Reach Mobile is an MVNO, or small carrier, that runs on Verizon’s robust network. Unlike many other MVNOs, Reach Mobile’s plans are postpaid (similar to major carriers, such as its parent network, Verizon), meaning you pay for your service at the end of each billing cycle. Reach Mobile’s phone plans, which range from 3GB to unlimited data, tend to be a bit more expensive than other MVNO plans, but that’s because Reach donates a portion of its profits to provide cell phone service to low-income women and families. Essentially, you’re paying for your own phone plan and a plan for a person in need.

That said, if you don’t need a whole lot of data each month, you may want to look into Reach Mobile’s Best Fit program, which can help keep your costs down. If you’re looking to buy a new phone, Reach Mobile partners with Affirm to provide you with a wide selection of phones, from the latest and the greatest to budget-friendly devices.

In this Reach Mobile review:


Reach Mobile pros & cons

What we like about Reach Mobile

  • Excellent coverage on Verizon’s network
  • Unlimited talk and text included on all plans
  • Hotspot capabilities on all plans
  • Great charitable cause
  • Easy to switch and sign up

What we don’t like

  • No travel or international perks
  • Not the greatest value for those who need a lot of data


How good is Reach Mobile’s coverage?

Thanks to Verizon’s powerful network, Reach Mobile’s coverage is superb, with 70% nationwide coverage. If you check out Verizon’s coverage map below, you’ll see the breadth of Reach Mobile’s coverage, with very few dead spots.

However, because Reach Mobile is a Verizon MVNO, there’s a chance your data may be deprioritized in favor of Verizon customers. This means that when the network is busy, you may notice that your data speeds are temporarily slower than usual. That said, there is no guarantee that you may even experience slower speeds, but it is something to take into consideration if you always want the fastest and top-performing data speeds.


Reach Mobile phone plans: cost & features

Reach Mobile offers four postpaid phone plans, all of which include unlimited talk and text and mobile hotspot and differ in data allowance. The Basic Plan, Moderate Plan, and the People’s Choice Plan can accommodate up to 6 lines, while the All-In Unlimited Plan allows up to a 4-line family plan.

Reach Mobile’s plans include:

  • The $30 Basic Plan: 3GB
  • The $45 Moderate Plan: 8GB
  • The $55 People’s Choice Plan: 12GB
  • The $65 All-In Unlimited Plan: 20GB high-speed data (unlimited at 2G speeds)

These Reach Mobile phone plans don’t exactly come cheap, especially if you’re looking to switch to an MVNO to save yourself some money on your phone bill. But you have to understand Reach Mobile’s mission—it is to bridge the Digital Divide by providing low-income families with internet access, and thus, providing them with more opportunities for employment and education. This is a do-gooder cell phone carrier that relies on the fact that customers like you will be willing to pay a bit more for your phone bill if it means helping out families in need.


How to save money on your Reach Mobile plan

Although Reach Mobile’s plans tend to fall on the pricier end of the spectrum, there is a way to save yourself some money with Reach—and that is through its Best Fit program. With the Reach Mobile Best Fit program, Reach will automatically charge you for the price of the plan your data usage actually reflects, as opposed to the Reach Mobile plan you signed up for.

For example, if you signed up for the 12GB People’s Choice Plan, but you only used 7GB that month, then you’ll only be charged $45 to reflect the price of the 8GB Moderate Plan. Not only does this benefit you (because really, who wants to pay for data they didn’t even use?), but it may also serve as an incentive to keep your data usage down. The bottom line is if you want service backed by Verizon’s top network and want to do some good while you’re at it, choosing to enroll in Reach Mobile’s Best Fit program may be a good way to do so while still saving some cash.


Reach Mobile smartphones

With Reach Mobile, you have the option to buy a new phone outright or via monthly installments through the third-party financing company, Affirm. You can buy the latest and greatest Apple and Android phones, as well as some older models but it’s important to know that if you choose to buy your phone via monthly installments, Affirm will likely charge you interest.

Unlike a monthly installment plan through a carrier like Verizon or AT&T, your monthly phone price is not the total cost of the phone divided by the number of months you’ll be paying off the phone. Affirm charges anywhere from 0% to 30% interest on financed phones. As a result, you wind up paying more than the total retail price of the phone. While 5% interest probably won’t break the bank, once you get into 15% territory and higher, you’re looking at a nice chunk of change you could have saved by buying a phone elsewhere.

Reach Mobile offers 6-month, 12-month, and 24-month installment plan options, and you may be required to make a down payment. Before buying a Reach Mobile phone through Affirm, you’ll need to check if you qualify via a credit check. It’s free, takes just a few minutes, and won’t affect your credit score. Because it’s fairly hassle-free, you could always check what rate you’ll be getting through Affirm and then decide if it’s worth it.

Conversely, you could always buy a Reach Mobile phone outright so that you avoid a credit check and high interest rates, but with the high cost of today’s popular phones, you may want to check out a budget-friendly model, such as the iPhone SE (2020) or the Samsung Galaxy A50.


How easy is it to switch to Reach Mobile & BYOD?

It’s pretty darn easy to switch to Reach Mobile from another carrier and bring your own phone. You just have to make sure that your phone is compatible with Reach Mobile’s network. You can do that via Reach Mobile’s website by typing in your device IMEI or MEID number. If you don’t know your IMEI number, you can check it by dialing *#06# on your phone. If dialing that number doesn’t work, you can always go to your settings and find it under “General” then “About” for iPhones or under “About Phone” then “Status” for Android phones.

Before switching to Reach Mobile, you’ll need to make sure that your phone is:

  • Compatible with Reach Mobile’s network (also known as Verizon’s network)
  • Paid off in full
  • Unlocked

If you bought your phone on monthly installments with your previous carrier, such as T-Mobile or Verizon, then you’ll need to make sure you’ve paid off your device in full before bringing it to Reach Mobile. If you still have installments left, you may need to make one lump sum payment in order to pay it off. Once you’ve paid off your smartphone, you can have it unlocked and you’ll be able to bring it to Reach Mobile. If you bought your phone unlocked from a retailer, such as Best Buy, then it is ready to go.

Signing up for a Reach Mobile plan is super easy—while there are no Reach Mobile stores, you can go online to its user-friendly website and follow the steps to sign up for a plan. Reach Mobile will send you a Reach SIM card, which you can install in your phone, activate via Reach Mobile’s app, and bam! You’re a Reach Mobile customer. Plus, Reach Mobile’s app is an invaluable resource that allows you to monitor monthly data usage as well as keep track of the charitable impact your Reach service is having.


Reach Mobile’s social impact: Gigs That Give

Reach Mobile’s tagline is “Mobile service with an impact,” which shows you where its heart is. Gigs That Give is the name of Reach Mobile’s charitable giving program that provides wireless service and ongoing training to women-in-need in the US, India, and Nigeria in an effort to bridge the Digital Divide. When you sign up for a Reach Mobile phone plan, you can feel good knowing that 10% of the cost of your plan will be used to provide connectivity to low-income families and women.

The Digital Divide refers to the uneven distribution of internet access—essentially, privileged families have consistent access to high-speed internet, while many low-income families do not. The Digital Divide disproportionately affects women in developing countries, with women about 40% less likely to have used the internet than the men in these countries. But this isn’t just an international issue—many US families cannot afford to pay their phone bills and don’t have consistent connectivity, which impedes access to resources, information, and opportunities. Consistent and reliable internet access enables people to attend school, keep their jobs, and work their way toward economic mobility. Through its partnerships with nonprofits in the US, Nigeria, and India, Reach Mobile hopes to close this gap by providing monthly phone plans to women in need.

Providing connectivity to those in need is at the top of Reach Mobile’s priority list

You may be wondering how Reach Mobile’s social impact program measures up to other carriers’ charitable causes. One way that Reach Mobile differentiates itself from major carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, all of which have social impact programs related to education, is that Reach Mobile’s whole branding is centered around bridging the Digital Divide—the way I see it, this shows customers that providing connectivity to those in need is at the top of Reach’s priority list. Reach Mobile is also the only cell phone carrier that helps families and women abroad, including Nigeria and India.


Let’s Talk Take: is Reach Mobile worth it?

Reach Mobile is an excellent carrier for low-data users who want a no-frills phone plan as well as people who feel strongly about making a social impact with their cell phone service. Plus, coverage via Verizon’s superior network doesn’t hurt either. Incredible coverage through a carrier that cares? We could think of a lot worse ways to spend your money.

Conversely, if you want the most bang for your buck, then you may want to look at other MVNOs, such as Visible, Ultra Mobile, Simple Mobile, Straight Talk, which tend to offer more data and features for less. One disadvantage to the Reach Mobile plans is that there are no Mexico or Canada privileges or travel perks, while many plans, offered by majors and MVNOs alike, include at least some international/travel benefits.

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Marisa Crane is a content writer and editor with more than 5 years of experience in digital publishing. She is a skilled researcher with an uncanny ability to translate confusing tech jargon into plain English. Outside the world of Let’s Talk and cell phone plans, Marisa is a published creative writer, with her short stories and poetry published in more than 40 literary journals.