Tech
What Is A Burner Phone, Why Should You Use, And Where To Get One?

Have you ever wondered what is a burner phone that you often see in action movies? Are you trying to find a temporary cell phone to pair with a prepaid sim card? There are several inexpensive phones available on the market that meet this requirement. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to understand which phone to get based on your preferences and requirements. Do you want to use your prepaid phone to browse the web, talk, take pictures, and shop? Or do you require a phone that is only for making (emergency) calls?
Do you desire a temporary cell phone with no obligations and an anonymous number? You could be looking for a so-called burner phone. A burner phone is essentially a terrific temporary phone, an emergency phone, or a business phone that you can toss away when you no longer need it.
What Is A Burner Phone?
Essentially, a burner phone is a prepaid phone with minimal functions. These phones do not support web surfing or the usage of apps. They allow you to call, utilize a phone book, and get in touch with friends, family, or emergency services while maintaining your anonymity. A burner mobile phone could be a decent alternative if you require an emergency phone with basic functionality and no other choices than making phone calls. Usually, a burner sim card is used with these phones. This card is bought anonymously and put into the phone.
Burner phones are an excellent option if you need to temporarily broadcast a phone number for short-term use, utilize dating websites, or include a number in an advertisement. Consider a prepaid mobile phone instead of a burner phone if you want to get a prepaid phone with plenty of capabilities, like the ability to utilize applications, surf the internet, and communicate. Numerous reasonably priced no-contract prepaid phones are available for you to select from.
Why Should You Use a Burner Phone?
To safeguard your identity, you may use a burner phone or a SIM card. You may use the number without worrying about being recognized if you can find a phone or SIM card that isn’t connected to your actual identity. There are many different reasons why someone could desire anonymity. Maybe you’re calling a potential employer with an anonymous tip. Perhaps you want to utilize a secure chat app like Telegram or Signal without giving up your main phone number.
Perhaps you want to avoid handing out your primary phone number to marketers who will presumably contact you again, as when you’re looking at real estate listings or getting estimates for insurance.
Burner phones are highly constrained in their capabilities because they are feature phones. Most are restricted to phone calls and text messages and do not have access to cameras or current browsers. They feature long-lasting batteries and are generally lightweight gadgets.
When used judiciously, the battery life of many such gadgets can reach days or even months on a single charge. Burner phones are therefore excellent for use in an emergency. As they can be charged and turned off until needed, they are frequently included in emergency survival packs. What could be better than a backup phone with long battery life and no need for a costly mobile phone plan?
In Short, 5 Reasons to Use a Burner Phone:
- Redirect Spam Messages Away From Your Main Phone
- Visit Another Country Without Roaming Charges
- Take Your Phone to Dangerous Places
- Protect Your Main Phone From Theft or Seizure
- Stop Dating Creeps From Contacting You Further
Burner Phones Can Not Promise Anonymity
Be aware that no mobile phone offers genuine anonymity if you’re buying a burner phone for privacy concerns that go beyond just utilizing the number to send anonymous Signal messages or prevent spam. It all depends on your “threat model”—from what dangers are you attempting to defend your privacy?
Just imagine the procedure for purchasing a burner phone. Let’s assume you go to a store, use your credit card to purchase the burner phone, then drive back to your house to switch it on.
In the process: If you brought your regular phone with you, your cellular provider will be aware that you were there when the phone was bought. It’s possible that license plate readers along the route logged your movements and captured your license plate. It’s possible that a retail camera captured you purchasing the phone. Your purchase of the phone will be documented by your credit card provider. The cellular provider your phone uses will know very much exactly where your home address is when you switch it on at home.
Additionally, if you have both your burner phone and regular phone with you at the same time and they are both switched on, it will be clear to anybody looking at your mobile phone records that you are the owner of both devices.
Yes, there are several methods for you to be located by an enemy with significant resources. Well, good luck if you’re actually attempting to avoid the authorities. You’ll require it. However, if all you want is a new phone number that can’t be quickly and readily used to identify you by the businesses and individuals you interact with, that will work just fine.
And it doesn’t really matter if you don’t want to be identified and just want a backup cell phone with long battery life for emergencies.
Where to Get a Burner Phone?
Reuse an Old Phone. Open the dreaded “old electronics” drawer first before running out to get a new phone. There’s a considerable probability that you have an outdated model in your smartphone if you use it frequently. Check to see if it still works by taking it out. If it does, get a SIM card. Make that the SIM card is compatible with the network the phone is locked to if it has a carrier lock. Then, to save money, use it just like a standard burner phone.
Prepaid SIM cards and burner phones will be sold at convenience shops and electronic merchants. There is a good range of inexpensive smartphones or SIM-only plans that simply let you make and receive phone calls and texts at Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and other comparable retailers. Prepaid SIM cards are frequently available in drugstores like Rite Aid and convenience shops like 7-Eleven.
Depending on the features you choose, you should expect to pay between $10 and $50 for an inexpensive burner. Plans start at roughly $10, but in the end, it all comes down to how you want to use them. The majority of burners are just used for texting and calling, therefore any other capabilities (touchscreens, cameras, etc.) may be unnecessary and a waste of battery power.
Up to 14 hours of talk time may be had on a single charge with the Nokia 110, a basic 2G feature phone. Similar in price and equipped with a camera is the BLU Z5. One of the most “sophisticated” low-cost smartphones is the Nokia 1.3, which costs roughly $100 and runs Android 10.
How much of your purchase you want to anonymize depends on how serious you are about maintaining your privacy. You may ask a friend or family member to buy it for you or to give you a gift card that you could use to buy the phone. You might also pay in person with cash. Buying from an online store is usually not the greatest choice if you want to maintain your anonymity because you probably don’t want to use your credit or debit card.
You may shop online for the greatest prices without being concerned about privacy issues if you’re just buying a burner to keep in your car or add to a survival kit. The best locations to start are Amazon, eBay, or your favorite local service provider.