Owned by cable giant Comcast and operating on Verizon's airwaves, Xfinity Mobile aims to take on the "big three" US wireless service providers (Verizon included) with its aggressive new unlimited plan pricing.
While the monthly cost of a single line of unlimited talk, text, 4G LTE, and 5G data is set to go unchanged, at a very reasonable $45, each additional line on a family account with up to four members will let you save big compared to the MVNO's previous options, as well as the competition.
A no-brainer deal...
You're looking at coughing up $35 a month for your second line and $20 a month for each of your third and fourth lines of unlimited service, down from $45 across the board prior to this major policy revision.
Otherwise put, your total monthly bill for four lines of unlimited 5G will shrink from $180 to just $120, matching T-Mobile's Essentials pricing while beating Verizon and AT&T's entry-level unlimited options. The single, two, and three-line costs undercut all the "big three" competition, mind you, which is certainly no small feat on Comcast's part.
As a Big Red-hosted mobile virtual network operator, Xfinity Mobile will of course offer its customers full access to the "most reliable" 4G LTE signal stateside (according to certain reports), as well as both "nationwide" low-band 5G and blazing fast (but spotty) 5G Ultra Wideband support.
On top of everything, you can also rely on a huge network of "more than 20 million" Wi-Fi hotspots across the country if you want to save even more money and go with a "By-the-Gig" plan starting at $15 a month.
The nice thing about Xfinity Mobile's plans is that you're free to mix and match Unlimited and By-the-Gig lines on the same account to pay, for instance, $45 for an unlimited line and $30 for a second line capped at 3 gigs of data.
Speaking of caps, it's important to point out that unlimited plans come with a standard-definition LTE streaming (480p) restriction on "all devices", as well as a 600 kbps limit for personal hotspots. In contrast, By-the-Gig users can enjoy HD streaming (720p on phones and 1080p on tablets), as well as squeeze 4G LTE speeds from their "personal hotspots."
...If you can live with certain "unlimited" limitations
More importantly, Comcast will mercilessly throttle your "unlimited" speeds after using 20 gigs of data per line per month, which explains (at least in part) why the company can afford to be so generous compared to its (much) bigger rivals all of a sudden.
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In case you're wondering, none of Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T's unlimited 5G options come with such a low data "deprioritization" threshold... anymore. In other words, you should only consider switching to Xfinity Mobile if you don't plan to use that much high-speed data.
By the way, the wireless service is still exclusively available for new and existing Xfinity Internet customers, which highlights the fact this is not meant to provide true, nationwide, and large-scale competition for the top three US mobile network operators.
With all of that in mind and other perks and benefits like no term contracts or credit check on your first two lines, no activation or phone access line fees, and Peacock Premium included at no extra charge, it probably wouldn't hurt to at least think about joining the MVNO if you're on a tight budget or no longer want to deal with the major cellular companies for some reason.
Intriguingly, Comcast is also promising to give new and existing Xfinity Mobile subscribers free Motorola One 5G Ace phones with new lines "later in April" in a clear attempt to rival T-Mobile's outstanding promotion set to kick off at the end of this week.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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