AT&T vs Hello Mobile: Who Should You Go With?

The time has come for you to switch your current wireless provider. Maybe you aren’t happy with the number of your monthly bill or maybe you need more “unlimited” data since you’re on the go more. There’s a million little deciding factors as to why you feel the need to switch and with that comes the trying process of comparing and contrasting popular cell phone companies together so you can make the most out of your billing cycle.

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As you’re narrowing down your list of options, two that may be on the bracket next are AT&T and Hello Mobile. AT&T being one of the most popular choices right now in the country alongside Verizon and T-Mobile. With Hello Mobile being a MVNO with a track record of low-costing and no contract plans that many who are looking for more budget-friendly options flock to. So trying to decide between the two can lead to a lot of questions and lists- that’s where we come in. We’re here to discuss AT&T vs Hello Mobile and give you an outline of what each company can offer you. Let’s get started.

• Quick Overview: AT&T and Hello Mobile
• What the Coverage Looks Like from Both Providers
• How the Plans Compare: From Price to Features
• The Verdict

Before we go over what the coverage and plans look like from each provider we first need to talk a little bit about the two companies separately so you can get an idea of what to expect from each as you make your decision.

-> AT&T

AT&T is commonly referred to as one of the “big three” in wireless, you’ll find them often put up against Verizon and T-Mobile as we’ve mentioned their names earlier. Getting their start in the early 80s you’ll see a lot of changes from the company as they have adjusted and kept up quite a lead in the race of wireless. As technology has evolved and the need for phone plans with extensive data amounts have become higher, AT&T has put itself in a trophy case with their AT&T Unlimited Premium® PL plan which is a phone plan with truly unlimited data. No matter how much you use your speeds will never slow down- how iconic is that?

Data throttling is “the dramatic slowing of your data speeds to the point that it becomes almost unusable,” and this will happen when a person goes over their monthly allotment of data. For some phone companies they will list that threshold number within their plans or at the bottom of the screen, and once you use over that amount your speeds will get throttled- but not with the Unlimited Premium plan from AT&T. AT&T’s reach is pretty huge, but their prices are definitely something to weigh as that plan is $85.99/mo. for one line only. We will go over more of their advantages and disadvantages later on.

-> Hello Mobile

Hello Mobile is a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) which is a category of small wireless companies that don’t own their own cell towers. Instead these MVNOs will piggyback off the signal of a provider that does own their own cell towers and in Hello’s case they work with T-Mobile to provide service to customers. T-Mobile being a direct competitor of AT&T makes this match up interesting and with Hello’s low-cost ideals it may end up being your golden goose. Although if you’re a big fan of data and lots of it you might not want to jump too quickly onto the Hello Mobile boat as their data plans don’t have the outreach like AT&T has. 

Hello Mobile also prides itself on a few things like no hidden fees and no contracts to worry about and if you’re someone who just wants to get a phone plan and go, then you’ll definitely like what Hello has been cooking.

But enough talk, it’s time to see cold hard data and first things first we gotta cover the coverage…

What the Coverage Looks Like from Both Providers

All besides one AT&T plan, the Unlimited $40/mo prepaid plan, offers their 5G coverage. Unless you’re going for that specific prepaid plan you don’t need to worry about having to “pay more” for better 5G and 4G LTE coverage from the provider. In fact with AT&T you can sit comfortably knowing they are right in the middle of Verizon and T-Mobile’s coverage, with Verizon leading in 4G LTE, AT&T coming in second, and T-Mobile coming in third, anyone who doesn’t have a 5G capable phone yet will get a wide range of coverage from the provider. Although they are a bit behind in 5G, it isn’t by much, which is good for the future of the wireless technology.

Like any other wireless company, AT&T has a “Coverage Map” tab where you can zoom in and out, plus searching for your own address so you can see if you’re covered by the network. 

AT&T covers a good chunk of the United States along with parts of Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. See AT&T’s full Coverage Map here.

And now we have Hello Mobile’s Coverage Map to view:

Already there is a clear difference in area covered when looking at the AT&T Coverage Map and the Hello Mobile Coverage Map side-by-side. With MVNOs you aren’t expected to get the same levels of coverage you’d get if you were to go to their parent company- that’s just something that comes with the price of entry- but if you don’t plan to travel far and are fine with being limited to the areas listed then this may not be a deal breaker for you!

See Hello Mobile’s full Coverage Map here.

How the Plans Compare: From Price to Features

Since we now know the coverage information of both providers we can take a look at each of their phone plans, first up we have AT&T’s postpaid plans starting with their three most popular options:

And then they have two “value-friendly” plans to look at:

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Now it’s good to note that all of these listed prices aren’t necessarily the finalized listed prices. These prices are if you sign up for AutoPay and they don’t include taxes and fees so keep that in mind when comparing the two provider’s plans. Overall, besides their higher prices they have amazing data limits and hotspot features.

Now let’s talk about Hello Mobile’s plans, they have four unlimited data plans and four limited “standard” data plans:

Right off the bat you’ll notice that each Hello Mobile plan comes with the same benefits no matter how much you pay. The only thing that changes besides price is the amount of data you’d need. They keep things simple and for someone that’s been looking for no nonsense then you might have met your match.

Hello Mobile’s data threshold number is not advertised and from looking at their website it seems they haven’t put that information anywhere that’s easily accessible, in fact looking through their terms and conditions we couldn’t find anything concrete. According to a few other reports from a few online sources it looks like their data cap is set at 15 to 20GBs and after that is reached you’ll start to get your speeds throttled. 

There’s also data deprioritization to take into account which is the temporary slowing of data speeds in times of network congestion and high traffic areas like concerts or sporting events. 

With AT&T you’re obviously going to get more data, a lot more data in fact, but at higher costs. AT&T also offers security benefits and more international options than Hello but does have taxes and fees.

The Verdict

We’ve compared the prices, the plans, and the coverage of AT&T and Hello Mobile and the time has come for our verdict on what we think is better. Overall we’d say if you are a heavy-duty data user, the one that is never connected to wifi, doesn’t want to deal with slower speeds in peak times then AT&T is the winner by a landslide. Any MVNO customer will have to deal with those deprioritized speeds, more so than a direct customer. Plus with Hello Mobile’s small data threshold number you may experience throttled speeds quicker than you want.

However if you aren’t someone that cares about their data amount, connects to wifi often, and is a fan of no-contracts then Hello Mobile is worth the peek. Since they are a very “relaxed and come as you go” service you can always take a test run of sorts to see if it can work with your situation. For a more reliable narrative we’d recommend choosing AT&T but those looking to save more than a few dollars every month Hello Mobile isn’t a bad start.

Still shopping around? Don’t go far because we’ve got the tool for you! If you want to compare and contrast AT&T and Hello Mobile to over 1,200 other phone plans so you know you’re getting the service that’s right for you, then make sure to check out the REALLY compare page which allows you to look at pricing, coverage, what phone plans are available, current deals and steals, and how you can make the most of your potential phone bill.