Thanks for writing the review. I’m glad Mint has worked out for your SO. I have an out-of-state daughter who moved her service to Mint a while back, and she has been satisfied, as well.
You said the app is useful - how so? What kinds of things does it allow you to do? Is it basically account management, or are there call-related features built in as well? Can you see your data usage or texting history there, set up call forwarding or anything like that? Is there anything like a one-touch “data freeze” widget?
I’ll review the Mint app when I have access to the phone over the Christmas holiday. Perhaps someone else would like to add their review of the Mint app right now.
Mint app provides most of the online account management features in the app including plan changes, one time data adds, order replacement SIM. I haven’t seen any options either in the app or online to look at call or text logs.
You can see your data usage in the app . You also get a text when 80% data has been used. I have never fully run out of data, so I don’t know if there are any additional notifications as the data runs out. There is no option for a one-touch data-freeze widget or other ways to turn off cellular data on demand within the app.
If you have multiple phones with Mint, you can opt for their family plan which allows you to pay for their annual plan (best effective monthly rate) in quarterly installments. Primary account holder can make plan changes for other accounts on the family. All other account management has to be done in individual accounts, like getting a replacement sim or requesting a new esim for new phone, etc.
The primary account holder can see family members’ individual data usage and gets the 80% data used notification for all phones in the family.
Thank you for the added details about the app @amitl. We appreciate your sharing this information with our Community! We’ll feature your Mint Mobile referral link for at least 1 month in our Featured Referral Links topic.
(We have also offered to feature @BillG’s SO’s link, and will do so if she decides to participate.)
Suggestion: Might the top heading title for this thread be edited to provide clarity that this is where ALL reviews of Mint Mobile service should collect? Although I am still fussing with my legacy lines on RW by DISH the time has certainly come to switch our two numbers. There was a pretty robust discussion on the old Legacy Community about Mint and a lot of alternatives - but that isn’t available to me now.
We both have new Pixel 7 handsets (thanks to Google’s VERY generous trade-in deal for the Pixel 6’s we had before!) and troubles with data suddenly and unexplainedly stopping when out on the road with RW / AT&T have continued. So I am starting one of the Mint 7-Day Trials on my old Moto phone. But would appreciate community intelligence about what might be the best deal AND service balance for this pair of Senior users who intend to be travelling. The four GB of mobile data offered on basic Mint Mobile plans seems like plenty, and I am overall impressed with T-Mobile coverage most places I have been, but wonder how much hassle does the “no roaming” aspect of Mint service introduce?
@Clint said:
Suggestion: Might the top heading title for this thread be edited to provide clarity that this is where ALL reviews of Mint Mobile service should collect?
I’ll see what I might come up with. I want to respect the original author’s intent.
There was a pretty robust discussion on the old Legacy Community about Mint and a lot of alternatives - but that isn’t available to me now.
Have you checked out the other reviews in this category? And, have you checked out Mint’s recent reviews on Trustpilot?
@Clint said:
But would appreciate community intelligence about what might be the best deal AND service balance for this pair of Senior users who intend to be traveling.
Do the travels include international destinations as well as domestic? Google Fi is strong internationally, however, generally it’s less expensive to purchase local (in country) service when traveling internationally. Your new Pixels (and the ones you traded) are dual SIM phones with eSIM. You could activate domestically with eSIM leaving the physical SIM slot open for local service when traveling internationally or vice versa. You could also leverage eSIM to test alternatives without disturbing RW by DISH service with no need to use multiple phones. Mint supports eSIM as do many other providers (largely thanks to Apple’s eSIM only iPhone 14 series). Not all providers currently supporting eSIM on iPhone also do so on Android, so that’s something you would need to confirm. We can further discuss eSIM but might be best to do so in its own topic?
@Clint said:
The four GB of mobile data offered on basic Mint Mobile plans seems like plenty, and I am overall impressed with T-Mobile coverage most places I have been, but wonder how much hassle does the “no roaming” aspect of Mint service introduce?
How much cell data do you typically use in a month. No doubt; Mint’s pricing is attractive but after the initial 3 months, one must pay for a year in advance to keep that pricing. I like (and use) Tello for T-Mobile coverage. I very much like (and use) Mobi (Verizon network). Their support is among the best I’ve experienced. Currently, I’m beta testing MobileX (also Verizon network). There are some RWesque aspects to MobileX. Mobi, MobileX and Tello all offer eSIM.
How important lack of domestic roaming is depends on how often one finds themselves in an area of roaming partner coverage. All three national networks claim to cover 99% (not necessarily the same 99%) of the U.S. population but all three also have coverage gaps. T-Mobile Connect plans offer domestic roaming.
As many times through the years: great thanks for your prompt and helpful reply @rolandh ! Much more travel in the USA (and possibly a bit into Canada) than internationally. But some overseas travel, as well. Your advice in the old RW Community helped greatly while visiting Brussels and Paris during last October where a combination of WiFi calling and SMS/MMS (particularly via Google Messages Chat/RCS) and a multi-country eSIM via Airalo kept us comfortably connected. I owe a report about that in this community’s International Travel discussion.
Thanks for the suggestion to see Mint Mobile Reviews on Trustpilot. Those are informative, and NOT complimentary.
We have mostly been fine with the RW Only What You Need one GB per month mobile data (as long as we don’t start watching video!) so 4 GB on the basic Mint looks like plenty.
I understand the only way to evaluate coverage is to go try it. Part of my inclination to prefer the T-Mobile network is the discovery that the Michigan Upper Peninsula (UP) had basically zero data coverage through T-Mobile four years ago, now it pretty much covers the area - even though there is not a single T-Mobile store in the UP! And our home ISP is T-Mobile Home Internet which provides all the bandwidth and reliability we need at a great bargain vs. the old monopoly “competition”.
I will go through the other service reviews here, and particularly consider those using the Verizon network. My historical aversion to them seems due for modification thanks to current market conditions. Thanks again, @rolandh !
I’m coming up to the end of my second year with Mint.
For me, it has worked well, with a few minor blips. I’m into Geocaching. This sometimes takes me to places out of T-Mobile coverage. Currently I get around that by switching over to RW. When not in extremely rural areas, coverage is good. I went with the 4GB plan, and it is more than sufficient for me. At the end of 2021, I got a note from Mint that I had used 10GB for the whole year. WiFi calling works, WiFi SMS/MMS doesn’t.
I fed money to the UpRoam feature, and after a bit of fiddling, I could do calls and data in Canada. It is not cheap, but I only visit Canada 2 to 3 times a year. I can get away with a lot using WiFi, so the money can go farther than you might think. If RW/Dish fixed Canada roaming on my account, I can use RW for data on my next trip and only burn UpRoam money on phone calls.
I have no problem with spending $200 up front for a year of service.to save over $250 on service over the year.
It helps to not be skittish about editing APN settings.
@mwgardiner said:
I got a note from Mint that I had used 10GB for the whole year.
@mwgardiner said:
I have no problem with spending $200 up front for a year of service.to save over $250 on service over the year.
Out of curiosity, what is the comparison that results in a $250 annual savings?
Additionally, according to Mint in 2021, you averaged less than 1 GB of cell data use per month. Why pay Mint for 4 GB if not using it? An example of one alternative is Tello, which offers unlimited talk & text plus 1 GB of cell data for $10/month with no need to pay a year in advance. On the other hand, Tello doesn’t offer international roaming, so if one needs that Mint might be worth it. Like Mint, Tello uses T-Mobile’s network.
I was going on memory and lowballed the number
I was paying $45/month to T-Mobile, add taxes and it went to $48.56. Multiply by 12 and get $582.72, subtract $201.16 ($180 + taxes) and the savings is $381.56. I hadn’t worked out the detailed numbers before, so I was saving more than I thought.
I had the occasional need for Canada roaming in the past, with Mint I can load up on the UpRoam credit and with careful usage I can do calls and have data for hunting Geocaches and Munzees (location based games). I obviously had no use of Canada roaming in 2021, but I figured things would improve eventually, so it was reasonable to go with Mint and wait it out. I knew my data use had plummeted due to Covid, so I expected a low number, since things have been loosening up, I expect my total for 2022 to be higher. I could probably have saved more, but changing carriers has some hassle value.