Walmart is selling a $10 Android phone, but as with most things: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This is one of those instances, and in reality the "deal" is not quite what it seems.
The LG L16 and L15G phones are indeed going for $9.82 on Walmart's website, which appears great at face value. However there are two factors that many appear to miss: Walmart and Tracfone, the prepaid carrier.
First of all, these are Walmart "rollback" prices, i.e. time-limited promotional sales. Walmart offers free shipping on orders over $50, so it discounts some products in order to get customers to start an order and fill it with other things it can profit off of.
The other, and more significant, issue is that these phones are all subsidized. Traditionally, as a prepaid carrier, Tracfone doesn't subject its customers to any contracts. However, these phones specify that they are locked into a one-year contract with monthly service fees, reported Newsmax. Only after the first year can a customer switch to a more reasonably priced network like Verizon or AT&T.
By overpricing its airtime for the next year, Tracfone can sell a cheap Android phone and then make its money back (there's at least a $50 subsidy on this), according to PC Mag.
The phone offers "low-grade specs and old software, running Android 4.4 KitKat, the version released two years ago," reported Engaget. While the phone does come with WiFi capability there is no built-in 4G and you reportedly can't upgrade the OS.
