Boost Mobile today announced the availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8530 running on top of Sprint’s nationwide 3G network. The device will set you back $249.99 up front, but, you can get unlimited text, voice, and data for just $60 per month on Boost Mobiles pre-paid Unlimited BlackBerry Plan which is cheaper than anything you can get on a contract. You’ve got to admit that this not that bad of a deal so long as you just don’t have to have the newest of the new BlackBerry devices.
Boost Mobile Expands 3G Enabled Phone Portfolio with Launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone
IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Boost Mobile continues to enhance its handset lineup on the Nationwide Sprint Network with the launch of the BlackBerry® Curve™ 8530 smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM) for $249.99 (excluding taxes). The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is rolling out now at Boost Mobile exclusive retail stores and select independent wireless dealer locations and will be available on Oct. 14 at www.boostmobile.com with free shipping.
“Boost Mobile continues to bring its customers high-quality phones on a dependable nationwide network”
Boost Mobile’s $60 BlackBerry® Monthly Unlimited plan is the ideal option for unlimited domestic voice, text and Web service without a long term contract. The BlackBerry Curve 8530 comes equipped with an optical trackpad for easy navigation, camera with video recording, built-in Wi-Fi® and GPS. Consumers can stay in touch with e-mail, instant messaging, and their favorite social networking sites like Facebook®, Myspace™ and Flickr™. All wrapped up in a sturdy and sleek design, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone delivers rich mobile entertainment with its integrated media player, expandable MicroSD/SDHC slot for up to 32GB of media storage (2GB card included) and broad catalog of applications on BlackBerry App World™.
BlackBerry Monthly Unlimited customers can upgrade their wireless experience to the Nationwide Sprint Network with fewer dropped and blocked calls than T-Mobile, according to a nationwide independent third-party drive test. Subscribers can also save more than $20 a month or $240 a year compared to similar offers from T-Mobile.*
“Boost Mobile continues to bring its customers high-quality phones on a dependable nationwide network,” said Andre Smith, business director, Boost Mobile. “Pairing the BlackBerry Monthly Unlimited offer with the productivity that comes from a handset like the BlackBerry Curve 8530 could be a real eye-opener for any customer who craves style, efficiency and, most important, value, all rolled into one.”
BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone features include:
- Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), full QWERTY keypad and optical trackpad navigation
- Access to BlackBerry App World™, featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry® smartphones
- Media player with dedicated media keys smoothly integrated along the top of the handset, giving customers an easy, convenient way to control their music and videos
- 3G high-speed data (where available)
- Support for BlackBerry services with access to up to 10 supported e-mail accounts, including most popular ISP e-mail accounts such as Yahoo!®, Windows Live™ Hotmail®, AOL® and Gmail
- Full HTML Web browsing
- Digital camera with zoom and video recording
- Expandable memory via hot swappable microSD™/SDHC memory card slot, supporting up to 32GB microSD/SDHC cards, a 2GB microSD™ card is included
- Supports voice-activated dialing and Bluetooth® (version 2.1)
- Multimedia, text and instant messaging
- GPS with support for location-based applications, including geotagging pictures, voice mail, caller ID, call waiting and call forwarding
By the end of the month, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone from Boost Mobile will be available in major retail outlets.
Boost Mobile Phone Insurance
Phone insurance is now available for Monthly Unlimited and BlackBerry Monthly Unlimited customers. For $5 per month customers are covered if their device breaks, is lost, stolen or damaged – even with liquid. Go to www.boostmobile.com for more information.
About Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile, one of Sprint’s prepaid brands, offers wireless phones and services with no long-term contracts. Boost Mobile redefines value for wireless consumers with its ‘Monthly Unlimited’ service, offering unlimited nationwide talk, text, Web, e-mail, IM and 411 for $50 per month, and with its ‘BlackBerry Monthly Unlimited’ service, offering unlimited nationwide talk, text, Web, e-mail, IM and 411 for $60 per month. Boost Mobile offers nationwide service on the Nationwide Sprint Network, reaching more than 275 million people, and on the Nextel National Network, reaching more than 278 million people, with no activation or long-distance fees. Boost Mobile offers a selection of quality handsets from Motorola, Sanyo, Research In Motion (RIM) and Samsung, ranging from entry-level to high-end devices. Boost Mobile phones are available nationwide at nearly 20,000 major retail stores, including Best Buy, RadioShack, Target, Walmart, Sprint retail stores, independent wireless dealer locations, and on HSN, a leading TV home shopping network; and Re-Boost® is available at approximately 100,000 locations throughout the United States. Experience Boost Mobile on the Web at MySpace, Facebook and Twitter; and purchase products at www.boostmobile.com.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
The monthly service cost ($60) of this one is the same as the MetroPCS Blackberry 8530 but I think this is a better option because Boost operates on the Sprint network which has more coverage than MetroPCS.
I’ve been a Boost Mobile Blackberry user for almost a year now. Boost Mobile offers $60.00 a month, no regulatory or other state fees but only a sales tax (for Austin, TX its $4.95, for a total of $64.95 per month) unlike MetroPCS which charges regulatory fees and state taxes. Such charges by MetroPCS can ad up towards $15-$17 per month. Boost Mobile basically absorbs these fees and does not pass them to their customers. This is a GOOD VALUE for Boost Mobile Customers.
Actually MetroPCS no longer charges fees and taxes. They probably did this in response to the Boost Mobile plans. I just checked the MetroPCS website and here’s what it says.
Now, taxes and regulatory fees are included in the price of every plan so your phone bill stays the same, month after month.*
* Rate plans are inclusive of all applicable governmental taxes and regulatory fees.
http://www.metropcs.com/plans/default.aspx
Regardless, Boost Mobile probably has better converage than MetroPCS.
Austniter
saw your post on the blackberry boost phone.I live in central tex near a sprint tower but really want to ask if the boost blackberry plan limits your ability to live stream radio station apps or services such as siriusxm.
thanks
Happy to see that Boost showing strong support for the Blackberry still. Definitely a better choice by far than going with Metro PCS(PieCe of Shit), and this is coming from someone who was with Metro for 3 years. Boost has FAR better and much more reliable coverage than Metro. I can’t remember a day where I didn’t get at least 2 or 3 dropped calls or couldn’t get good reception.
Which is boost lowest plan for blackberry ?
Michelle,
The cheapest Boost Mobile Blackberry plan is $60 however it will drop to $5 every 6 months you pay on time with their new “Shrinkage” plans. All the information can be found on the following link.
http://plans.boostmobile.com/blackberry.aspx
If you’re looking for the cheapest Blackberry plan available, then you should look at Virgin Mobile. Both Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are owned by Sprint and their phones operate on the Sprint network so your service should be identical. The cheapest Virgin Mobile Blackberry plan is $35/month but that only includes 300 anytime voice minutes. For $50/month you can get 1200 anytime voice minutes. Here is a link to the Virgin Mobile plans. Note that the plans say $25/month for 300 minutes and $40/month for 1200 minutes but you have to pay an additional $10/month for Blackberry service.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp
That may be true with Virgin Mobile, but Virgin locks some of thier blackberry applications and limits them on the Blackberry phone, check it out first before going over to the blackberry with Virgin!!!!
So I guess if I had bad coverage with Virgin mobile in the past, I’ll have the same coverage problems with Boost?
I hated VM. Even in my house I had some lousy signal, dropped calls and text delays. I have been looking at Boost for a while because of the 8530 price but I don’t want to end up like VM back to square one.
Robert,
MetroPCS is now offering the Blackberry 8530 for $199 after $50 rebate and they’re also reduced the monthly service from $60 to $50. The monthly cost of $50 is only for a limited time but that makes it $10/month cheaper than Boost Mobile. Here are links.
http://www.metropcs.com/plans/
http://www.metropcs.com/shop/PhoneDetails.aspx?ProductId=PRD26497019%28Phones%29
That sounds good but in my area, Metro has limited coverage. Thanks.
Leonard November 27, 2010 at 11:58 pm
That may be true with Virgin Mobile, but Virgin locks some of thier blackberry applications and limits them on the Blackberry phone
, check it out first before going over to the blackberry with Virgin!!!! This is not true all blackberry apps are open for Virgin Mobile
I currently have a Sanyo Incognito w/ Boost. I want to upgrade to the Blackberry Curve 8530. On of the reasons for doing so is because I love to listen to Pandora. On Pandora’s website the 8530 is listed as a compatible phone BUT for Sprint customers. Does anyone know if the Boost model will work since its powered by Sprint?
Pandora is supported on all 8530s according to the Pandora page in Blackberry App World. Here’s a link.
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/872?lang=en
From what I’ve been able to find online, Boost allows you to download applications from Blackberry App World onto the 8530 so you should be able to download and use Pandora.
I also googled “Boost Mobile Blackberry 8530 Pandora” and came up with the following review from BestBuy.com where someone mentions using Pandora with the Boost 8530. Click on the following link and then search the page for “Pandora”.
http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/1414591/boost-mobile-blackberry-curve-8530-no-contract-mobile-phone-black-reviews/reviews.htm
Thanks Sam for the information. It looks like I will be upgrading to a Blackberry.
i have long been with AT&T and grow tired of the ever rising prices on the plans and phones so i have been researching into phones, so are the plans and coverage the real deal??? in northern MN all we have is unicell,Sprint,AT&T time for a change of pace