US Mobile Cell Phone Plans Review

US Mobile offers MVNO cell phone plans that use T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T networks, allowing you to switch seamlessly between networks. Plans are affordable, flexible, and offer great speeds and perks. You can choose to pay monthly or upfront in one annual payment, with the latter offering a discount. 

US Mobile provides multiple plan options for its customers. Here’s a quick breakdown of US Mobile cell phone plans:

• Unlimited: These plans come with unlimited talk, text, and data, 5GB to unlimited hotspot data, with prices starting at $17.50 per month.
• By the Gig: Plans include 2GB to 200GB of data, with top-ups costing $2 per gigabyte. Plans start at $10 per line, with each additional line costing just a mere $8 per line each month. International calling and texting included.
• Light: A back-to-basics plan that comes with 2GB of premium data and unlimited talk and text for $10 monthly or $96 annually (equivalent to $8 monthly).

US Mobile uses different names for the networks it uses:

• AT&T’s network: Dark Star
• Verizon’s network: Warp
• T-Mobile’s network: Light Speed

Plan terms are slightly different between them, such as data allotment, data priority, and hotspot data.

US Mobile’s unlimited cell phone plans pack tons of features that rival plans you can get from major carriers. All plans come with unlimited talk, text, and data, but the amount of high-speed/priority data depends on which unlimited plan and which network you select (Dark Star, Warp, or Light Speed). When you use all your high-speed data, your speeds may get throttled down to 1Mbps.

Across all three networks, the Unlimited Premium plans include international calls and texts from the United States, while the Unlimited Starter plan only includes international calls if you opt for the annual plan, otherwise, the monthly payment plan has a $3 monthly add-on for international calls.

Unlimited Premium plan also comes with additional features like free network transfers.

US Mobile Unlimited Plans with Dark Star use AT&T’s network. Plans offer 10GB to unlimited high-speed data and 5GB to 100GB of high-speed hotspot data. The Dark Star plans are the only ones that offer truly unlimited priority data and 100GB of hotspot data.

The Unlimited Premium plan with Dark Star gets international calls and texts, plus up to 20GB of data outside the United States. Network transfers are included, too.

US Mobile Unlimited Plans with Warp use Verizon’s network. Plans offer 10GB to 100GB of high-speed data and 5GB to 50GB of high-speed hotspot data.

The Unlimited Premium plan with Warp includes international calls and texts, plus 10GB of data outside the United States. You also get free network transfers, plus a free Apple and Pixel Watch plan.

US Mobile Unlimited Plans with Light Speed use T-Mobile’s network. Like the Unlimited plans on the Warp network, Light Speed offers 10GB to 100GB of high-speed data and 5GB to 50GB of high-speed hotspot data.

The Unlimited Premium plan for Light Speed includes 10GB of data and calls and texts outside the United States.

US Mobile’s By the Gig or Shareable Data plans are perfect for families or friends who want to save on their bills with a multi-line cell phone plan.

By the Gig Plans start at $10 per line, with each additional line costing an additional $8 per line each month. Plans include unlimited talk, text, and international calling and texting. The unique feature of By the Gig plans is that they come with a limited amount of data, starting from 2GB, shared among everyone in your “pool.”

When you run out of data, you will need to top up your data for $2 per gigabyte, but you can actually rollover this top-up data to the following month. For those who sign up for 20GB of data, you can pay just $15 per a top of 10GB (that’s a $5 discount).

For example, if you set up your pool with 2GB of data and two lines, you pay $18 monthly ($10 for the first line, and then $8 for the second), and both of you will share the 2GB of data but each get unlimited talk and text. Alternatively, you can also set up a separate pool with specific individual lines.

The US Mobile Light Plan is very similar to the By the Gig plan, with a few key differences that make it a slightly more toned-down, basic plan that gets you everything you need to stay connected, but with limited extra perks if you don’t need them.

The Light Plan (also called the Low Data plan) costs $10 monthly and includes 2GB of premium data, unlimited talk, and text. If you choose the annual plan, it costs $96 per year, and you save 20% on your rate. This is equivalent to paying $8 per month. You can add on international calling for an extra $3 per month, or $36 annually, but it doesn’t include international calls like the By the Gig plan does.

At first glance, the By the Gig plan with 2GB and the Light plan look the same, as both plans cost $10 on a month-to-month plan, include 2GB of data, unlimited talk, and text. However, the By the Gig plan offers cheaper top-up rates and includes international calling. The Light Plan offers two free network transfers, and then $2 per switch. 

Unless you want to save money with an annual payment, one line of the monthly By the Gig 2GB plan is a better overall deal.

Just like other MVNOs that rent network bandwidth from other providers, you get the same coverage with an MVNO as the coverage offered by the major network. US Mobile offers coverage from all three wireless carriers. Since you can switch between networks, you can choose whichever best suits your needs.

According to US Mobile, the Warp network (Verizon) is best in rural areas, while all three networks perform well in urban areas.

Since these major networks have varying levels of coverage throughout the country, being able to switch carriers is handy for family members who share a plan but live in different parts of the country, or for those who travel frequently across the country for work.

You don’t need to buy a new phone just because you sign up for US Mobile. Major carriers tend to entice new customers with a free iPhone with a million hidden terms and conditions, but you can simply bring your old (unlocked, paid-off) phone to US Mobile. However, if you do want a good deal, US Mobile offers deals on the phones below:

Cell phone companies tend to struggle when it comes to customer service, but US Mobile is trying to change that.

The company claims that when you contact its customer service department, “the average wait time is under 30 seconds.” That’s a pretty bold claim, so we decided to put it to the test.

The first time we called US Mobile, we got disconnected and taken straight to the company’s post-call survey, which seems to be an unusual experience. But, the second time we called, we connected with a real, live customer service agent within 34 seconds. Honestly, we were impressed.

If you want to test US Mobile’s customer support (or you have a legitimate question), you can reach the department at: 

• Phone: +1 (878) 205-0088
• Email: help@usmobile.com

US Mobile is one of the best MVNOs. It offers more affordable talk, text, and data plans than other MVNOs like Mint Mobile or Visible. If you wanted cheaper prices, there aren’t many MVNOs that get cheaper than US Mobile’s By the Gig or Light plans, which get you just enough data to get by through a month if you’re mostly using Wi-Fi.

That being said, Tello offers cheaper no-data or low-data deals for as low as $5 monthly, which could be a better option for seniors who just want to use calling and texts. 

For this review we began with a serious study session. We looked at all US Mobile’s plans, price comparison charts from Whistle Out, third-party sources like OpenSignal, and our own proprietary performance data from over 100,000 mobile customers.

All of this information, plus our own hands on experience, helped us analyze US Mobile’s prices, policies, and performance so that we could make helpful recommendations to our readers. We hope you found it helpful!