Up until now, there were basically two ways to get Sprint service. You could go with a contract, or you could use one of Sprint’s prepaid carriers (Boost or Virgin Mobile).

Now it seems that Sprint wants to deliver prepaid services directly under its own brand with its “Sprint as you go” service, which will launch with four handsets on the 25th of January.

So what are the phones like? For smartphones we have the $249 Samsung Victory and $149 LG Optimus Elite. For feature phones, you have a choice between the $50 Samsung M400 and $79 Array.

As for the plan, you get unlimited talk, text and data for $70 a month if you are using a smartphone, or just $50 unlimited for feature phones.

This isn’t all that different from some of the options that previously exist with Boost and Virgin Mobile, but if you really, really care about having the “Sprint” branding— this might be the perfect service for you.

What contract or prepaid carrier do you use right now? Would you consider a Sprint prepaid device instead?

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