Best Visible-compatible phones in 2024

Visible is all about unlimited data and simple pricing, but getting a phone that works well with the carrier isn’t quite as straightforward. Visible uses Verizon’s LTE and 5G networks but doesn’t support some older Verizon phones. Therefore, if you’re ready to switch to Visible, you might also be ready to switch to a new phone. Luckily there are a lot of great options running Android to choose from.

To make the most of Visible, you’ll want a phone that can take advantage of Verizon’s 5G coverage, especially if you sign up for Visible+. Visible+ comes with premium data and access to C-band Ultra Wideband 5G. The Google Pixel 7 is an excellent choice for Visible, with full 5G support, frequent software updates straight from Google, and some of the best cameras on a smartphone. If you’re looking for something a little cheaper, the Galaxy A series from Samsung has strong 5G support at a friendlier price.

Visible is all about unlimited data and simple pricing, but getting a phone that works well with the carrier isn’t quite as straightforward.

Visible uses Verizon’s LTE and 5G networks but doesn’t support some older Verizon phones. To make the most of Visible, you’ll want a phone that can take advantage of Verizon’s 5G coverage, especially if you sign up for Visible+. Visible+ comes with premium data and access to C-band Ultra Wideband 5G. If you’re ready to switch to Visible, you might also be ready to upgrade your phone, and luckily, there are plenty of options.

Top phones to use with Visible

If you’re buying an unlocked phone, you want to be sure it will work with just about any SIM you can download to it. The Google Pixel 8 has stellar band compatibility, so when you buy it unlocked, you can bring it with you if you find a better data deal. This includes Visible with support for Verizon’s nationwide 5G bands and C-band, making up most of the carrier’s Ultra Wideband coverage.

The Pixel 8 is powered by the Google Tensor G3 SoC, making it fast enough to keep up with any app you can download, including games. The phone comes equipped with 8GB of RAM and the choice of 128GB or 256GB of storage. And although battery life isn’t the Pixel 8’s best feature at just 4,575mAh, that should be more than enough to make it to the end of the day.

However, the Google Pixel series’ best trick has always been software support, and the Pixel 8 is no different. This phone is ready to go with Android 14 and is among the very first Android phones to get the latest updates. Google is also keeping this phone up to date with an unmatched seven years of security and OS updates.

The camera system is another strong point of the Pixel 8. Its main 50MP sensor produces crisp and vibrant images in a wide range of lighting conditions. Whether you’re trying to get a moody night shot or you’re trying to get an action shot at a soccer game, you can feel confident with Google’s camera software. You won’t get a telephoto camera, but there’s always the pricier Pixel 8 Pro for that.

Read our full Google Pixel 8 review.

The latest and greatest from Samsung, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, has a massive 6.8-inch display, a powerful four-camera array, and the blazing-fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy powering it all. With 12 GB of RAM and a large 5,000mAh battery, this phone is a multitasking powerhouse, which is made even more apparent with the included S Pen stylus. The S Pen is stored right inside the phone, so you always have it with you, and Samsung’s software makes it quick and easy to take a note or edit documents. If your work needs more precision than a finger can give, the S Pen will be a welcome addition.

On the back of the phone, there are four cameras with the primary 200MP sensor, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 10MP telephoto camera at 3x, and a 50MP telephoto at 5x zoom. All of this means the phone has the lens to handle just about any shot you throw at it, whether it’s near or far.

As we saw in our Galaxy S24 Ultra review, Samsung has focused this year’s marketing efforts on AI with features like Circle to Search but doesn’t quite revolutionize One UI 6.1. That being said, Samsung is once again offering seven years of software updates for its flagship phones, which can help make the steep $1,300 starting price more palatable. On Visible, the S24 Ultra works well with Verizon’s LTE and 5G coverage, with support for both C-band spectrum and mmWave. If you’re looking for one of the best phones to use on Visible or any carrier, the Galaxy s24 Ultra is a strong choice.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review.

The Google Pixel 6a is a budget-oriented Pixel with features cleverly cut back to deliver a strong Android experience for hundreds less than the flagship Pixel 8. It’s not the cheapest 5G phone that works with Visible’s nationwide and C-band 5G network, but it certainly is one of the best regarding value for money.

The Pixel 6a uses the same Google Tensor CPU as the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, giving it plenty of power to run most Android apps without a hiccup. Its 6.1-inch OLED panel isn’t winning any awards with its 60Hz refresh rate, but it’s still vibrant and bright enough to use in the daylight. In addition, it has a large 4,400mAh battery that should easily make it to the end of the day on a single charge. This is good as the phone only charges at 18W.

Like the other Pixels, the phone still gets five years of updates, so while it launched with Android 12, you can immediately update to Android 13. Finally, the camera isn’t anything special with a 12MP main shooter and a 12MP ultrawide, though because Google has years of experience tuning the software for this sensor, photos still look great.

Read our full Google Pixel 6a review.

While the smaller 6.2-inch Galaxy S24 can get overshadowed by the monolith that is the s24 Ultra, this is one of the best small phones you can get. It has the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy SoC in the U.S. with 8GB of RAM that should not have any trouble running Samsung’s One UI 6.1 atop Android 14. The screen is a bright and clear 120Hz AMOLED panel with a 4,000mAh battery pack underneath, giving the phone plenty of power to make it to the end of the day. Unfortunately, it only charges at up to 25W, which feels a bit old-fashioned, with the likes of the OnePlus 12 offering up to 80W.

On the back, you get three solid cameras with a main 50MP sensor, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera with a 3x zoom. While these cameras are among the best fitted to a phone of this size, our Galaxy S24 review notes an abundance of blurry and grainy shots as we saw on the Galaxy S23 from last year. If you’re looking for a more reliable camera experience, the Pixel 8 at the top of this list is worth another look.

As with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the S24 gets an incredible seven years of software updates from Samsung with the phone launching with Android 14 and One UI 6.1. This phone will work well on Visible’s network with support for all its LTE and 5G bands, so you should have no trouble activating your Visible SIM or eSIM. Overall, the Galaxy S24 is an excellent phone to use on Visible, even if it borrows more than a couple of elements from last year’s model.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 review.

A gorgeous 6.7-inch AMOLED display makes a phone easy to use, but hard to fit in a pocket or purse. The Galaxy Flip 5 from Samsung solves this by folding the display down the middle, reducing the phone’s footprint to 71.9mm wide and 85.1mm long. Of course, it opens with a satisfying snap, and it looks great with a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, and 1750 nits of peak brightness. When folded, a 3.4-inch out display shows your notification and even allows you to interact with some apps.

The two main cameras are 12MP with one featuring an ultrawide lens. Our Galaxy Flip 5 review notes the lack of a telephoto camera but reports overall good results with the two cameras offered. The front 10MP camera is nothing special with a notch cutout, but if you’re looking for better selfies, you can use the main cameras with the cover screen when the phone is closed.

The battery is a decent size given the phone’s folding design but is still smaller than most other high-end phones at 3,700mAh. It also charges fairly slowly at 25W, so you’ll want to make sure you have one of the best battery banks handy if you go on a long trip. Luckily, coverage should be strong on Visible thanks to support for all of its LTE and 5G bands, including mmWave. This phone is ready for Visible’s best speeds, even if you go with the pricier Visible+ plan.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review.

The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is a mid-range phone with a lot of flagship-like features and a handsome design. It has a large 6.4-inch screen with an AMOLED panel running at up to 120Hz. Our Galaxy A54 review found the screen to be a solid upgrade over last year’s model in terms of color and usable in direct sunlight thanks to 1,000 nits of peak brightness. With three cameras on the back, it would be easy to confuse this phone with a much more expensive model.

The SoC has also received a significant upgrade over the previous model with the Exynos 1380 CPU bringing four high-performance and four efficiency cores to keep the phone running smoothly. That’s helped by 6GB of RAM on the 128GB model with 8GB of RAM in the 256GB model. If you plan on taking a lot of photos with this phone’s 50MP main shooter or the 12MP ultrawide camera, you can expand your storage with a microSD card.

When it comes to budget phones, one of Samsung’s greatest strengths is its software support. This phone launched with Android 13 with One UI 5.1 and is set to receive four OS updates from Samsung as well as five years of security updates. The Galaxy A54 5G competes with and sometimes beats other flagship models when it comes to software updates.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy A54 5G review.

Samsung has been making up a lot of ground in terms of cheap phones in the past few years, and the Galaxy A15 5G is a strong example of that. The phone has a modern and handsome appearance that keeps it from looking like a cut-rate Galaxy. It runs a modern Android version with Android 14 that looks great on the 6.5-inch AMOLED screen boasting 90Hz with a high 1080×2340 resolution. It’s powered by the MediaTek MT6835 octal-core SoC, which isn’t blowing anyone’s socks off but can keep up with messaging and social media apps with ease. If you’re a big gamer, you’ll want a phone with a faster chip.

The camera system is solid, with a main 50MP shooter with optical image stabilization, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3X zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera. While it won’t beat a flagship phone, given enough light, this phone can take some nice photos. With a 5,000mAh battery under the hood, you can use this phone all day on a single charge. Even if you forget to top up at night, you can quickly charge up at up to 25W.

When it comes to 5G support, this phone works with Visible’s LTE and mid-band 5G coverage, which includes C-band. You’re giving up some mmWave coverage in dense areas, but the mid-band 5G you’ll be using instead is plenty fast for anything you’ll need to do on this phone.

The 2023 Moto G Stylus 5G is a budget phone that feels well-made and responsive with a large 6.6-inch display. While it’s only an IPS LCD panel, this 120Hz panel feels responsive and looks great with narrower bezels than the 2022 version. The Android 13-powered software also feels well-tailored to the stylus with shortcuts to help you take a quick note or check a spreadsheet without digging through an app drawer. It’s worth keeping in mind that the stylus included with this phone is much simpler than the S Pen included with a high-end Galaxy phone, but for most people it gets the job done just fine.

The Moto G Stylus 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, which gives the phone a modest performance increase in day-to-day tasks. Gaming gets a bigger boost, which is further helped by the responsive 120Hz display. This is all powered by a large 5,000mAh battery, which can charge at up to 20W. The phone comes with a 10W brick, so if you want the full charging speeds, you’ll need one of the best USB-C chargers with at least 20W support. If you’re looking for greater input precision without spending a fortune, the Moto G Stylus 5G 2023 is a strong choice.

Read our full Moto G Stylus 5G review.

Does Ultra Wideband 5G on Visible+ matter?

One of the most distinguishing features between the $30 Visible and $45 Visible+ plans is the ability to connect to Ultra Wideband 5G. This type of 5G uses Verizon’s C-band spectrum and mmWave spectrum for improved speeds in congested areas. Named because of its increased capacity over Nationwide 5G, Ultra Wideband can deliver speeds much faster than nationwide 5G, especially in an area with a lot of users. However, if you stick to mostly rural or suburban areas, the improvements may not be worth the extra money. If you’re unsure, start with Visible and upgrade as needed.

Which bands do I need for Verizon 5G?

Most 5G phones you can buy today will work with all or most of Verizon’s bands, but some phones from the past few years may not. For example, the unlocked version of the Galaxy S21 does not support C-band for Ultra Wideband 5G.

Nationwide 5G support is fairly widespread, with Verizon using bands n2, n5, and n66 for coverage. These bands use Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to use Verizon’s existing LTE bands for 5G connectivity. As a result, speeds can be rather LTE-like in everyday scenarios.

Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G uses band n77 for C-band at around 3.7GHz. Bands n260 and n261 are used for mmWave at 39GHz and 28GHz, respectively. Coverage with these bands is limited to dense city centers and has much weaker coverage than nationwide 5G or C-band. That said, these bands have a ton of capacity, so if you’ve got coverage, speeds can easily exceed 1Gbps. That is, as long as you have Visible+.

Get the best of Visible 5G with the right phone

Not all the best Android phones, like some options from Asus and OnePlus, are a good pick for Visible. Visible relies fully on Verizon’s network for coverage, so getting a phone with the right 5G bands is important. Still, there are many phones to choose from, whether you’re looking for a premium experience or want something a little cheaper.

Google’s Pixel 8 is a great fit for Visible thanks to support for a wide range of 5G bands, including those used by Verizon, and its reasonable price. It’s powered by the Tensor G3 SoC made specifically for Google with enough power to keep up with anything on the Play Store. The Pixel 8 also continues Google’s trend, offering one of the best point-and-shoot experiences on any phone with a reliable camera app that gets a great photo more often than not.

When it comes to smartphones, the Galaxy S24 Ultra might be the smartest of them all, with a powerful SoC that can handle any app you throw at it and a list of hardware features that make it second to none. The S Pen, for example, helps you make better use of the large display with enhanced support for multitasking and the precision you need to work with spreadsheets or within databases. If the 6.8-inch AMOLED display isn’t quite big enough for the task, you can even use a desktop environment on a larger screen. And, of course, if you just want a big screen with plenty of power for entertainment and social media for years to come, the S24 Ultra works great for that as well.

The fact of the matter is that many of us simply don’t need the latest SoC or the best displays. The Google Pixel 6a uses an SoC from a generation ago and has a modest 6.1-inch display, but the phone still performs well with most apps, is up-to-date with the latest version of Android, and supports 5G on Visible. Its 12MP camera doesn’t seem all that special, but Google nails the experience with an app that feels tightly tailored to the hardware, churning out great results. The Pixel 6a also has a hefty, well-made chassis that makes it feel premium.