Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
In case you’re searching for an alternative choice to AT&T, T-Cell, and Verizon, there are loads of pay as you go carriers obtainable within the US. Some are small impartial corporations; others belong to telecoms or one of many three main mobile networks. Two of the extra well-liked pay as you go carriers are Seen and Mint Cell. Each are identified for providing loads of worth, however there are loads of variations between the 2. On this information, we examine Mint Cell vs Seen that can assist you determine which service is best for you.
It must be famous that Seen is definitely owned by Verizon, whereas Mint Cell is an impartial firm (for now) and is partially owned by actor Ryan Reynolds. With that out of the way in which, let’s begin by looking at a chart that exhibits how plans, pricing, knowledge, and perks examine. From there, we’ll break down every part and offer you a bit extra perception into the variations.
Plan | Price | Speak & Textual content | Knowledge | Extras |
---|---|---|---|---|
Plan
Mint 5GB |
Price
$75 for 3 months |
Speak & Textual content
Limitless |
Knowledge
5GB LTE/5G entry |
Extras
Hotspot as much as knowledge restrict |
Plan
Mint 15GB |
Price
$105 for 3 months |
Speak & Textual content
Limitless |
Knowledge
15GB LTE/5G entry |
Extras
Hotspot as much as knowledge restrict |
Plan
Mint 20GB |
Price
$135 for 3 months |
Speak & Textual content
Limitless |
Knowledge
20GB LTE/5G entry |
Extras
Hotspot as much as knowledge restrict |
Plan
Mint Limitless |
Price
$120 for 3 months |
Speak & Textual content
Limitless |
Knowledge
40GB premium knowledge |
Extras
10GB hotspot entry |
Plan
Seen |
Price
$30 per thirty days |
Speak & Textual content
Limitless |
Knowledge
Limitless 4G LTE and 5G Nationwide |
Extras
Limitless hotspot entry |
Plan
Seen Plus |
Price
$45 per thirty days |
Speak & Textual content
Limitless |
Knowledge
Limitless 4G LTE and 5G Nationwide |
Extras
Limitless hotspot entry |
Mint Cell vs Seen: Pricing and worth
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
If all that issues to you is saving cash, Mint Cell wins the battle right here however not with out a catch. Not like Seen, Mint Cell requires you to pay for both 3, 6, or 12 months of service upfront. The most effective financial savings are positively discovered within the 12-month plans, which might vary from $180/yearly to $360/yearly. Translating that right into a month-to-month fee, that’s like paying round $15 to $30 a month for service.
Don’t fear; you don’t have to leap proper into paying a complete yr without delay to see the perfect fee. Mint Cell gives an introductory 3-month plan that reductions all the way down to the identical low charges you’d see with the yearly plan. As soon as the primary three months are up, you’ll must pay extra for the following three months or improve to a six or 12-month plan for higher charges.
Mint Cell is cheaper, however Seen has higher limitless knowledge choices.
In case you don’t thoughts the thought of paying as soon as after which forgetting about it for a complete yr, Mint Cell makes loads of sense. It’s most likely much less of a superb deal in case you solely need to follow the three or six-month plans. Sadly, the financial savings additionally begin to evaporate once we discuss limitless knowledge.
Mint gives three totally different restricted knowledge plans and only one limitless choice. In the meantime, Seen is all in on limitless knowledge with two totally different plans. In case you examine Mint Cell’s solely limitless plan (at $30 month-to-month) to Seen ($30 month-to-month), you’ll pay the identical with Seen, however you don’t must fork out $360 all of sudden to pay for a yr.
Service will likely be comparable between the 2, although Seen is definitely really limitless — I’ve personally used 100GB or extra in a single month with out situation. You will notice deprioritization at instances with each carriers, which we’ll discuss in better element a bit additional down this information. Seen’s costlier plan gives limitless precedence knowledge, so if the perfect speeds matter to you, it’s an excellent deal. You additionally get improved worldwide calling choices totally free.
On the finish of the day, we’d say Mint and Seen are tied for pricing and worth. Mint has the benefit in case you don’t use loads of knowledge, as its pay as you go restricted knowledge plans are very properly priced. Nevertheless, Seen is the winner for these taken with limitless knowledge.
Mint Cell protection vs Seen: How do they examine?
Mint Cell and Seen are each pay as you go companies, however Seen’s mum or dad firm is Verizon. This implies it technically owns its personal towers. Mint Cell is in talks to affix T-Cell, however for now, it’s merely an impartial firm that licenses entry to T-Cell’s community. That is referred to as an MVNO (cellular digital community operator). In actuality, this doesn’t make an enormous distinction when it comes to protection or reliability, but it surely does imply Seen has a bit extra management over the community it makes use of than Mint Cell does.
There are definitely execs and cons for every service relating to protection. Let’s begin with Seen.
Seen is backed by the world’s extra in depth community. Verizon tends to be a dependable choice for each metropolis dwellers and rural people, although it’s not with out lifeless zones. Whereas postpaid Verizon accounts have the benefit of roaming preparations to fill in any holes, the identical gained’t apply to Seen’s pay as you go service. The excellent news is it’ll not often be a difficulty.
I reside in the midst of nowhere, Missouri, and have traveled throughout the Midwest extensively. In my time, I’ve discovered the service not often has lifeless zones, however there are some areas in Nebraska and Kansas particularly that actually solely are served by US Mobile.
Mint Cell, then again, makes use of the T-Cell community. Whereas it’s not as in depth as Verizon’s community, it’s getting very shut. T-Cell has finished a beautiful job spreading LTE and 5G to almost each nook of the US. Even in rural areas like Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, I’ve no bother utilizing T-Cell or any MVNO that works with its towers. Similar to Verizon, you’ll run into pockets the place protection is non-existent, so it’s all the time good to test the Mint’s official protection map to ensure the service will likely be a superb match for you.
General Seen has a slight benefit relating to protection, however the hole is far smaller than it was once.
Mint Cell vs Seen: Knowledge and prioritization
Curtis Joe / Android Authority
Let’s discuss knowledge. We already talked about that Seen is actually limitless knowledge. You need to use it as a lot as you need. The identical doesn’t apply to Mint’s Limitless plan. You’ll even have simply 40GB of prioritized knowledge, however after that, speeds drop all the way down to 600Kbps. In case you depend on your cellular knowledge as your most important path to the web, Seen may be the higher alternative.
In fact, we additionally must consider prioritization. You would possibly leap to the conclusion Seen could have larger prioritization on Verizon’s community, just because Seen is owned by the latter. That’s not essentially true.
Seen’s base plan may be very a lot identified for deprioritization. It’s gotten higher through the years, however in main cities, you’ll completely see slower speeds throughout instances of congestion. For instance, after I journey to St Louis, I typically could have bother getting greater than 1-3Mbps throughout peak hours of the day. Fortunately in rural areas, that is much less of an issue, and I are inclined to common 5-10Mbps throughout congested instances. In case you don’t care about speeds and simply need tons of knowledge, Seen’s base plan is a good alternative.
Deprioritization will apply to each carriers, however Seen Plus will see the perfect speeds and protection.
Need prioritized knowledge? You’ll need to get Seen Plus. This offers you limitless prioritized knowledge, although it’ll nonetheless see some decrease speeds throughout instances of congestion when in comparison with a postpaid Verizon plan. That mentioned, it is going to be very minimal. I upgraded to Plus for a couple of months to check out the variations, and I’ll say that my Seen Plus line was all the time very near my spouse’s Verizon postpaid line. Slower however virtually negligibly so. It’s additionally value mentioning solely the Plus plan provides you with entry to Verizon’s quicker wideband 5G community.
Now Mint Cell won’t be owned by T-Cell, but it surely really will get fairly strong speeds. I’ll be trustworthy; I’ve solely lately began to make use of Mint Cell once more after briefly enjoying with it for a couple of months again in 2020 or so. Nonetheless, in my exams, I’ll say that Mint tends to get significantly better common speeds than Seen’s base plan. In the meantime, Seen Plus tends to supply comparable speeds to Mint Cell’s plans.
It’s actually laborious to say which choice is best right here. If you would like Seen base, Mint Cell could have the win right here. In case you’re fascinated about Seen Plus, it turns into a a lot tougher resolution. Let’s name this one a tie.
Mint Cell vs Seen: Extras, perks, and promotions
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Neither Seen or Mint is thought for providing a bunch of perks or extras, as each hold issues fairly easy. Each carriers offer you free calling to Mexico and Canada. Mint additionally gives low charges for calling 160 further international locations on all its plans. Seen Plus provides a couple of further perks like limitless speak, textual content, and knowledge when visiting Mexico and Canada, worldwide calling from the US to 30+ international locations, and worldwide texting from the US to 200+ international locations.
It’s actually almost not possible to beat Mint’s promotions, however Seen has a couple of offers of its personal. It gives tons of particular promotions, together with attempting Seen free for 15 days. There’s additionally a promotion the place you get $20 off while you persuade a buddy to affix Seen. As for telephone offers, you’ll be able to commerce in any telephone for not less than $100 or extra off, relying on the mannequin. There are additionally offers like gadget financing and the choice to commerce in a telephone that’s 50% paid for in alternate for a brand new one.
So who does it higher? Mint Cell’s Pixel 8 deal is absolutely laborious to beat, and so when it comes to promotions, it takes the cake. In fact, Seen provides you a couple of extra advantages for worldwide calling and has a number of attention-grabbing promotions as properly. Nonetheless, we now have to offer this one to Mint Cell.
Mint Cell vs Seen: Cellphone choice
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Seen is suitable with just about each main telephone offered in the USA and gives a variety of manufacturers resembling Samsung, Google, Apple, and Motorola. There are additionally little guys like TCL and Orbic too. This contains flagships just like the Galaxy S23, Pixel 8, and iPhone 15. You possibly can take a look at their full record of telephones on the Seen web site.
Mint Cell gives an equally spectacular vary, together with a couple of manufacturers you gained’t discover on Mint, like Alcatel and OnePlus. You’ve a couple of methods you’ll be able to man. You will get a “Cellphone Deal” that features six months of free service and pays upfront or by a fee plan by way of Affirm. The place Mint Cell has a bonus is that it’s community is GSM based mostly. Merely put, there are extra unlocked telephones that work with Mint than you’ll discover with Seen. It is because Seen’s CDMA/5G networks require a couple of particular bands that not all telephones hassle to incorporate.
No matter which service you select, you’ll be capable of deliver your present telephone or purchase a brand new unlocked one, so long as it’s suitable with the community. For extra telephone choices, take a look at our information to the finest Android telephones and finest low-cost telephones.
So who has the higher choice? It’s just about a tie right here too, although Mint Cell is the higher choice for many who need to deliver an unlocked telephone onboard. You’ll discover extra choices and fewer complications.
Mint Cell vs Seen: Which service is best for you?
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
If I needed to choose a winner based mostly on service alone, I’d give this one to Seen regardless of the official tie. A few of that is admittedly a bit biased, as I’ve been utilizing Seen for years. Actually although, all of it comes all the way down to limitless knowledge. Seen is a greater choice right here in case you don’t thoughts paying a bit extra for the Plus plan. It’s additionally good to not must pay for a full yr’s service upfront.
Now, in case you want a brand new telephone? Mint Cell’s Pixel 7 deal is absolutely laborious to beat. In case you are taken with a restricted plan or don’t thoughts a bit deprioritization, Mint Cell remains to be a strong alternative. The actual fact you solely must pay yearly will also be seen as a bonus for some. Get your taxes again, and pay your telephone off. Easy.
General, Mint goes to be cheaper. The value ranges are actually shut, although, and there are definitely some areas of the nation the place having Verizon entry goes to be a greater match than T-Cell.
Backside line, each companies are nice, simply in several methods. You possibly can’t go fallacious both approach. If you would like the quickest high-speed knowledge, Seen’s Plus is the only option. In case you’re trying to economize or need to pay upfront as a substitute of month-to-month, Mint Cell is the winner. Not impressed by Mint Cell however searching for one thing cheaper than Seen? Be sure you take a look at our information to the finest low-cost telephone plans.
Seen vs Mint Cell: which is the higher alternative?
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Who am I, and why do you have to belief me?
My title is Andrew Grush, and I’ve been with Android Authority in a large number of various capacities for over a decade. My expertise within the cellular business dates again a couple of years sooner than that. Whereas I’ve loads of areas of experience, I pleasure myself on being the type of man who by no means settles and is all the time attempting new issues. That applies to carriers as properly. I’ve used T-Cell, Verizon, AT&T, Seen, Google Fi, Cricket, US Cell, Mint Cell, and several other different carriers for prolonged intervals on and off all through the years.
I’m additionally often buying SIM playing cards from pay as you go carriers to be able to see how they examine to the large gamers within the area. Once I write about pay as you go and postpaid companies, you’ll be able to make certain that I’ll have precise real-time expertise and insights.