Update: This promotion has unexpectedly ended early.
A lot of people are interested in Android Pay, because you can pay your rent through RadPad for free when you use Android Pay until the end of the year (you’ll also finally be able to use Chase cards in September and there are other promotions as well). We’ve had a lot of questions on what the cheapest way to get a compatible phone is, so I thought we better do a dedicated post.
Android Pay Requirements
To be able to use Android Pay, your device must meet the following requirements:
- Must be running Android 4.4 or higher
- Must have a NFC compatible phone
- Must be non-rooted
You don’t need any carrier service, using WiFi should work fine.
Cheapest Options
Now that we know the requirements to run Android Pay, finding the cheapest model should be easy! Unfortunately it wasn’t that easy (Amazon, you should really let people filter easier). Now let’s get stuck into some options:
- Use a friends device. There is no point in purchasing a new (or used) phone if you don’t have to, chances are somebody that you’re close to has a device you can borrow.
- Check Craigslist. You can usually find some really good deals on craigslist, another advantage on this route is you can get yourself a phone with some resale value as well so you can unload it once you’re finished it. Nexus 5x would be a good option.
- Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (Sprint Prepaid): $73.99 on Amazon
- Samsung Galaxy S4 mini Black Sprint Prepaid Android Cell Phone: $89.99 on Newegg
- Huawei Honor 4 Play (G620s): $107.99 on Amazon
- Walmart Family Mobile Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Smartphone: $129 on Walmart
Our Verdict
Honestly wait 24 hours before you even buy any of these phones, I’m sure readers are going to find much cheaper options than I was able to find.
Thanks to everybody who helped on Twitter.
I have S4 mini (Sprint version, I use Ting) and it doesn’t work. A bummer neither S4 nor S5 mini is there; I hate big phones and love the replaceable battery on this one.
http://blog.onradpad.com/an-update-on-our-no-credit-card-fee-android-pay-promotion/
Radpad promo seems to be gone… Someone send me this saying so but I can’t open the page though… At lease heads up
Yup, updated post.
Looks like RadPad is pulling the plug: https://blog.onradpad.com/an-update-on-our-no-credit-card-fee-android-pay-promotion/
Yup, updated post.
For those of you looking into this, I guess it wasn’t worth it for them and offer is now dead.
https://blog.onradpad.com/an-update-on-our-no-credit-card-fee-android-pay-promotion/
Yup, updated post.
Tmobile version of the Galaxy S5, which still holds up to everyday tasks nowadays and is updatable to Android 6.0 Marshmellow for $115 ($4.60 back in ebay bucks with the 4x promo):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-S5-16GB-SM-G900T-T-Mobile-GSM-Unlocked-4G-LTE-Android-Smartphone/252199169965?customid=8d8fbe1e6a3111e6b01d5ee37d7b826e0INT&pub=5574652453&campid=5337259887&afepn=5337259887&icep_id=117&ipn=icep&afepn=5337259887&rmvSB=true
Tmo prepaid Galaxy Grand Prime is also only $96 at best buy:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/t-mobile-prepaid-samsung-galaxy-grand-prime-4g-with-8gb-memory-prepaid-cell-phone-gray/4257100.p?id=1219735499004&skuId=4257100&ref=212&loc=1&ksid=55a8e511-ca71-45f2-8699-eaa5dc1e7342&ksprof_id=10&ksaffcode=pg106819&ksdevice=c
Cricket Wireless Galaxy Core Prime for $50, this SHOULD have NFC. From best buy, so you can return it if it does not or AP does not work with it. This is the cheapest phone thats >4.4 with NFC I found:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cricket-wireless-samsung-galaxy-core-prime-4g-lte-with-8gb-memory-prepaid-cell-phone-white/5322600.p?id=bb5322600&skuId=5322600
Third party services like Freedom Pop often have offers on refurbished phones and discounted services.
Develope friends on their system for greater band width or data allowance.
Some of the merchants have guest in store WiFi, but security of your cell phone security in many of those places is questionable according to many. YMMV when it comes to their WiFi signal strength.
You don’t need store wifi or any other internet connection to use mobile payments in-store, all the network communication is handled by the store’s terminal, and your device interacts with the terminal via NFC, not the internet.
AT&T GoPhone – LG Phoenix 2 4G $59.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/at-t-gophone-lg-phoenix-2-4g-with-8gb-memory-prepaid-cell-phone-black/5046702.p?skuId=5046702
You can get Android watches with NFC for as cheap as $20 on Amazon. Not sure if they’ll work for the purpose of paying rent on RadPad, though.
If it could install android pay, I think it should be fine.
BlackBerry Priv can do Android pay as well.
I used it today and added AMEX SPG. However when trying to pay the rent I get an error.
Reached out to Radpad and got a response
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately we have been having difficulty processing American Express cards via Android Pay, so that is why you are getting that error message. Until we have the issue resolved we are not allowing users to enter in American Express cards as payment. You will need to enter in a different credit card if you wish to pay via Android Pay.
Would the Samsung ones also get Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay is available on the following devices:
-Galaxy S7 edge
-Galaxy S7
-Galaxy S7 active
-Galaxy S6 edge+
-Galaxy S6 edge
-Galaxy S6 active
-Galaxy S6
-Galaxy Note5
-Galaxy Note7