are pay-as-you-go mobile services dead in Canada? (buying, costs)

[Jesse44]

Is it possible to still get a prepaid 'pay as you go' phone from any company in Ontario right now? The last time I had a phone was the start of 2012, so forgive me for my out-of-the-loopness.

I was searching around for prepaid services, but they seem diffent from how I remember them years back. I don't want any kind of obligation at all. Just the ability to load $10-15 worth of time on my phone as I please, and if I decide I don't want to use it for three months straight (which will often be the case), I want that freedom too.

Lastly, I hate flip phones and touchscreen is out of my budget. Do phones like this still exist on the market?



If I bougt one off eBay or something, could I just get a new SIM put in and do a pay-as-you-go thing or no? Would that be expensive?

Thanks!

[UrbanLuis]

You should be able to find a reasonably priced pay as you go phone with koodo or Fido. Up until last year I was using a prepaid phone with koodo.

I don't know what your price range is, but how about something like this?
Fido Samsung Ace IIx Prepaid Smartphone : Samsung - Best Buy Canada

[Jesse44]

Yeah, I just want a little beater that costs around $50-60 or less. I prefer having something with tactile keys since I get all anal about trying not to smudge touchscreens. I've noticed that outside of North America, many (most?) people seem to use phones like the kind I posted above. They're still being produced like that. I guess here the prevailing trend is so deep in smart phones that they almost don't seem to exist at all. I thought about buying one from abroad, but the problem is that mobile phones abroad usually operate on total different frequencies, and are therefore useless here.

[revrandy]

You can also check out Petro Canada Mobility. I used to use them before my current church paid for my mobile.