The Bottom Line
Pros
- Simple to order
- Handy service
- Great phone
- No risk of running out of minutes; you're charged as you go
Cons
- UK phone number makes it less flexible for international travel elsewhere.
- You are liable for all call charges incurred until you notify them of loss or theft.
- Per-minute costs can be higher than other services.
- Crucial documentation is on easy-to-lose individual pages
Description
- The phone I received was an easy-to-use Nokia 3120, a sleek warm-silver colored phone.
- The SIM card is packaged separately but it was no problem to open the phone and insert it.
- Online activation process was quick and easy.
Guide Review - Mobal Cell Phone Service
Using the Mobal phone service several dozen times in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Greece, I never experienced a dropped call. Friends in the United States complained on one occasion of delay and echoing on the phone line, but on my end, it sounded uniformly clear and without delay.
However, my standard American cell phone, with an international roaming program, gave me much lower rates per minute than those offered by Mobal. For Greece, at the time of my test, incoming calls were $1.25 US per minute, calls to the U.S. were $1.50 per minute, and calls from Greece to other countries were a steep $2.95 per minute. And calls from Greece are on the cheaper end of the price spectrum.
By comparison, 50 Euros worth of calling time on my other cell phone, a Greek pay-as-you-go option from Vodaphone, kept me going through five weeks of calls from and around Greece.
Mobal also offers a satellite phone rental service for $9 a day plus optional insurance. If your adventures take you really off the beaten path, like to the Antarctic this may be the way to go.
Mobal Cell Phone Rental Service
Toll free: 888 888 9162
Tel: 212 785 5800
Fax: 212 785 5800
Website: http://www.mobalrental.com
Note: I received this phone as part of a press promotion which included the free temporary use of the phone for testing purposes and a calling budget of $100.
