Best answer: Visible is a carrier that’s powered by Verizon’s LTE network. For $40/month with no contract, you get unlimited talk, text, and data. It’s a great deal and worth checking out, but the limited support for Android phones might keep you from joining.
- Great choice: Visible ($40/month at Visible)
- Pixel perfect: Google Pixel 3a ($400 at Amazon)
Visible is a carrier powered by Verizon’s network
First thing’s first, Visible is a company that’s pushing itself as a “digital carrier.” This means that you won’t find a physical Visible store anywhere and can manage your entire account through either the Visible website or app.
Visible first debuted in May 2018 and is powered by Verizon’s fantastic LTE network. In other words, it has the best service you can get in the U.S. — with an emphasis on the U.S.
Although Verizon itself does offer international roaming with the plans that it sells, you won’t find any such option with Visible. If you do a lot of international traveling, that could be a big issue.
There’s only one plan — it costs $40/month
These days, it seems like every carrier has multiple “unlimited” plans for you to choose from. As good of a deal as some of these can be, they’re also incredibly confusing.
Visible, on the other hand, keeps things simple. The carrier only offers one plan, and it comes with unlimited talk, text, and 4G LTE data for $40/month. That price is all-in, meaning that taxes and fees are included. In other words, you pay exactly $40 each month and not anything more — just the way it should be.
If you sign up for Visible right now, your LTE data is entirely uncapped. Our testing revealed average download speeds of around 14Mbps, but Visible says some of its customers have claimed to reach speeds of 100Mbps. However, this is only part of an ongoing promotion. At some point in the future, Visible will end that promotion and return to its regular offering of unlimited data that has a max download speed of 5Mbps. Anyone that signs up for Visible during this promotion will keep their uncapped speeds for free as long as they remain a Visible customer, but it does mean that you’re better off signing up now while the promotion is going on compared to waiting and missing out on it.
Lastly, Visible’s plan also includes free hotspot access. No matter if you sign up for Visible during or after the uncapped data promotion, hotspot speeds are limited to 5Mbps.
Android support is growing, but still limited
While there aren’t any nasty catches or surprises with Visible, it does lose a bit of its appeal when you take a look at the Android phones it supports.
At this time, Visible works with the following Android devices:
- Samsung Galaxy S9
- Samsung Galaxy S9+
- Google Pixel 3
- Google Pixel 3 XL
- Google Pixel 3a
- Google Pixel 3a XL
- Motorola Moto G7 Power
More phones should be added to Visible soon, but even so, there are a lot of missing names — including handsets such as the Galaxy S10, Note 9, LG G8, OnePlus 7 Pro, etc.
iPhone owners have it much better, however, as Visible supports every iPhone released since 2014, including the iPhone 6 and SE.
Should you join?
If you have a phone that works with Visible, we absolutely recommend trying it out. $40/month for unlimited everything is an excellent deal on its own, but when you factor in free hotspot access and the fact that you’re getting access to Verizon’s network, you’re met with an offer that’s hard to argue with.
The lack of international roaming is a shame for frequent travelers, and of course, none of Visible’s strengths matter if you don’t have one of the select phones that currently work with it.
For those that can use Visible, though, it’s pretty damn great.
Great choice
Visible
$40/month at Visible
Unlimited talk, text, and data on Verizon for just $40.
Visible brings an enticing offer to the table — unlimited everything on Verizon’s incredible LTE network for just $40/month with no extra taxes or fees. The limited Android support is irritating, but if you have a phone that does work with Visible, it’s more than worth checking out.
Pixel perfect
Google Pixel 3a
$400 at Amazon
Google’s mid-range Pixel knocks it out of the park.
The Pixel 3a, the first mid-range phone under Google’s Pixel brand, is incredible. The AMOLED display is gorgeous, the Snapdragon processor is snappy, and the camera performance rivals some flagships that cost hundreds of dollars more.
