If you’ve seen the ads for Mint Mobile featuring actor Ryan Reynolds, you may be wondering if the affordable wireless service provider is worth the savings.
The short answer is that yes it’s a good service, but it’s not for everyone.
Mint Mobile Review From a Real Customer
I’ve tested more than a dozen cheap phone plans over the past few years. Mint Mobile offers among the best plans and pricing, features, and app experience in the wireless industry.
In this article, I’ll share the pros and cons of the service to help you decide if you should sign up. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents:
- What Is Mint Mobile?
- Network Coverage
- Plans and Pricing
- Additional Features
- Phone Options
- Customer Service
- Pros and Cons Review
1. What Is Mint Mobile?
Mint Mobile is a low-cost cell phone service provider that offers prepaid plans. The service runs on T-Mobile’s network and utilizes its cell phone towers, including 5G at no extra charge.
Mint Mobile announced in March 2023 that it was being acquired by T-Mobile for up to $1.35 billion.
In an email to subscribers, Mint Mobile said there are no plans to change the service’s $15 per month pricing. The email said customers will get the same reliable and affordable service.
After the deal closes, Mint Mobile owner Ryan Reynolds will stay on in a creative role to promote Mint.
2. Is Mint Mobile’s Coverage Any Good?
Since Mint Mobile relies on T-Mobile to provide network coverage, your experience with the service will depend heavily on how T-Mobile performs where you live.
Enter your ZIP code on Mint’s website to confirm voice and data coverage where you live, work and travel.
If you’re happy with your existing network (Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile), I recommend that you look for a low-cost cell phone service provider that uses that network.
In the case of Mint Mobile, that’s T-Mobile.
Coverage maps can be unreliable. If you’re unsure about T-Mobile’s coverage where you live, ask people you know about their experience with T-Mobile or post a question on the Nextdoor app. If you get positive feedback about T-Mobile in your area, Mint Mobile is worth a closer look.
I’ve tried out the service in three cities where T-Mobile’s network is strong. I can only recall one dropped call during my four separate tests of Mint Mobile dating back to 2018.
Data speeds are sometimes inconsistent, but it’s always been usable from my extensive testing.
Mint Mobile now supports 5G. During my most recent test of 5G data speeds in South Florida using the Speedtest app, I recorded download speeds higher than 300 Mbps with my iPhone 12.
When using the 4G LTE network during previous testing, I averaged download speeds around 20 to 25 Mbps.
Mint Mobile 5G Speed Test Results
| Date | Download Speed | Upload Speed |
| 2/15/2023, 10:00 AM | 251 Mbps | 24.3 Mbps |
| 2/15/2023, 11:00 AM | 287 Mbps | 17.1 Mbps |
| 2/15/2023, 12:00 PM | 308 Mbps | 19.8 Mbps |
| 2/15/2023, 1:00 PM | 169 Mbps | 17.5 Mbps |
| 2/15/2023, 2:00 PM | 315 Mbps | 18.7 Mbps |
When you sign up for a low-cost carrier like Mint, you can expect your data speeds to be slowed down during times of network congestion.
But even when my speeds temporarily dropped to 5 to 10 Mbps, I could still stream video on my phone.
3. How Much Does Mint Mobile Cost?
Mint Mobile offers four main plans that work out to as low as $15 a month, but there isn’t actually a monthly plan. You must buy plans for either three, six or 12 months at a time.
The introductory plans are for three months. Take a look at the regular pricing:
- 4GB Plan: $45 ($15/month)
- 10GB Plan: $60 ($20/month)
- 15GB Plan: $75 ($25/month)
- Unlimited Plan (35GB): $90 ($30/month)
DEAL ALERT: Mint Mobile frequently runs deals on plans and phones. One popular recurring deal offers six months of free service when you buy a new phone and a six-month plan. See the latest deals.
Taxes and fees vary depending on your location. You can see the additional charges during the checkout process before you place your order on MintMobile.com.
After the introductory period, single-line members can lock in the lowest price by signing up for a 12-month plan.
Meanwhile, family plan accounts with two or more users get the best pricing while paying for service three months in advance, not a full year. Mint’s family plan launched in May 2022.
The Unlimited plan is great for single people. Several other discount cell phone service providers have unlimited plans for $25 a month, but they may require you to be in a family or group plan.
For those on the fence, Mint Mobile offers a starter kit and says all plans have a 7-day money back guarantee.
4. What Features Are Offered With Mint Mobile?
All Mint Mobile plans include unlimited talk and text. Your high-speed data limit (4G LTE and 5G) varies depending on the plan that you choose.
Plans also include:
- Free international calls to Mexico and Canada
- Free mobile hotspot (5GB cap with the Unlimited plan)
- WiFi calling and texting
With the service, your data is never cut off completely. If you go over your high-speed data for the month, speeds will be reduced until the next month.
But if you prefer, you can purchase add-on high-speed data from the carrier’s app.
5. What Phone Options Are Available With Mint Mobile?
Mint Mobile has improved its phone offerings over the years. At last check, there were more than 60 phones available for sale on its website including Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices.
I’ve noticed that Mint Mobile has started to bundle phones and plans. For example, Mint has offered six months of free service when you purchase a new Apple iPhone and a 6-month plan.
With Mint, you can also buy a new phone elsewhere and bring it to the service or keep your existing phone.
Before you sign up, confirm that your phone is unlocked and compatible with Mint Mobile. To do so, visit this page on Mint’s website and enter your phone’s IMEI number.
6. How Is Mint Mobile’s Customer Service?
Mint Mobile is able to keep its prices low because it doesn’t have physical stores. For people who depend on in-person customer support, that’s going to be a drawback.
On the other hand, customer service is available by phone, chat and email for those who need it.
Mint Mobile’s setup process is very simple, even if it’s your first time switching to a low-cost carrier. When you sign up, you’ll receive a colorful activation kit with instructions.
Mint also has video tutorials to help you activate your service and either transfer your number or request a new one.
Your activation kit will include a physical SIM card. You can also get started with eSIM if you have a compatible device.
If you need further assistance, the redesigned Mint app is the place to go. From there, you can get chat support or find the customer service phone number.
The app is also the best place to monitor your data usage. Take a look:
Since Mint Mobile’s plans have high-speed data limits, the app will help you see how much data is remaining for the month and when your data renews.
Elsewhere in the app, you can complete tasks like making a payment and changing your payment method.
7. What Are the Pros and Cons of Mint Mobile?
Mint Mobile doesn’t offer all of the premium perks that T-Mobile is known for, but it does have cheap phone plans that can substantially lower your cell phone bill.
If you want T-Mobile’s network for a lower price, I highly recommend Mint Mobile.
| Pros | Cons |
| Affordable multi-month plans | No monthly plan option |
| 5G available at no extra charge | Deprioritization during network congestion |
| Easy activation and setup | No physical stores |
| Solid app experience |
There are other alternatives to T-Mobile’s postpaid plans. Metro by T-Mobile and Tello are two prepaid options that you may want to consider, especially if you prefer to pay monthly.
Have you tried Mint Mobile? Add to my real customer review in the comments below!
The only internet service I have is with my phone hot spot, is the high speed data only available up to 5GB per month no matter how much data you purchase?
You can only use 5GB of your data for mobile hotspot. The “unlimited plan” has 35GB total data per month, which includes your cellular data too. Have you thought about a carrier with truly unlimited data (and mobile hotspot) like Visible?
I would absolutely advise anyone AGAINST using this inexpensive, unreliable, w/ customer service that resolves NOTHING from from the DR, Mexico or the Philippines. I have spent literally a week trying to get my phone, that was purchased through them, unlocked b/c the service was HORRIBLE. It is still pending! I was told that to unlock it you have to have been on this crappy service FOR A YEAR!!! WHAT A SCAM.
Have a Hollywood “good” guy do the marketing & get people to believe him. Live & learn! We made the mistake of using the $15/mo. for 3 months promo & it is costing us more $$$ than any other carrier. My clients and my elderly Mother cannot contact me…
For your sanity & wallet’s sake DO NOT USE MINT MOBILE.
Always make it a priority to read comments/reviews… so glad I did!! Had given it some thought about switching to Mint Mobile & will DEFINITELY stay with AT&T now after reading yours & others. Thank you for taking the time to let me & others know of your experience with Mint Mobile.
Thank you for your post. I was seriously considering Mint Mobile but I think I will just stay with my current carrier. I guess the old saying-you get what you pay for-applies to this.
oh my god! Same here.. im glad i continued reading… i knew there must have been a catch at such a low price. I guess i will stay with verizon then!! 😀
Found the change from Consumer Cellular to Mint Mobile easy and when I had questions, there was live help available by online chat or text. Hoping it will be great as many people seem to like it. Will let you know in a couple months how it goes. Loved that Mint offered so much MORE for less money than my plan with CC did. Also Mint had no issues with my Galaxy A20s phone when CC said it would be incompatible with them moving forward into 4G.
Very helpful review. Thanks for providing it! 🙂
How easy or difficult is it to transfer pictures etc from old samsung phone to newly purchased motorola phone from mint mobile.
Would be easiest if you were moving from Samsung to Samsung, but not too bad. Here’s a tutorial: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-transfer-data-your-old-android-phone-your-new-phone
If I sign up for the 15GB plan, can I use more than 5GB for mobile hot spot?
5GB mobile hotspot is for unlimited plans. If you have a 15GB plan, hotspot is pulled from that 15GB — so yes you can use more than 5GB of that for hotspot if you want to
I plan to use hotspot for emergency only. Maybe just to send an email from laptop or something like that. I am not looking to get unlimited plan. Will I be able to use hotspot if I sign up for 4GB/month or 10 GB/Month plan?
Yes, you can use hotspot on any plans. With the plans that have data caps, hotspot usage will go against your monthly limit. But since you said for emergencies only, you shouldn’t really use much hotspot. I’d be more concerned if you planned to regularly stream video over hotspot.
Is Mint Mobile available in Canada?
US
sounds great. can I keep my same phone and number?
Yes to number and in most cases your phone too
Nice review but Mint was bad for me. Sim activation messed up so phone had no Mint service up BUT Mint ported my number from Verizon despite phone not being active. Put Verizon sim back in but Verizon said Mint had to authorize transfer back. However Mint said they only send authorization pin to the phone via text BUT THE PHONE was not active!@#. After complaining for hours Mint finally gave pin verbally and I was able to go back to Verizon. Maybe a rare case but No foxin Mint for me.
Sorry you had such a bad experience. I’m glad you acted quickly and didn’t lose your phone number.
T-Mobile (Mint’s carrier network) offers device insurance from Asurion, also available through T-Mobile’s Metro PCS subsidiary, but I have been unable to find a way to get Asurion outside of the big carriers like T-Mobile. Mint needs to cut a deal with Asurion so a lost/damaged device coverage plan can be transferred from T-Mobile or started fresh with Mint.
In the meantime, you could always take advantage of free cell phone protection from a credit card. Some banks offer it as well.
Asurion is a ripoff. Used them several times and ended up paying more to get a refurb barely working phone than to buy a used one from craigslist. And if their barely working phone phone breaks again? Forget it the cost is prohibitive.
Goodwill has shop onlne that sells batches of phones and indicates whether they are locked, good or bad. Buy 20 for $50 and find the good ones.
Do NOT use Mint Mobile- I bought two new phones [different numbers] and was STUPID enough to pay for the yearly plan on each-I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO GET MOBILE DATA ON EITHER PHONE!!! After over EIGHT hours and mor then SIX contacts with them [TWO SEPERATE TIMES being told they were moving the tower for me and would call me to check on my coverage-NEITHER ONE OF THE AGENTS CALLED BACK- I spent another call on line where they finally sent out NEW SIMS CARDS for each phone-STILL NO MOBILE DATA–Today I asked for a refund and was told oh sorry its past the seven days-WHAT!?! I HAVE NEVER HAD MOBILE DATA AND THEIR RECORDS SHOULD SHOW THAT!!! STAY AWAY FROM MINT-NO MATTER HOW CHEAP THEY ARE-IF THE MOBILE DATA DOESNʻT WORK THE PHONES ARE USELESS!!!
Yes, Do not use Mint mobile or any small carrier if you want great customer services you can get from Big carrier like AT&T or Verizon. But if you want to pay less for phone call, go with small carriers.
It all depends on what you want from your cell phone carrier: to make phone call with ok or bad customer service for lower price or pay more for the phone call with great customer service in case of problem.
You cannot get both.
I so wish I had read this before attempting to sign my very elderly mother up with just enough service for safety. She still drives if I’m not looking and I insist she carry a phone with her when she’s out. Otherwise, she’s a dedicated land line user…anyway, I started with Mint the first part of December, and here it is the end of February and I just got the refund. My experience was exactly as described above, except the phone NEVER got connected, forget about mobile data. The agents absolutely LIE and never follow up. The fight I had trying to get a refund was miserable, too. It took 2 complaints to the Better Business Bureau to get my money back. If you’re thinking about Mint Mobile, for your own sanity, just DON’T GO THERE!
Filled in online order requesting physical sim card. I did not check e-Sim. When I received order confirmation it said I had asked for e-Sim. I called customer support. I was told they would process a refund which would take 7 to 10 days. That could not provide me with any kind of confirmation for the refund. I think this is unacceptable and I am calling my credit card company.
sorry i am not agree with you. i get very good service, i live 20815 zipcode and i had no problem with the service.
I live in Nebraska. I purchased a 3 month plan, gave my cc and told it wouldn’t go thru, he tried more than once. I was told to call back in an hour and try again. I checked cc and it was charged twice. I called back and requested a refund of the duplicate charge. I did receive a refund. I waited 6 days for the sim card (my Samsung S20 FE 5G not supported) but told it would be 2-3 days. I got the sim called in to get set up, and was told there is no coverage in my area, their system would not accept my zip code. I had checked there coverage map, it shows 4G LTE. I was told, they could put in a different zip code (like New York’s) to “get around” their system and force it to take it. But, that I would only be able to text and make calls from INSIDE MY HOME while connected to my wifi. If I stepped out side, I would have no service. WHY did they even sell me a plan and make me wait 6 days for a sim card?? Total waste of my time. I asked for a full refund.
Mint Mobile has the absolute worst customer service I have experienced from any product or service in my life. I have spent the entire last 3 months since starting with them on the phone- literally, I have had to chat and call them every single week repeatedly. They have done nothing right and I would cancel the service for myself and family members except we are locked into a 6 month plan right now. I have never in my life had such a bad experience with a product or service or company of any sort. I have looked into filing more public complaints against them- they should not be in business.
wheres ryan reynolds when you need him ??
My Mint Mobile Experience so far:
Signing up for the initial 3 month plan was simple. The initial came with 3 months free, so in effect got 6 months for $45 plus tax or $57. The company mailed the sim card and instructions in a few days. The change over and porting of my Verizon phone number was fairly simple and quickly completed. Since I spend most of my time east of the Mississippi the coverage is good with few exception areas. You can call Canada and Mexico from the US, but at least when in Canada, to call back to the US you need to buy additional international time. I bought $5.00 worth, so with tax it was $6.79. While in Toronto Canada, I was on the phone for about 25 minutes and used $0.80 worth of my funds with a great connection. The balance remains in your account until used.
I am concerned about traveling to an area that shown no coverage on their map. So far I’ve been made aware that you can use Wi-Fi calling without charge from someone’s hot spot.
On a recent trip we went from ABQ – TUL – IND – SYR and there was always service.
I have since signed up for the 12 month renewal, based on my experience with them so far.
With Verizon’s small plan the cost was $48/ mo including tax. So the savings is significant.
Basically, so far, so good. Hope it continues…..
IMHO,
Jim
Hi Michael,
Nice review, I think you cover a lot of the questions I initially had when I was considering the switch. Unfortunately, after having mint for a few months now, I can say the largest con is missing above. A con large enough for me to consider switching even before my pre-paid time is up.
Once your data plan allowance is consumed, the website simply says your data will “slow”. What they don’t tell you is that it will slow to 2G speeds, meaning 0.1MBs or LESS. At this speed, even google maps can’t function properly. iMessages can’t properly send. The phone is crippled when it’s away from WiFi. Looking at the terms and conditions, there is nothing to suggest that speeds would decay this far. Then you’re stuck with the option to upgrade at full price (no longer new customer price).
Hope this helps some people who are looking at Mint, you need to significantly over estimate, or your phone will become useless.
Absolutely the worst experience ever switching from AT&T to Mint. Mint could not set up my e-SIM, despite successfully jumping through the set-up hoops online. Multiple calls to customer service (at least two were disconnected before I could get the help I needed). After HOURS of talk time with useless Mint customer service I was able to wrestle a code out of them in order to get my AT&T service restored.
This ranks as one of the worst customer service experiences of my adult life and I will never, ever sign up for a low-cost carrier again.