Unreal Mobile Review: Unlimited Low Cost Cell Service

Over the years one of the big budget busters I’ve tried to tame was our mobile phone bill.

Back in the day we had a calling plan with one of the major carriers, and we were paying close to $50/month for unlimited calling and texting for our phones (Mobile data was still not really a thing).  We knew if we could find a lower cost phone service, we could save a ton of money on our monthly mobile phone bill.

These days people are still paying tons of money for their cell service.  JD Power reported that “the average annual wireless phone bill is now $1,152, up 52% from 2006″.  That’s almost $100/month for a cell phone bill!

The thing is, you don’t have to pay a lot of money for even unlimited cell service these days. With the rise of MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators), a whole host of small providers are popping up that provide good service, using the same mobile phone networks as the big dogs.

A New Premium Low Cost Mobile Provider

At our house we’ve gone from being users of traditional big cell networks where we were paying $50+ month per phone, to using several low cost mobile phone providers that start around $15/month.

This past month a new mobile phone service launched, brought to us by the folks who created no-frills VOIP cell service FreedomPop a few years back. This time, they wanted to have the service be a more high end, full-featured MVNO. A premium mobile provider, but without the premium price. That service is Unreal Mobile.

Having worked with their company in the past, they asked me to take a look at their service. I agreed to write up a quick review if they’d send me a device and free service for a couple of months.

They sent me a beautiful refurbished Apple iPhone to make that possible.  Here’s my review of Unreal Mobile.

Unreal Mobile Cell Service

When they launched Unreal Mobile made the claim to have the “cheapest phone plans with unlimited everything. Unlimited talk, text, and data“, and on the face of it they are definitely in that conversation.

Unreal Mobile was acquired by Red Pocket Mobile in 2019, and while they now have a new owner, their plans are still low cost.

Unreal Mobile’s plans start at as low as $15/month, with unlimited talk, text and 2G data. With the $15 plan, you also get 3GB of 4G LTE data.  Not a lot of other providers go that low.

Tello charges $14 and $19 per month for unlimited service and 2GB and 4GB of high-speed data.

Republic Wireless plans start at $20/month with 1GB of 4G data.

In my brief scouring of mobile plans, Unreal is definitely the among cheapest full-featured mobile providers I can find. On top of their low cost, they also allow you to choose the term of your choice, and you can cancel at any time. So it’s worth giving it a try, especially if you already have an available device that you can bring to the service.

Unboxing My Unreal Mobile Apple iPhone

Unreal Mobile sent out one of their phones and SIM cards so that I could test out the service. I could see on their site that they mainly offer Apple iPhone devices. 

I received the phone and SIM card two days later.  Here’s a quick look at the phone.

The iPhone that I received from the Unreal Mobile folks has the following specs:

• Operating System: iOS 10.2.1
• Screen: 4.7″
• Technology: GSM
• Processor: Apple A8, Dual-core 1.4 GHz Typhoon
• Internal Memory: 16GB, 1 GB RAM
• Screen resolution: 750 x 1334 pixels
• Back camera: 8 MP, f/2.2, 29mm, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
• Front camera: 1.2 MP, f/2.2, 31mm, 720p@30fps, face detection
• Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 1810 mAh
• Talk time: Up to 14 h
• Standby time: Up to 250 h
• LTE Sim Card: Nano SIM
• Card slot: No

The phone is a couple of models back, so it’s not the latest and greatest, but it still works with the service fine.

When I opened the phone and plugged it in the phone booted right up and took me to the home screen.  Since this was a review phone I didn’t have to do any of the normal setup, that was all done for me by the Unreal Mobile team.

The only thing I didn’t like when first turning on the phone was that it had a myriad of updates that needed to be performed.  I think I counted 8 separate operating and system updates that took place that first day.  At least I know the phone gets regular updates and support, right?

Phones Available With Unreal Mobile

Unreal Mobile has a limited amount of phones you can buy with the service, currently mainly iPhones.

Some of the phones available for purchase on Unreal Mobile Shop currently include:

• Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
• Apple iPhone 12 Pro
• Apple iPhone 12 Mini
• Apple iPhone 12
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro
• Apple iPhone 11
• Apple iPhone XR
• Apple iPhone SE

The phones in the shop will vary by day and availability, so check it often to find the one you want.

Unreal Mobile also has a bring your own device (BYOD) program that means you can bring just about any unlocked GSM or AT&T certified phone to the service. To see if yours will work go to this link and then click on the link at the top to buy a SIM to see if your phone is compatible.

Unreal Mobile Mobile Plans

Mobile cell phone plans have been going up in price for a long time, with costs coming close to $100 per month for an individual line of service. According to Cowen and Co.:

The average customer of one of the Big Four cellular providers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless) spends more than $90 per month for individual service—and the figure is $111 for iPhone owners.

Traditional plans can get extremely expensive, so to see a provider that has plans that are actually affordable is refreshing.  Why pay close to $100  when you have low cost plans like this:

• $10/month: This plan gives you unlimited talk and texts, as well as 2GB of LTE data. Unlimited at 2G speeds thereafter. ($15/month after first month)
• $15/month: This plan gives you unlimited talk and texts, as well as 3GB of LTE data. Unlimited at 2G speeds thereafter. ($25/month after first month)
• $25/month (: This plan gives you unlimited talk and texts, as well as 12GB of LTE data. Unlimited at 2G speeds thereafter. ($35/month after first month)

The prices above are the 1-month introductory price. After your first month you can renew for 12 months at the same price, or you can choose a 3 month plan at a slightly higher rate. If you stay with the monthly rate, you’ll pay the rate mentioned above after the first month. The longer your committment, the lower your price.

My Unreal Mobile Calling Plan

I am on the $15/month plan that gives you unlimited talk, texts, 2G data, as well as 2GB of 4G data.  Since I don’t do a lot of calling and texting, I’m unlikely to need unlimited minutes and text messages, but I use a decent amount of mobile data streaming Pandora and watching videos over my lunch break. This plan should cover me. Also, any data you don’t use in a given month rolls over to the following month.

Premium Services to add on:

• Unreal Speed Boost $2.99/month: This package insures the fastest speeds, even when the network is congested.

Features Of Your Unreal Mobile Account

Your Unreal Mobile account comes with some other features and functionality as well. Here are a few:

• Unreal VPN service: If you want to browse privately on the data networks, just turn on the VPN feature of Unreal Mobile and you’ll be set to go.
• Ad blocking: Block those unwanted ads by turning on the Unreal ad blocker.
• Data compression: Data compression helps you to save on your data costs by compressing the data moving across the network.
• Data rollover: Any data you don’t use in a month, just rolls over to the next month.

Testing Out The Unreal Mobile Service

I’ve been using the Unreal Mobile phone for a while now.  Here’s a quick look at how the service has performed for me.

Call Quality

I don’t do a ton of calling, but so far the call quality has been great.

I’ve had no problems with calls breaking up, audio sounding delayed or garbled or anything else. I believe I have good AT&T coverage in my area, so for me the call quality has been good.

Text Messaging

Text messaging seems to work just fine as well. I’ve done a bunch of texts back and forth with people I know (new phone, who dis?), and have sent pictures, emojis and more with no problem.  I don’t see any issues here either.

Mobile Data Services

I’ve been using the data between home and work to stream music in the car, to do Google Maps, and to let my son play a few online games in the car.  So far the coverage has been great, and streaming works well. I have no complaints. The fact that even after my 3GB of data I’ll still have enough 2G data to do some minimal emails/texts/etc should be more than enough.

Unreal Mobile Is Affordable And Works Great

Unreal Mobile has burst onto the scene with one of the most affordable mobile phone plans on the market.

For only $15/month and a month to month commitment you can get unlimited calling, text, and 2GB of 4G data.  Need more data? Just pay a bit more.

Unreal Mobile is simple, affordable and works great, and I definitely recommend giving them a try.

Get Unreal Mobile’s Unlimited Low Cost Service

Unreal Mobile

$15

8.5

Rating

8.5/10

Pros

• Unlimited calling, texts
• Low cost
• Good call quality
• Reliable network
• 3, 6,12 month plans

Cons

• Store only has limited phones

Try Unreal Mobile