Mint Mobile$15/mo. Mint Mobile Phone Plan with 5GB of 5G-4G LTE Data + Unlimited Talk & Text for 3 Months (3-in-1 SIM Card)

November 19, 2018 update - It's been one month today. Still couldn't be happier. I spent a week on vacation. No problem with service. Wireless internet went out for a couple hours while I was at the resort. I used my phone as a hotspot. It's been a really good experience. I thought my plan month was over tomorrow, so I had planned to run out my data tonight (I only used 2.7GB) by using my phone as a hotspot for my Roku (it eats about 2.3GB/hour) to see how fast the non-4G LTE data is. The phone plan includes unlimited data, you just pay for the 4G LTE data, after that you get slower data. How much slower is the question. That will have to wait until next month because I got a text earlier saying my second month had started. Stay tuned for the answer next month. Mint is great.October 22, 2018 - I was an AT&T customer for ~10 years @ $80/month (unlimited talk & text w/ 2GB/month). I could go into all the details of why I didn’t change before now, but I’ll save you the pain of reading that and me typing it. It’s going to be a long story anyway.I got an offer in the mail from Spectrum Mobile for unlimited talk & text with either unlimited data ($45/month) or pay for what you use ($15/GB). So, I looked at the phones they offered and didn’t like any of them. After a little research, I decided to buy a Moto G6 from Amazon. I got the phone, decided I liked it and then called Spectrum Mobile to send me a SIM card. Only to find out that they only support the phones they offer (I guess they’re more into the business of selling phones). OK, bummer.I then searched for cell phone plans in Amazon. Mint came up. I ordered the starter kit. It came two days later. I put in the first SIM and after a little easy-to-follow setup (I had to manually put in my APN information, but the directions were no problem at all), I was off and running. My house is in an AT&T dead zone (even though I live in Orlando FL). I had T-Mobile before and it was a dead zone too, so I thought that was my fate. Not so. As soon as I had the Mint card up and running, I placed a couple test calls from my house and was told I sounded perfect. Later, I noticed that my phone was saying it was using Wi-Fi calling. I'm not sure if this is a standard feature now, or just the G6, or part of Mint, but I know my old phone didn’t have it (one review that I read talked about having issues setting this up, I didn't it just magically appeared - I didn't even know it was an option). OK, I had to rerun the phone test. So, I turned off my Wi-Fi and did the test calls again. Same result, I sounded totally clear. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but before, I could hear people perfectly, but they couldn’t hear me half the time. MAJOR irritation. OK, on with my story. I then drove around and placed several calls from other areas that had been problem areas. Same result. I sounded perfect. I tried from inside a building where I was totally FUBAR before. No problems. So far so good.I tried out the mobile data. Sites loaded quickly and without any trouble. I decided to run a speed test. It got to about 35MB/s before I stopped it. In the time that I was running the test, it used 35MB of the 100MB on the test card, but I had the information I needed. Plenty of speed.So, the next morning, I got on the AT&T site and reset my phone account PIN (this was a little bit of a pain, but only because the AT&T website instructions were incomplete so I had to search for the reset link). You need this to take your phone number over. So, then I stuck in the second SIM card from the starter kit and followed the instructions. After reading all the legalese, I signed up and purchased the 3 months of 5GB/month plan (there were $3.41 tax and additional charges, so my total was $58.41 after the $5 back from the starter kit refund). This was about noon. At the end, it said it would take up to 48 hours to switch my old number over. My old cell SIM became inactive almost immediately. After a few minutes, my new phone rang to my old number when I called from a land line, but it was on Wi-Fi calling. It took a couple more hours for it to ring with my phone Wi-Fi off. It took a while longer for the mobile data to kick in, but by 6pm it was fully up and running. So far, so good. I played around with the app some. It is very intuitive and easy to use, so much better than the AT&T app that is just a continual struggle. It doesn’t look like it will be any problem to extend my service through the app when the time comes.Summary, Mint gets an A+ so far. Easy to setup and everything seems to work perfectly. If you’re looking for a phone, the Moto G6 also seems very nice. The screen’s not quite as wide as my old LG Optimus Pro (70mm vs. 73mm), but it’s taller (especially when you activate the Moto gestures to eliminate the wasted space associated with the Android on-screen navigation buttons). Battery life is excellent (my LG had replaceable batteries, which was cool, but the longer life of the Moto certainly compensates). Assuming the next 3 months go well, I’ll extend to the 1 year plan so I can keep the low monthly cost. I should have done this long ago. I hope this review was helpful (and not too long).

General Overview- Prior to using Mint mobile, I had been with AT&T for 10 years. I have been using MINT mobile for 6 months now, and I have no complaints. I purchased the 12gb/month at $25 per month. Mint sent me a nice letter with the sim card inside that can break down from a regular sim, microsim, or nanosim. Putting in the sim was as easy as taking a pin or paperclip, popping out the sim tray, and putting it in the phone.Of note, this $75 deal is for a 3 month package, and to maintain that rate, you must pay up front for a whole year. Honestly, it is so nice knowing I do not have to pay another phone bill until November this year.Data plans- At the time of this posting, Mint offers 3gb, 8gb, and 12gb plans with prices of $15, $20, and $25 per month respectively. When you buy in bulk, the more you save. Many people I have talked to about Mint mobile are skeptical because they do not offer an unlimited data option at this time. I do not think people realize how much data they actually use. Mint plans all have unlimited talk and text in the US and after reviewing my monthly usage, I realized that even the 12gb plan I have is too much and when I renew I will be going to the 8gb plan. Think about it, at home you are on wifi and at work you are on wifi. Unlimited data is a scam given by big phone companies to make you pay for more than what you need.Call quality- I do not see a difference in call quality compared to my prior carrier. I have only had one dropped call in 6 months of use. Data speeds appear to be adequate for daily use, obviously in high traffic areas such as concerts, data speeds and accessibility are negatively impacted.Referrals- You are able to refer others to mint mobile using your referral code. For example, my referral code is fbuyme/nBqV. When someone signs up using your link, both you and the person you referred get a $15 credit towards your next renewal bill. There was even a promotion once where if you refer 5 people you would get enough credit for 1-2 years of service depending on the plan you chose. I have referred friends and family to Mint and they also enjoy the service and especially the price!Promotions-Occasionally, there are deals where you can get 6 months free when you sign up or the service for a discounted rate, so if you are thinking of making the switch, wait for a promotion. From time to time, Mint opens an exclusive "underground" website, where users of mint can get exclusive clothing, gear, accessories, etc.Keep your own phone number -Moving my number from my prior carrier was seamless and extremely fast, when I input my number into the app my phone began working in minutes. I believe I had to call my prior phone company first because I was on the plan with another user, but after that its as simple as downloading the mint mobile app and inputting your phone number.Compatibility- I have used Mint only with iphones, and it works seamlessly. Mobile hot spot works. Visual voicemail works. Facetime quality is good. I do not have experience using mint on android devices, but there is a full compatibility checklist on Mint's website. Pretty much is a phone is unlocked, it should work. Mint works off the TMobile towers, so if your phone is Tmobile it should work too. A word of caution for Verizon and sprint phone owners (except for iphone). Verizon, Sprint, and US cellular phones use CDMA (a different signal) that does not require sim cards. An unlocked iPhone is compatible and uses a SIM card tray so there are no issues. I would imagine due to the lack of company exclusive phones like in the past, there should not be an issue as long as the phone is unlocked, but I would check the phone compatibility prior to making the switch.International- when on Wifi, you can make calls and send texts as normal via wifi calling, regardless if you use an iphone or android. International calls start at $0.06 per minute, and you load credit onto your account to maintain service out of the US.TLDR; Too Long, Didn't Read- Mint is a great phone company. If it makes a difference to you, Ryan Reynolds is nowtechnically the owner and also uses Mint mobile.. that's how much trust he has in the company.Check your phone compatibility and input your zip into Mints website to ensure the best results. Use in the Chicagoland area has been great in my experience. I highly recommend Mint to everyone and will not switch to one of the big 4 until I live in a place where Mint doesn't work.