Xfinity Mobile is Comcast's cell phone service that uses Verizon's network and has helped
me lower my cell phone bill to just $12 a month before taxes and fees.
Hello, my name is Michael, and I run the personal finance website MichaelSaves.com, where I
share practical ways to help you lower your monthly bills.
Today, I want to review the 10 things you need to know before you sign up for Xfinity
Mobile.
I'm going to be covering a lot of ground in this video, so I'll have time codes in the
description below if you want to jump around.
But right now, let's get right into the 10 things you need to know.
Number 1: Eligibility requirements.
Xfinity Mobile isn't available to everyone.
You must be an Xfinity internet customer to sign up for the mobile deal.
If you're an unhappy Comcast customer or someone who thinks you're going to be moving pretty
soon out of an area where there's Comcast service, Xfinity Mobile probably isn't a good
cell phone service for you.
You may want to consider other Verizon MVNOs such as Total Wireless or Red Pocket Mobile.
There's also Visible, which is owned by Verizon.
But if you're someone who is pretty happy with Comcast, a satisfied customer, Xfinity
Mobile could be a good deal for you, and you're going to want to keep watching the rest of
this review.
Number 2: Plans and pricing.
Xfinity Mobile can save you a lot of money, especially if you don't need an unlimited
data plan or if you are a single person or couple.
So let me explain why.
There are two data plans with Xfinity Mobile: $12 per gigabyte or $45 per month per line
for unlimited.
The unlimited data plan has super fast data until you reach 20 gigabytes of data, then
you're slowed down.
For By the Gig, you just pay $12 per gigabyte.
So when you reach 1.1 gigabytes, you're going to pay $24 a month.
But for 1 gigabyte of data or less, it's just $12 before taxes and fees.
That's usually where I land at the end of the billing cycle.
Xfinity Mobile also includes unlimited talk and text, no line access fees on up to 5 lines
and 100 megabytes of data is included at no additional charge.
So you start with 100 megabytes of data for free, then you pay for your data plan where
that's $12 per gigabyte or the unlimited data plan.
Number 3: How to pay $0 before taxes and fees.
I just mentioned that you get 100 megabytes of data included with Xfinity Mobile.
So, if you're an extremely light data user, you could pay $0 before taxes and fees at
the end of the month.
I know because I've done this twice.
I'm going to pull up my Fire tablet, it may be hard to see here, but my bill for last
month was just $2.32.
I was able to do this by really going into my phone's settings and turning off data altogether.
Because those mobile hotspots are all around town, I'm able to connect to those when maybe
I want to send something on Instagram or post something to Facebook.
But really, since I connect to Wi-FI at home, at work and even on the go with Xfinity's
Wi-Fi hotspots, you don't really need that much data.
Number 4: Flexible data plans: If you're really not sure which data plan to go with, By the
Gig or Unlimited, start with By the Gig.
Here's why: Xfinity Mobile allows you to switch back and forth between your data plans, even
during the middle of a billing cycle, and there's no additional charge or penalty for
that.
For example, I was seeing that I was going over my normal data usage one month because
I was traveling, so I just switched to the unlimited plan for that month alone and then
I didn't have to pay for 8 or 9 gigabytes of data, I just paid the unlimited price of
$45 a month.
Then, I switched right back to By the Gig and the next month I was below 1 gigabyte
of data, so I paid $12 a month before taxes and fees.
I don't know of another cell phone service that lets you switch back and forth between
plans like that, so that's definitely a big advantage with Xfinity Mobile.
Number 5: Fast data speeds.
With Xfinity Mobile, you're not being slowed down.
You're getting access to Verizon's network and the speeds that Verizon postpaid customers
are paying for, and you know they're paying a lot more for their service.
I know this because I've been testing it for the past year using the Speedtest app.
I've got information on that in the description below.
You can download this app and test your mobile data speeds.
Generally, it's been between 40 and 60 megabits per second, even as high as 70 megabits per
second, which is fast enough to do anything you want to do on the web.
Watching videos, surfing the web, using your apps.
It's really fast.
Number 6: Mobile hotspot.
Now, this is a feature that's not really important to me, but I have tested it out to provide
a more comprehensive review.
Mobile hotspot is provided at no additional charge on both Xfinity Mobile plans, By the
Gig and Unlimited.
There's one main difference, though.
With the unlimited plan, the speeds may be slowed down.
In fact, Xfinity Mobile says they are slowed down.
So you'll be able to browse the web and check email, but you may not be able to watch videos
without buffering.
When I switched to the unlimited plan to test this feature, I actually was able to connect
the mobile hotspot with my laptop and watch YouTube videos on my laptop without buffering.
But again, Xfinity Mobile says really it's more for basic needs when you're connected
to the mobile hotspot with the unlimited plan.
If you want the blazing fast speeds, you're going to want to be on the By the Gig plan
to use mobile hotspot.
Number 7: Video streaming.
With Xfinity Mobile, you are streaming in standard definition, 480p, when you're using
data.
However, you can connect to an Xfinity Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot and then you'll get HD streaming.
Since I'm connected to Wi-Fi all the time and not really relying on that data so much,
this really hasn't affected my experience with Xfinity Mobile.
But if you really want HD streaming, you're going to have to pay more for that with Verizon
or some other wireless carrier.
Number 8: Call and text performance.
Since Xfinity Mobile uses Verizon's network, I knew I wasn't going to have a problem with
it and I haven't.
I don't think I've had a dropped call in more than a year.
If you go to my website, you can see the coverage maps for Xfinity Mobile and Verizon.
They look pretty much the same.
Another cool thing about Xfinity Mobile is that it supports voice over LTE, which my
previous carrier, I'm not going to mention it by name, didn't have that feature.
And really what that means is that I'm able to use data and talk on the phone at the same
time.
This really comes in handy when you're on the phone with customer service and they say,
'Oh, we need you to find your account number.'
So then, I can just toggle using my phone to the web, look up my account number and
still be connected and talking to the customer service representative at the same time.
Also, pretty much all phones with Xfinity Mobile now have Wi-Fi Calling.
When I first joined, they did not have this for my device, but now they've added Wi-Fi
Calling for my Samsung Galaxy S8 as well as pretty much all of the devices that run on
Xfinity Mobile's network.
Number 9: Phone selection.
As I just mentioned, I have a Samsung Galaxy S8 and I bought that phone through Xfinity
Mobile.
Xfinity Mobile sells maybe 16 to 20 devices, mostly iPhones and high-end Samsung devices.
But there are a couple of choices under $200.
iPhone users can bring their phones to Xfinity Mobile, but as of January 2019, that's not
an option if you have an Android.
That's a pretty big downside for the service at this point.
I've been in touch with Comcast over the past year and they say that they're working on
it.
So we'll see if bring your own device for Android becomes an option.
I was happy to buy a phone from Xfinity Mobile because I needed one at the time and also
they had $200 off discounts.
It seems they've transitioned to now instead of giving $200 cash off to giving $200 prepaid
cards, but still, there are phone deals that you may want to take advantage of with Xfinity
Mobile, particularly if you're looking for a new iPhone or Samsung device.
Number 10: Customer service.
Now I set up my Xfinity Mobile service without ever stepping foot inside a store, did everything
online and my phone showed up a couple days later.
I just unboxed it, called them, transferred my number.
It was really a quick and easy process.
The one time I contacted customer service was a few months later when my phone suddenly
just stopped working.
They helped me through the process of getting a new phone sent to me.
It was under warranty, so I didn't have to pay any additional charges for that.
If you need to reach out to them, you can check the app.
The app, in general, is really great.
That's where you can check your bill, check your data usage and also reach out to customer
service.
There are a few options, whether that's chat, there's Facebook Messenger, you can call them
and there's an estimated wait time that is provided.
Alright, so let's recap.
I've saved a whole lot of money with Xfinity Mobile.
My first 12 months of service just $180.
That's the total that I've paid.
Here are the pros: By the Gig and Unlimited data plans, the pricing is very competitive.
You're on Verizon's network and it's the #1 network in America.
Data speeds, very fast.
You also have the flexibility to choose between data plans.
That's something that not a lot of people are able to do with other wireless providers.
Finally, customer service.
There are lots of options.
You can contact them by phone, you can contact them online or go into an Xfinity Store.
As far as the cons, you must be an Xfinity internet customer to get the mobile deal.
Also, no Android bring your own device as of January 2019.
They've been talking about it for more than a year and saying they're working on it.
When's it gonna happen?
Finally, standard definition video streaming.
That's something a lot of wireless providers are doing right now, but definitely on the
cons list.
Now, I hope you found this review helpful.
If you're thinking about switching to Xfinity Mobile, I would strongly recommend it based
on my experience.
But I think you should be checking other reviews as well.
That's something I always do whenever I'm making a big consumer decision like this.
I like to check what other people are saying because just because I've had a great experience
doesn't mean that other people haven't had a less than great experience.
If you're a current customer and have something to add, I'd also appreciate it if you left
a comment below because that could also help people who are thinking about switching to
Xfinity Mobile.
Check the description.
I have a few other Xfinity Mobile videos that I'll link to and also you can check out my
full review on my blog, MichaelSaves.com.
Thanks so much for watching!