Data as of 2/6/2020. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*Guaranteed for life.
Sparklight’s Economy Phone is only five dollars per month cheaper than the Standard Phone. If all you want to do is keep a landline phone handy for emergencies, the Economy phone might be all you need.
But because the Standard Phone comes with a guaranteed-for-life price, you could save in the long run if you sign up and stick with the Standard Phone for an extended period.
To sweeten the pot, Sparklight’s Standard Phone can do seventeen things the Economy Phone can’t.
- Displays caller ID
- Records voicemail
- Forwards voicemail messages to any email address
- Offers voicemail prompts in English and Spanish
- Speed dials up to 8 numbers
- Shows who’s on call waiting
- Forwards calls to any other phone
- Allows select programmed numbers to automatically forward to another number
- Supports 3-way calls
- Traces your last caller with *57
- Returns calls quickly with *69
- Makes your caller ID anonymous with *67
- Blocks all 1-900 telemarketers
- Blocks incoming anonymous calls
- Blocks extended long-distance calls
- Blocks select programmed numbers
- Allows only select programmed numbers to make calls to your phone
You might not use all of the features above, and they’re not all that impressive compared to what a smartphone can do, but it’s nice to have options.
If you frequently make long-distance calls, keep in mind that Sparklight has different rates for each country. Within the US, it’s $0.10 per minute on the Economy Phone plan, or you can get unlimited minutes included with the Standard Phone plan.
But if you’re calling Mexico City, it will cost only $0.05 per minute. Harder to reach places are more, like Tonga, which costs $4 per minute. Those prices can add up fast, and you would probably be better off using an online service if you can—like Google Hangouts or even good-ish ole Skype.
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