Mint Mobile just launched a free trial where you get 250 minutes, 250 texts, and 250 MB of data all for completely free to try their service.
Here’s how you can activate this trial in just a few taps on both iPhone and Android using eSIM.
I’ll also cover how to order a physical SIM card if your phone doesn’t have eSIM, what to test during your trial, and 7 things to know about Mint Mobile’s free trial and service before you sign up.
First, let’s cover how to activate the free trial on eSIM on iPhone. There are three key steps here.
Step 1: Download the Mobile application on the App Store
Mint Mobile’s app is available as a free download on the Apple App Store.
It’s surprisingly well-rated at 4.5 stars, and yes, this is the same app you use to manage your Mint Mobile account should you decide to sign up for service.
Open the application and you’ll have three options:
Tap try before you buy.
And this is the free trial. You get 250 minutes, 250 texts, and 250 MB of data. You can either continue directly with eSIM, or you can tap check out your SIM options toward the bottom.
This gives us a popup that explains we can either activate the free trial on eSIM using eSIM compatible phones, such as iPhones and Google Pixel phones, or you have the option to order a physical SIM card if your phone doesn’t support eSIM.
I’m activating the free trial on eSIM for this tutorial.
Step 2: Create Your Trial Account
Answer a few simple questions about yourself to get your trial account set up.
First, enter your ZIP code so you can get a new number. You can use automatic ZIP recognition by giving the Mint Mobile app temporary access to your location, or you can enter your ZIP code manually.
Next enter your first name, last name, and email. Mint uses this to create your account.
Finally, enter your card details. What’s nice is you can tap the camera icon to scan your card information automatically without having to type it all in.
And don’t worry––this isn’t one of those free trials that auto-renews and auto-charges your credit card after the trial period.
Mint will never charge your card without your consent.
If you decide the service isn't for you, the free trial will just cancel automatically with no charges at all.
If you’d like, you can even a service like Privacy.com to generate a virtual burner credit card. You can create a one-time use card, give it a name, and add a spending limit of just $1 to make sure you’re not charged.
You can sign up for Privacy.com using my referral link and we’ll each get $5 to spend anywhere online, which is pretty cool.
Either way, once your card details are entered, tap continue, review your order, and then tap order now. Mint will process the order, and that brings us to Step 3.
Step 3: Download your eSIM and Activate Your Service
On this page, Mint gives us some nice colorful images with step-by-step instructions for installing your new eSIM.
All you’re going to do is tap install eSIM, and you’ll get a popup to install the cellular plan.
Tap Continue. Then tap Add Cellular Plan.
If you are using your iPhone in dual-SIM mode, you may also get an option to designate one phone number as the primary number and one phone number as the secondary number.
You can change this at any time in your phone settings, which I’ll show you in just a bit.
Finally, you may also get a popup indicating that you have a carrier settings update. Update those, and that’s it! You should be good to go.
You can see your new Mint Mobile number and that your trial is now active. The app dashboard will show you how many minutes, texts, and megabytes of data you have remaining in your free trial.
You’re ready to test things like calling, texting, and cellular data speeds.
Okay, so here’s the cool thing about using eSIM to activate Mint Mobile’s trial: you can use your iPhone in dual-SIM mode.
Dual-SIM mode lets you have two activate numbers at the same time on your iPhone. You can designate one number to be used as your primary number for calls and texts, and you can designate the other number to be used only for cellular data.
Here’s how you set it up:
Jump into settings, cellular, and here you can see all your available active lines.
I, naturally, have quite a few here, but you will likely have just two. You can tap on which lines you want to have enabled to turn them on.
On the main cellular settings page, you also have the option to designate which lines are used as the default lines for voice, texts, and data.
I suggest you use your personal number as the default line for calls and texts. This way, any outbound calls you make or any texts you send will be from the number most of your friends have saved in their contacts.
Then, you can designate the Mint Mobile free trial number as the default line for cellular data. This way, you can test out the speeds and performance on Mint as you go about your daily routine and visit common locations where you use your phone.
Keep in mind that 250MB is a very small amount of data, so you may use it up quickly. You may need to toggle back to using your primary line for cellular data if you run out of Mint’s trial data.
Thankfully, Mint Mobile does allow you to run unlimited speed tests using the Ookla Speedtest application. Running speed tests will help you measure what the speed and performance is like on Mint Mobile in all the locations you frequently use your phone.
Now let’s cover how to activate the trial on Android using the Pixel 5 on eSIM. There are three main steps here.
Step 1: Download the Mint Mobile Application from the Google Play Store
Mint Mobile’s app is free to download, and this is the same app you would use to manage your account should you decide to sign up for service.
Opening it up, and you have three options:
Tap try before you buy. Here you can see an overview of the trial, which gives you 250 minutes, 250 texts, and 250 MB of cellular data.
If you need a physical SIM card, you can tap check out your SIM options at the bottom, and this will give you the opportunity to order a physical SIM card for the trial.
For this tutorial I’ll be activating on eSIM, so tap that to continue.
Step 2: Create Your Trial Account
To get your free trial account set up, you’ll need to answer a few simple questions.
First, you need a new number, so enter your ZIP code. You can enable automatic ZIP code recognition, or enter your ZIP code manually. Mint uses the ZIP code to assign you a phone number with the correct area code.
Next enter your first name, last name, and email.
Finally, enter your card information.
Mint uses the card information to verify your free trial, and to make it easier for you to purchase a plan later should you choose to sign up.
You will not be billed without your consent, and if you decide the service isn’t for you Mint will cancel your free trial plan automatically without billing you.
You may also consider using a service like Pravicy.com to create a virtual card with a spending limit of $1 to help ensure you are not billed unexpectedly. Sign up using my referral link to get $5 to spend anywhere online.
Review your order and tap order now.
Step 3: Download your eSIM and Activate Your Service
Mint will process your order, and this will bring us to step 3, which is to install your eSIM card.
You can do this by either scanning a QR code, or by entering the code manually.
I highly recommend scanning the QR code, because is fun and easy.
So tap that, and Mint will give us step-by-step instructions on where to add the second line.
Tap Go to Settings. Tap the plus button next to “mobile network”. Tap download a SIM instead. Tap yes, use 2 SIMs. Then tap Next to download your SIM.
Select use a different network under confirm your network, and this will give us the option to scan that QR code that Mint Mobile sent to our email.
Grab another device with your email on it, find the email, scroll down, and tap click to scan QR code.
And now all you do is scan the QR code, and the eSIM information will automatically load on your Pixel device.
Your phone will ask you just to confirm you’d like to activate the service, and when you’re ready tap activate. It’ll take a few moments, and then your free trial will be active and ready to use.
Your phone may also prompt you to select a SIM card you’d like to use for cellular data. You can change this at any time in your phone’s settings, along with what phone number is the default number for making calls and sending texts.
And that’s honestly why Mint Mobile’s eSIM trial is so cool. You can still use your personal number for calls and texts so everyone can still reach you, and you can test out the speeds and performance on Mint Mobile at the same time.
Speaking of which, what should you be testing with your Mint free trial?
The big thing is cellular data speeds and performance.
I highly recommend you use the Ookla Speedtest app for this. It not only gives you accurate information about your download speed, upload speed, ping, and jitter, but it turns out cellular data used by the Ookla Speedtest app doesn’t count against your 250MB of included high-speed data.
Even after I had consumed all 250MB of data in my trial, I was still able to load up an Ookla speed test and get an accurate indication of the performance in that area.
I recommend going to your frequently visited locations, such as your home, your work, your friend’s house, grocery stores, bus stops, train stations, or anywhere else you frequently use your phone, and running speed tests to make sure the data speeds would be fast enough for your needs.
Mint Mobile uses the T-Mobile network for coverage, so really what you are doing is making sure the T-Mobile network speeds and coverage are good enough in your area for you to use the service.
If you get consistent coverage over 10Mbps download speeds in most locations, odds are Mint is probably a good fit for your needs. And if they are more affordable than your current provider? Even better.
Other features to consider testing are Wi-Fi calling, visual voicemail, and group and picture messaging.
If you’re interested to learn more about Mint Mobile’s service before you sign up, consider checking out our related articles:
Stetson graduated from Ithaca College in 2019 with a degree in Communication Management and Design. He launched BestPhonePlans.net as part a senior project in school. He loves helping people find great, affordable cell phone plans that meet their needs. When he’s not reviewing cell phone plans on his YouTube channel or website, Stetson is out hiking in the crisp Colorado air, playing board games with friends, or competing in an epic game of pickleball.