I’m writing this a bit further out then I thought I would be- but here we are. I tried Visible by Verizon for the two weeks and it wasn’t great. Between issues with total signal coverage to issues with voice over LTE and even over 30 minutes just to register the phone with their service.

It started while I was setting up my iPhone 16 pro inside the Apple store, pouring rain while my apps “transfer” from my Samsung galaxy s23U. As soon as it finished, the phone prompted me to setup my e-SIM, which sounded perfectly reasonable. I finish logging into my apple account, open the app store, then install it over the slow store Wi-Fi. Took a few minutes (they were busy after all) before I got to create a Visible account, but it all went perfectly fine- until the e-SIM tried to register to the phone and failed. Once… twice… a third time. I restart the phone, No dice. I reset the phone then skipped the data transfer before finally reinstalling the app, logging in, and registering the e-SIM.

I finally get to start enjoying the new device in my hands. I turn off the Wi-Fi then make a few calls to verify it all works and start walking the art fair on the plaza.

I took a few photos then ended up leaving due to another bout of rain that I was unprepared for. After getting into my car, I realized that I’ll also be moving away from Android Auto to Apple’s Carplay- which is very different looking and very similar on their home layout. I download Google Maps, my previous map provider due to it being the preinstalled option on Android. Around that time, I decided to make every change over where possible. Google Maps to Apple Maps, Google Keep to Notes- Etcetera. Swap back to Apple Maps, type in my home address, and off I go. Youtube Music works great, Maps is guiding me back home in a way that makes sense, and then the music cuts out on the highway. The map is still perfectly fine of course, but the music cut out- Why? No service. Thank god that radio still exists.

A few days it’s fine, but again- it keeps cutting out whenever i’m driving around or when I’m at work. Finally I realize the source of the issue- the cell service stinks. Mint Mobile on my other phone was fine, T-Mobile was fine, AT&T was fine. It was just Verizon… and their MVNO’s. They just seem to have issues with where I live and work. Coverage maps from Verizon say I’m covered by 5G but the Ookla user provided map on speedtest.net prove my issues indeed a mass issue. So I swapped my Mint Mobile plan to an e-SIM then just transferred it to the 16 Pro. It’s been fine since then. The macro camera is cool though.