[GadgetKen]

OK, finally got to try out the new Paytoo sim card that I got in the mail earlier this week. Here's the review I promised.

So far a thumbs up on the new PayToo sim card offering.

The sim card came in a US Postal Service Priority Mail small cardboard package with a tracking label on it. Inside was a small plastic wrapped cardboard sleeve along with several instruction pamphlets in several languages, and a 2 page cover letter. The sim chip pops out of a plastic card that is a little smaller than I normally see, but the sim chip itself is normally sized. The plastic card has the phone number, PIN code and the PUK code on it.

Inserting it in my dual sim phone in Connecticut, USA, the chip authenticated after entering the 4 digit pin code (usual 3 try scheme before a PUK is required). It showed "Yackie Telecom" as the carrier although it was likely registering on AT&T based on signal strength. The AT&T MVNO chip I had in the other slot did boot a few seconds faster the first time I put the new chip in the phone, but boot up time was almost identical thereafter. Call out on the Paytoo sim card is always with a "00" prefix rather than "+" and the country code is always needed (in this case "1").

I tried a brief test call to my office voicemail. A brief message saying USSD or SMS message being sent showed in the display and then the phone almost immediately rang back afterwards(much faster than I normally see on a call-back sim). Voice quality was very good with a slight trace of white noise. Touchtone passthrough did work to enter the pin numbers for my office voicemail. The sim is definitely data enabled because the data indicator went active although I did not actually try this feature.

Billing appeared immediately on the PayToo website. It was billed as US$.51 for 42 seconds rounded up to 60 seconds, with is actually US$.06 cheaper than listed in their rate calculator. Also no connect charge was levied. While more expensive per minute than my AT&T/Jolt or T-Mobile/Tuyo prepaid sim cards (approximately US$.15/minute and US$.08 per minute respectively after discounts), this still would be competitively priced for visitors to the US than using postpaid gsm sims in roaming mode.

Primary usage will likely be in the non-US Caribbean to supplement other communication options including the competing e-kit simple calling sim card, a regional Digicel Bermuda sim card, Skype, and Iridium. First test will be in Bermuda starting on May 29th. Will see how stacks up against the Digicel card on price and call quality.