MetroPCS offers among the best monthly plans we’ve evaluated. Indeed only the top rated unlimited monthly plans from top rated Boost Mobile and Cricket compare favorably for both features and value. The unfortunate reality with MetroPCS, however, is that you can only realistically obtain their service their service if you live or work, or otherwise frequent, what they call their Home Areas. Those areas are very limited. They’re represented on the company’s Coverage Map by the dark purple dots. The light purple areas are part of the MetroPCS Extended Home Area and you can use their phones in these areas without incurring roaming charges if using the $45 or $50 monthly plans.

Regrettably, the large majority of the map is colored tan which MetroPCS designates as TravelTalk areas. We call it roaming, but regardless of the name, using the service in these areas costs an additional $.19 per minute, effectively negating the value of all the great features, unless, of course, you reside in a Home Area.

MetroPCS offers five different monthly plans with different feature sets but doesn’t have usage based programs.

Customer service from MetroPCS is outstanding. Indeed, the July 2008 J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction report rated the company first among prepaid wireless services. Our experience with their customer associates was in complete agreement with that report. They were consistently well informed, answering questions without hesitation. They were also gregarious and enthused. Customer support options cover the full spectrum including phone and email support, comprehensive FAQs, and live online chat.

MetroPCS has one of the most extensive lines of phones available from a prepaid cell phone provider though they tend to be more expensive than with some other services. The flagship device is the Samsung Finesse which is a pretty high end touchscreen phone with a camera, music player and full web capabilities. We’d have to disagree with MetroPCS’ designating it as a smartphone but it is still a very capable device.

If you happen to live in one of MetroPCS’ home areas, we recommend checking them out for your Prepaid Cell Phone needs. Otherwise, we suggest looking at our objective reviews of Boost Mobile, Cricket and Virgin Mobile.