US Mobile Cell Phone Plans Review

There’s been a lot of hype around new discount phone carriers, like Mint and Visible. But it may be US Mobile that’s finally nailed the perfect formula for offering cheap, flexible, and powerful phone plans.

We’re going to go over everything you need to know in this US Mobile review, the good (like cheap prices) and the bad (like slow data speeds).

US Mobile is like a talented soul singer: its biggest asset is its range. It has super-cheap (basically free) no-data plans for those who just need to make occasional calls. But it also has multiple unlimited data plans for those who want to stream, scroll, and game all day.

Here’s a closer look at everything we love about this MVNO carrier.

Not everyone needs (or wants) an unlimited plan. Some people still have a landline and just need a cell phone for emergencies. Some kids just need a phone to call their parents for a ride after school. For these people US Mobile has tons of very affordable options.

In fact, after you apply a WhistleOut discount some of the plans are $0 a month. Check it out.

If you want to add on more minutes, more texts, or even a little bit of data, US Mobile has you covered with over a dozen other plan options (you can click on WhistleOut widget above to explore them all).

US Mobile isn’t a one trick pony. It also offers some amazing deals on data plans. You can see some of its most popular offerings in this chart.

$40 for unlimited talk, text, and “ludicrous data” is a very solid deal. What exactly is “ludicrous data,” you ask? Unfortunately, it’s not some sort of super LTE data or anything. It’s just standard 4G LTE data that goes faster than US Mobile’s other, rather slow data.

Unlike some MVNO carriers, US Mobile gives its customers automatic access to Verizon’s 5G network. This means you could see data speeds faster than your home internet in certain areas. This is a nice little perk, but most people don’t live in a 5G area (yet).

If you don’t need all the data there are tons of other US Mobile plans with 1–18 GB of data.

The $10/mo. plan with unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of data is one of our favorites. It’s perfect for kids because it offers enough data for simple apps and emergencies, but not enough for scrolling through TikTok all day.

We’ll talk about US Mobile’s multi-line family plans a lot more below. But we want to mention it here because it’s a major feature.

Even if you go with an individual phone plan right now, you can add additional lines later to get discounts and perks (like free entertainment subscriptions).

Another way you save a little bit of your hard-earned dough is by referring friends. When they use your referral code to sign up for US Mobile you get $10 in credit! Everyone wins.

We’re impressed with US Mobile overall, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have our gripes. Here are the things we don’t love so much about the carrier.

US Mobile has the same problem as every MVNO carrier: data deprioritization. This is just a fancy way of saying that with US Mobile your data speeds will be a bit sluggish at times. That’s because US Mobile is actually using Verizon’s towers, and when the network gets busy it slows down US Mobile’s (and other MVNOs’) data first.

Data deprioritization shouldn’t affect low-bandwidth activities, like streaming music and sending a meme to your friends. But if you’re trying to play a match of PUBG Mobile or Zoom into a meeting then deprioritization could be an issue.

You can add 20 GB of mobile hotspot data to your US Mobile plan, but you’ll have to pay $10 a month. That’s not a terrible price, but we’d rather see a few GB of hotspot data thrown in for free (as you would get with a carrier like Visible).

Looking at cell phone plans in a vacuum is not very helpful (how did you end up in a vacuum, anyways?). Here’s a chart showing how US Mobile’s unlimited plan pricing compares to similar plans from other carriers (including Verizon, which runs US Mobile’s network).

As you can see, Mint Mobile has a cheaper unlimited data plan. But, there’s some important information in the fine print there, because Mint Mobile’s plan actually only comes with 35 GB of high-speed data (after that the speeds get majorly throttled).

US Mobile is probably a better option for those who want truly unlimited data.

Meanwhile, US Mobile is the same price or cheaper than similar plans from Visible, Xfinity Mobile, and Verizon.

US Mobile’s single-line plans are nothing to sneeze at, but the company sweetens the deal even more with its family plans. Here’s everything we love about US Mobile’s multi-line offerings.

When you add lines to any US Mobile plan your price-per-line will go down. But you’ll save the most when you add lines to an unlimited data plan. Once you get up to four lines you’ll pay just $21.25 per line (instead of $40)! Check it out.

This might just be the best family plan deal on the market right now. Especially when you see the extra perks you’ll get …

When you have three lines with US Mobile you can choose to add a subscription perk for free. When you have four or more lines you can choose two perks!

Some of US Mobile’s subscription perks include: Pandora Plus, Audible, Spotify Family, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Disney Plus, Xbox Live Gold, and more.

We’re honestly kind of amazed that US Mobile has opted to throw in these perks considering how cheap the company’s prices already are.

US Mobile’s Kryptonite is, yet again, data deprioritization.

It doesn’t matter how many lines you have on your US Mobile account, your data speeds will still be slower than they would be if you were on Verizon. This is just how it is, but you can find solace in the fact that your cell phone bill is just $25 a month instead of $70.

We’re big fans of comparing prices. So here’s a chart showing how US Mobile’s unlimited data plan (with four lines) compares to similar plans from its competitors.

We don’t have much to say here because those prices speak for themselves: US Mobile is the cheapest by a good $15.

US Mobile doesn’t have its own mobile network. It’s more like a hitchhiker, grabbing a ride in whatever vehicle it can find. Thankfully, it hitched a ride with a huge 18-wheeler called Verizon Wireless, which has the best coverage in the United States.

US Mobile customers will benefit from Verizon’s wide coverage area, especially those who live in Western states, like Arizona and Colorado. They’ll also get on Verizon’s emerging 5G network. You can take a look at the carrier’s coverage map below.

Although US Mobile customers will get the same coverage as Verizon customers, their data speeds will often be lower, even when they’re connected to the 4G LTE network (see our sections above about deprioritization for more on that).

You’re getting a new cell phone plan, so why not get a new cell phone to match? That iPhone 13 is looking pretty good, tbh.

With US Mobile you can buy pretty much any device from a major company, including Apple, Samsung, and Google. This chart will show you the prices on some of US Mobile’s most popular devices.

It’s no secret that cell phone companies tend to struggle when it comes to customer service (you’d think they’d be able to just pick up the darned phone, right?). US Mobile is trying to change that.

The company claims that when you contact their customer service department “the average wait time is under 30 seconds.”¹ 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 was weird. But, the second time we called we were talking to a real, live customer support person 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:

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

Are US Mobile’s super-cheap and flexible plans perfect for your budget? Or should you shell out for a plan with more oomph? Hopefully this little recap will help you decide.

• Cell phone plans: US Mobile has tons (and tons) of plans that range in price from basically free to $40 a month. There’s something for everyone and we were impressed by the unlimited data option. The biggest problem is deprioritized data speeds.
• Family cell phone plans: US Mobile’s pricing gets even better when you add extra lines. We think it probably has the best deal on a multi-line unlimited data plan on the market right now (four lines for just $85 a month!).
• Coverage: US Mobile uses Verizon’s cellular towers, giving you access to a huge 4G LTE network and emerging 5G network. Just don’t expect your speeds to compare with actual Verizon customers.
• Customer service: US Mobile makes bold claims about its customer service and it … actually lives up to them! We’re kind of amazed.

That’s it for our US Mobile review. If you like what you’ve seen you can sign up for US Mobile online and get your SIM card in the mail!

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! You can always yell at us in the comments if you didn’t.

We like to take a little space at the end of our articles to answer some random questions that our readers may have. Let the Q and A begin!

US Mobile uses Verizon Wireless’s network. This is good news (mostly). Verizon has the largest 4G LTE network in the country with the best rural coverage. Meanwhile, Verizon’s data speeds aren’t quite the fastest (T-Mobile’s are) and its 5G network isn’t the biggest, but it’s not far behind.

Sources