Verizon Wireless has great, reliable cellular coverage. We have the 10 best phones for Verizon subscribers.
Reliable Phones for a Reliable Network Verizon took first place in our 2020 Fastest Mobile Networks tests thanks to having both an excellent 4G network and, at that time, the fastest 5G network. Verizon’s « 5G UW » is an odd beast. It’s thunderingly fast, up to over a gigabit per second, but generally only available in city centers. Verizon is spreading it quickly to new cities, but not to more outlying parts of those metro areas; you can check on Verizon’s coverage map. Unfortunately for Verizon’s speeds, starting in October, the company’s fast 5G UW network was supplemented by a « nationwide » 5G network, which in our tests has been shown to be no faster than 4G, and sometimes slower. There’s a light at the end of 2021 for Verizon, though. Towards the end of this year, Verizon will probably turn on new 5G capabilities based on new frequencies called C-band, which could greatly speed up the carrier’s citywide 5G. If you’re looking for C-band phones right now, look at the iPhone 12 series and the Samsung Galaxy S21 series. We put dozens of phones a year through rigorous testing in PC Labs to find out which ones live up to their ad copy, and which ones are just phoning it in. If you’re buying a phone on Verizon right now, these are the best you can get.
