While that's the cheapest phone we sell, you can bring a lower cost phone to Republic. Amazon sells a $99 dollar Moto G4 Play which you can use on Republic Wireless: https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1480520674&sr=8-3&keywords=g4+play
If you have Amazon Prime, this phone should do the trick for you: https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1480439047&sr=8-1&keywords=Prime+exclusive+phone
Everything I'm seeing says the game runs fine on this phone. Also, it's only slightly more expensive than the third party Pokemon Go Plus sales.
Let me know if you don't have Prime, I'm sure we can dig up a good phone to work for you at $100 or less.
If you have amazon prime you could get the Moto G
All LTE devices need/have SIM Cards.
My suggestion is to stay with Boost and get a Moto G 4th gen, it should fit your needs and it's unlocked and cheap.
If you have Amazon Prime you can get one for $99, the ads are pretty easy to remove. Any phone try to find one that's unlocked and works will most of the carriers, so you can switch carriers.
Consider creating a family plan on T-Mobile with you and your mother. 2 lines with unlimited data is only $100 a month (taxes & fees included) and includes 10gb for a mobile hotspot if you need that. $50 per person for unlimited on a network that you say works great at your home is a great deal. If you need to pick up a new phone then just get the $99 Moto G Play from Amazon.
If you have Amazon Prime I think you can get this for $99 right now. Moto G...
The Moto G4 Play is basically the upgrade to the Moto E since they stopped making the Moto E in the US. It has 2GB RAM and 16GB storage plus SD card slot, so you'll be able to run more apps simultaneously and not be as limited by storage. The size is a little bigger with a 5" screen instead of 4.5" but still smaller than many other modern phones. Unfortunately there's no LED -- that's a feature that I like too but that isn't as common anymore.
Regular price is $150, but I was able to pick some up for my parents for $90 during a B&H flash sale, so you might be able to find a deal if you want to stay under $100. There is also the Amazon version with ads if you are a Prime member for $99.
I bought Moto G4 Play as a backup phone for $150 (new, unlocked). It's perfectly serviceable. Compared to my iPhone 6s, the biggest downgrades are processor speed and camera. If you want to store anything (music, photos, videos) on it, you'll need to spend a little more for an SD card.
But coming from a feature phone, it might not be a bad place to start.
There's a version sold by Amazon for Prime customers that has lockscreen ads that can be had for only $100. (I would have gotten that one, but it was out of stock at the time.)
https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A
The Moto G Play (4th gen.) would be a great choice. If you are a prime user you can get it for $99 otherwise they are at $149 on amazon It's a GSM phone with removable battery and a pretty decent camera. Additionally has snapdragon 410, 2gb ram, 8 mp primary ,and 5 mp secondary camera, 2800 mah battery life which is pretty decent for it's price.
That sucks, I heard great things about it. I bought my brother one (upgrading from Moto G2), and while I didn't get to see it myself, I think he enjoys it. I was gonna buy one for myself, but you can only do one of each Prime exclusive device per account, so I contacted support and they gave me a $50 credit so I could by another one (because Amazon is awesome).
I decided to grab the Moto G4 Play instead though (in my situation it was actually $10 cheaper). It's $99 for the Prime version which is more than the R1, but it's a very solid device. I could use it as my daily driver if I had too. Plus it has CDMA support and Band 12 for T-Mobile. And the battery life is amazing. 90 minutes of Pokemon GO only dropped my battery about 30%. Speaking of Pokemon, the game runs just as well as it does on my 5X which is impressive (though the 720p vs 1080p is a factor there). That amount of time would pretty much drain my Nexus 5X almost all the way. When I wasn't using the phone, I think I got 9 days or something of standby time. I have a lot of background services disabled, but I did not leave it in airplane mode, and it has a SIM in it.
Link for the interested: https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A/ref=sr_1_3?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1477496323&sr=1-3&keywords=moto+g4+play
No, it a Moto phone running Android that has Amazon Ads on the lock screen. Here.>>
It may not be the absolute cheapest, but this is a good option for $100: https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1482854560&sr=1-1&keywords=moto+g4+play
Bands: 4G LTE (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 25, 26, 41)
It's loaded with Amazon ads, but that doesn't matter if you only need it for hot spots. I got it because it also supports USB tethering which I use occasionally.
If you want to use it as a phone as well, there is an apk you can load that disables all the Amazon ads.
I just got a brand new and unlocked Moto G4 Play at Amazon. I chose the $99.99 one, which has Amazon ads on the lock screen. Also purchased case, screen protectors, a 32GB Micro SD, and Republic Wireless SIM Card from Amazon.
Here is a link to the phone: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KBH547A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I really like the phone! It has a removable battery (almost unheard of today), and expandable storage via Micro SD card.
And in case you are wondering, the Amazon Ads on the Lock Screen do not bug me at all.
If you want to upgrade to one of the the RW Clear Choice 3.0 plans, the new Moto G4 Play from Amazon is only $99. It contains Amazon ads on the lock screen, which are virtually unnoticeable.
I got mine a couple of weeks ago, and I LOVE IT!
Here is a link: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KBH547A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The only downside is that you can only use it on the 3.0 Clear Choice RW plans. If you are currently on a refund plan and want to keep it, you will have find an older phone that works on that plan.
I think this is still the best phone in the $100 range if you can put up with Amazon ads: https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A
Edit: The $100 price with ads requires Amazon Prime but the $140 price is for all users without ads.
From what I read, the 5x has more problems. I'm a 6p owner and follow the battery issue fairly closely. Although it does exist, it doesn't seem quite as pervasive as the problems with the 5x.
That said, I wouldn't recommend anyone purchase a 6p at this point. Google will quit supporting the phone in Sept 2017 so there's really no compelling reason to shell out a few hundred dollars on a device that very well might have battery issues and definitely will be orphaned in 7 months.
If you're a Fi customer and don't want to buy a Pixel then I'd switch carriers. There are a ton of other pre-paid carriers that are cheaper than Fi. You could play it a couple of ways...purchase a good, but inexpensive phone like the Moto G Play for $99 on Amazon to use temporarily until Google offers a reasonably priced Fi compatible phone. Or just ditch Fi and purchase a flagship-level device like the OnePlus 3T for $439...it has better specs than the Pixel at a fraction of the price.
You can get the Amazon Prime version for a little more if you are OK with Amazon ads on the lock screen. It's unlocked and fully supports T-Mobile. https://smile.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A
They also have this one for $60: https://smile.amazon.com/BLU-R1-HD-Exclusive-Lockscreen/dp/B01H2E0J5M/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_487_bs_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XA44XZ9DBGF1M34NZYQA
Buy a cheap Verizon compatible phone for the time being and cancel that line you don't need?
The Blu R1 HD is the best deal in smartphones but it's currently out of stock on Amazon, but the Motorola G4 Play is also available for $99 if you have Amazon Prime.
Best deal at that price is the the Moto G4 w/ Amazon Prime Offers.
For less messy amazon links you can extract the part after "/dp/" in
and make it:
BEEP BOP
Plz send any recommendations via PM
Currently the best deal going is the Moto G4 with Amazon Prime.