How To Buy and Finance a Visible Cell Phone

You don’t have to use a big carrier like Verizon Wireless to buy, trade, or upgrade your cell phone. With Visible, a prepaid cell phone carrier owned by Verizon, you can get the best from Big Red and the latest devices while saving on your monthly phone plan. 

I walked through Visible’s financing process myself and was impressed by what I found. The carrier offers a phone financing program that allows you to pay for a new or used device over 12, 24, or 36 monthly payments. You can buy the latest smartphones outright or opt for a payment plan that fits your budget.

Whether you want to trade in your old phone or simply snag a brand-new device, Visible helps you get a new cell phone as soon as possible. We’ll walk you through how to purchase and finance a phone with Visible.

How to buy and finance a cell phone with Visible

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Visible partners with Affirm, a third-party loan company, to offer phone financing. Partnerships like this are relatively common with small cell phone carriers (called MVNOs) and often work in your favor. When you finance a phone through a third-party company such as Affirm, it essentially means that Affirm legally owns your phone instead of Visible. Since Visible operates without contracts, allowing you to pay on a month-to-month basis, you have the flexibility to switch to a different carrier at any time, as long as you've settled your dues with Visible and take your phone along with you.

Choosing a phone and a financing plan is as easy as following Visible’s online step-by-step process. I found it as straightforward as checking out from my Amazon cart. Plus, just like Amazon, your new phone should arrive swiftly, typically within 2-3 business days.

Choosing a new Visible phone

Visible offers the latest devices from Apple, Google, Samsung, and more. To give you an idea of what phones to consider, here are some of the most popular devices for Visible users:

You can buy a new or pre-owned device outright or finance one with Affirm, and you can also choose to trade in your current device as part of the process. Visible will lead you through all of these steps during checkout.

To start the purchasing process, go to Visible’s website and find Shop all phones in the Shop dropdown menu.

Here, you’ll see the hottest phones on the market. Simply select the phone you want and set your preferences.

Financing your Visible phone through Affirm

After setting your device preferences, you can choose to buy your phone outright or finance it through Visible’s partner loan company. With Affirm, what you see is what you get—the company's mantra is “no gimmicks or hidden fees.”

You can choose to pay off your phone over 12, 24, or 36 months, and all payments will be made through your Affirm account. Go through the prequalification process to see what type of loan you qualify for and what your monthly bill will look like.

You will be asked to enter your phone number, create an account with Affirm, and provide your address, birthday, and estimated annual income. This is not a credit check and will not affect your credit score in any way. 

Perhaps the most important part of this process is determining whether you qualify for Visible’s claimed 0% APR financing. Visible boasts interest-free loans, but your rate depends on several factors, including your income. Your rate can be as low as 0% but as high as 30%. 

For perspective, I have a relatively average salary (in California) and qualified for 0% interest and a $8,000 loan—more than enough for a single smartphone.

After completing this step, you will have a clearer picture of what your new phone will actually cost you each month. 

Before moving to the next screen, you will select your device trade-in options. Select either No thanks or Yes, trade-in. This is all you will do for now. Estimating the worth of your phone will happen at checkout.

The final step is picking a Visible phone plan. Visible keeps it simple with just three unlimited plans: the $25/month Visible plan, $35/month Visible+ plan, and the $45/month Visible+ Pro plan. All options include unlimited talk, text, and data on Verizon’s reliable 4G LTE and 5G networks. If you need help choosing, we’ll get into the specifics of each plan below. 

Trading in an old device with Visible

If you are looking to trade in an old device for potential additional savings, you will complete this step at checkout. Select Finish evaluation in the checkout section titled Trade-in estimate pending.

You’ll then complete a three-step process for estimating the value of your current device. If you’re having trouble finding this information, don’t worry; we have guides on everything from figuring out what kind of phone you have to finding your IMEI number.

Visible will give you a trade-in estimate immediately, which you can apply to your total at checkout. However, the exact value will be determined after you mail your phone in.

Take advantage of Visible’s phone deals

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Visible phone deals might never compete with those offered by the Big Three carriers—Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile—for several reasons, the biggest being that Visible offers cheaper phone plans and can’t afford to offer both cheap plans and cheap deals on the newest phones. MVNOs, like Visible, focus on long-term savings (cheaper plans) versus short-term discounts on phones. In addition, Visible has a smaller customer base. Fewer customers translate to narrower profit margins and less bargaining power when it comes to swinging phone deals.  

However, this doesn’t mean Visible doesn’t offer any additional perks. You can purchase older phone models and pre-owned smartphones at discounted rates and upgrade once you pay off 50% of your financed phone. You can check your balance in your Affirm account or wait for a notification alerting you that you’re due for an upgrade.

As of this writing, Visible is not offering any free phones. However, if your current phone is not compatible with Visible’s network, you can use the carrier’s Payback program to buy a budget-friendly phone (with limited options available) and get 12 months of cell service for free.  

For more information on savings, check out our guide on Visible deals.

Should you finance a phone through Visible? Our take

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Here are the brass tacks: if you want a new phone and you want a Visible phone plan, there is no reason not to finance through this notable MVNO. Many people go with big carriers like Verizon to take advantage of their free phone deals, but what they may not realize is that a free phone almost always requires a new line on said carrier's most expensive phone plan.

In my case, financing a new iPhone 15 over 36 months, with my iPhone 12 trade-in, plus the $25/month Visible plan, came out to only $43/month. By contrast, Verizon’s free iPhone deals almost always require that you add a line on one of their most expensive unlimited plans and remain on that plan for at least 36 months. So, while you may be getting a free phone, your monthly bill is still nearly double that of Visible’s, plus you’re locked in for three years.

In the end, financing a phone through Visible may not mean getting a free phone, but it will mean saving major bucks in the long run while remaining on Verizon’s network.

Visible phone plans

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As stated earlier, Visible has three unlimited plans: the $25/month Visible plan, $35/month Visible+ plan, and the $45/month Visible+ Pro plan. All three plans are worth a closer look.

Visible’s $25/month base unlimited plan gives you the best from Verizon for a fraction of the price. With unlimited talk, text, hotspot, and data on Verizon’s Nationwide 4G and 5G, this plan is excellent for the average data user, i.e., most of us. Our first-hand testing has shown that although the network may slow down during busy periods, this is hardly ever an issue. 

If you’re looking for more premium data on Verizon’s (faster) 5G Ultra Wideband network, either the Visible+ or Visible+ Pro plans are the way to go. For $35/month or $45/month respectively, you’ll unlimited premium data on Verizon's 5G Ultrawideband network, unlimited talk, text, hotspot, and data, and free international coverage in Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Visible+ Pro plan offers even more international perks with extensive international calling and texting options, with the ability to call 85 countries and text to 200 countries, ensuring customers can stay connected globally. And it even includes smartwatch service at no extra cost, whether you buy a new watch or bring your own.

Other Verizon MVNOs

If you’re not completely sold on Visible, check out the other popular MVNOs on Verizon’s network: