Visible Wireless review: Stellar budget phone plans for unlimited data

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Visible Wireless is Verizon's attempt at the low-cost mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market. It provides access to Verizon's nationwide networks for as low as $25/month. 

Visible offers two plans, a standard and a premium plan, which feature unlimited data. While the standard plan is subject to deprioritized speeds behind Verizon's higher-paying customers, the premium Visible Plus plan — our top pick among the best cheap cell phone plans for unlimited data — includes 50GB of prioritized high-speed data for an added monthly fee. Both plans also include unlimited hot spot data usage at varying maximum speeds. 

We tested the efficacy of Visible's base plan through routine use, assessing the MVNO's coverage consistency, data reliability, and call quality, among other factors. If you're looking to make the switch, we also outline the setup process as a new user and compare plan offerings so you can judge whether Visible has a plan that suits your needs.

Plan offerings and flexibility

The standard Visible plan costs $25 a month (or $275 annually) and includes unlimited data subject to deprioritization, unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada, and unlimited hot spot data. 

The premium Visible Plus plan typically costs $45 a month (or $395 annually). In addition to the base plan's offerings, the premium plan guarantees a 50GB allotment of high-speed data and higher unlimited hot spot speeds. It also adds numerous other perks, as detailed below. Through March 31, the Visible Plus monthly rate is discounted to $35/month.

Separating itself from Visible's standard plan, Visible Plus includes international calling from the US to over 30 countries and texting to over 200 countries, which, along with unlimited data and hot spot data, makes for an excellent deal relative to major carrier plans that offer similar benefits with a much higher price tag.

While the Visible standard plan and upgraded Visible Plus program include unlimited data, Visible Plus customers are guaranteed 50GB of premium high-speed data monthly. This discrepancy is important to note regarding deprioritization, as Visible Plus customers won't be subjected to slower data speeds in congested areas as long as they're within their high-speed data allowance. 

On the other hand, Visible's standard plan has unlimited data subject to deprioritized speeds at any time, and it doesn't have access to the newer 5G Ultra Wideband networks.

With either Visible plan, customers can bring their own phones as long as they're compatible with Verizon's network. Visible has a compatibility checker on their website, and if your phone isn't compatible, you can trade it in for credit toward a new phone. You can also keep your previous phone number through a "porting-in" process on Visible's website or mobile app. 

The MVNO doesn't off much in the way of setup guidance beyond the articles on its online help center, and once your SIM or eSIM is activated, the setup process is complete. Overall, the experience as a new customer is barebones — particularly compared to a competitor like Mint Mobile, which provides the new user with a setup assistance kit, a guided walkthrough of the app and its capabilities, and a more easily navigable support site.

If you're new to Visible, you can test the service with a free 15-day trial; if the results are less than you'd hoped for, you can easily cancel the trial through Visible's app.

Coverage area

Before signing up for Visible, check the MVNO's provided coverage map to confirm whether its network (which mirrors Verizon's US network) covers your area. Additionally, check with neighbors, friends, or social media to ensure that Verizon provides dependable service locally.

Operating on Verizon's network, Visible provides strong 4G LTE, 5G, and top-tier 5G Ultra Wideband connections across most of the US. Visible Plus offers 5G Ultra Wideband coverage in many urban areas, so your data speeds will be the fastest that a 5G connection can provide. 

An enticing reason for switching from one of Verizon's pricier premier plans to either Visible plan is that you can keep the same network coverage at a substantially lower monthly cost for a single line. However, your data will be subject to deprioritized speeds in congested areas unless you opt for Visible's premium tier.

Service reliability and speeds

The best feature of Visible's unlimited data plans is that your data is truly unlimited in the manner of the best cell phone plans from major carriers, meaning speeds aren't capped after you use a certain amount of data, unlike some other nominally unlimited plans.

That said, Visible's base customers are prioritized after Verizon's higher-paying customers who use the same network and could theoretically encounter slower speeds at any time. However, in areas with less network congestion, you may not experience any meaningful disruption from deprioritization.

Even conducting our testing in New York City didn't leave us disappointed. On the standard Visible plan, we could load videos and social media apps with almost no buffering time, which means a lot in an urban area where everyone is using data simultaneously in proximity. Texts were sent from almost anywhere, calls went through fine, and the audio quality was quite good. 

Video calls came with mixed results, however. For instance, while on a 4G connection, we could see and hear the person on the other end of the line perfectly fine. The reverse connection wasn't as clean, though; our call partners noted that our audio and video were skipping to the point of incoherence (despite being connected via a high-speed WiFi network). The issues disappeared when we tried another call while connected with four bars of 5G data.

This disparity wasn't entirely surprising, as a 4G connection will generally be less reliable than a 5G (or a 5G Ultra Wideband) connection. It's worth noting that we had a 4G connection rather than a 5G one, as our testing regions were entirely covered by Verizon 5G coverage, according to Visible's coverage map. The slower connection suggests that we were deprioritized in a congested area. 

One con of being on Verizon's coverage network in a crowded area is that they're a popular network for a reason, and many people use their services. Thus, Visible customers may encounter deprioritization more frequently.

Customer support

As far as in-app and online support is concerned, Visible offers a typically distant level of customer care that you can generally expect from a wireless carrier (particularly a larger network or an MVNO operating on one), with a help center that refers the user to a knowledge base of support articles for resolving any issues you may have in setup, activation, or account information. Last year, Visible added an AI-powered tool to the help center that produces variously helpful and unhelpful summaries for searches.

Visible's mobile app includes the same help center knowledge base as its desktop website and a shop tab that you can use to purchase smartwatches or upgrade your phone. 

From a user experience standpoint, the shop tab in the app isn't particularly useful. Since you purchase a new phone or smartwatch infrequently, it isn't the most convenient resource to include in the mobile app. It doesn't help that the app requires you to log in every time you use it, which is a bit of a chore. 

You can also manage your plan in the Account tab, view your plan specifics, and upgrade your plan from the app. All the most pertinent user information lives in the Account tab, and you can chat there with a text-based digital assistant to access quick help. However, Visible notably lacks a customer service phone number. 

Compared to the customer support offered by competitor Mint Mobile and the option to call customer service on Tello Mobile, Visible's app and site support are lackluster and not particularly user-friendly.

Check out our guides to Mint Mobile vs. Visible and Tello vs. Visible for further comparison between the budget carriers. 

Should you sign up for Visible Wireless?

The affordable unlimited plans on Visible Wireless make it an attractive budget phone carrier if you use a lot of monthly data and know that Verizon's network adequately covers your area. 

In our testing, Visible's base plan had consistently reliable coverage, allowing us to send texts, make calls, and load apps seamlessly. Though we occasionally encountered disruptive, slower data speeds when taking video calls in a congested area, these instances (of likely deprioritization) were momentary and ultimately a passing blemish on an overall positive experience with the service. 

However, if you don't use massive amounts of monthly data, Visible is likely not worth the monthly price, as other budget carriers like Mint Mobile and Tello Mobile provide tiered data plans that cost less than Visible's base plan.

FAQs

Who owns Visible Wireless?

Verizon owns Visible Wireless, and the MVNO operates using the major carrier's nationwide networks. 

While this means that users have access to Verizon's network at a considerably lower cost than Verizon's base plans, it does mean that base Visible customers will be prioritized after Verizon customers in congested areas. 

Visible data speeds may slow down to accommodate the higher-paying Verizon customers, who ultimately pay for convenience and top-tier data speeds. 

Does Visible work internationally? 

If you're a Visible customer from the US going abroad outside Mexico and Canada, you'll need to pick up a local SIM card to use data while overseas.

Visible and Visible Plus provide unlimited calling and texting to Mexico and Canada from the US. Visible Plus adds unlimited data roaming in both countries, but neither plan includes international data roaming in countries outside Mexico and Canada. 

Visible Plus users can also make calls to over 30 countries and send texts to over 200 countries, and WiFi calling should work anywhere if you have access to a WiFi network.

How do Visible's unlimited plans work?

Visible's unlimited plans, prepaid monthly or annually, include unlimited data, hot spot access, and talk and text on Verizon's coverage network. Under Verizon's umbrella, Visible users can consistently take advantage of 4G LTE speeds and even 5G (or 5G Ultra Wideband for Visible Plus users) if there isn't much network congestion. 

The service is intended to be a low-cost alternative for customers who want to use Verizon's network but aren't within budget for one of the major carriers' high-end plans. Visible strips the network management process down to the basics, with no annual contracts or hidden fees, just prepaid data service. 

The caveat is that while your data is unlimited, the speed of the data could slow down due to Verizon network traffic at any time on the base Visible plan or after the guaranteed 50GB of high-speed data on Visible Plus.

Does Visible offer a family plan?

Unfortunately, Visible only offers unlimited plans for one line at a time and does not offer a traditional "family" plan. For example, if you have multiple base subscription lines on your plan, each will cost $25/month. 

Visible used to provide a "Party Pay" option that added discounts for multiple lines on the same plan, but the service ended as of January 2023.