Virgin Mobile Wild Card Messaging Phone No Annual Contract

by Virgin

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B001V80JF6
• Item model number: Wild Card
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 10, 2009

Product Description

Flip open to reveal full QWERTY keyboard, dual LCD screens; includes 1.3-megapixel camera for still photos. Pay for only the calling time you use with Virgin Mobile's minutes or monthly plans--no annual contract required. Send text/picture messages and chat using AOL/Yahoo! services with optional service; download games and ringtones. Up to 195 minutes of talk time, up to 150 hours of standby time. Includes: Battery and Charger

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average Phone, buy the XTC instead., August 19, 2009

By 

Ecar6 (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virgin Mobile Wild Card Messaging Phone No Annual Contract (Electronics)

I owned the Wildcard for a year and a half until two weeks ago, when I found out that the XTC came out so I immediately upgraded to the XTC.

Here's my take: The Wildcard has a nice front keypad and easy to use qwerty keyboard. It is small, portable, and also has a nice design. The downside is that if you have large hands (I have small hands), you will have some problems navigating the tiny qwerty keyboard.

There are also more faults than benefits to this phone:
(1) The phone does have tiny outside and inner screens, with very unattractive fonts and font colors that you cannot change. This makes reading the time and date difficult if you use a dark photo as your wallpaper (since the font color is ALWAYS black, and you cannot change it). The tiny screen also makes it hard to see your photos, since they're thumbnail size at the largest. Forget about deciphering photos from photo text messages. Believe me, I tried.

(2) The phone has terrible sound quality. Unless you are at your home or a quiet setting, you will NOT be able to hear unless you put the phone on speakerphone when you're talking to someone. Also, the ringtone volume is very soft, even at the highest setting, so I often miss calls and txt messages. The phone's vibrate setting is also dim and I often can't feel my phone vibrate in my backpack. I ended up putting the phone in my jean pocket, but it's bulky width-wise, so it looks weird.

(3) What is up with the random beeping????? Seriously, the Wildcard beeps at random intervals of 10 minutes, 30 minutes, whenever. I tried calling customer service, no one can help me with this issue. If you put the phone on vibrate, it vibrates randomly instead of beeping. This is terribly annoying if you place the phone on you or anywhere near you. The beep isn't high pitched but it's definitely noticeable and distracting. You can only avoid the beeping if you put the phone on silent. But then, you'd miss all of your calls and messages. Dilemma, dilemma...

About #3, I read on the Q & A section on [...] for the Wildcard that many other Wildcard owners have the same problem, so I did not receive a faulty phone.

You can avoid all of this headache by purchasing another phone instead, unless everything I said above does not bother you.

Quick take on the Virgin Mobile XTC: It is basically Wildcard 2.0, since they're both manufactured by Kyocera. There are no more annoying beeps, the earpiece and speakerphone volume is loud, crisp, and absolutely fantastic, and the screen size is large and at a high resolution. I can actually see the pictures I took and discern what the heck they are! While its interface takes some getting-used-to, I definitely recommend it over the Wildcard. Seriously, I suffered for 1 1/2 years with the Wildcard, so I know what I'm talking about.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awsome#3, May 23, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Virgin Mobile Wild Card Messaging Phone No Annual Contract (Electronics)

I think this phone is really cool.I got mine on 5-23-09 for me it is today ,but for you mabye not.Well it is cool because it has a full keyboard and you can text freely.It also has a camera.It is also small so you can take it any where.I dont think the screen is small but I don't know it depends on other people.Once you start using it you really can't tell it's small.I reallt don't care myself.I don't know if this is good for people with huge hands but if I were you I'd buy it.I got it for $69.99
at the sprint store in the mall in Lynchburg.But it is cheaper on amazon.I got it at home because I couldn't wait.So GET THIS PHONE!I am a kid so it is nice for me.......................................

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good buy, March 2, 2010

By 

J. derico - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Virgin Mobile Wild Card Messaging Phone No Annual Contract (Electronics)

my girlfriend wanted a phone with a keyboard but different from others.she looked everywhere for this phone when she found it on here.the phone arrived sooner than estimated delivery in the condition stated.she loves this phone