Cell Phone Plans: Reviews, Best Cell Phone Plan

Best cell phone plans

T-Mobile

*Est. $30 per month and up Compare Prices

In large owner surveys, T-Mobile typically finishes at or near the top. Verizon Wireless (*Est. $40 per month and up) has better connectivity (especially in the North Central, Northeast, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic) and… customer service, but T-Mobile offers more plans that are typically less expensive, particularly for web access and text and multimedia messaging services. T-Mobile's least expensive plan costs $30 per month, which gets you 500 anytime minutes and unlimited weekend and evening minutes.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

J.D. Power and Associates: J.D. Power and Associates rates the major wireless carriers, based on large surveys. T-Mobile wins awards for customer service ...

ConsumerReports.org: ConsumerReports.org polls nearly 55,000 of its subscribers, asking them to rate their cell service for call quality, handling of ...

PCMag.com: In PCMag.com's reader poll, T-Mobile finishes behind Verizon Wireless. Readers say T-Mobile has the best fees, plan options, ...

Gizmodo.com: Gizmodo.com testers use laptops to test the 3G speeds of the four major nationwide wireless carriers. AT&T and Verizon Wireless ...

Wired: Wired asks cell phone users nationwide to help judge the 3G speeds of the major carriers. With 12,000 participants reporting ...

TopTenReviews.com: The editors of this site compare cell phone services according to features and costs, but not call quality. T-Mobile earns a ...

Phonedog.com: The frustrating thing about user-review sites like PhoneDog.com is that most of the ratings are at the extreme: either four or ...

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Best call quality

Verizon Wireless

*Est. $40 per month and up Compare Prices

Customers and experts say that Verizon Wireless has the best connectivity and call quality. Verizon customers experience fewer dropped calls and circuit overloads than with other carriers. On the downside, plan prices are… higher than others, especially T-Mobile (*Est. $30 per month and up). And because Verizon works on the CDMA network, which is not compatible with the GSM networks used in most other countries, you can't use many Verizon phones overseas. The lowest-priced Verizon monthly cell phone plan costs $40, which includes 450 anytime minutes, plus free nights and weekends.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

J.D. Power and Associates: Verizon Wireless nearly sweeps the call-quality ratings here, and it ties for first place (with Alltel, which Verizon now owns, ...

ConsumerReports.org: ConsumerReports.org polls nearly 55,000 magazine subscribers in 26 metro areas, asking them to rate their cell service for call ...

PCMag.com: Despite its high fees and poor plan options, PCMag.com readers rank Verizon Wireless best among cellular service providers, ...

PC World: Verizon Wireless's 3G network is the speediest among major carriers, and it runs neck-and-neck with Sprint when it comes to ...

Gizmodo.com: In this more recent 3G speed test, Verizon Wireless places second overall to AT&T. However, Verizon does beat AT&T in four of the ...

Wired: In this 3G speed test, cell phone users themselves generate the data by participating in Wired's interactive download test. With ...

The New York Times: While nationwide surveys give Verizon Wireless high marks for customer service, The New York Times' David Pogue and his readers ...

TopTenReviews.com: This site rates Verizon as the best cell phone provider overall, with the highest ratings for features, plans and support, but ...

Phonedog.com: More than 200 users posting at this site rate Verizon Wireless, giving it solid (but not spectacular) ratings for customer ...

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Top regional cell phone carrier

U.S. Cellular

*Est. $40 per month and up Compare Prices

If you live in one of the 25 states (mainly in the Midwest) serviced by U.S. Cellular, this carrier scores as well as -- and sometimes better than -- T-Mobile (*Est. $30 per month and up) and Verizon Wireless (*Est. $40… per month and up) in those areas. U.S. Cellular cell phone plans aren't cheaper than others, but there are some extras, including free incoming calls, texts and pictures. Free roaming is included in U.S. Cellular's national plans.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

J.D. Power and Associates: J.D. Power and Associates polls cellular subscribers nationwide about their cell phone service. U.S. Cellular beats all other ...

CNET: CNET doesn't actually review U.S. Cellular, but the site provides a good overview in this buyer's guide, which outlines the pros ...

TopTenReviews.com: This site's best feature is its detailed comparison chart, examining the features of 10 cellular service providers, including ...

Phonedog.com: Fewer than 70 users register their opinions of U.S. Cellular at PhoneDog.com, far fewer than for national services like Verizon ...

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