Spectrum Mobile Review: Hands-On Testing, Plans, Prices
It might not be the flashiest service, but Spectrum Mobile is dependable and affordable.
Spectrum Mobile is relatively new, but pretty solid
Though it launched just over six years ago, Spectrum Mobile has quickly become a pretty dependable player in the cell phone space. Corporate parent Charter Communications boasted that the carrier surpassed 10 million mobile lines early in 2025, touting Spectrum as the “nation’s fastest-growing mobile provider.”
By using Spectrum’s broadband internet, 5G service, and 43 million Wi-Fi access points, the company says it can provide up to 100 million people with what it calls “seamless and cost-effective mobile service,” offering unlimited talk, text, and data plans. It also touts its lack of contracts, sneaky fees, and the flexibility of its plan catalog.
But is all of that true? And is Spectrum Mobile experiencing rapid growth because it’s worthwhile, or is it just the latest bargain player in an increasingly crowded cellular marketplace? Let’s find out.
Spectrum Mobile is cheap, but is it good?
| Plan | Monthly price | Data allowance | Overage speed limit | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By The Gig | $20.00/line per mo. for additional lines | 1GB/line ($5/mo. per additional GB) | 256 Kbps download/upload | View plan |
| Unlimited | $30.00/line per mo. for additional lines | 30GB/line | 1 Mbps download/512 Kbps upload | View plan |
| Unlimited Plus | $40.00/line per mo. for additional lines | 50GB/line | 1 Mbps download/512 Kbps upload | View plan |
Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
When I first signed up for Spectrum Mobile, it’s because the company made me a deal I couldn’t refuse. Though I’d been a T-Mobile customer for years, enjoying that massive global company’s perks from time to time, when my husband and I moved houses, we had to switch to Spectrum cable and internet service.
When we did, the company offered us Spectrum Mobile service for a song: Just $40 a month per line, for its Unlimited Plus service, which offered unlimited talk, text, and data, unlimited phone upgrades, no fees for hotspot data, free international texting, and free roaming in more than 190 countries. Considering we were out of contract at T-Mobile, where we’d been paying over $150 a month, we jumped at the deal. How could we not, really?
Plan-wise, Spectrum Mobile’s offerings are pretty simple. There’s the $40 Unlimited Plus package that we got and then there’s the Unlimited $30 per month plan, where you’ll get slightly slower data speeds, no anytime upgrades, and no free international roaming. It’s worth noting, however, that both plans come with 2,000 monthly minutes per line of free calling to Canada and Mexico, something that’s great for those with family or friends across the borders.
And if you believe the chart on Spectrum’s Mobile page, their cell service prices are some of the best in the biz. You have to be an existing Spectrum Internet customer to access the service’s rates, but Spectrum really does seem to beat out the competition dollar for dollar. AT&T, Spectrum says, costs $132 for two lines per month, while Verizon and T-Mobile costs $140. They also add on additional taxes and fees, which Spectrum tries to package into your initial price, meaning you’ll end up paying pretty much what you agree to in the first place. (Meaning our mobile bill really is just $80 a month, not $91.12 or something more complicated and forgettable.)
And while my kids are young right now, when they get older, we could add them onto our plan just by tacking another $30 or $40 per line onto our bill. (We’d probably do the former. They don’t travel internationally for work, unlike us grown-ups.) It all feels like a great deal, as well as a fairly straightforward one. I know why I’m paying a rate, what that rate is, and how I can change it in the future.
Spectrum Mobile: great reliability, few compromises
Every year, CableTV.com talks to hundreds of Spectrum Mobile customers as part of our Internet Customer Satisfaction Survey to see how Spectrum Mobile performs in the real world.
Here’s what customers like you told us:
| Question | Score |
|---|---|
| Are you satisfied with Spectrum Mobile’s reliability? | 87% approval |
| Do you notice dropped calls or slow internet speeds during busy periods? | 38% yes/62% no |
Overall, Spectrum Mobile customers seem to give the service rave reviews.
87% of customers we surveyed said they were satisfied with Spectrum Mobile’s reliability, with the brand edging out competitors like T-Mobile, AT&T, Cox, and Verizon. In terms of reliability, Spectrum was bested only by Google Fiber and Starlink, and only by a couple of points in both cases.
And those numbers are pretty consistent with my experience. While I’m not one to be on the phone all day every day, I haven’t experienced dropped calls, and I only notice cell phone dead zones in places where customers of other cell companies complain of the same troubles. (There’s no service at my kids’ suburban elementary school, for some reason, which makes no sense.)
I almost always have 5G service, except for moments I dropped to 3G during a recent trip to Spain, and I typically find my mobile speed to be pretty zippy. A recent test in the afternoon showed that my download speeds were about 191 Mbps, while my upload speeds were markedly slower at 5.81 Mbps. To get a faster upload, I needed only to connect my phone to my Spectrum Wi-Fi, which sped things up quite a bit, even running the test out in my ADU office.
If there was one time Spectrum Mobile failed me, it was during the Oasis concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. That’s somewhat to be expected, though: If you get 100,000 people in one place, half of whom are trying to text or scroll TikTok at any given time, then you’re going to have outage issues. Before the show, some of my messages took a few attempts to send, but once the concert started, it was pretty smooth sailing. And after the show, when everyone started to disperse, I had no issues at all.
Spectrum Mobile features: Easy activation and online service pay dividends
Spectrum Mobile fees
There’s not a lot to say about Spectrum Mobile’s hidden fees, and for good reason: They really don’t have any. All of the service’s taxes and fees are built into the brand’s mobile pricing, meaning that the $40 per line I pay for my service is just that.
And that’s across the brand’s Unlimited and Unlimited Plus plans, as well as Spectrum’s “By The Gig” service, which I can’t imagine a ton of people subscribe to, given that it’s $20 for just a GB and $5 for each additional GB. The Unlimited service, with its lack of surprises and meter-watching, is just $30.
Either way, you don’t need to expect the unexpected with Spectrum Mobile. All of the brand’s taxes and fees are included.
Spectrum Mobile data cap
As mentioned above, Spectrum Mobile has two unlimited data plans: Unlimited and Unlimited Plus, both of which offer “unlimited” data. There are caveats, of course: For Unlimited, you’ll get 30GB of data at max speed before your stream slows to 1 Mbps down/512 Kbps up. With Unlimited Plus, you’ll get 50 GB, which—honestly—is more than enough for almost anyone.
If you’re one of those people who really only use their phone for calls, you could opt for the brand’s “By the Gig” service, which includes 1GB of data for $20, with each additional gig costing $5. After 5GB, your data speeds will fall to 256 Kbps, though, so I wouldn’t advise picking that option unless you really just use your cell phone in absolute emergencies.
Spectrum Mobile activation
When my husband told me he wanted to switch our cell phone carrier, I had my doubts. Would I have to switch my number? Were we getting locked into a new carrier? Would the whole process be a total pain in the butt?
Fortunately, the answer turned out to be no. All we needed to do to switch was order new Spectrum Mobile sim cards, which came in the mail in about a day. When that happened, we simply cancelled our T-Mobile subscriptions, popped out their SIM and popped in the Spectrum SIM, and logged on to Spectrum’s site through our home Wi-Fi. We activated our accounts, and within about five minutes, we had mobile service on our existing phones again.
It was shockingly easy, and it allayed any fears I had about switching services, which I’d always found to be kind of a pain in the past, having to spend hours on the phone or in line at some strip mall cell store. I’d recommend it to anyone.
What do real Spectrum Mobile customers think about Spectrum Mobile?
I’ve never really had an issue with Spectrum Mobile’s service, having found their online and phone-based helpers to be polite, quick, and responsive, even when I was peppering them with questions about what it would actually mean to switch over to their service. I don’t appear to be in the minority, either. In our survey, customers seemed to be overwhelmingly satisfied with Spectrum Mobile’s service.
- 88% said they were satisfied with their Spectrum Mobile cell phone bundle.
- 88% of customers also said they were satisfied with the cost, a figure that put the brand ahead of literally all of its mobile competitors.
- 81% of Spectrum Mobile customers said they thought it was easy to resolve customer service problems with the service, putting the brand behind just Cox, Breezeline, and Starlink.
I have not had any shut-off dates or interruption when trying to talk on the phone. [I] always have service no matter where I go.
For my overall rating, I will give Spectrum a 10. Things that I dislike about Spectrum [however] is [that] their mobile service is very very slow.
I love my mobile with them!
No missed calls. Very good.
Final take: Spectrum Mobile is worth every penny
Consider me a Spectrum Mobile evangelist. Since switching, I’ve been singing their praises to almost everyone I know. I can’t believe I spent so much time and money dealing with T-Mobile (and AT&T before that) when Spectrum Mobile’s been here almost this whole time.
And considering Spectrum Mobile costs just $40 a month for two lines of Unlimited Plus service, it’s a great deal, too. We’re saving a grocery bill’s worth of money every month compared to what we used to pay, a figure that’s absolutely not insignificant. Our service has been just as good, too, making this one of the smartest consumer electronics decisions I’ve ever made.
It appears not alone in my thinking, either. With our consumer survey respondents reporting their overwhelming satisfaction with the brand’s mobile service as well, it appears that Spectrum’s rapid growth in that market is well deserved. One can only hope things continue to exceed subscribers’ expectations from here on out, no matter how big the brand gets.
Spectrum Mobile FAQ
What is Spectrum Mobile?
Spectrum Mobile is Spectrum’s wireless phone service, offering smartphones and cheap cell phone coverage to Spectrum Internet customers.
Is Spectrum Mobile owned by Verizon?
No, Verizon doesn’t own Spectrum Mobile. While Spectrum Mobile uses Verizon’s cell phone network, its parent company is Charter Communications.
Is Spectrum Mobile expensive?
With Spectrum Internet and Mobile plans starting at just $50.00/mo., Spectrum Mobile is definitely not expensive for a wireless provider.
Is Spectrum Mobile truly unlimited?
Spectrum Mobile has data caps of 30GB and 50GB on its Unlimited plans. Once you hit this cap, you’ll still have internet access, but it’ll be slower for the rest of the month.
Will Spectrum Mobile pay me to switch?
Spectrum Mobile won’t pay you to switch phone providers, but Spectrum Internet will cover up to $500 in early termination fees if you switch from another internet provider and bundle with TV. Check out our Spectrum Deals page to learn more about this offer.
What carrier does Spectrum Mobile use?
Spectrum Mobile uses Verizon’s network for its phone plans. This means that you can bundle your Spectrum phone service with your Spectrum internet and/or cable TV bill and still access Verizon’s mobile coverage across most of the U.S. But since resources are finite, Verizon has the final say over which customers are prioritized—and spoiler alert: They’re going to choose their own. The major downside of bundling mobile service through another TV and/or internet provider is that Verizon can throttle your speeds if you’re in an area with a lot of usage.
Why you should trust us
To evaluate Spectrum Mobile’s plans, we spent three weeks analyzing its plans and pricing compared to competitors like AT&T and T-Mobile. We also surveyed thousands of real-life customers as part of our customer satisfaction survey series to see what they felt about Spectrum Mobile. Contributing writer Marah Eakin has also been a Spectrum Mobile customer for nine months and drew upon this experience when researching and writing this review. Check out our How We Rank page for more information on our methodology.
Disclaimer
Spectrum Mobile service not available in all areas. Per line activation fee, Spectrum Internet and Auto-pay required. Other restrictions apply.
Mobile Offer Details: Limited time offer; subject to change; offer applies to qualified residential customers without any outstanding obligation to Spectrum. Taxes and fees extra in select states. Mobile devices excluded from offer. Standard rates apply after promo period or if qualifying services not maintained. Both lines must be ordered at same time. Additional lines available at standard rate. Tablets not eligible for promotion. SPECTRUM MOBILE: Reduced speeds after 30 GB (Unlimited) and 50 GB (Unlimited Plus) of usage per line. Services subject to all applicable service terms and conditions, subject to change. Not available in all areas. Per line activation fee, Spectrum Internet and Auto Pay required. Restrictions apply.
Trade-In Offer: Trade-in offer requires customers to trade in qualifying device, purchase and activate a new device. Credit reflected over 36 mos on the bill statement. Trade-in device must have a value greater than $0. If the value of the trade-in device exceeds the cost of the new device, credit will be reflected on bill statement within 2-3 bill cycles. Visit spectrum.com/mobile/trade-in for details. Restrictions apply. Subject to change.
Restrictions Apply: To access 5G, 5G compatible phone and 5G service required. Not all 5G capable phones compatible with all 5G service. Speeds may vary. Visit spectrum.com/mobile/5g for details.
†Spectrum Mobile will pay off the payment balance of your phone up to $2,500 when you switch at least three lines to Spectrum Mobile and transfer at least one number. Port-in lines must be active with previous carrier for past 90 days and account in good standing. Customers must provide 3 mos of past bills to qualify.
