I recently tested Tello Mobile’s popular unlimited plan for one month. Tello is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) that uses the nationwide T-Mobile network to provide service. It brands itself as a no-frills carrier with customization options to fit your individual needs. Still, while smaller carriers like Tello may offer lower prices, it's worth looking at what you’re getting for your money.
Based on my testing, I would recommend Tello Mobile for people who want a cheaper phone plan, don’t need much mobile hotspot data, and spend most of their time in urban areas.
Overall, I was happy with the service I got from Tello. The data speeds were excellent and all features of the plan worked well. While I wasn't crazy about the carrier’s app, all of my concerns were solved by exploring the app more or simply using the website.
Let’s dive into our review of Tello Mobile and my personal experience with its unlimited plan to see if it's the right choice for you.
How I tested Tello Mobile
I spent one month using Tello Mobile's service to thoroughly evaluate its performance in everyday scenarios. From purchasing and installing the SIM card to canceling the plan, I followed every step a customer might take.
The features I tested include the following:
- Purchasing and activating the plan on my Google Pixel 6
- Sending texts and photo messages in varying locations, including both urban and rural areas
- Making phone and video calls in varying locations, including both urban and rural areas
- Streaming music in my car exclusively from my phone
- Watching streaming video (Netflix) on my phone
- Downloading cloud-based files to my phone
- Using the mobile hotspot for 1 hour in two different locations
- Interacting with Tello's customer service via phone and online chat
- Managing my plan via both the My Tello app and the website
Tello plans and pricing
Tello Mobile offers more plan options than many of its MVNO peers. Not only does it have standard prebuilt options, but you can also build your own plan with customized data amounts and minutes.
Popular Tello plan options
| Plan | Premium data | Price | Shop plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited Plan | 50GB (plus 10GB hotspot) |
$25/month | View Plan |
| Unlimited Talk, Text, and 20GB Plan | 20GB | $14/month | View Plan |
| Unlimited Talk, Text, and 10GB Plan | 10GB | $15/month | View Plan |
One of Tello’s most popular offerings is its Unlimited plan for $25/month. This was the plan that I tested for this review. It includes unlimited talk, text, and 50GB of premium data on T-Mobile’s 5G network. It also offers a high-speed 10GB mobile hotspot. If you use up your 50GB of premium data, Tello will throttle your speeds to 2G for the remainder of the month, but you can buy 1GB top-ups for $5/each.
Tello Unlimited Text, Talk, and Data Plan
| Carrier | Tello |
|---|---|
| Data | Unlimited Data |
| Type | No Contract |
| Total Price |
$25 per month
|
| View Plan |
For customers who don't need unlimited data, customizing your plan is a great way to save money if you know how much data and the number of minutes you need. Custom plans start as low as $5/month for a no-data plan with 100 minutes and top out at $25/month for a plan with unlimited data and minutes.
You should note that all of the prebuilt options can be created as a custom plan, but the pricing and included features will be the same no matter which route you choose.
There are also prebuilt limited data plans available that include unlimited talk and text. These plans start as low as 1GB of data for $9/month and go as high as 10GB for $19/month. They also include mobile hotspot capability, but no dedicated data. Hotspot usage is deducted from the total high-speed data allotment of your plan.
Tello Mobile family plans
You can build a Tello Mobile family plan with all of the carrier's plan options.
Each plan is customizable, and you can have up to four family members per account. That said, Tello does not offer multi-line discounts or shared data plans. Each line is full price and has a specific data allotment tied to its plan.
You should also note Tello treats family plans as a group of individual lines. Each line receives an individual bill tied to the day the plan is activated.
How I rated Tello Mobile: WhistleOut's metrics
Fact-checking Tello's claims
Here at WhistleOut, we review all carriers using the same five metrics: price, value, speed, coverage, and customer service. Each metric is assigned a one-point star value to calculate the carrier's overall score.
Tello Mobile's ratings were:
- Price: 5 out of 5
- Value: 4.5 out of 5
- Data speeds: 3 out of 5
- Coverage and network reliability: 3 out of 5
- Customer service: 4 out of 5
The hands-on approach I used allowed me to experience Tello Mobile's services as a regular customer would, ensuring my findings and recommendations are grounded in actual usage and not just in what the carrier claims to provide.
Price
One of Tello’s best features is its low prices. With plans starting at just $5/month, it’s among a select group of carriers that offer ultra-low-priced options. Even better, Tello’s pricing isn’t an introductory offer or part of a multi-month plan package. The advertised price is the monthly rate until you cancel your plan.
Score: 5 out of 5
Value
How does price translate to value? Pretty well. For the cheapest plans, the amount of minutes and data you’re getting for those low prices is mostly on par with similar options from other carriers. That said, the value improves as the data allotments increase. Tello’s larger limited data options are generally a few dollars cheaper than comparable options from other carriers. Plus, it offers one of the cheapest unlimited plans on the market ($25/month) that includes an allotment of priority data.
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Data speeds
Tello offers incredibly fast data if you’re within range of T-Mobile’s 5G network. During speed testing in an urban environment close to a 5G tower, Tello’s data speeds almost reached 300Mbps. On the other hand, finding fast speeds in rural areas was a challenge. This wasn’t surprising as T-Mobile doesn’t offer great rural coverage (more on that below). Most rural speed tests gave results anywhere from 1-3Mbps.
Right: Speed testing in a rural area with a 4G LTE signal. Image: Max McCaskill
Score: 3 out of 5
Coverage and network reliability
Tello offers excellent coverage and reliability through T-Mobile's nationwide networks. T-Mobile’s 5G network is the largest in the nation and offers some of the fastest speeds. On the other hand, T-Mobile has the smallest 4G LTE network and struggles to offer coverage in some rural areas.
If you spend most of your time in urban areas, you can count on having excellent coverage. My testing showed great connectivity whether texting, making phone calls, or using video chat.
On the other hand, I struggled for service in rural areas. While I never completely lost my signal, everything ran slower after leaving urban areas. My other phone plan using AT&T worked fine in the same locations. However, remember this will only be an issue if you spend a lot of time in rural areas where T-Mobile doesn’t offer great coverage.
Score: 3 out of 5
Customer service
Tello has great customer service. I called their customer service number to ask questions about my plan and also reached out through the online chat. In both instances, I was speaking to a rep within minutes who was able to help me. I’m also not the only one with this experience. Tello’s customer service is currently rated 4.6 out of 5 on Trustpilot with over 10,000 reviews logged. You’ll also see plenty of pleased customers on the r/Tello subreddit.
The only time customers seem to have issues is by sending messages to the Tello email. However, that makes sense, as sending emails back and forth is time-consuming. Simply calling on the phone or using the web chat will get you much faster results.
Score: 4 out of 5
Signing up with Tello
For new customers, Tello’s website is easy to navigate. You can quickly build a plan or choose from one of the pre-built options.
Tello’s plans offers both SIM cards and digital eSIMs. My device has eSIM capability, but I wanted to see how long shipping would take, so I selected a physical SIM for my plan. Tello mailed the card through USPS and it was at my front door in three days.
The installation process was just like with any other carrier. I opened the SIM tray on my Google Pixel 6, popped in the card, and then turned on my device. After a couple of minutes, I got a signal and was officially hooked up to the Tello network.
What kind of phone works on Tello?
Virtually all newer model smartphones will work on Tello Mobile. This includes unlocked devices from T-Mobile, AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Simple Mobile, and Straight Talk. Most modern devices using Verizon and Verizon MVNO carriers will also work on Tello's network if they have been unlocked.
Managing my plan
Tello’s website is easy to navigate when managing your plan. When you open your account, your remaining allotments are listed on the dashboard. From there, you can add more high-speed data, adjust your payment methods, see when your plan renews, and change your plan for the next month.
My Tello mobile app
Image: Max McCaskill
Tello also lets you manage your plan from its app. However, I did not like the My Tello app. It felt clunky and unnecessarily confusing.
The biggest issue occurred when opening the app. The first view I saw was three bars showing my plan's data, minutes, and texting allotments. You’ll notice that it shows I have infinite data. That is technically true, but remember the unlimited plan only has 50GB of high-speed data. After that, my speeds would be throttled down to 2G.
It’s not helpful for me to know that I have unlimited data. What I needed to know was how much of my high-speed allotment was left. After tapping around, I found that information in the “Dashboard” part of the app.
The Tello app seems like an optimized version of the website and it offers the same features. Still, I’d recommend sticking with the website where things are more clearly marked and it’s easier to navigate.
Canceling my Tello plan
Canceling the plan when I was finished was simple. Tello even sent me a message a few days before the renewal date letting me know that I was approaching the end of my billing period. I simply logged into my account and was able to cancel the plan. There was even an option to reserve my number for $3/month.
Did I like Tello’s Unlimited plan?
After a month of testing, I was pleased with the Tello Mobile Unlimited Plan. Let’s dig into some of the plan's features to see why.
Data allotment
The Tello unlimited plan includes a 50GB allotment of premium data. For most customers, this is plenty of data, especially if you have access to Wi-Fi at home or while at work. Still, I wanted to see if I could actually use up that much data.
For the purposes of our testing, I intentionally disconnected from my home Wi-Fi when using my phone. I also did tasks like streaming music in the car, downloading files from my Google Drive, and even spent a weekend binge-watching Netflix. By the end of the month, I’d only used about a quarter of the 50GB allotment. I can confidently say that unless you are among the highest data users, you probably won’t run out of data on this plan.
How much data do I need?
The amount of data you use in a month is a good indicator of how much data you’ll need in a phone plan. The truth is that most people are paying for more data than they actually need.
Check out our mobile data usage guide to learn the amount of data you really need in a phone plan.
Mobile hotspot
The plan I chose also includes a 5GB mobile hotspot. I tested it in two different locations. The first was an urban area where I spent an hour at a coffee shop working on my laptop. The data speeds were fast and I had no issues doing my job.
The second location was a rural area with slower speeds. Remember, mobile hotspots are only as good as your data speeds, so the hotspot performance suffered during this test. It worked well enough for me to do things like check email and work with Google Docs, but I wouldn’t trust this connection for something like an important Zoom call.
Gaming and streaming
Phone plans aren’t just for work. They need to work for mobile gaming and streaming too.
I tried playing a few rounds of Fortnite and the plan worked extremely well. There was no noticeable lag and I had a steady connection throughout all of my games.
Streaming also worked great. I never lost connection to my Spotify playlist when driving down the road. As for streaming videos, Netflix and YouTube worked whenever I needed them. That includes rural areas where I was able to get low-quality streaming to work if I had a strong enough signal.
Tello Mobile vs. the competition
Two of Tello Mobile’s closest competitors are Mint Mobile and US Mobile. Both of them offer access to the T-Mobile network and have unlimited options similar to Tello’s plan.
Tello Mobile vs. similar competitor plans
| Tello Mobile Unlimited Plan |
Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan | US Mobile Unlimited Starter |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Data | 50GB | 50GB | 35GB |
| Mobile hotspot | 10GB | 20GB | 10GB |
| Network | T-Mobile | T-Mobile | T-Mobile or Verizon |
| Price | $25/month | $30/month | $29/month |
| Shop plan | Shop plan | Shop plan |
Mint Mobile's Unlimited Plan is slightly more expensive coming in at $30/month for less premium data and the same hotspot as Tello offers. It offers a 50GB premium data allotment and a 20GB mobile hotspot. The key difference between the two carriers is how billing works. Mint Mobile sells its plans in multi-month blocks and you must pay for the entire block upfront. Additionally, for new customers, Mint offers their Unlimited plan for $15/month for the first three months which does make the plan slightly less expensive at the beginning. This is not a problem for Tello as you can pay by the month and its plan is always $25/month. Unless you need the hotspot amount that Mint offers, Tello is a much simpler choice.
Check out our Mint Mobile vs. Tello guide for the full comparison of these carriers.
US Mobile offers service through T-Mobile and Verizon. Its Unlimited Starter plan costs $29/month. It includes 35GB of premium data and a 10GB mobile hotspot. That means it’s a bit more expensive than Tello.
Recap: Would I recommend Tello Mobile?
I would recommend Tello Mobile for people who want a cheaper phone plan, don’t need much mobile hotspot data, and spend most of their time in urban areas. Overall, my hands-on testing showed Tello offers excellent data speeds and widespread coverage in urban areas. Plan features such as mobile hotspot worked great, and I was also pleased with Tello’s customer service. That said, I struggled for service in rural areas and found the Tello app confusing.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Do I have strong T-Mobile service where I live?
- Is 50GB of priority data enough for my needs?
- Can I survive with a 10GB mobile hotspot?
If you answered yes to these questions, Tello might be a great option.
On the other hand, if you answered no to any of those questions, you might want to take a look elsewhere. If you spend a lot of time in rural areas, Tello is not the best choice. Since Tello uses the T-Mobile network, you should pick a carrier that operates on AT&T or Verizon instead. Additionally, if you need more premium data or a larger mobile hotspot allotment, you might prefer a plan from Mint Mobile or US Mobile. Their unlimited options might be a bit more expensive than Tello, but you’ll also get enough data to fit your needs.
Max McCaskill
Sr. Staff Writer
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