Visible Upgrades Visible+ Plan To Include 10 Mbps Mobile Hotspot and More International Use

Today, Visible, Verizon's prepaid subsidiary, dropped a major change to its premium smartphone plan tier, Visible+.

The changes add a bunch of new features for the same base $45/line price, including faster personal mobile hotspot data, more international data options, and an included smartwatch line, which was previously an extra fee.

Visible's base plan is not changing, but some add-on prices have changed, and the base plan now has paid international day pass options.

Visible+ Plan Changes Video

New Visible+ Plan Changes

The new Visible+ plan makes many fundamental changes, but Visible is keeping the name the same. To differentiate the two, the Visible community calls the new version "Visible+ 2.0" and the older version "Visible+ 1.0," which we will do here as well to avoid confusion between the two.

Here are the major changes to the new version:

Personal Mobile Hotspot

The personal mobile hotspot speed cap when using the feature off of a smartphone is now doubled - to 10 Mbps, up from 5 Mbps on the 1.0 version. Additionally, Visible previously stated in its terms that only one connected device was supported via personal hotspot/tethering, now multiple devices can be tethered. Although there will potentially be a speed penalty:

"While more than 1 device may be connected to your Hotspot at one time, a single connected device will experience optimal speeds. Performance will be reduced if multiple devices access data through the Hotspot simultaneously."

That is unsurprising. Connecting multiple devices to a speed-capped connection will cause performance reductions as the devices share the same connection. It's unclear if there will be any additional speed penalty for additional connected devices beyond just sharing the connection. 

But this is a great change. For the vast majority of use cases, 10 Mbps is sufficient for one or two devices. However, as we note in our Ways To Get Online Guide, tethering from a smartphone has inherent downsides no matter how fast the underlying connection.

Customers on the Visible Basic plan and the Visible+ 1.0 version will still be limited to 5 Mbps hotspot data speeds.

International Data

The new Visible+ plan comes with several upgrades to international data use:

First, customers can access international day passes called "Global Pass," which include unlimited talk, text, and 2 GB of high-speed data in 140 countries. Visible+ customers get one free Global Pass per month and can purchase additional passes as needed for $10. Unfortunately, the free global passes expire each month and cannot be banked for later use.

Secondly, usage in Canada and Mexico is increasing. Visible+ customers get 2 GB of full-speed roaming data in Canada and Mexico. After 2 GB, data is unlimited at 3G speed (600 kbps) for the remainder of the day. The previous Visible+ 1.0 version offered 0.5 GB/day high-speed roaming in Canada and Mexico, followed by unlimited at 2G speed.

These new Canada/Mexico terms now match what is standard on Verizon's postpaid smartphone plans, a surprising and welcome change for a prepaid plan.

Global Pass is also available for Visible Basic customers. It costs the same $10/day for 140 global countries. Additionally, Visible Basic customers can also get a $5/day pass for Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, which provides 2GB of high-speed data plus unlimited talk and text.

Smartwatch Included

Visible+ now includes smartwatch support at no additional cost. Previously, this was an extra fee.

However, Visible's smartwatch plan currently only supports Apple Watch devices.

Note that smartwatch prices do increase for new Visible Basic customers - from $5 to $10/month. Existing customers who have the $5/month pricing are grandfathered in.

Other Terms Remain The Same

All other terms remain the same as the previous version, including:

• Network Management/Deprioritization: 50GB of premium data per month on 5G NationWide and LTE. All 5G Ultra Wideband (UWB) data is premium. 
• Video Streaming Resolution: 480p
• Compatible Smartphones Only: Visible plans remain for exclusive use on compatible smartphones - and included unlimited talk and TXT in the US. 

Visible Basic does not change except for the previously mentioned cost to add a smartphone line as well as access to purchase Global Pass for international use.

Grandfathering, Promos, and Upgrading

The new Visible+ is essentially a new plan, and customers currently on the existing 1.0 version will not automatically be upgraded. Customers on the 1.0 plan can upgrade anytime via the Visible app.

So far, it appears that those who remain on the 1.0 version will be grandfathered, although Visible does have a history of forcing customers to move to new plans.

But, you may be asking, with the same base price and new features, why wouldn't everyone upgrade? The reason is that many existing Visible+ customers are paying $35/month instead of $45/month thanks to promotions that are no longer available and likely aren't transferable to the new 2.0 Visible+

If you upgrade to the new Visible+ 2.0, you may lose those promotional discounts

Visible states that "any promo status changes will be clearly highlighted during the plan change process before you accept any final plan changes," so you can check to see if your promo is affected before switching.

Existing customers who have locked in lower pricing will want to see if the extra benefits are worth another $10/month if they lose promotional pricing. If you don't need faster hotspot, international use or a watch line, then upgrading to the new plan probably doesn't make sense.

Concluding Thoughts

After a year in which the major carriers increased prices and fees and made other customer-unfriendly moves, it's great to see Visible improve its premium plan while keeping pricing the same.

Visible has long been one of our Top Pick smartphone plans for its combination of features and value, and these changes only improve it as an option. Visible can be a great backup to provide redundancy in a mobile internet arsenal, thanks to the unlimited mobile hotspot data, which is now capped at a healthy and very usable 10 Mbps.

And for nomads who travel internationally, especially to Canada and Mexico, the additional high-speed data will be very beneficial.

Overall, the Visible+ 2.0 plan is even more attractive than before. The only people who might hesitate to upgrade are existing Visible+ 1.0 customers who have promotional pricing and don't need the new version's extra features.

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