Straight Talk Vs Cricket
Straight talk and Cricket are both great telecommunication service providers, running almost the same services but with a few distinctions that enable them to remain competitive. For example, Cricket does offer the cheapest plans, to which it boasts of about 10million subscribers. Straight talk, on the other hand, is famous for not capping data speeds and therefore has the highest number of clients about 15million more, when compared to Cricket.
In today’s society telecommunication is a fundamental aspect that covers a big percentage of our day-to-day live’s. Businesses and transactions are completed promptly, communication is instantaneous necessitating various actions, by the governments, communities, families, and societies. We can, therefore, safely say that communication is a basic need and the reason why we must find a service provider that is reliable and budget-friendly for the long term.
Communication is primary to our day-to-day activities, no matter the mode of transmission, be it email or voice calls. So, given the importance of communication and information transmission, we will dig into Straight Talk and Cricket to determine which of the two service providers, is reliable and offers the most comprehensive and reliable services, read on.
Straight Talk vs Cricket: Comparison Table
Features |
Straight Talk |
Cricket |
Network |
T-Mobile |
AT and T |
Data Speeds |
4G LTE/5G |
4G LTE |
Prepaid Wireless plans |
No contract, credit checks, or activation fees |
No contract or credit check |
International calling |
International talk and text available as add on calling card or as part of a complete cell phone plan |
Two tiers of international calling add-ons for 35 countries |
Bring your phone |
ü |
ü |
Keep Your Number |
ü |
ü |
Evaluating Straight Talk and Cricket
- Network
Straight Talk when compared to Cricket is compatible with all the four major carriers, whereas Cricket is owned and operates under AT and T. Many cell phone users prefer to stick with Straight talk because they are allowed to bring any type of cell phone to the network and easily gets activated. Cricket also offers some of the best plans when compared to Straight talk ranging from 2GB down to the unlimited plans. For example, by subscribing to the top unlimited plan services users do get access to 5G and up to 15GB of Hotspot.
So while Cricket runs some of the best plans, we would prefer to go with Straight Talk because it makes it easy for new users to get into the network and get activated.
- Data speeds and flexibility
Most people settle with a particular service provider because of the speeds offered and the flexibilityof switching between the different plans, a fact that lies squarely on Cricket given that it offers more data for the money and runs quite a wide variety of plans. Straight talk,also runs anextensive variety of plans and the one feature that makes it famous over cricket is the fact that it doesn’t cap its user’s data speeds.
- Activation fees
Cricket offers a prepaid planthat comes with no binding contracts, service users also don’t have to go through the grueling credit check processes; however, they will have to part with activation fees. Straight Talk,on the other hand, offers prepaid wireless plans completely free, service users will, therefore, get the service without signing any contracts, they will not be exposed to the stressful credit checks, and neither will they have to part with any activation fees.The above is therefore what makes straight talk a preferable service provider to Cricket.
- Bring your own phone service
Straight Talk and Cricket have made it easy for their clients to join their networks and all they have to do is carry out the compatibility test, and proceed to purchase a sim card and settle with a favorable plan. There, however, happens to be a small distinction between Straight Talks bring your own phone to Crickets, in that Straight Talk additionally allows its clients to keep their phone numbers and stay on their network, a service that is significantly missing from Cricket and which makes Straight Talk a better option.
- Mobile hotspot and tethering
Mobile hot-spotting and tethering go against Straight Talk policies, users who, therefore, wish to access these services will have to go with Cricket. The latter offers mobile hotspot services, and users can even get the respective data, which is available with an unlimited data plan, as an add-on feature. For the above service, users will, however, have to pay an extra fee.
- Performance and coverage
When compared to Cricket, Straight talk does offer a more comprehensive coverage given that it integrates with all the four major networks. Important to note is that not all the carriers run simultaneously rather a user will have to select the provider that is most reliable given their immediate location. Cricket, on the other hand, utilizes the AT and T network, which as we all know does offer reliable coverage but with a heavy disadvantage of speed caps.
Straight Talk Review
Straight Talk does not offer so many plans but has surely covered all categories of users; the company’s service users can, therefore, get some good unlimited and fixed data plans. The telecommunications service provider has also earned the trust of its customer base by maintaining the integrity of its services and products, to which end it has restricted the purchase of its services and products to Walmart and the company’s (Straight Talk.com) official website.
The service provider also offers its users a chance to get onboard any of the four major networks respective of location and device. Users are also allowed to bring their own phones to the network but if you feel like you want to upgrade, then you can get a phone of your liking from Straight Talk. There are phone financing options for high-end devices and there are also some budget-friendly phones that come with a jaw-dropping offer.
Their call and text performance is impeccable, with most of the users recording zero dropped calls and zero missing texts.
Straight talk wireless price and plans
Straight Talk Plan |
Features |
Prices |
Ultimate unlimited data plan |
Offers unlimited data, does not come with a contract, users get up to $5 off every month but with auto-refill |
$55/ month |
Unlimited plan with 25GB |
Offers unlimited data without a contract. Users get $1 off with auto-refill every month |
$44/month |
Unlimited plan with 5GB |
Users get up to 5GB of high-speed data, no contract, and up to $1 off with auto-refill every month |
$34/month |
Cricket Review
Cricket is very categorical with its pricing and plans, and users will therefore be presented with two unlimited and two fixed data plans. The telecommunications service provider is very transparent and has, therefore, included all the taxes on the retail prices. The service provider recently launched its 5G nationwide network, and while it happens to be among the most reliable service providers, users will likely experience connectivity problems in some of the locations.
The service provider’s customer support is reliable and can be found by phone or through live chat. Cricket also runs the keep your own phone program and users can also upgrade to better devices from Crickets cache of recent smartphones that retail at different price points.
Cricket’s plans and prices
Plan |
Price (single line) |
2GB |
$30/month |
10GB |
$40/month |
Unlimited |
$55/month |
Unlimited + 15GB Hotspot |
$60/month |
Comparing Straight Talk to Cricket
There are some major differences between Cricket and Straight talk that cell phone users must consider, for example, the fact that Straight Talks doesn’t have data caps when compared to Cricket, and the fact that with Straight Talk users have the option of getting on board any of the four major networks.
Conclusion
Cricket offers a broader range of plans and more data for the money, but choosing between either of the service providers is a huge task and users can, therefore, narrow down to reliability and coverage. All in all Straight talk remains to be the better option given that it is compatible with Verizon, which has for a long time retained the best network performance, offers high speeds, and has the best call and text performance.