This Product Discontinued or Obsolete
While current owners of this device or plan may continue to find performance to be adequate for the foreseeable tech-future, we do not recommend upgrading to or purchasing it.
Virgin Mobile was a prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, offering plans for smartphones with limited amounts of data sharing (tethering / mobile hotspot). In February of 2020, Virgin Mobile ended service to U.S. based customers.
As a direct prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, Virgin mobile plans include some of the bundled perks of Sprint postpaid accounts - but not all.
Currently Available Plans
All plans required an additional fee of $3/day for 500mb of mobile hotspot use or $5/1GB per month or $10/2GB per month. All other data in the following plans was on device. Speeds on device for capped data plans were reduced to 2G (128kbps) after cap is reached.
- 5GB - $35/month
- 10GB - $45/month
- Unlimited - $60/month
For Our Comparative Pricing Grid:
Guide to Cellular Data Plan Pricing
History
In June of 2017, Virgin Mobile revamped their offerings, consolidating their multiple plan options to a single 'unlimited' plan option - 'Inner Circle'- with a focus on iPhone users.
In August 2018, they ended the Inner Circle promo, revamping their plan offerings to include a 5GB, 10GB and unlimited plan (on device) option.
In November 2019, Virgin Mobile pulled out of Walmart stores and was only available online.
In January 2020, Virgin Mobile U.S. informed customers that their service would be migrated to Boost Mobile as Virgin Mobile U.S. would no longer be providing cellular service.
Testing Status:
We did not keep a Virgin Mobile plan in our testing arsenal.
Policies & Perks:
- Carrier Networks Used: Sprint
- Carrier Relation: Prepaid Carrier Direct
- Plan Types Available: Phone
- Device Types Permitted: Phone
- Device Purchase Required: No, but can purchase a device
- Mobile Hotspot Use: Mobile hotspot requires an extra fee. After MHS data bucket is used, MHS is cut-off. MHS data is measured separately from your data plan's data. Max five connections to a line at a time.
- $3/day for 500MB
- $5/month for 1GB
- $10/month for 2GB
- Throttling: After high-speed data bucket is used, unlimited 2G data (128kbps) speeds provided.
- Network Management: at 35GB
- International Roaming: None
- Domestic Roaming: No data roaming, 50minutes/month domestic voice roaming
- Plan Period: 30 days
- Data Roll Over: No
- Overage Charges: None
- Streaming:
- Video streams at 480p resolution, music at up to 500 kbps, and streaming cloud gaming at up to 2 mbps
- Unlimited: Yes - on device only
- Device Lock/Unlock Policy: Although phones are locked upon activation, you can choose to unlock your phone at any time as long as the device has been activated for at least 14 days.
Related Articles & News:
Alternatives to Consider
Also consider some of our other top pick data plans:
This Review Contains Additional Member Exclusive Content!
We are Honored to be Member Funded! No ads, no sponsors, no selling (but may contain affiliate links)
Our members fund our in-depth independent reviews.
This entry may contain additional member exclusive content such as testing notes, field testing data, user interface tours, comparisons to alternatives, analysis, tips, videos and discounts.
Members also get interactive guidance, alerts, classroom and more.
Are you a member? Please log in above to access your member exclusive content!
Purchasing Options
Shopping for Cellular Data Plans
Finding the right plans for your needs is no easy task - quite simply mobile travelers using cellular data as their primary way online is not how most carriers have designed their plans. Many of us want plans that provide copious amounts of data.
Here's our video going over ways to get LOTS of data for use in your travels:
But a data plan alone will not keep you online. You also need the right gear, signal enhancing strategy and planning your travels around the options you carry with you. Head on over to our collection of guides:
-
Top Data Plan Picks
Our constantly updated list of the BEST data plans.
-
Which Carrier is Best?
Is Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile or Dish best for your travels?
-
Selecting Data Plans
Our deep dive into understanding data plans and shopping for them.
-
Data Plan Pricing Grid
Our always updated spreadsheet comparing all data plans suitable for mobile internet.
-
Getting LOTS of the Data
Learn how to get lots of cellular data in your mobile internet arsenal.
Mobile Internet Resource Center (dba Two Steps Beyond LLC) is founded by Chris & Cherie of