June Wan/ZDNET
For those who’re on the fence about switching to a brand new cellphone service, free trials may help you get a really feel for issues earlier than you slap the pockets down and signal any papers. T-Cellular was one of many first institutions to supply this check drive expertise, however others like Verizon at the moment are doing the identical.
Additionally: Are free cellphone offers actually free or too good to be true?
Verizon introduced immediately that it will likely be providing free 30-day trials of its 5G and 4G LTE networks to new clients, with the one situation being that you just should be utilizing an unlocked smartphone that helps eSIM.
By signing up for its Free Trial program, non-Verizon clients can enroll in a month-to-month, limitless information plan (as much as 100GB), be capable to name, textual content, and browse the online with their present system and cellphone quantity, and entry the mobile community’s 5G speeds (in case your cellphone and native space helps it). There are not any added prices, charges, bank card necessities, and contractual agreements concerned within the trial program, so that is as “risk-free” as trial applications get.
How to enroll in Verizon’s Free Trial Program
First, you will must obtain the My Verizon app to check your cellphone’s compatibility. You will discover it within the app retailer or by scanning the QR code on Verizon’s FAQ web page.
Open the app and faucet the “Begin Free Trial” button on the highest. As a reminder, the check drive program is just obtainable for non-Verizon clients, and you’ll take part in it yearly.
Additionally: eSIM vs. SIM: What is the distinction?
As soon as the app checks your cellphone’s eligibility and approves it, faucet “Get began” and enter your private contact data. Lastly, you will want to present the app a couple of minutes for Verizon to distribute its service to you, together with a separate eSIM cellphone quantity to make use of all through the period of the trial.
As soon as the app setup is full and also you’re prepared to make use of the eSIM community, go into your cellphone’s SIM card settings — normally discovered within the Connections tab — and toggle it on. The eSIM profile can be labeled as “VZW”.
Observe that whereas the service is delivered by way of eSIM, you’ll be able to nonetheless use the prevailing cell plan and quantity that is linked to your bodily SIM card. This makes it simpler so that you can gauge the distinction in information pace and efficiency, if any.
FAQs
What occurs after Verizon’s Free Trial Program ends?
By signing up for the 30-day testing interval, which begins on the day you arrange the My Verizon app, you are solely committing to that point interval and nothing extra. That implies that on the finish of the Free Trial Program, your cellphone will lose entry to Verizon’s 5G and 4G LTE service, however every thing else would be the identical as regular.
Do I qualify for Verizon’s Free Trial Program?
To qualify, you will must be a brand new buyer with an unlocked cellphone that helps eSIM. Happily, whereas the iPhone 14 popularized eSIM, it isn’t the one system that helps the digital service. Appropriate gadgets embody iPhones ranging from the iPhone XR, Google Pixels ranging from the Pixel 4, and Samsung Galaxy S and Z telephones ranging from the S21.
Can I nonetheless use my present cellphone quantity through the trial?
Sure. In truth, Verizon is encouraging customers to check the cellphone calling expertise, sign power, and information speeds of each their present quantity and the brand new, short-term eSIM quantity through the trial to get a really feel of what is higher.