Skip to main content

Verizon Unlimited plans bundle 5G, but won’t allow 1080p streaming over LTE

Mix and Match New Unlimited Plans

Verizon has announced a new range of mix-and-match Unlimited plans, available from August 5. With a variable amount of data and benefits, these new plans mean you can finally pick a plan that fits your usage — as long as your usage doesn’t involve Full HD content on LTE.

Recommended Videos

There are four plans available — excluding Just Kids — and each offers unlimited data, 4K streaming, and hot spot usage in 5G-enabled cities. Three of the four also discount Verizon’s $10 5G access fee for a limited time, making it one of the best ways of accessing Verizon’s 5G network. However, each of them differs slightly where LTE is concerned, and apparently, not even the most expensive option allows the streaming of Full HD 1080p video.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Start Unlimited is the most basic of the set, and offers basic unlimited access. You’ll get unlimited texts, calls, and data, but streaming is limited to 480p. However, you’ll also get six months of Apple Music for free. That plan starts at $70 for a single line, with discounts offered up to $30 for five lines or more. If you want 5G on this plan then you’ll also have to pony up an extra $10 a month, as this is the only plan not to get limited complimentary 5G access for a 5G phone.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Do More Unlimited is the productivity-focused plan, and offers everything you need to get stuff done. That means 50GB of premium data that skips data congestion time (and 15GB of premium hotspot data), 500GB of cloud storage, six months of Apple Music, and 50% off a connected tablet or Verizon Jetpack. On the downside, you’re still restricted to 480p streaming. That plan starts at $80 for a single line, and falls to $40 with five or more lines.

Both the Get More Unlimited and Play More Unlimited offer 720p streaming and include an Apple Music subscription. The Play More Unlimited has access to 25GB of premium data (15GB of premium hot spot data), while the Get More Unlimited offers a monstrous 75GB of premium data (and 30GB of premium hot spot data), 500GB of cloud storage, and 50% off a connected tablet or Jetpack. But you pay extra for all those extra benefits — the Get More Unlimited plan starts from $90, but falls to $50 with five and more lines. The Play More Unlimited plan starts from $80, and falls to $40 with five or more lines.

Finally, there’s the Just Kids add-on. This can’t be purchased by itself, but it offers 5GB of data (and unlimited Safety Mode afterward) and 480p streaming, as well as unlimited texts and calls to 20 contacts and parental controls and location tracking by default. It starts at $50 as a second line and falls to $25 for five or more lines.

Curious as to which new plan matches you best? Verizon has also designed a BuzzFeed-style quiz to help you choose. Yup, you read that right. Verizon has teamed up with BuzzFeed quiz guru Rachel McMahon to come up with a short quiz that identifies the new Verizon Unlimited plan that’s right for you. It’s oddly charming in its own way, and worth trying if you’re curious.

Mark Jansen
Mobile Evergreen Editor
Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient &…
Verizon’s new Welcome Unlimited plan makes 5G data a lot more affordable
Verizon logo on a smartphone screen in a dark room and a finger touching it.

Verizon is rolling out an even more affordable 5G plan for customers looking for unlimited data without all the extra frills in its Mix & Match plans.

For as little as $30 per month for each line (when signing up for four lines with Auto Pay), the new Welcome Unlimited plan includes all the basics that most users need — including unlimited data, talking, and texting. The plan is separate from Verizon's Mix & Match Unlimited plans and lacks the features of those more expensive options, such as mobile hotspot data and streaming service bundles.

Read more
T-Mobile’s 5G network just beat Verizon and AT&T (again)
T-Mobile smartphone.

T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T always claim to be America's best 5G network in their commercials. T-Mobile boasts this even more so, and as it turns out, it's true. During PCMag's annual Best Mobile Network test (previously known as the Fastest Mobile Network test), T-Mobile won over Verizon and AT&T as the Best Mobile Network for the second year in a row.

PCMag gave T-Mobile the title after testers drove 10,000 miles across the country to measure its performance against Verizon and AT&T. The test involved driving to 30 cities and six rural regions to test each mobile carrier's reliability using Samsung Galaxy S22+ smartphones. As expected, T-Mobile won that contest in 18 cities out of 30, followed by Verizon with eight and AT&T with four.

Read more
5G coverage map: Where you can get 5G on Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile
Qualcomm 5G at CES 2019

Gone are the days when 5G was just a buzzword and deployment was experimental. Today, 5G is an established worldwide networking protocol built into most high-quality and flagship mobile devices. 5G stands for fifth-generation mobile technology, and it's destined to replace 4G (and older protocols) worldwide with speeds up to 100 times faster.  Not only is it faster, but it is also more responsive for overall coverage and reception. That means faster uploading and downloading of documents, images, and videos. For home use, it means replacing fiber-optic cable with fast wireless connections.

There are two forms of 5G technology currently in use: Sub-6 relies on lower frequencies to deliver a much larger network, but the trade-off is that you'll receive only marginally faster speeds than you would with 4G. While mmWave connections rely on much higher frequencies that deliver dramatically faster download speeds, those radio waves can't physically travel long distances or make their way through obstacles like walls or even windows, which reduce signal strength.

Read more