Does Mint Mobile have 5G?

Quick answer: Yes, Mint Mobile supports 5G on all of its plans using the T-Mobile network. As long as your phone supports T-Mobile’s 5G bands, your phone will connect to 5G on Mint.

Mint Mobile’s discounted data plans have caught the eyes of many customers looking to save money, but the price is irrelevant if coverage and speeds aren’t up to par. Mint Mobile is owned by T-Mobile and uses that network for all of its coverage. With a compatible phone, Mint Mobile users get full access to T-Mobile’s 5G bands, including its low-band and mid-band spectrum. This means Mint users get the best of T-Mobile’s network with fast 5G speeds using one of the best Mint Mobile 5G phones.

Does Mint Mobile have 5G?

While some carrier-owned prepaid brands limit 5G speeds on cheaper plans, like Visible, Mint Mobile keeps its plans simple with buckets of high-speed data and access to all of T-Mobile’s 5G bands. T-Mobile built and maintained an early lead in 5G coverage thanks to a combination of low-band spectrum with wide coverage and 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum with high speeds. Critically, this spectrum has been available to T-Mobile since it acquired Sprint, and it didn’t need to wait for mid-band auctions to get started like Verizon and AT&T did. As a result, T-Mobile is consistently one of the top-ranked networks for speed when 5G results are included with undisputed coverage superiority. If you’ve got a 5G phone and Mint Mobile service, you’ll more than likely use 5G most of the time when you’re not on Wi-Fi.

To get the best out of 5G on Mint Mobile, you’ll want a phone that supports as many of T-Mobile’s 5G bands as possible. Luckily, most of the best 5G Android phones designed for the U.S. market support these bands, though some earlier 5G phones, like the OnePlus 7, will lack some of the faster bands. To get the best speeds, make sure your phone supports bands n25, n71, and n41. T-Mobile can also use multiple of its bands at once with carrier aggregation further improving speeds.

The T-Mobile network has limited mmWave coverage in some city centers and sports arenas. Your phone should support bands n258, n260, and n261 to connect to mmWave, though T-Mobile users will be using mid-band 5G the vast majority of the time. T-Mobile is ready to expand further with C-band spectrum licenses in key markets, but the carrier has yet to deploy its C-band spectrum.

Is Mint Mobile’s 5G fast?

T-Mobile’s 5G performance has consistently been the best overall in reports from analysts, such as Ookla’s quarterly mobile broadband report with higher download speeds, upload speeds, and even lower latency. That means Mint Mobile has some of the best 5G data speeds in the industry, thanks to its widespread deployment of mid-band Ultra Capacity 5G. You can check whether you have low-band or mid-band 5G using Mint’s coverage map. Mint Mobile also offers a 7-day trial with 250MB of data, so if your phone is unlocked and supports eSIM, you can check your coverage before signing up.

T-Mobile and Mint Mobile also have carrier aggregation in some areas, which can combine multiple 5G bands into one data connection on your phone for improved speeds. T-Mobile can aggregate up to three bands, including two bands at n41 and one at n25. Carrier aggregation is one of the primary ways LTE got to be as fast as it is, and it’s the same with 5G.

Even so, T-Mobile’s network overall still falls behind Verizon’s and AT&T’s in rural areas, with the latter two carriers offering much wider LTE coverage outside urban and suburban areas. Make no mistake, T-Mobile has been filling gaps in its coverage map quickly, but if you spend a lot of time in the country, you may notice some weak coverage. For most people, T-Mobile’s coverage will be totally adequate with strong speeds.

Save on data without giving up 5G speeds with Mint

Mint Mobile’s network is highly compatible with the majority of unlocked phones working without issue on either LTE or 5G. Most of the latest flagship phones support all of T-Mobile’s 5G bands, including mid-band Ultra Capacity 5G. Mint Mobile is worth a look if you’ve got an unlocked 5G phone and want to save some money on service. If you can pay for one of Mint’s 12-month plans, finding a better deal on 5G data will be tough.