I think I started using T-Mobile probably from year 2012, ever since my 2-year contract with AT&T ended. I got the 2-year contract when I bought iPhone 4 at the Apple Store in fall 2010.
Note with T-Mobile, I did not sign up the data plan. And In year 2014, I started looking at prepaid data plans (with some call minutes, and text messages included), and found H2O.
I don’t recall how exactly I found Mint Mobile, probably because I realized it’s cheaper than H2O. and I decided to switch. That was probably in year 2019. I don’t have complaints with them with 3 exceptions:
1. Their coverage which is about same as T-Mobile (in some areas the coverage is not as good as AT&T or Verizon), also because T-Mobile recently bought Mint Mobile, so I don’t expect them to improve.
2. In one or two occasions, it seems their meter went wrong, because essentially my data was quickly used up as soon as I received the new pot of data for the month. Tried to chat with the customer service via the app, and it was not very helpful either.
3. They don’t support Apple Watch Cellular. And it sounds like they won’t support it in the future either because this is a prepaid plan – they want their profit margin and so on.
International Roaming
They have launched this product called Minternational Pass. And I used it recently in my recent China trip (to be precise, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Mainland China). It’s working for the most part, the nice thing is it’s about $2 or $3 per day, which is much cheaper than the Visible Global Pass or Verizon international roaming (which is $10 a day; $5 day in Canada and Mexico). Note Mint Mobile recently included Canada roaming for free. So if we only talk about the international roaming, Mint Mobile is cheaper. But we also keep in mind the length of the international travel, as well as the country.
Apple Watch Cellular
I found the below 2 carriers when I was doing research for my Apple Watch cellular, and potentially for my 10-year standalone Apple Watch Cellular. I think I may switch myself from Mint Mobile to one of the two below, so that I can travel or go out with my watch only, from time to time.
I found this one from the Apple discussion forum thread. It sounds like they are the only prepaid carrier supports Apple Watch Cellular.
It seems we have to buy Apple Watch from them (as opposed to Visible we can bring our own watch). They do have a nice section about kids using watch or phone (around safety etc.).
Last but not least, Apple Watch for Your Kids (Apple website).