You've probably never heard of Helium Mobile before, which might be one of the reasons they're offering a free mobile phone plan with no credit card or payment required.
That's one way to get people's attention!
This Helium Mobile Zero cell plan comes with 100 minutes of talk time, 300 text messages, and 3GB of data each month. You can learn more and signup here.
They're allowing people in waves, so you may get placed on a waitlist. It's a bit hit or miss at the moment.
This sounds like a cool way to revive an old cell phone you might have lying around and give it a second life. You could sign up for a Helium plan and then use it as a backup phone. Or even use it just for freebies whenever you need to give out a working number!
Helium's only been around for a little more than two years. The vast majority of their coverage comes from T-Mobile cell phone towers, so that should give you a good idea as to their area and range. They've also worked with over 25,000 people to put hotspots in their homes, which allows them to boost coverage around the country.
In addition to their Helium Mobile Zero plan, they have in-app Cloud Points, which can be redeemed for digital gift cards from places like Amazon and Target. To earn these, simply enable location sharing for at least 9 days within the first 30 days. But this is all optional – you can just get the free cell plan and leave it at that.
Has anybody tried this out yet? What did you think?!
Update: Reader Jim commented that Helium told him his old cell phone wasn't compatible with their system. I tried looking for a full list of compatible phones, but was only able to find this.
Helium Mobile eSIMs and pSIMs are compatible with most devices that support iOS 15 and newer and Android 11 and newer.
*Note that devices must be unlocked. Contact your previous provider for details on unlocking your device.
If unsure and you see a SIM card tray on your device, it's safe to select “Helium Mobile SIM Card”. You can also refer to your phone manufacturer's documentation to confirm which option is compatible.
I tried signing up for the Helium mobile plan. I wanted to put it on my old Samsung S9 which currently does not have cell service. I got through most of the process and when I got to downloading the app, it said the S9 was not compatible.
Dang, you’d think a phone from 2018 would be “new” enough to work!
I tried looking up a supported devices list and only found this page.
Does your S9 have a SIM card tray on the device?