The Unofficial Speak Out Wireless Canada Consumer Page - Topic: May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

dennismiller on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Tue, 09 Jun 2015 02:17:02 -0700

The voucher had nothing to do with my bonus data. The phone had to be active on the network and I had to phone to get the data months set up by "management"(is how it was described)
I still have the voucher to be used in future. The phone is on an existing SO number(s) with no recent voucher purchase applied to the account. Just using the phone qualified for the 2 months.
Customer service was really good about explaining that before my purchase. Gotta give them a few points!!
I'm pretty sure they were clear that the voucher would be treated as any other but I think the last lines you quoted really mean for new accounts the voucher(account) must be active by July 1 to get the data bonus.

rrraven on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 20:24:16 -0700

dennismiller said

Don't know about any $25. The 2 months data will be lost if the phone is not used on Speakout and you don't call in to get them by July 1 I believe. Data tied to phone IMEI not the voucher. If you are not planning for Speakout now no big loss.

Yes, the $25 bonus is not currently running, but will likely be back in August/September. They almost always have it in place for the beginning of the school year. The way the $25 bonus works is that when a $100 topup voucher is activated -- added to any phone number/account -- during the promotion period, that account gets credited with $125. It does not matter when the voucher was purchased, and it is fine if it was used with some other promotion (e.g. discount on a phone, free SIM, etc) even if the timing of that promotion, based on when the voucher was purchased, is different.

It's not entirely clear to me how the 2 months free data is restricted. Certainly if one buys the phone, with the $100 voucher, for a combined $139, and activates that voucher on that phone before July 1, all is well. That was their intent. But if you buy both and activate just a $25 voucher on the Acer phone in June, is that enough to trigger the free data? If the $100 must also be activated, can it be on a different account? Presumably one could put a different SIM into the Acer, activate, and then switch the sim back to its original phone...

* Offer includes 100MB free data add-on ($10 value) with any Acer phone purchase. $50 off any Acer phone offer included with a $100 top-up purchase only. Must purchase new Acer phone between May 1 - July 1, 2015 to receive offer. 100MB data is free for the first 60 days from first activation date between May 1 - July 1, 2015. Note: usage overage fees apply above the free 100MB data add-on. Any remaining free data will be forfeited should the user switch data products before the 60 days is complete. Balance must be positive every 30 days in order for free 100MB data to continue. Negative balances automatically forfeit any remaining free data. Free data is good for 2 months, or sixty days.

Limited time offer, while supplies last. Plus applicable taxes. Offer valid with $100 SpeakOut top-up purchase. Cannot be combined with any other promotional offer. $100 top-up must be activated by midnight July 1, 2015.

batcave on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Sat, 06 Jun 2015 01:24:07 -0700

That's good to know about activating when there is a $25 bonus! Thanks for that!

Yes, I hope it's for the two months of bonus data - that makes sense.

dennismiller on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Mon, 01 Jun 2015 02:43:40 -0700

Don't know about any $25. The 2 months data will be lost if the phone is not used on Speakout and you don't call in to get them by July 1 I believe. Data tied to phone IMEI not the voucher. If you are not planning for Speakout now no big loss.

bridonca on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Sun, 31 May 2015 15:13:08 -0700

Speakout vouchers never expire if they are not activated. However, you will lose that $25 bonus if you activate after July 1. But if you activate on another $25 bonus promotion period, and they usually have 2 a year, you should be able to get that $25, judging from previous history. You just have to pick the right time to activate to get the bonus.

batcave on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Sat, 30 May 2015 17:22:47 -0700

I purchased this phone earlier this week. I needed a new phone right away but didn't want to spend much. For $157 (including taxes), this was an awesome deal!

I can confirm that it works great with two sim cards installed (see photo). One can't get a dual sim phone for this cheap anywhere! I may even consider moving to Speakout Wireless after my Telus contract expires in November!

The phone works great for me. Everything works as fast, if not faster, than my previous phone (Galaxy S3). The only drawbacks for me are the camera and the interface to get into the phone from the locked state. I have to swipe up and then my pattern before I get to the home screen. But I can handle this for a $40 phone!

I just noticed on the website that I need to activate the $100 voucher by July 1. Can anyone confirm this or can I leave it until when I want to switch to Speakout Wireless in the fall?

rrraven on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Sun, 24 May 2015 13:39:38 -0700

Since this is Lollipop (Android 5.o) and specifies Bluetooth 4.0, it should work with the various fitness devices and tracking buttons that have become available. Has anyone tried linking these to the Acer Liquid Z220?

dennismiller on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Mon, 18 May 2015 00:20:30 -0700

happycamper said

There is a general issue in android 5.0 "lollipop"? with the stuff you put on an sd card. It is all set to a kind of "read only" by the phone so editing certain files can only be done by deleting the ones on the card and replacing with a new file, edited, from your computer. There's talk of this online....

Change happened before 5.0 It's intended for security or something. A pain.

happycamper on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Sun, 17 May 2015 11:18:40 -0700

Thanks for the heads up on this deal, Peter! I ran out and got one put my sim in and I am very pleased withit.
New to android myself but can't resist a few notes:
...don't let that review in post 4 turn you away...sure the pictures are not super for pixel-peeping but you have to consider they were thinking of inclusion to Multimediamessages etc. so compression is suitably high to save data. That in mind, they look pretty good to me.

gps is not the best -can be intermittent but It might be software issue. If you are new to Android, and keep a tinfoil hat in your closet, remember it is pretty much Google spyware.

There is a general issue in android 5.0 "lollipop"? with the stuff you put on an sd card. It is all set to a kind of "read only" by the phone so editing certain files can only be done by deleting the ones on the card and replacing with a new file, edited, from your computer. There's talk of this online....

@NW711 maybe a tip for you? turn the phone sideways to use the keyboard. No way I could use it in "portrait" mode.

CW on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Sat, 16 May 2015 13:12:21 -0700

Ok, I fixed it. The phone was in accessibility mode and apparently it's not an uncommon Android problem for that to happen if someone is looking through the menus or just messing with the phone. So it's back to normal. now.

CW on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Sat, 16 May 2015 06:23:11 -0700

Thanks...I tried that several times but it's no different. It powers off but when it comes back on, it reverts to the same tutorial mode.

A voice just keeps repeating the phone details, "bluetooth off, wifi on, 4 bars, battery 65%" etc etc. Then if I touch an icon, a green dotted line appears around it and the voice declares the name of the icon.

It's just the same with the sim card removed so it seems nothing to do with Speakout. Is this "tutorial" a feature of Android 5.0, or is it something Acer have put into the phone?

speakoutbigfan on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Fri, 15 May 2015 23:12:24 -0700

Hi CW,

Just press and hold power button and UP Volume button at the same time for 5-10 seconds
to restart. It should be ok.

CW on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Fri, 15 May 2015 21:22:29 -0700

I already have a problem with this Acer Z220 that we just bought.

I was trying the included tutorial (to help me learn about it) and the phone now seems to be locked into that mode. Can''t access anything because the screen won't respond. First the screen said "touch disabled while tutorial is speaking" except that it wasn't speaking. There was an EXIT panel and a NEXT panel but neither would respond.

Then, a little voice started reading out all the details, time, wifi on, battery % etc etc. and it also stated the name of each icon I touched but nothing happens and I can't get out of it.

I tried removing/replacing the battery, and the sim card but the phone still comes back in the same mode.

Any ideas other than to return it?

NW711 on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Thu, 14 May 2015 08:00:47 -0700

I was happy with a 3 year old Alcatel 356 model phone, but a new job required me to have a cell phone. I have to pay for the phone service myself, so I chose not to use Speakout for the new job. 25 cents a minute would likely prove to be too expensive for that, so, I bought the Acer 220 a couple of days ago.
The Acer phone comes with a Speakout “dual sim” card installed.
The Acer 220 comes with two simcard slots, one full-size, and one micro sim.
With the dual sim capability, I put the full-sized sim card from my new phone service for the new job in the Acer, and snapped out the micro sim Speakout card that came with the Acer and contacted Speakout about moving my existing Speakout number and balance over to the new sim card. I followed the instructions provided, and the transfer of my Speakout number to the new sim card was completed by early the next morning.
I am still getting used to the Acer phone, as it is my first Android. The phone call sound quality is *very* good. The screen resolution seems very clear to me. I have seen higher resolution screens on iPhones, but frankly, I cannot see any difference in the clarity of text or images on web pages I have looked at using my home wi-fi connection.
So far, the only “problem” I am having is learning to type text messages on a new touch screen device. It is going to take a bit of practice for me.
I am *very* happy with the new device, and if you are interested in getting one, you might want to get one before they are all gone. Even at the full price of $90, it seems like an excellent value for money.

CW on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Wed, 13 May 2015 08:13:59 -0700

To update the data question I raised above, I just called customer service and was told that the $10 data charge would only be deducted if I opted for the data add-on after the 2 months initial trial (of 100Mb/month). So I'll check later to see if that's the case.

CW on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Tue, 12 May 2015 19:21:22 -0700

I also just took advantage of this 7-11 Acer Z220 offer for my wife. I'm no expert on phones (just have an old Speakout Nokia flip-phone myself) but it seems to work pretty well, works fast and the screen resolution looks fine to me. The on-line operation manual is very clear and well laid out compared to others I've seen.

Fixed up gmail, maps, what'sapp and a few others. All this stuff works just fine off the home wi-fi so I'm not sure we'll bother with getting data later. In any case, I didn't get 2 months as some people say they did, just got one month of100Mb and the account says "The cost of your 30 Day Value Plan/Add-On will be deducted from your account balance every 30 days."

Maybe I'm reading it wrong...I don't know. I paid $140+tax for the package. The present balance shown is $101.91 and 364 days.

onlyfonesunder60 on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Fri, 08 May 2015 20:04:47 -0700

Oops, very newbie rookie mistake on my part. My younger bro showed me that lack of screen responsiveness is due to my non removal of factory shipped screen dust protector. Once removed, the screen responsiveness is vastly improved.

dennismiller on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Thu, 07 May 2015 01:42:01 -0700

The $122 for $100 is probably the 2 months data included in the deal.
I find the screen is not the best but better than my PrismII was and totally acceptable.
It's all relative and we are all different but I find it fast and enjoy using the phone, Call quality and speakerphone all great.
I don't know that there could be a better deal than this.
Unlocked, dual sim phone, good for Speakout, Rogers, T-mobile, AT&T, Telus?, Bell?.........

onlyfonesunder60 on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Wed, 06 May 2015 06:42:07 -0700

Added second $100 to existing family line. No bonus minutes received, just the $100.

onlyfonesunder60 on May 2015 promo: $40 for Acer smartphone with $100 airtime purchase

Tue, 05 May 2015 10:41:09 -0700

It's a nicest little smart phone for $34 I've ever had. I paid $156 including bc tax for the phone and 100 minutes at my local 7-11 store. But I got a nice surprise on adding the $100 to my spouse's account. The $100 became $122. Not bad. I don't know how we got $122 when the receipt shows $100. The airtime is supposedly good for 365 days.

The phone includes a removable battery, 2-piece USB wall plug-in charging cable, a 2-in-1 regular / micro sim and black earbuds with mic.

For $34, it's a very good deal imo. It's unlocked and is dual sim. The phone accepts a regular sim or a micro sim. It also has a micro sd memory card... it supports up to 32 GB memory card based on the gsm arena or phone arena specs site.

Screen resolution is fine for what it is. 4". Running android 5.0. Anything over android 2.3 with wifi sharing is good for me. Screen resolution is Similar to Nokia lumia 530. Way better than Sony Ericsson j108 cedar that I paid $60 for years ago.

In the contacts, the swiping is a bit wonky. A little swipe goes all the way up or down through contacts. Going slow selects a contact.

Internet speed is ok when I put in my Fido sim. I noticed a speed lag compared to my Sony Xperia SP. Wifi set up went easy as did setting up an email account. I haven't figured out yet how to use the free 2-months data. With wifi all over, and only 100mb a month, it's probably something that shouldn't get hooked on.

Telephone voice quality is crisp and clear. I'm gonna get another one today. Will find out if $100 credit jumps again.