visible is the verizon owned company that can cut your cell phone bill to 25 a month but it
is not for everyone is it right for you that's what we'll talk about in our video today hello
and welcome to the channel my name is michael and i've tested more than 15 cheap cell phone plans
over the years visible has been my primary carrier since i uploaded this video back in 2019 but a lot
has changed since then including improvements to the party pay plan nationwide 5g access
international calling esim and a way to pay as low as 5 bucks a month with a new referral program
in today's video i will break down all the big changes and the 10 things you need to know
before you sign up for visible let's get started number one plan and pricing visible offers one
plan unlimited talk text and data forty dollars a month taxes and fees included but at the top
of this video i said that i paid 25 a month check out my payment history 25 bucks every single month
that is because of visible's party pay discount it is similar to a family plan but everyone pays
separately so many visible customers including me have total strangers in their party here is
how it works the single line price forty dollars a month parties are two they pay thirty five dollars
a month each when you have a party at three that's 30 a month each and parties of four
or more pay 25 a month each and there's a bit of news there up until february 2021 you could only
have four people in your party so if one person left and you dropped down to three everyone else's
bill would go up but now you can have unlimited people in your party and as long as you have four
or more everyone's going to get the lowest price 25 a month since visible launched party pay people
have posted their custom party pay links to a special thread on reddit to fill up their parties
it is an active thread so it only took me 15 minutes to form a full party visible caught onto
that and has now formed its own community forum where you can meet up with other people and join a
party but i expect that reddit thread to continue so i will post a link below for you to check that
out let's move on number two network coverage visible is owned by verizon but it operates as a
separate company and when you sign up for visible you are going to get access to verizon's 4g and 5g
networks in the united states here is a look at visible's coverage map as a general rule if you
live in a part of the country with strong verizon coverage visible should work out check out this
statement that visible provided to me visible runs on verizon's 4g and 5g networks so coverage on the
two is the same verizon's 4g lte and 5g covers over 99 of the us population but remember things
like weather terrain and your specific device may affect your network experience in some rare cases
customers who regularly access verizon's 3g network may experience coverage issues since
visible does not support legacy technologies like 3g now international coverage is limited with
visible but in february 2021 visible started to offer international calling to canada mexico u.s
virgin islands as well as puerto rico let's keep it moving number three call and text performance
i have not experienced any major issues with visible's call and text performance but that is
because i did my homework and check the coverage maps for the areas where i live work and travel
so here is my best advice if this is your first time trying a low-cost cell phone service provider
choose one that works with your existing network for example visible runs on verizon's network
that's why i think it is a good choice for current verizon customers but if you're with a t and like
the service look for low cost options on att's network puretalk is one of my favorites that
uses att's towers and if you're with t-mobile and get good coverage consider mint mobile it is an
affordable option that runs on t-mobile's network one more thing a lot of people ask me about wi-fi
calling with visible yes it is included and at no additional charge number four data speeds do
not expect the same data speeds with visible that you get with verizon front and center on
visible's website it says in times of traffic your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic
i have been testing 5g with my iphone 12 for a few months and have recorded download speeds higher
than visible's 200 megabits per second cap and i actually ran a speed test the other day i've
got my phone right here so i'll put that on the screen 240 megabits per second download speed but
this is an exception most of the time visibles 5g in my area of south florida hasn't been much
different than 4g lte speeds a few months back i put together a video of visible's 4g lte data
speeds and after conducting 25 speed tests the average download speed was 29 megabits per second
the average upload speed 26.1 megabits per second and the average ping was 120 milliseconds
let's put those numbers aside and just talk about real world experience because i've had visible
for more than a year and i can tell you that i have not had any issues using the data on my phone
i can use my apps i can stream music and video even watch live tv but that is how i use my phone
you got to think about how you use your phone if you're a gamer this may not be the service for you
based on those numbers i've recorded with the ping let's move on number five mobile hotspot visibles
plan comes with unlimited mobile hotspot but there is a catch speeds are capped at five megabits per
second according to the company in reality though it is not a firm cap check this out i use this
feature all the time and i'm working from my computer on the go typically i will get speeds
up to 10 megabits per second so that is double the cap and that is fast enough to check email
browse the web and stream video number six video streaming by now you are probably understanding
why visible is cheaper than verizon there are some compromises we've talked about data speeds now
let's quickly discuss video streaming quality with visible video typically streams at 480p resolution
standard definition one way to get around this is to connect to wi-fi here's an example when i play
youtube video while connected to visible's data it automatically plays in 480p standard definition
but when i connect to my home wifi and open that same video it plays in 1080p full high definition
and since my phone screen is so small i can't really tell the difference a lot of the time
but you may be able to so that's why you can conduct the same test that i just showed you
and see if 480p resolution is a deal breaker number seven phone options like most cell phone
service providers visible lets you bring your own compatible device or purchase a new one and
in february 2021 visible launched e-sim support for new members who have a compatible device
so you may be able to activate your device from home without having to worry about a physical
sim card anymore and let's take a look at the new phone options visible sells a couple dozen devices
including the latest apple iphone and samsung galaxy phones which are 5g compatible there are
also budget friendly phones including visible's zte blade a7 prime that's under 100 bucks
visible always has some type of phone promotion including up to a 200 virtual master card with
the purchase of a more high-end device that is one of their long-running promos you can pay for your
phone in full or finance it through a firm over 24 months with zero percent interest however a
down payment may be required number eight visible protect and this is the cell phone insurance that
visible offers there are several plans available according to visible's website with the most
expensive coming in at 10 to 12 dollars a month i guess it is nice that this is offered but i do
not pay for cell phone insurance and i never have instead i use a credit card that offers
free cell phone protection and a growing number of credit cards are offering this perk
typically you are eligible for this protection as long as you pay your monthly cell phone bill
with the credit card that offers free cell phone protection i've got a whole separate video that
explains it and an article on my website with the best credit cards with free cell phone protection
i'll link to that in the description below and we are almost there number nine customer service
visibles customer service is nothing like verizon there are no visible stores for you to walk
into and get help with your phone and you can't go to the verizon stores to get help
when you're with visible either customer support is primarily handled over live chat there isn't
even a number to call but if you reach out to customer service through live chat here is a tip
you can request that someone call you back and this is something you really have to think about
i am okay with having limited customer support options because i'm paying a low price for my cell
phone service but if you are not comfortable with that i'm going to share some visible alternatives
coming up in just a minute and number 10 deals and discounts i touched on phone deals earlier
but there are some other promotions you may be able to score as a visible customer here is a
look at the visible deals page one frequent offer is 20 off the first month of service there are the
virtual mastercards that i mentioned earlier and recently visible has started to offer free gifts
these deals are typically for new customers who sign up and bring their number to the service
i will link to this page in the description below and something new from visible as of february 2021
if you are an existing customer and refer someone else to the service your next bill will be just
five bucks now that is a generous referral program but alone it is no reason to switch to visible
you got to consider everything else we've gone over in today's video and now some final thoughts
about visible let's talk pros and cons to help you decide if visible is right for you for the
pros an amazing value at 25 a month with party pay access to verizon's top-rated network unlimited
mobile hotspot and frequent deals and promotions as for the cons no physical stores or 800 number
it can make customer service tricky data speeds are slower during congestion and video streaming
and standard definition based on my experience as a visible customer since 2019 it is well worth
the 25 dollars a month and the savings compared to verizon but if you are still on the fence consider
total wireless straight talk or xfinity mobile they all have plans that use verizon's towers
and can save you some money if you have tried visible let me know what you think about it
in the comments below and i'll try to answer any questions there too thank you for watching today's
video if you got anything out of it please like it and i hope to see you back here soon take care