Mint Mobile Review after 3 Week
The original post was moved because it had a referral link. Here is the review text without the referral link. I hope this helps anyone who is thinking about getting mint mobile
Most people don't question a hefty Verizon Wireless bill. Verizon recently used sales tactics that were half-truths and gave poor customer service, which made me look into other options.
First, let's talk about what's going on in the industry.
The Big Players are Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, which own their towers and networks. You might notice that Sprint isn't on this list. That's because Sprint and T-Mobile merged last year.
The MVNOs – StraightTalk, Cricket, Mint Mobile, and a slew of other services buy time, in advance from the big 3. These carriers go by many names. Most of them are MVNOs, which stands for "mobile virtual network operators." They buy data and voice/text time from the big guys at wholesale prices. They save money by keeping their Brick and Mortar costs to a minimum or not having them at all. Most people call the plans that these companies sell "Prepaid plans." Google Fi is not prepaid and you pay a prorated consumption amount for data. If you use little data each month, this is likely the cheapest big name option. But the cost can approach the bigger players if consuming a lot of cellular data.
Second, each company has their own distinct features. Each is important to different people in different ways.
Lastly, let's not forget Cost. The T-Mobile network is used by MVNOs like Mint Mobile. They have WiFi calling and the option to buy International Prepaid Credits.
I've only been using their network for 3 weeks, so your results may be different.
PROS
Price: First, the bottom line…
If my family switches all three of our lines to Mint, we'll save more than $840 per year. We paid more than $115 a month for Verizon's 3 lines and 5GB of shared data. Less than 40% of what Verizon costs.
Strong coverage in cities and a good network. After merging with Sprint, T-Mobile is now the second largest carrier. In grocery stores and other buildings, T-network Mobile's has been a couple bars stronger than Verizon's in my town. This will depend on where you live, but the coverage is great in Richmond. Full disclosure: I thought Mint's coverage of rural areas on the map was too good to be true. For more on this, see "Cons" below.
Turn on wifi calling to use your cell phone like VOIP and make calls that are clear. Not all MVNOs offer wifi calling, though.
Low-Risk Trial: If you want the $15 credit, you must add a discounted 3-month plan. I tried the $45/3-month 3GB plan for my line. You can pay as little as $30 for three months if someone refers you.
This will give you service for a week so you can test the network for yourself. I upgraded after 4 days.
International roaming is not free, but it is available. You can buy international roaming credits so you can use cell networks in other countries. This is perfect for me because I don't travel internationally very often. I'll mostly use WiFi calling, but I want emergency minutes in case something goes wrong.
Hotspot is built in.
Bring your own phone, because most modern phones can connect to the network. If you have an If I hadn't broken my brand-new Pixel 4a, setting it up would have been very easy. I would have just put the SIM card in, turned it on, and everything would have worked. Setting up my first-generation Pixel XL was harder… see the list of cons.
CONS: Older phones are hard to set up at first. I’ve never done this before and I imagine Verizon would do this automatically. A search on the Internet showed that people use 4-5 different APN configurations for different older phones. If you have trouble setting up, don't try to fix it yourself. Instead, call the phone contact centre from a different phone at (213) 372-7777 and ask them to help you.
No physical stores . However, it could be for people whose phones are growing into their hands.
Mint had great coverage from Culpepper, VA to Boonesboro, MD. I was driving on these scenic byways while using a trial SIM card. Most rural areas were covered by my wife's Verizon phone, and only a few were not. I've found it interesting that Verizon's suburban and city signals are sometimes weaker inside buildings than T- Mobile's (Mint Mobile). At the time I'm writing this review, TMo was offering a free upgrade to an iPhone 11. My daughter is sad that she won't be able to take advantage of this deal.
Google FI now works with phones that aren't made by Google and the iPhone. Since they have deals with several major networks, they might have the best coverage of all plans. If you don't use a lot of data, Google Fi will also be pretty cheap. At the time this blog was written, Google Fi costs $17 per line and $10 per gigabyte of data used. This means that people who use a lot of data would pay a lot with Google Fi.
AT&T: I didn't look for very long. Our car has an AT&T hotspot, and I can confirm that it loses connection more often than Mint in Virginia. So you won't pay the same as Verizon for less.
WAYS TO SAVE DATA AND LOWER YOUR BILL
First, it's clear that you should always have wifi on.
Android phones have a setting called "data saver." If you turn this on, apps won't run in the background. But it could also delay notifications from apps that need background data to work.
In settings, there is usually a section called "networks." Set up apps that aren't essential so that they don't use data in the background. Make sure you don't do this with an app that your phone needs to work.
Chrome and a lot of apps have settings that let you stop videos and music from playing automatically. If you can find these settings, turn them off.
Google Maps lets you download a large part of the map for most states over wifi. If you download your area, Maps will use less data.
PARTING THOUGHTS
After 3 weeks, I'm happy with the service from Mint Mobile. It could be a great way to save money if you live in a big town or city. You should bring a phone with you. Mint Mobile doesn't offer discounts on cell phones, but it does look like they have payment plans.