Cricket Wireless Review
Ready to switch mobile providers? Review the features, pricing, and coverage of Cricket Wireless to compare it to the top prepaid competition.
Prepaid phone plans like Cricket Wireless offer flexibility and convenience that mobile contracts can't match.
But for such a low price, is the service even good?
Find out if Cricket Wireless is worth switching to, and what you can expect in coverage, customer service, and more.
What is Cricket Wireless?
Cricket was founded in 1999 by Leap Wireless International. This cellular service provider is considered a "mobile virtual network operator," or MVNO.
This means that Cricket doesn't own the infrastructure it uses (like cell towers). Instead, they buy usage rights from another provider at wholesale prices — in this case, AT&T.
Bottom line: Cricket offers AT&T coverage at discounted rates.
- Metro by T-Mobile: 20,000,000 users
- Cricket Wireless: 13,000,000 users
- Straight Talk: 9,511,000 users
- Boost Mobile: 7,400,000 users
- Xfinity Mobile: 4,615,000 users
Pros and Cons of Cricket Wireless?
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Cricket Wireless offers flexible prepaid options and discounts that are perfect for families, but this wireless carrier isn't for everyone. Let's take a look at the advantages and downsides of Cricket:
Pros
- Great family discounts
- 2nd-best 4G and 5G data coverage networks[2]
- Free HBO Max included with the $60/month plan ($55 with AutoPay)
Cons
- Unhelpful customer support
- Phone prices are fairly expensive
- Poor phone selection (no Samsung flagship devices, no Google phones)
- Expensive basic plan compared to the competition ($30 for only 5GB of high-speed data)
Is Cricket Wireless Any Good?: Full Overview
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Below, review the data plans, phone selection, and network coverage of Cricket Wireless to see how it compares to other top prepaid companies.
| Overall Score: 4.0 |
|---|
| Prepaid Plans and Pricing: 4.0 |
| Phone Selection and Pricing: 3.5 |
| Network Coverage: 4.5 |
| Customer Reviews: 4.0 |
Prepaid Plans and Pricing: 4.0 Stars
If you don't use much data, Cricket probably isn't for you. For the same cost as Cricket's 5GB plan, you can get an unlimited amount of data from Mint.
However, if you use a fair amount of data, Cricket offers a competitive suite of prepaid plans starting at $30 per month.
| Data Plans and Pricing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cricket | Boost Mobile | Verizon Prepaid | Mint Mobile |
| $30: 5GB | $15: 2GB** | $40: 5GB (data only) | $15: 4GB |
| $35: 10GB* | $25: 5GB*** | $45: 15GB**** | $20: 10GB |
| $50: Unlimited (no mobile hotspot)* | $35: 10GB | $60: Unlimited (no mobile hotspot)**** | $25: 15GB |
| $55: Unlimited + 15GB hotspot* | $50: 35GB | $70: Unlimited + hotspot**** | $30: Unlimited |
| *With AutoPay **Lowest tier Boost plan is for new Bring Your Own Phone customers ***Second-lowest tier Boost plan is for new customers only ****Intro price. You can save an additional $10 per month after the first month by signing up for autopay; Loyalty discounts of $10/mo. after 9 months. | |||
It's also one of the few smaller wireless service providers that offer true unlimited data plans, unlike Boost and Mint.
On Android: Go to your Settings > Connections > Data Usage
On iPhone: Go to your Settings > Cellular > Usage
Phone Selection and Pricing: 3.5 Stars
Phone selection and pricing are weak points for Cricket:
- Cricket only offers 37 devices, the least among some of the top prepaid competition (Mint Mobile offers 74, and AT&T and Verizon both offer 54)
- Does not offer any Google Pixel phones
- Does not offer any Samsung flagship devices from Galaxy S22 Series, only mid-priced phones like the Galaxy S21 and budget models like the Galaxy A series.
Here's how Cricket's phone prices stack up to the competition:
| Phone Pricing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Cricket | Boost | Verizon | AT&T | Mint |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max 128 GB | $1099.99 | $1099.99 | $1099.99 | $1099.99 | $1099.99 |
| iPhone 13 Pro Max 128 GB | $999.99 | $999.99 | $999.99 | $999.99 | $999.99 |
| Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 128 GB | *$499.99 | $299.99 | $699.99 | $699.99 | $479.00 |
| Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G 128 GB | **$249.99 | N/A | $599.99 | $599.99 | $379.00 |
| Moto G Stylus 5G 128 GB | **$69.99 | $199.99 | $399.99 | $299.99 | N/A |
*When you bring your number and activate a new line on min $30/mo. voice plan.
**When you bring your number and activate a $60/mo plan.
Interestingly, Cricket offers its own line of budget phones that run on the Android OS and are created by Emblem Solutions (which also makes AT&T-exclusive phones).
If you like Cricket's network coverage and plan pricing, you can find less expensive devices by shopping at third-party sites like Amazon or Back Market. Just make sure you buy a device that is fully unlocked for the AT&T network.
If you are purchasing a phone plan for your family or with your significant other, Cricket offers some great quantity discounts for each new line.
For example, the $50 unlimited plan is only $40 per line with 2 lines, $30 with 3 lines, and only $25 with 4 lines.
Network Coverage: 4.5 Stars
Curious if Cricket Wireless is a good network? Rest assured, as mentioned above, Cricket runs on the AT&T network, which gives customers some of the best nationwide high-speed coverage available.
AT&T ranks second in both 4G and 5G availability.[2]
4G Coverage by Carrier (% of the United States)
- Verizon: 70%
- AT&T: 68%
- T-Mobile: 62%
5G Coverage by Carrier (% of the United States)
- T-Mobile: 53%
- AT&T: 29%
- Verizon: 12%
It should be noted that T-Mobile uses a low-band version of 5G, which allows for broader reach but has the drawback of slower speeds compared to Verizon and AT&T.
Customer Reviews: 4.0 Stars
Like many wireless service providers, Cricket comes with mixed reviews from customers online. However, it has favorable ratings compared to most other common carriers.
For example, while Cricket may have a 1.5-star rating on Trustpilot, compare this to AT&T, Boost Mobile, and Verizon, which have 1.3, 1.3, and 1.2-star Trustpilot ratings, respectively.
| Consumer Affairs | 3.6 stars (out of 5) |
| Trustpilot | 1.5 stars (out of 5) |
| Google Play Store (for myCricket app) | 4.0 stars (out of 5) |
| Apple App Store (myCricket app) | 4.6 stars (out of 5) |
Complaints about Cricket
As usual with wireless companies, customer service is the weakest point for Cricket. Here is one negative review that shows a common theme:
— Larry via Trustpilot
Praise for Cricket
However, customers do appear satisfied with the quality and cost of Cricket. Here's a typical positive review:
—Ona via Consumer Affairs
The Bottom Line
Cricket Wireless offers savings, great family plans, and excellent network coverage.
The only real downside of Cricket is the lack of phone selection, but in today's day and age, it is very easy to shop around online to find the phone you want at the price you can afford.
For these reasons, Cricket Wireless is certainly worth considering. Check out the plans they have available to see if there is one that meets your needs.
References
- ^ MVNOS. Biggest MVNOs By Subscriber Counts, Retrieved 11/18/2022
- ^ WhistleOut. Best Cell Phone Coverage in Your Area 2023, Retrieved 11/18/2022
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