Best Cell Phone Providers

Contract pricing

Mobile phone contracts and accompanying costs can vary widely. Cell phone providers offer pre-paid options, monthly plans, yearly plans, single-line plans, and friends and family plans with multiple phone numbers. Most providers offer data plans and text and call plans including unlimited texts and unlimited calls for a set price, or they may charge per text, per minute, or per gigabyte of data.

Before deciding on a provider, find out if there are early termination fees in the contract. On the other end, find out how long the agreed-upon pricing will list. Are the advertised prices good for a year, only to get jacked up after that?

Supported devices

As you try to pin down the best deal, be sure to take into account the cost of a phone if you need to buy a new one or applicable device-transfer fees if you plan to use your current phone. Not all providers accept all device transfers.

If your heart is set on a certain brand, model, or operating system, determine which providers sell and support your device of choice. Currently, smartphones run on either Android or iOS operating systems. The following are some of the most popular phone brands:

• Apple
• Samsung
• Nokia
• Blackberry
• Sony
• Motorola
• Asus
• LG

There are a number of reasons some users may prefer basic phones, sometimes called flip phones, instead. If that applies to you, look into cell phone providers that offer talk and text only plans and don’t charge you for features that only smartphone users need.

Network coverage

When it comes to cell phone use, there’s not much worse than needing to get in touch with someone but not having enough bars for your calls to go through. What’s the point in having a mobile phone if it doesn’t give you the peace of mind that it’s dependable? Reliable, fast network coverage is a crucial factor in choosing a cell phone provider.

Some of the biggest mobile network operators in the United States are Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Each of these networks provides nationwide coverage, but they vary in coverage quality in certain areas and regions.

As you shop for a cell phone provider, identify cell towers near your city or region to determine which network can give you the best cell phone service. When a phone is too far from a cell tower, it must transmit a stronger signal to connect to the tower, which drains your battery. Therefore, good connectivity to a cell tower improves call success and quality and also saves your device’s battery life.

If you plan to use your device internationally, look into plans with international text and data roaming allowances that suit your needs. It's not uncommon to be able to access data allowances for Mexico and Canada. Certain carriers include unlimited international texting to over 210 worldwide areas within their premium unlimited plans.

Data amounts and speed 

When a smartphone is not connected to Wi-Fi, it requires data to run many of its applications. But data generally costs more than talk and text-only plans. Most carriers charge a set monthly cost for unlimited data plans rather than charging overage fees as was the norm in the past. But be aware that unlimited data plans refer to unlimited total data, not necessarily high-speed 4G LTE data. When you exhaust your high-speed data allowance, you can keep using data but at lower speeds. It’s in your best interest to pay for exactly what you need in high-speed data allotments, plus a little extra.

• As you decide on your needs or preferences for data amounts and speeds, consider these questions:
• How often do you use HD streaming for high-definition video?
• How long does it take to load pages while you surf the internet? Do you wish it were faster?
• Are your photos, videos, and other files stored on device-only or could you be utilizing cloud storage?
• Do you need hotspot data for hotspot tethering?
• How much are you willing to pay for a bigger data allowance?
• Are you willing to pay more for faster data delivery for video streaming and other purposes?

Customer satisfaction 

Of course, a cell phone provider can display all the bells and whistles you’re looking for but still fall short if the cell phone performance and customer service don’t measure up. That’s where Best Company comes in. Browse our real, verified reviews for all of the top cell phone providers to get the scoop on the customer experience of hundreds of customers who have had first-hand experience with the companies you’re considering.