not receive an NFC-enabled SIM.
I use the general payment function without any problems, but I carry the T-money card for the transportation card.
The Samsung Pay transportation card is quite convenient, so if you are using it, be sure to get an NFC-enabled SIM.
Samsung Pay transportation card
How to use the Samsung Pay transportation card? 👆
Lack of overseas roaming plans
Most budget phones do not provide overseas roaming.
If you do not have to use the phone, you can use it as a SIM card for local data rates such as lunch boxes.
However, it is very inconvenient to not be able to make calls or text messages in an environment where the Internet is not working.
What if your flight is suddenly canceled, delayed, or gate changed, and you are taking a taxi at that time? Arriving at the site can be a huge inconvenience.
Fortunately, there are some cheap phone operators that provide overseas roaming services.
Because affordable phones do not have a specific period, it is enough to move to a company that provides roaming.
location tracking problem
This is a low-cost phone disadvantage, location tracking problem. On August 1 of this year, a terrible thing happened in Ulsan.
A woman who was in danger of being killed with a weapon by a man she met through a chat app called 112, but the location was not tracked.
By the time she found the scene, it was already too late.
In order to write this article, I asked an acquaintance who is in charge of emergency reporting.
Below are some of the things I have compiled through conversations with my acquaintances.
If you make an emergency report to 112,119, the location will be tracked if you report a missing person or if the situation is urgent and dangerous.
Location tracking is carried out in three ways: GPS, wifi, and base stations.
GPS
There are no exact guidelines, but in my experience, the GPS is very accurate, tracking within a 5m radius.
In terms of a building, it is specified as “the number of floors is unknown, but exactly that building or the road around it”.
wifi
Wifi is usually tracked at 15 to 20 m.
There are cases where it is caught from the building next to it, so it is tracked to “that building or a building within a 10m radius”.
base station
The base station must draw a circle of 400m to 800m around one point, and in the case of a specific base station, even a radius of 2km is searched.
Therefore, it is impossible to search by the police and firefighters through the base station, and just say “Oh, you are in Haeundae-gu, you are in Jongno-gu”.
This is the only known level.
Correspondence investigation
If necessary, a telecommunications investigation is requested, and with the cooperation of the telecommunications company, the mobile phone owner’s personal information, home address, etc. are inquired and searched.
Affordable phone, why is it a problem
The problem of budget phone starts from here.
There is no system that provides GPS or Wifi location information. The three telecommunication companies have GPS and Wi-Fi location tracking systems, but affordable phones are currently not possible.
At night and on weekends, communication investigation cooperation is not made. Therefore, it is often difficult to investigate.
Most news articles focused on 112 reports of incidents, but my acquaintances had a slightly different idea.
It means that there is a much higher chance of problems occurring when calling 119 ambulance.
In particular, those who need a sudden emergency call such as heart disease, or those who go hiking a lot.
These people say that using a budget phone can be a life-threatening problem.
In the case of hikers, an entire wide mountain is the location of the base station in case of a tripping accident.
In other words, based on the location of the base station, only “this person is in Mt. Seorak” can be known.
On the other hand, if you use GPS, you can say, “This person must be near a rock 500m below the hiker’s shelter in Daecheongbong.”
So, I would not recommend a cheap phone to elderly parents.
If you are using a cheap phone, I would like you to know this part.
Resolution
As a solution, if you install the 112,119 ambulance app, you can send the location of the affordable phone to 112,119 by pressing the power button in succession.
This can be difficult in extreme emergency situations, but it’s good to have the bare minimum.
Tablet and watch plan problems
Let’s look at the problem of the tablet, watch, etc.
Even budget phones can connect tablets with data sharing, tethering and hotspot functions.
I am using a smartphone unlimited data plan and connecting to a tablet through tethering.
However, some plans may not support tethering and hotspot.
So I need to find out if the affordable phone plan I want to use is supported and make a decision.
If you are using a separate rate plan for tablets, it is a good idea to find out about tablet rates such as Hello Mobile and KT M Mobile.
Watches such as the Apple Watch cannot be used with tethering, and a dedicated rate plan must be used separately.
Currently, it is provided only by LivM.
User reviews say that the pricing plan is quite inconvenient. The customer service center says it’s a downside. This should be considered when using.
Misunderstood Disadvantages
Let’s take a look at the call quality and authentication issues as misunderstood disadvantages.
Call quality problem
Speaking of call quality issues, I am using it in Seoul and have never experienced any inconvenience due to call quality issues, and I have not experienced any major inconvenience when using data.
The communication networks used by budget phone operators are the same as those of the three telecommunication companies, and the quality of budget phones is not particularly low.
This is misleading information.
Identity verification problem
Affordable phone identity authentication, there is a story that it is difficult, but it is not at all what I have used.
I have never had a problem while using services that require authentication, such as PASS, phone authentication, text authentication, and KakaoTalk authentication, and this is also considered a misunderstood prejudice.
organize
So far, we have identified the disadvantages of affordable phones.
Customer service, location tracking and roaming issues are issues to consider carefully.
However, if I can put up with this part, I can enjoy good service at a sufficiently low price.
I hope it was helpful to those who are thinking about using a budget phone.