In case you haven’t been watching any commercials or paying attention to anything about mobile plans, there have been some major leaps for the consumer in the past 12 months as it pertains to mobile phone plans. First, almost every major plan now comes with unlimited talk and text. No more “rollover minutes” or worrying about if your kids are texting too much (I may be showing age here).
The latest development is that all of the major carriers have implemented an unlimited plan where you also get unlimited data (throttled after a certain data limit). With all of these benefits to the major companies, why would people choose the smaller people like Cricket Wireless or MintSim?
Price is generally one of the major differences as premium carriers demand premium prices. They also contract with hardware developers to get their customers a perceived value with flagship phones, but if you have read a good amount of our phone reviews you know that flagships and premium devices aren’t necessary.
We were lucky enough to get our hands on a MintSim sim card and play with the service for a little over a week now and, I have to say, it’s really something to consider. Let’s check it out.
MintSim
MintSim was developed by UltraMobile, a company that specializes in plans for international travel, and takes a different look at how we handle mobile data plans today. The way Mint is structuring its data plans is like a prepaid plan, on steroids. The premise is that you pay for your plan up front, and you get that service for the designated time frame. No overages, no hidden fees, no changes to the plan on a monthly basis. You just use your phone as you like, not worry about the bill.
Now, we will talk more about pricing in a little bit but, what do you get for your money. As I said before, you get unlimited talk and text in every single package. No need to worry about watching minutes or monitoring texts. Now the data. this is where I see this making a huge difference, MintSim is offering 2GB, 5GB, or 10GB of 4G LTE data on the T-Mobile network, so we know stability isn’t really an issue.
Showing Mint as carrier
Mint LTE data coverage
T-Mobile network backbone
Ok, that may not seem like much, but the game changer here is that every plan (yeah even that 2GB plan) comes with unlimited 3G data. if you run out of your paid 4G data for the month, you just roll down to the slower speed with no overages. Now there is an option of purchase more data for the month if you want to but, it is not required.
FAQ
There are always a few things to consider when switching carriers. Let’s break these things down in a simple, clean fashion.
- Can I use my current phone? Yes, as long as it is unlocked and works on GSM networks.
- Can I use my current number? Yes, provided you are in good standing with your current carrier. There is an online process to help make this process easier.
- Can I get a new phone number? Yes, there are numbers available in your area code.
- Where do I get signed up? MintSim is done all online. From signup to support to purchasing more LTE data, everything can be done from a browser.
You can find the answers to more common questions on the MintSim FAQ page.
Pricing
Yeah, I know, All that cool stuff above is pointless if it doesn’t fit into a budget, right? Well, MintSim has you covered. They offer 1, 3, 6, and 12-month plans. Remember when I said that you prepay for your plan? Well, you can pay for a year’s worth of data coverage up front. Never have to worry about overages, additional taxes, fees or any of the other crap the major carriers throw at you.
What does it cost? As you could imagine, there is a price break if you purchase additional months in advance, the 12-month plan being the most bang for your buck. That said, I think all of the plans are aggressive in their pricing and well worth your consideration if you are impressed thus far.
As you can see in the image above, there is a special right now. MintSim is essentially giving 2 months of service away for free to new customers. What better time to give it a shot if this is something you are interested in.
Final Impression
Carrier plans are not something I personally give a lot of thought to. My family has always been with one of the large carriers and my work gives me a discount on my plan so I’ve been a little complacent. The only thing that holds me back from switching over would be the lack of a “family style” plan. There is currently no price break for multiple lines. That being said, the prices, if we break them down to a monthly cost, are very aggressive and this only makes things better for us as consumers.
What’s in if for you?
We have partnered with MintSim to get our readers some extra savings. If you guys use the code ANDROIDGUY during checkout you will get yourself a 20% discount on any of the 6 or 12-month plans. If we do a little math, we are talking about $80 off of the most expensive plan, bringing the per month cost of the 10GB plan to just $26.67 per month for 12 months.
In addition, MintSim has provided us with 5 sim cards, each of which has 3 months of 2GB LTE coverage. you can port your old number or create a new one with these as well. To enter, click the link below and follow the instructions.
The giveaway starts right now and runs until 12 AM on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. At that time, we will select 5 winners. This giveaway is for the United States only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway