Americans have long been conditioned to believe that when they buy a cell phone, the next step is to choose a wireless plan from one of the big carriers: Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile. With their plans ranging from $60 to $200 per month for individuals and families, the price of a phone is soon dwarfed by recurring service bills.
What if I told you that it doesn’t have to be that way anymore?
Your phone bill could be reduced to as little as $25 a month if you choose a wireless plan from a lesser-known service provider known as a discount carrier. The cheapest plans, in my testing, offer fast enough Internet speeds and reliable phone service. It takes some courage and tech savvy to make the switch, but the potential savings outweigh the disadvantages.
At first glance, these inexpensive carriers, which include Wireless Cricket, Speak clear, Boost mobile, Mint mobile and Visible, lacks a cool factor. They do not operate their own cellular networks; Instead, they rent wireless services from large operators and market them to retirees. Simple plans often have drawbacks, including slower download speeds, as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile subscribers get priority access to faster network performance.
However, in recent years, so many things have changed that I can now confidently recommend discounted phone plans for most people, including white-collar professionals and Instagram-obsessed young people. This is why:
-
Mobile networks have reached their peak. The new 5G and 4G cellular technology is so fast that even budget carriers can offer very fast download speeds (fast enough to stream videos, load maps, and download apps) even if they are somewhat slower than what the Big Three offer.
-
The shift towards hybrid work. Office workers who used to spend more time traveling and had to rely on their cellular network are now seeing their travel time cut in half and relying more on the Wi-Fi connection in their home or office cubicle to make video calls and send messages. That means slower cellular performance on a budget carrier may go unnoticed.
-
You can try a discount trader without breaking up with your main trader. The eSIM, the digital version of the SIM card that carries your phone number, is now common in many modern smartphones. It allows you to immediately activate an additional phone line without needing to insert a physical SIM card, making experimenting with off-brand wireless service easier and less intimidating.
Once you’ve converted to a discount phone plan, the savings add up quickly. A family of four buying new iPhones with a Cricket phone plan would spend $3,762 over two years, $1,311 less than they would spend with Verizon, according to a analysis from WalletHub, a personal finance research firm.
“The negative perception around the budget plans is fading,” said Cassandra Hoppe, an analyst at WalletHub. “They are now seen as a smart choice for everyone. “People are realizing that you can get a great phone plan without spending a fortune.”
To put the discount carriers to the test, I activated three services (Visible, Cricket, and Straight Talk) on an iPhone. At various locations in California, I performed speed tests, made phone calls, and used apps like maps, YouTube, and TikTok. For comparison, I ran the same tests on my Verizon connection.
Discounted carriers were, on average, up to 46 percent slower than my Verizon connection. It sounds like a lot, but in real-world testing, I didn’t notice any difference: my apps ran fine and videos streamed smoothly.
Here’s what the setup and testing process was like.
Buy and activate a discounted phone plan
Consumers can sign up for discounted phone plans by purchasing a physical SIM card from a website or retail store, although I recommend the eSIM as an option. The digital SIM saves time and, since you can install multiple eSIMs at the same time, you can try a discounted operator and compare it with the performance of your main operator before deciding on a plan.
The steps to set up an eSIM vary a little from carrier to carrier, but the process is fundamentally consistent: You buy a phone plan through a brand’s website or app and click a button or scan a barcode to activate the service.
Visible charged $25 a month for a plan that included unlimited data; Straight Talk charged $35 a month for a plan with 10 gigabytes of high-speed Internet; and Cricket charged $40: $10 to activate the eSIM and $30 for a monthly plan that included five gigabytes of data.
Visible, owned by Verizon, had the easiest setup. Their mobile app allows me to purchase a phone plan using Apple Pay and tap a few buttons to activate the service. With Straight Talk and Cricket, I scoured the websites to find their eSIM deals. I had issues with Cricket emailing me a broken web link to activate my plan; It took me about 20 minutes to find a tool on their website to manually activate my service.
test test
My iPhone could hold up to eight eSIMs, so I installed all three plans and switched between them for each test.
I drove to 10 locations, including hiking trails, shopping centers and wineries, in California. At each location, I used the Speedtest app to test each carrier’s internet speed, called my very patient wife, and streamed videos on apps like TikTok and YouTube.
Generally speaking, discount phone services performed well. They were sometimes slow when loading videos on TikTok, but my Verizon connection had similar delays.
Based on results measured with the Speedtest app, Cricket and Visible had comparable performances, with download speeds of 154 megabits per second, on average. Straight Talk delivered speeds of 279 megabits per second, similar to my Verizon connection, which delivered download speeds of 287 megabits per second.
What do these numbers mean? To stream video through apps like Netflix and Hulu, you need a minimum of 25 megabits per second, according to AT&T. So the budget carriers gave me more than enough speed to handle some of the more data-intensive tasks.
taking the leap
Among the three discounted carriers, my favorite was Visible due to its seamless setup process and consistent network performance. Visible was also more transparent with its billing in emailed receipts. Straight Talk never emailed me a receipt. I was put off by Cricket’s clunky website and the $10 fee to activate an eSIM, which was not a charge the other two providers required.
Angie Klein, president of the Verizon Value organization, which oversees Visible, said its value plans were designed for tech-savvy customers who wanted a single line, and that Verizon’s traditional wireless plans were a full-service experience with more benefits . Straight Talk and Cricket did not respond to requests for comment.
Overall, I don’t have a one-size-fits-all recommendation. As with the big carriers, each discount carrier’s cellular performance will vary depending on the network coverage where he lives and works.
But because eSIM technology makes it easy to switch to another network (and discount phone plans are cheap), you’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity to try a cheap phone plan.
Last year, Robin Phillips, a 54-year-old Seattle resident who works in food delivery, broke up with Verizon to try Visible. He had hiccups. Initially, wireless service wouldn’t activate and customer service agents, available only through a chat app, weren’t much help.
But he said he doesn’t regret the change. Visible’s service went live after one day and you pay $25 a month, less than the $70 you used to pay for a Verizon plan. His wife also converted.
“It’s worth it?” he said. “We are saving about $1,000 a year. I’ll take care of the hassle about that.”
