The scores are in for the U.S.A.'s Big 3 mobile carriers in Ookla RootMetrics's State of the Mobile Union Report for the second half of 2025. And it's clear that Verizon comes out on top this time.
Reports like this can be a good way to judge which of the best phones carriers is going to be the best for where you live. And given that RootMetrics' findings are based on 3 million tests conducted from July to December 2025 across the country, and in 125 major urban areas, it's safe to say it's pretty thorough.
The big winner is Verizon, which won five of RootMetrics' eight headline awards outright, and tied for another two. Its haul of trophies includes wins for overall performance and reliability, plus it scored best for general 5G performance, while also improving its download speeds in metro regions.
AT&T tied for three awards, putting it in second place. It came second on a state-by-state basis too, and managed to improve both its metro test results, managing to meet gold standard of 100 Mbps download speeds in the 125 metro test regions for the first time.
T-Mobile shares just one award - U.S. Network Speed - with AT&T, earning it the bronze medal. That said, the UnCarrier still managed to have the highest 5G availability nationally, while also improving on a state and metro level too. City-dwelling T-Mo users do especially well, as it's the only carrier of the three tested to manage 100 Mbps download speeds in every metro tested, with all but one of those also hitting the 200 Mbps mark.
In the 1H 2025 report by RootMetrics, AT&T earned four outright wins and tied Verizon for data performance and text performance. And Verizon won for network responsiveness and video performance.
Good to know — especially if you're in the market for a new phone
While anyone subscribed to Verizon is probably feeling a little smug right now, none of the big three did disasterously badly in this set of testing, so don't feel like you need to immediately escape your contract to sign up to Verizon if you're not already a member. However, it's perhaps worth keeping in mind as phone releases for 2026 start to get into gear.
The big one to keep in mind is the Samsung Galaxy S26, which is should be revealed by the end of February and go on sale in March. But the crystal ball suggests we may see the Google Pixel 10a, and perhaps an iPhone 17e, shortly after that. If you're planning to upgrade, it could be worth investigating if buying any of these phones with a Verizon contract is the best option for you, or maybe T-Mobile if you live in one of the city regions where the network fared particularly well.
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