Right now, Mint Mobile looks to be one of the better choices on the market for those on the hunt for a cheap data-laden cell phone plan. Its latest addition, the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan, looks especially tempting at just $30 a month.
But, how good is the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan really? Is it truly unlimited, and is it worth the money? We're always on the lookout for the best cell phone plans for our readers here at TechRadar, so let's put this prepaid plan under the lens to see if it can really offer that value that Mint Mobile is well-known for.
The Mint Mobile unlimited data plan has been a fairly recent addition to the prepaid carrier's site, having been introduced back in September of last year. Previously, the carrier only offered limited-data allowance plans, which really allowed it to establish itself as one of the better valued prepaid carriers out there.
As with all Mint Mobile plans, the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan is cheapest when you buy a full year of service in one big chunk. At $360, that can be a significant investment for some, although it does come with the added benefit of not having to pay those bills on a monthly basis for quite some time. Averaging out at $30 a month also makes it pretty much the cheapest unlimited data plan on the market right now.
Mint Mobile unlimited data plan price
Mint Mobile unlimited data plan features
- Unlimited data (35GB at 5G)
- Unlimited talk and text
- 5G where applicable (4G, 3G elsewhere)
- VoLTE
- Free mobile hot spotting (5GB cap on unlimited)
- Free calling and texts to Canada and Mexico
For just $30 a month (at its cheapest rate), the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan looks to be a fairly well-rounded and feature-laden cell phone plan indeed. Staples like unlimited talk and text are of course fairly common on even the most cheap of prepaid phone plans, but it's rare to see things like voice-over-LTE and free mobile hotspotting included into the price of a cheaper plan.
That said, there's no such thing as a free lunch, which brings us on to our next topic...
Is the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan really unlimited?
The eagle-eyed of you will have spotted that the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan has a stipulation of 'only' 35GB of data at 5G speeds. This is essentially a soft-cap on the amount of high-speed data you can use per month. While this is a fairly common practice for most carriers (even at Verizon and T-Mobile), you'll definitely want to bear this in mind since after your 35GB of 5G is up you'll be reduced right down to a soul-crushing 128KB/s data speed. For context, that's enough to send a few messages and emails, maybe browse a few pages, but not much else.
So, does this mean the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan is truly unlimited? The answer is - well, sort of. If you're a medium to light user then you'll most likely never encounter a hitch here, and you won't be cut off from your data under any circumstances. Still, if you're a heavy user then you won't find truly unlimited 5G data speeds at Mint Mobile just yet.
Is the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan worth it?
As you can see, the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan is pretty damn cheap, even when compared to other prepaid phone plans out there. On average, it's coming in at $10 a month cheaper than Visible Wireless, which is probably Mint's main competitor in the cheap unlimited cell phone plans market. It's worth noting, however, that Visible does offer unlimited data at 5G, which is excellent, and also has flexible party-pay options that can get your bill down to as low as $25 a month with a 4-line party.
If you're a single-line user who's generally going to use less than 35GB of data a month, however, then the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan is pretty amazing value.
- See how Mint stacks up against the competition in our Mint Mobile vs Visible wireless article
