The overall top performer is not T-Mobile this time around... or AT&T
That obviously only leaves one possible option, and believe it or not, Verizon managed to win not just the overall performance trophy in the H2 2025 RootMetrics US State of the Mobile Union competition, but six additional gold medals as well.
We're talking the network reliability, network responsiveness, data performance, video performance, call performance, and text performance contests too, and while the latter two actually ended in statistical ties with AT&T, that still makes for a far superior tally to those of Big Red's top two rivals.
That's a lot of victories for Verizon and a pretty terrible tally for T-Mobile. | Image Credit -- Ookla
Said rivals, mind you, were unable to pick up a single outright victory, splitting the network speed title while blanking in all other categories (apart from the two where AT&T shared the trophies with Verizon, of course).
This is in stark contrast with the H1 2025 US State of the Mobile Union Report, where AT&T was not only the overall performance champion but also the recipient of the most individual titles, putting no less than six in the win column (including two shared victories with Verizon).
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Opensignal, meanwhile, gave T-Mobile by far the highest number of gold ribbons in its own nationwide mobile network experience study earlier this month, highlighting just how different things can look depending on an analytics firm's methodology and tools used to measure speed, availability, and reliability, as well as how different things can feel for everyday users from place to place and from one day to another.
And the 5G champion is... also not T-Mobile
Now this is probably going to shock a lot of you, but Ookla found that Verizon provided the fastest, most reliable, and overall best 5G experience in the US in the second half of last year, while T-Mobile had to settle for a consolation win in the 5G availability department.
Although Opensignal awarded Magenta the most important 5G titles for the September 1–November 29, 2025 timeframe, Ookla actually gave those exact same trophies to the same two carriers in its H1 research last year, leaving AT&T empty-handed as far as 5G prizes are concerned twice in a row.
Surprisingly or not, Verizon trumps T-Mobile in these latest 5G tests (including as far as speeds go). | Image Credit -- Ookla
Now, it's definitely worth pointing out that the 5G speed race, for instance, was incredibly tight in the latest RootMetrics State of the Mobile Union report, with both T-Mobile and AT&T finishing a lot closer behind Verizon than AT&T and Verizon did behind leader T-Mobile in the 5G availability battle.
Ultimately, however, it was a pretty clear 5G reliability victory that crucially contributed to Big Red's overall 5G experience title, and to make that win even sweeter, Verizon also made great progress in the 5G availability field compared to the first six months of 2025.
Do these tests really matter?
Of course they do, and I will never understand folks who insist on arguing the opposite. Yes, it can be super-confusing when a market research firm names a champion and another company gives most of its awards to a different carrier, but if you look closely at how those numbers and charts are compiled, you'll get exactly where the distinctions come from.
T-Mobile, for instance, holds a huge lead over Verizon and AT&T in US median download speeds in the H2 RootMetrics State of the Mobile Union Report, but that's not enough to give the "Un-carrier" the outright win in the network speed battle because the 374.5 Mbps number is not sustainable on a national level.
The thing that matters the most is how close these battles are, suggesting solid performance overall for all three carriers. | Image Credit -- Ookla.
While a lot lower, AT&T's top speeds are more easily attainable in more places, explaining the overall tie between the two carriers and many of the differences between Ookla and Opensignal's research.
Similarly, your mobile network experience could greatly vary from city to city and from neighborhood to neighborhood, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't pick your carrier based on which of the nation's top three is more statistically likely to provide better service and, ideally, fewer outages.
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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