7 Secrets to Know About Verizon Simplicity Before Switching

Verizon’s new Simplicity plan is a mostly simple plan that might be a pretty great deal for those needing only a couple of lines, who aren’t worrying about extra plan perks, and who have their own phone. There are some semi-hidden things you need to know, though, as fine-print often tells us the full story.

We’ve recapped the new Simplicity plan, talked through other options (like myPlan) from Verizon, and broke down how you get phones through Plus and Pro financing. Today, we thought we’d walk through a couple of other behind-the-scenes limits or plan setups you need to consider before jumping on Simplicity.

The secrets of the new Verizon Simplicity plan

1. Unlimited with a 500GB data cap: Look, we all know that unlimited does not mean unlimited in the world of US wireless carriers. So when Verizon says the new Simplicity Plan has “unlimited” data, you should be asking what the limits are here? The limit is 500GB of high-speed data.

That’s a lot of data! Most people are never going to hit 500GB of data use on their phone in a single month. I’d be shocked if even 1% of Verizon customers ever come close to that.

Once you hit 500GB of data use in a month, Verizon will reduce your speeds to 4Mbps for the remainder of your current billing cycle.

2. 10GB hotspot reduced to 1Mbps: While there is “unlimited” data on this Simplicity plan with a 500GB data cap, the hotspot feature is capped at 10GB no matter what. That 10GB won’t last you long and it then drops to 1Mbps speeds for the remainder of a billing cycle once you hit that limit. So if you were planning to try and take advantage of that 500GB of “unlimited” data through hotspotting, you need to think again.

3. 720p video streaming is it: Verizon Simplicity has 720p video streaming when on cellular. 720p video is technically “HD,” but it’s also pretty low quality for today’s standards with the high-resolution screens our devices have.

4. $30 price is for new customers: The $30 promotional price that Verizon is advertising is only for new customers who bring a line over and sign-up for autopay. For everyone else, Simplicity will cost $45 per month, and that’s also with autopay. To get the price to $30 per month, Verizon is applying an extra $15 Switcher discount.

As a reminder, to get autopay discounts with Verizon your options are through ACH or Verizon Visa.

5. No upgrade or activation fees with loyalty sign-up: One of the biggest selling points for Verizon Simplicity is the ending of upgrade and activation fees. We’ve talked about this plenty, but in order to get this perk, you need to opt-in to their new Loyalty rewards program. All you need to do is head into the myVerizon app and find the rewards program section to do this.

6. Taxes and fees not included: The $30 and $45 prices are quite appealing with Verizon Simplicity, but keep in mind that your taxes and fees are not included in that price. If you bring your own phone to Verizon or switch plans to Simplicity, your bill won’t be $30 or $45 – it’ll be that price plus taxes and fees on top.

7. 5G Ultra Wideband (5G UW) access included: With Verizon myPlan plans, to get access to Verizon’s best network, you need to pay a bit extra. The bottom tier Unlimited Welcome plan only gets you on Verizon’s not-great 5G network, while their upper tier Plus and Ultimate plans have access to their 5G Ultra Wideband network.

For Simplicity, 5G UW access is included out of the box. There isn’t an up-charge to get it either. As a subscriber of Simplicity, you get 5G UW access with up to 500GB of full-speed data.

So if you were looking at Verizon plans and comparing Simplicity at $45 per month to Unlimited Welcome at $55, Simplicity is the clear choice here.

We’ll work on a full Verizon plan comparison soon, but you should pretty much know all there is to know at this point about Verizon Simplicity.