Technologies

Avoid Border Control Snooping Your Private Info by Using a Burner Phone for Travel

Travelers entering the US should consider a simple phone that doesn’t have all your personal information. Here’s how.

Traveling out of the US and back is getting more complicated, with agents of US Customs and Border Patrol scanning personal devices more aggressively. Some businesses in Canada and the European Union are suggesting their employees bring «burner phones» into the country as a precaution to safeguard personal and sensitive information. Even if you’re a US citizen going on vacation, you may want to consider a simple phone to use for basic communication.

But a burner isn’t just for crossing borders. A phone that doesn’t include all of your personal information or has a simpler interface can be quite handy, such as cutting down on unsolicited calls or even avoiding distractions. Comedian Conan O’Brien recently praised his burner as a way to not get bogged down in instant messages and notifications.

Although carriers have offered prepaid phones since the ’90s, the term «burner phones» or «burners» essentially became popular in the 2000s due to its use in the celebrated HBO series The Wire, in which characters use burner phones to avoid getting caught by the police. Although often portrayed as such, burners are not only popular among criminals. With privacy concerns rising, you might consider using a burner phone yourself.

So, what exactly is a burner phone, and how does it work? Below, we explain everything you need to know about burners and how to get one.

What is a burner phone?

Simply put, a burner phone is a cheap prepaid phone with no commitments. It comes with a set number of prepaid call minutes, text messages, or data and is designed to be disposed of after use.

Burners are contract-free, and you can grab them off the counter. They’re called burner phones because you can «burn» them, i.e., trash them after use, and the phone cannot be traced back to you, which makes them appealing to criminals. Burner phones are typically used when you need a phone quickly, without intentions of long-term usage.

Burners are different from getting a regular, contract-bound cellphone plans that require a lot of your information to be on file.

Why should you use a burner phone?

Burner phones are an easy way to avoid pesky cellphone contracts or spam you may be getting on your primary phone number. Burners are not linked to your identity, so you can avoid getting tracked down or contacted if that’s what you need.

However, you don’t have to dispose of it after use — you can just add more minutes and continue using it. Burner phones can still function as regular phones, minus the hassle of getting a phone with a contract.

You can also get a burner phone as a secondary phone for a specific purpose, like having a spare phone number for two-factor authentication texts, for business purposes or to avoid roaming charges while traveling. You can get a burner phone for any privacy reasons you may have.

Read more: The Data Privacy Tips Digital Security Experts Wish You Knew

Burner phones, prepaid phones, smartphones and burner SIMs: What’s the difference?

Burner phones are typically cheap feature phones and usually don’t come with the bells and whistles of a smartphone. Since these are designed to be cheap and disposable, you only get the essentials and very simple designs. The flip phone is a common sight in the burner phone market.

All burner phones are prepaid phones, but not all prepaid phones are burners. What sets a burner apart is that you will not have to give away any personal information to get one, and it won’t be traceable back to you. Also, it will be cheap enough to be trashed after use.

Read more: Best Prepaid Phone of 2025

Prepaid smartphones are generally low-end models to begin with, and burners are the cheapest prepaid phones you can get. However, you can use any unlocked smartphone with prepaid SIM cards if you want to, essentially making it a prepaid phone.

If you want to get a burner, you don’t necessarily have to buy a new phone. You can get a burner SIM and use it with an existing phone as well. Burner SIMs are prepaid SIMs you can get without a contract or giving away personal information.

Where can you buy a burner phone?

Burner phones are available at all the major retail outlets. You can pick them up from Walmart, Target, Best Buy and other big retailers. They’re also often available at convenience stores like 7-Eleven and Rite Aid, local supermarkets, gas stations, and retail phone outlets like Cricket, Metro and others.

You can get a burner phone with cash; a typical burner should cost between $10 and $50. It may cost more if you get more minutes and data with the phone. If you’re getting a burner phone specifically to avoid having the phone traced back to you, it makes sense to pay with cash instead of a credit card.

If you just want a prepaid secondary phone, you can pay for one with a credit card. Credit cards will leave a paper trail that leads back to you, but that shouldn’t be an issue unless you really don’t want the burner phone linked back to you.

There are also many apps that let you get secondary phone numbers, including Google Fi and the Burner app. However, these cannot quite be called burners in the ideal sense, since these providers will typically have at least some of your personal information.

If you’re just looking to get a solid prepaid phone without anonymity, you can check out our full guide for the best prepaid phone plans available currently. We also have a guide for the best cheap phone plans you can get.

Technologies

Soon, You Can Cut Through Stadium Cellular Congestion With Turbo Live by AT&T

AT&T’s new feature promises clear phone service during crowded events like the Super Bowl and concerts, even for T-Mobile and Verizon customers.

Attending a sports game at a stadium can be fun, but when the crowded stands are filled with people trying to use their phones at the same time, it’s hard to get good cellular reception. AT&T is launching a new service to beef up cellular service in congested venues like these, and you don’t need to be an AT&T subscriber to use it.

Turbo Live by AT&T provides priority cellular performance during big sports and concert events, and will first roll out in 10 US stadiums in early February. Yes, that’ll be in time for the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, if you’re going to be in Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area.

AT&T has yet to formally announce pricing. Currently, there’s a web page to sign up for announcements. However, Rob Pegoraro at PCMag got more details from AT&T spokesperson Michael Delgado, who wrote to him in an email, «Turbo Live starts at $5 per event with a variable structure that changes depending on the caliber of the event.»

Pegoraro said that Turbo Live is not an ongoing subscription open to any customer: «Instead, it’s a power-up offered only in designated spots and subject to capacity limits and variable rates that might evoke surge pricing.»

A spokesperson for AT&T confirmed that Turbo Live is using AT&T’s existing 5G network that covers the following 10 stadiums:

• Alabama (Bryant Denny Stadium)
• Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
• Chicago (United Center)
• Houston (NRG Stadium)
• Las Vegas (Sphere)
• Los Angeles (Intuit Dome)
• Miami (Hard Rock Stadium)
• New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium)
• San Antonio (Alamodome)
• San Francisco Bay Area (Levi’s Stadium)
• Seattle (Lumen Field)

AT&T is also working to expand coverage in Dallas (AT&T Stadium), Foxborough (Gillette Stadium) and Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium).

You’ll need a 5G-capable phone, which AT&T says may need to be unlocked, and an open eSIM slot for activation.

The latter detail is what makes Turbo Live available to Verizon and T-Mobile customers with unlocked phones: The feature is installed as a secondary eSIM. A Connect on Demand app will provide instructions for setting it up, which will involve a «one-time payment method» with no carrier commitment needed, according to AT&T.

Running a separate service as a secondary eSIM is becoming more common. It’s one of the easiest ways to get international phone service when you’re traveling, and is also how T-Mobile offers its T-Satellite feature to customers of other carriers for $10 a month.

I’ve reached out to AT&T for more details.

Technologies

T-Mobile’s New Unlimited Phone Plan Is Designed for Families, But Check the Details

The Better Value plan looks great on paper, especially compared to its Experience More plan, but the fine print matters on this limited time deal.

If you’re looking for an unlimited data phone plan for three or more people that includes plenty of perks, T-Mobile’s new Better Value plan has a lot to offer. But does the name actually reflect a better value for an unlimited plan, especially considering, according to the company, it’s a limited time offering?

We rank T-Mobile’s Essentials plan highly in our Best Cellphone Plans, Best Unlimited Data Plans and Best T-Mobile Plans lists, though after reviewing the specifics, the Experience More plan — the number two unlimited postpaid plan — presents a more interesting comparison. Let’s see how they stack up.

Better Value plan pricing and features compared

For an account with three lines, the monthly cost of the Better Value plan is $140 (with AutoPay active), plus applicable taxes and fees. Experience More similarly costs $140 a month for three lines. The Essentials plan costs $90 a month for three lines, but lacks most of the add-ons that make the other two plans appealing.

Both the Experience More and Better Value plans offer unlimited data on T-Mobile’s 5G network, a five-year price guarantee and two-year device upgrades.

However, the Better Value plan includes 250GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data, compared to 60GB for the Experience More plan. After those amounts have been used up, data is available at an unlimited rate of 600 kbps. (T-Mobile’s highest tier plan by comparison, Experience Beyond, includes unlimited high-speed hotspot data.)

Better Value also includes more high-speed data when you’re in other countries, with 30GB available in Mexico and Canada, as well as in 215 countries and areas worldwide. That’s more than the Experience More plan, which offers 15GB in North America and 5GB elsewhere.

T-Satellite is also included in the Better Value plan, a feature that costs $10 extra for every other T-Mobile plan except for Experience Beyond.

One appeal of these plans, especially in the context of families, is the set of included streaming services. The Better Value plan and Experience More plan both include Netflix Standard with Ads and Hulu, and Apple TV can be added for $3 per month.

Important qualifications

Here’s where the fine print comes in, and it appears that T-Mobile is aiming to inspire and reward loyalty.

If you’re switching from a different carrier, the Better Value plan requires three or more lines and two eligible ports. Although it’s likely a family or small business would be transferring from another provider and not keeping its other lines, Better Value is an effort to build up group plans and incentivize switching away from other carriers.

If you’re already set up with T-Mobile, the Better Value plan requires that you have been a T-Mobile postpaid customer for at least five years. And if you have that much tenure, you should be aware that your current plan might have taxes and fees included, whereas the Better Value plan doesn’t.

The Better Value plan is available in the T-Life app and on T-Mobile.com. When you enter a retail T-Mobile store, you’ll likely be directed to the app or website with the assistance of an employee.

And lastly, T-Mobile brands this as a limited-time offer, but I confirmed with a spokesperson that it currently has no end date.

See also: I got an in-depth look at T-Mobile’s emergency response programs.

T-Mobile Better Value vs. Experience More plans

	Better Value plan	Experience More plan
High-speed data	5G, Unlimited	5G, Unlimited
Mobile Hotspot	250GB high-speed, then unlimited at 600kbps	60GB high-speed, then unlimited at 600kbps
International Call/Data	Unlimited talk and text; 30GB high-speed data in Mexico/Canada/215+ countries, then unlimited at 256 kbps	Unlimited talk and text; 15GB high speed data in Canada/Mexico, 5GB high speed data in 215+ countries; then unlimited at 256Kbps
Extras	Netflix Standard with Ads; Hulu with Ads; Magenta Status; Apple TV for $3/mo	Netflix Standard with Ads; 1 year AAA; Magenta Status; Apple TV for $3/mo
Price Guarantee	5 years	5 years
T-Satellite	Included	Optional $10 add-on
Cost for 3 lines	$140	$140
Limited-time offer?	Yes	No

Technologies

Forza Horizon 6 Focuses on Japanese Car Culture: Here’s What to Know

The racing series’ latest edition, out in May, includes stunning views of Mount Fuji.

Microsoft has given racing-game fans a deeper dive into the upcoming Forza Horizon 6, and on Friday announced a May 19 release date for Xbox and PC. Premium Edition buyers will get early access on May 15, but PlayStation 5 owners will have to wait until sometime later in 2026 to play.

The publisher provided a first-look video that shows stunning views of Japan, including cherry blossom-strewn rural roads, ice-enclosed courses, neon-lit Tokyo streets and plenty of views of Mount Fuji.

The game will launch with 550 collectible cars, and Microsoft will display two on the cover: the 2025 GR GT Prototype and the 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Microsoft says the open-world game will focus on Japanese car culture, with the player in the role of a new arrival to the country guided by two close friends, motorsports fan Jordy and car builder Mei.

The locations will be divided into districts, ranging from bustling urban areas such as Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing to suburbs, industrial docklands, and more rural areas.

What to know about Forza Horizon 6

Progress in the game will include unlocking new cars and more advanced races, plus a journal of digital mementos inspired by stamp collecting.

The game features eight player houses across Japan that serve as fast-travel points. And new to the game series is The Estate, a piece of land players can acquire and build on.

Inspired by Japanese car culture, Forza Horizon 6 will add Car Meets that’ll serve as social spaces for players.

The Standard Edition costs $70, the Deluxe Edition costs $100, and the Premium Edition, which unlocks early access and includes several Car Packs, costs $120. The game will also be a Day 1 release on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and will be available on Steam and Xbox Cloud as well.