Visible’s plans are simpler and cheaper

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  Truly unlimited data

  Visible

  Visible is a prepaid carrier owned by Verizon with a focus on cheap and unlimited data. Visible also keeps pricing simple with the same low price for all customers with taxes and fees included.

  Pros

  • Totally unlimited data on both plans
  • Unlimited hotspot data
  • Taxes and fees included

  Cons

  • No multi-line discounts
  • Ultra Wideband speeds not available on the base plan
  • Smartwatch plan only works with Apple Watch

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  Build a bundle

  Xfinity Mobile

  Xfinity Mobile is a companion mobile phone service for Xfinity home internet customers. It offers three plans with multi-line discounts and uses a combination of Xfinity WiFi hotspot and Verizon for coverage.

  Pros

  • Strong Verizon coverage with hotspots
  • Reasonably price for additional lines
  • Solid savings with a home internet bundle

  Cons

  • Taxes and fees are extra
  • No true unlimited option
  • By the Gig plan is too expensive

Visible is a prepaid carrier owned and operated by Verizon with cheap plans for those who only have a single line or need unlimited data on the cheap. Both of Visible’s plans are unlimited, so you don’t need to worry about how much data you’re using, or how much you should buy.

Xfinity Mobile is a mobile service for Xfinity Home Internet customers so they can get all of their data from one company. Xfinity Mobile uses Verizon’s towers for coverage when its customers are out of range of an Xfinity router, and can automatically connect to Xfinity hotspots to save data.

Mobile carrier features

While most postpaid plans have gone to unlimited data, a lot of prepaid plans stick with smaller amounts to keep costs down. Visible, however, offers unlimited data on both of its plans, so customers don’t need to worry about how much they’re using.

If you’re coming from an unlimited postpaid plan and don’t keep track of how much data you use, Visible could be a friction-free transition. Unlike a lot of prepaid carriers, Visible’s data is truly unlimited, as opposed to coming with a set amount of high-speed data, as is common on carriers like Mint Mobile, as well as Xfinity Mobile.

Visible also includes unlimited hotspot data at 5Mbps on the base plan and 10Mbps on Visible+. While it will take a very long time to download a large video game at these speeds, for browsing, streaming, or getting some work done, Visible’s hotspot is a great inclusion.

If you’ve got a smartwatch, you can get it connected for $10 per month, or free with Visible+. Unfortunately, Visible only supports the Apple Watch, so if you use an Android smartwatch, you’ll need to stick to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

As for pricing, Visible keeps things simple with taxes and fees included, so the price of the plan is what you’ll pay on the bottom line of your bill. You can also save on Verizon Home Internet service with $5 off with the base plan and $10 off with Visible+. This includes Verizon Fios and 5G Home Internet, so if you’re covered, you can get a nice bundle.

While Visible can make any carrier look complicated, Xfinity Mobile is rather straightforward with simple plan pricing and sensible features.

First thing first, Xfinity Mobile is only for existing Xfinity customers, so it’s not worth signing up if you don’t have Xfinity at home. There’s a good reason for this, as much of the data used by Xfinity Mobile customers actually comes from Xfinity WiFi hotspots, which are like guest networks on Xfinity Home Internet gateways that can be used by other Xfinity customers.

As for Xfinity Mobile’s plans, pricing is kept fairly simple with a base rate for the first line and a set rate for extra lines; Xfinity Mobile is its best value when you have several lines to bring with you. Despite this, taxes and fees are extra, including a hefty $4 recovery fee called the Universal Connectivity Fee for each line. It’s fairly common to have extra fees tacked on, but you should still keep them in mind when choosing your next phone carrier.

While Xfinity Mobile’s unlimited plans have a high-speed data cap, they do offer a couple of features Visible doesn’t. First, HD video streaming is available on Unlimited Plus and both plans get some high-speed hotspot data. If you need hotspot data, you’ll just need to decide if you want unlimited data at a lower speed, or a fixed amount of data with no speed limit.

Lastly, both carriers offer some international features, such as unlimited calling and texting to Mexico and Canada. On Visible+ and Xfinity Mobile’s unlimited plans, roaming in these countries is included, though the amount of high-speed data you get depends on the plan.

Coverage and reception

Visible is owned by Verizon and uses that carrier’s network for all of its coverage. Verizon has a very strong LTE network nationwide with solid rural coverage as well. As for 5G, however, Verizon is still playing catch-up with the likes of T-Mobile, but is working fast to expand its 5G coverage and has already supplied a lot of cities and towns with fast Ultra Wideband 5G.

If you head out of town, however, you’ll still see LTE popping up on your phone. Even so, Verizon’s LTE is fast enough for most of what we do on our phones, so performance should still be fine for most people.

Xfinity Mobile uses Verizon for its LTE and 5G coverage, mixed with some of its own coverage to add speed and reduce cost where possible. While you’re out and about, Xfinity Mobile customers can expect speeds and coverage similar to Visible, but if you’re visiting a business or a friend’s home with Xfinity internet, your phone should connect to an Xfinity WiFi hotspot.

This puts the ball back in Xfinity’s court, allowing it to handle most of its customers’ data usage without relying on Verizon’s network.

Phone compatibility

Whether you choose Visible or Xfinity Mobile, most of the best Android phones should work, including phones like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Pixel 9 Pro, and budget phones like the Moto G Stylus 5G 2024. Others that aren’t designed specifically for the US, like the CMF Phone 1, may have issues, even if you get data working. You can check your IMEI with Visible or with Xfinity Mobile to make sure that your phone will work properly before signing up.

Verizon’s network uses bands n1, n5, and n66 for nationwide 5G and band n77 for mid-band 5G. Nationwide 5G covers a larger area with a single tower than mid-band, but data speeds are similar to LTE, so for most people, the biggest upgrade comes with mid-band. Band n77 runs at 3.7GHz and is capable of being fast, but requires some new towers to match Verizon’s LTE coverage, so expansion has been a bit slow-going.

Still, once Verizon expands Ultra Wideband to your area, or you travel to a big city, you’ll be glad your phone supports it. Verizon also has some mmWave spectrum on bands n260 and n261 in denser areas in cities or places like arenas to help keep speeds high when there’s a lot of congestion on the tower.

Plans

While Visible has some discounts for Verizon Home Internet, it’s not a requirement like it is at Xfinity Mobile. Even with Xfinity’s bundles, for most customers, Visible’s plans work out to be cheaper, as long as you don’t need a few specific Xfinity Mobile features like high-speed hotspot data and HD video streaming.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that one of Xfinity Mobile’s biggest features, the free use of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, is available to Xfinity Internet customers no matter which carrier they choose, even Visible.

Visible’s plans

Visible has just two plans and both come with unlimited data. Its base plan, called Visible, gets unlimited talk, text, and data on Verizon’s network; it gets 5G data, but not Ultra Wideband speeds, so even if your phone is technically connected to an Ultra Wideband tower, you’ll get speeds in line with base 5G.

Visible claims that’s between 34Mbps and 149Mbps down and 6Mbps to 37Mbps up; these are what you would expect with LTE, but it’s still plenty fast for most people.

The base Visible plan gets truly unlimited data, so there’s no high-speed data limit like you’ll find on Xfinity Mobile’s unlimited plans. Hotspot data is also unlimited, but you only get 5Mbps, so big downloads, like video games, can take quite a while. For browsing the web on a tablet or checking your work email, however, it’s adequate.

For most of the complaints you may have about the base plan, Visible+ has the answers. Visible+ customers get full Ultra Wideband 5G speeds averaging between 215Mbps and 702Mbps, with some people getting above 1Gbps in the right condition. Visible+ also comes with 50GB of premium data per month, so your data is prioritized on a congested tower; hotspot data is upgraded to 10Mbps, double that of the base plan.

While both plans include talk and text to Mexico and Canada, Visible+ goes a step further with roaming in these countries with 2GB of high-speed data per day. Calling to 30+ other countries and texting to 200+ other countries is also included. If you’re an Apple user, Visible+ also comes with a smartwatch service included, which is a $10 add-on with the base plan.

Visible costs $25 per month, or $275 annually, while Visible+ comes in at $45 per month, or $395 annually. You can save a bit by paying annually, but Visible also often has promotions on its monthly plans, so it’s worth dropping by its deals page before signing up. Visible customers can save on Verizon Home Internet, be it 5G Home or Fios. Visible gets $5 off per month, while Visible+ gets $10 off per month.

Xfinity Mobile’s plans

Xfinity Mobile has three plans, starting with its By the Gig plan that features 1GB of data with unlimited talk and text for $20 per month. In a vacuum, this doesn’t sound like a bad plan for light users, but with fees added on, it’s about the same price as the base Visible plan. Add-on data for this plan isn’t cheap either, at $20 per 1GB, so most people are better off with Xfinity’s unlimited plan.

Xfinity Mobile’s base unlimited plan comes in at $40 per month for the first line with additional lines coming in at just $20 each. If you’re bringing the whole family, this is a pretty competitive plan. You get 30GB of high-speed data per month with speeds slowed to 1.5Mbps if you use it all. You also get unlimited 3G-speed hotspot data plus usage in Mexico and Canada at 2G speeds.

Moving up, the Unlimited+ comes in at $50 per month for the first line with additional lines coming in at $30 each. This plan takes things up a notch with HD video streaming enabled, and 50GB of high-speed data. If you manage to use all of your high-speed data, your speeds are only cut to 5Mbps for the rest of the month. Usage in Mexico and Canada is also upgraded with 5GB of high-speed data.

Since Xfinity Mobile is meant to be bundled with other Xfinity services, there’s a good chance you may be able to save more with a bundle. This will be dependent on multiple factors, including the region you live in, so be sure to check what offers are available to your account before signing up.

Which should you get?

Overall, Visible stands out as the better value thanks to its simple pricing with taxes and fees included and unlimited data. Visible’s $25 per month plan is hard to beat until you remember you can save even more on it with promotions or annual payments. While Visible doesn’t offer multi-line savings for families, its base cost is low enough that it still works out to be one of the best values for families.

If you want more data speed, Visible+ has premium data and Ultra Wideband support on your phone, plus a faster hotspot when sharing your connection with another device. Overall, Visible’s plans work out to a better value than Xfinity Mobile without a serious bundle discount. Of course, as an Xfinity Internet customer, you would still have access to Xfinity WiFi hotspots with either carrier.

If you’re an Xfinity Internet customer, there’s a good chance you’ve been offered a good deal on wireless service bundled with home internet. This could work out cheaper and easier for you, especially if you don’t want to keep track of paying bills to multiple companies. Keep in mind that Xfinity Mobile charges extra fees on top of its plan costs, so your bill will be a bit higher than it may seem.

Still, if you get the right offer, Xfinity Mobile could be a good option with plenty of data for most people, quick speeds, and low prices for additional lines.