Do you really need unlimited data?

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  Totally unlimited

  Verizon

  Verizon is well-known for its coverage area, but it also manages to be one of the most competitive postpaid careers in terms of plan pricing. With streaming add-ons separated into optional add-on perks, you don’t have to pay for services you don’t use to get services you do.

  Pros

  • Vast coverage including strong rural coverage
  • Flexible plan structure with add-ons
  • Multi-line discounts for families

  Cons

  • Taxes and fees are extra
  • Single-line pricing is very high
  • Ultra Wideband 5G not supported in all plans

• 

  Save on data

  MobileX

  MobileX is a prepaid carrier that uses Verizon’s network, so if you’re looking for Verizon coverage, MobileX can be a great way to save. MobileX makes it easy to keep track of your usage and gives you more control than most other carriers over how you use it.

  Pros

  • Low cost of entry for light users
  • Plenty of data for most with the 30GB unlimited plan
  • Full hotspot and HD video support

  Cons

  • No option for those that need more than 30GB
  • No multi-line or annual discounts
  • Taxes and fees are extra

Verizon is one of the biggest postpaid carriers in the country thanks to years of excellent coverage with its legendary 3G network and subsequent strong LTE coverage. While its 5G coverage expansion has been on the slow side, LTE is still fine for most people.

This is made even more evident by the lack of expansion of Verizon’s shared spectrum low-band 5G and its devout focus on mid-band Ultra Wideband 5G expansion. Even so, Verizon’s network is a great option for most people, and whether you choose Verizon or MobileX, you’re getting the same network.

Mobile carrier features

Verizon is one of the Big Three postpaid carriers building and maintaining its own network, so it makes a lot of sense that one of Verizon’s biggest features is its data. Verizon’s three postpaid plans all come with totally unlimited data, so your speeds won’t be slowed, even if you use a lot of data.

Verizon’s plans are fairly simple at their core with add-on perks available for $10 per month. These perks include Disney+, Walmart+, Apple One, mobile hotspot data, and more. The best part is that these perks would often cost more if bought separately, making the Verizon bundle a good deal. It’s also nice to have your subscriptions in one place so you can cancel them when you want, not five minutes after receiving a renewal email.

Verizon’s two largest plans also come with a healthy chunk of high-speed hotspot data, 30GB and 60GB. The top plan comes with international usage, including data in 210+ destinations.

If you can get Verizon Fios or 5G Home internet service, you can also bundle it with your plan to save. Looking for more savings? The more expensive your Verizon plan, the more you save on a new phone or a BYOD discount. Don’t forget that these plans are also available with multi-line discounts if you’re bringing the whole family.

MobileX is a lot simpler, and that’s on purpose. MobileX sticks to basic talk, text, and data, with the only international features being usage in Mexico and Canada with an add-on. Besides that, with MobileX, you choose how many minutes, texts, and gigabytes of data you think you’ll need. If you don’t use all of your data, you’ll receive a credit for the remaining balance for your next bill.

MobileX’s best feature is its app, which makes it easy to see how much data you’re using and to make plan changes. Unlike a lot of other prepaid carriers, you don’t need to negotiate with customer service to get HD video streaming enabled, and it’s just an option in the app. MobileX lets you use your data how you want, even as a mobile hotspot.

Coverage and reception

Verizon has a strong reputation for wide coverage with LTE, but 5G has been a bit slower to get off the ground. Even so, Verizon has made good progress expanding its mid-band 5G coverage with mmWave coverage in dense areas like downtown in cities, arenas, and airports. Most people can expect strong coverage with Verizon, but you can check Verizon’s coverage map to be sure.

MobileX uses Verizon for its coverage, and includes Ultra Wideband 5G on all plans. This is unlike Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome plan, which is strangely limited to standard 5G speeds and feels a lot like LTE speeds — with MobileX, you get the full network speed available in your area. Additionally, you’ll start with a learning period with free data, so you’ll get to see if the network is a good fit before you have to pay anything.

MobileX also has full access to Verizon’s 5G network, so if you have Ultra Wideband coverage, you could be looking at some very fast network speeds.

Phone compatibility

As you might expect, MobileX phone compatibility is basically identical to Verizon, but there are a few things to check to make sure you’ll get the best network speed possible.

Verizon can use 5G bands n2, n5, and n66 for low-band 5G, though most of its recent expansion focuses on C-Band. C-Band 5G uses band n77 at 3.7 GHz and is part of Verizon’s Ultra Wideband network. There’s also mmWave with bands n260 and n261; Band n77 is probably the most important as Verizon’s low-band 5G performance isn’t much different from LTE, and it seems to be mainly focusing on expansion with n77.

If you’re looking to bring your own phone, you can check your IMEI for compatibility on MobileX’s BYOD page. You can also check your IMEI on Verizon’s BYOD page. You can find your IMEI in your phone’s settings or by dialing *#06# on most Android or iOS devices.

The long and short of it is that most of the best Android phones should work without a hitch on either carrier. Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series and the Pixel 9 series of phones should be a great fit for Verizon, for example. Some models designed for other regions or specifically for carriers with T-Mobile may not work, or may not work well.

Plans

Verizon only has three postpaid plans, plus a handful of prepaid plans. Verizon also owns several prepaid brands like Visible, which offer solid prepaid alternatives as well. MobileX is all about simplicity, and it can feel like a breath of fresh air when many other carriers’ plans need tables to tell plans apart.

Verizon’s plans

Verizon’s three main postpaid plans all come with unlimited data and 5G access, with 5G speed and hotspot data helping to differentiate them.

Unlimited Welcome is the cheapest postpaid plan with a single-line price of $65 per month, or $30 per line if you bring four lines. All Verizon postpaid plans come with multi-line discounts for families with taxes and fees costing extra. This plan gets no premium data, and it’s not prioritized, so data speeds will be lower than the other plans if the tower is congested.

Still, for most people, this plan has plenty of data and speed. If you bring your own device with Unlimited Welcome, you can get up to a $180 promo credit, though new device savings won’t be great. Videos on this plan also stream at just 480p on LTE or low-band 5G.

Unlimited Plus starts at $80 for the first line and $45 per line with four lines. This plan gets unlimited premium data, so you should notice less slowdown on a busy tower than someone on Unlimited Welcome. It comes with 30GB of high-speed hotspot data as well. New device savings include some new phone offers, and you can get up to a $360 credit for bringing your own phone. Videos stream at up to 720p on LTE with this plan.

Both Unlimited Welcome and Unlimited Plus plans get international talk and text to Mexico and Canada, plus roaming if you travel to either country with 2GB of high-speed data per day.

Verizon’s top plan is called Unlimited Ultimate, and it comes in at $90 for the first line. With four lines, the price comes down to $55 per line. This plan, like Unlimited Plus, gets premium data, but the hotspot data has been upgraded to 60GB.

Also, instead of just Mexico and Canada, talk, text, and data abroad is extended to 210+ countries. This plan enjoys the best new device deals and gets up to $540 in promo credits if you bring your own device. Video streaming on LTE also gets an upgrade to 1080p.

As mentioned previously, all Verizon postpaid plans qualify for $10 add-on perks. For example, you can get a Disney Bundle with Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+, which costs quite a bit more if you pay Disney directly for it. In fact, many of these perks are discounted, making it a no-brainer to sign up through Verizon.

One thing to keep in mind when you start doing the math, however, is that taxes and fees are extra on all plans, so your bill will likely be a few dollars higher per line than the base plan alone.

Verizon also offers four prepaid plans for those who don’t want to deal with credit checks or only have a line or two. These plans start with just talk and text for $35 per month, but with auto-pay and one month under your belt, you can get the 15GB plan for the same price. Moving up to $50 per month, the Unlimited plan only gets basic 5G speeds but also comes with 5GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data.

Verizon Prepaid’s top plan is called Unlimited Plus and comes with 50GB of premium data, 25GB of hotspot data, and a few more international perks. This plan costs $60 per month with auto-pay after the first month. Like the postpaid plans, taxes and fees are extra.

MobileX’s plans

After all that, it’s nice that MobileX sticks to just two unlimited plans and a custom by-the-gig plan.

Starting with the custom plan, called Personalized Access, you pay $1.98 to get started, with data coming in at $2.10 per gigabyte. Talk and text is available with 50 minutes and texts for $1.50, 150 minutes and texts for $2.50, and unlimited talk and text for $4.50. Want talk and text to Mexico and Canada? That’s an extra $4.50. If you need 5GB of data or more though, an unlimited plan is a better fit.

MobileX’s cheapest unlimited plan comes with 5GB of high-speed data, so it’s not all that unlimited really. Still, for a lot of people, 5GB is plenty, and MobileX lets you use it however you want.

For example, MobileX will allow you to use all 5GB of your high-speed data in a hotspot or streaming HD video if you want. While turning on HD streaming on a 5GB plan may not be that sensible, it is refreshing that MobileX lets you make your own decision on the matter. At $14.88 per month, Unlimited 5 could be a great pick for some users.

Moving up, the 30GB unlimited plan is much the same, with six times the high-speed data. This plan also comes with unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada. At $24.88 per month, this plan is a good deal, even compared to some of the best value data plans from the likes of US Mobile and Visible.

Don’t forget that MobileX adds taxes and fees to your final price as well. It’s also worth remembering that MobileX’s data forecaster gives you 10 days for free data, so you can try the network before paying anything.

Which should you buy?

Overall, MobileX stands out as the better deal for single-line users and those who don’t need a ton of data. MobileX’s unlimited plans are a good fit for heavier users with up to 30GB of high-speed data, while its Personalized Access plan could help a light user save a lot of money. Keep in mind that you probably don’t need nearly as much data as you think you do, and if you make good use of Wi-Fi at home, you may not need as big a plan as you think.

While Verizon doesn’t come out on top for pure value, it could still be a better fit for some people. If you’ve got multiple lines, for example, you can save on Verizon’s postpaid plans, bringing the prices much closer together. Besides that, you’ll get more data, so you don’t even need to worry about counting gigabytes if you’re away on vacation or have some big downloads to finish when Wi-Fi isn’t available.