There was a time when T-Mobile was at the bottom of our list of the best major cellular carriers. But since acquiring Sprint a couple of years ago, T-Mobile has done a lot of work, and it might actually be the best cell phone company in the industry today. If you’re pumped about T-Mobile’s all-you-can-eat data buffet, sign up right here. If you want to learn more about the company’s plans, price, and performance, then read on for our in-depth review.
Data: Having enough 4G LTE/5G data to support your streaming, gaming, and working habits is key. Read your plan’s fine print about data caps and throttling. Price: Use comparison charts and customer reviews to be sure you’re getting the best price available. Remember, cheaper isn’t necessarily better. Coverage: You can’t do anything on your phone if you don’t have any service. Check coverage maps to see who has the best 4G/5G network in your area. Features: Special features—like HD streaming and hotspot data—aren’t standard. You may want to consider paying a bit more for these perks.
Companies like AT&T and Verizon tend to set their caps at 50 GB per month for mid-tier unlimited plans. But T-Mobile’s mid-tier Magenta plan has a data cap of 100 GB of premium data per month. That’s a ton of data, but it’s the Magenta MAX plan that really impresses us. T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan has no data cap. That means you get truly unlimited 4G and 5G data on this plan. No throttling and no deprioritization, just that sweet, sweet high-speed data. So go ahead, stream that new episode of The Last of Us or Abbott Elementary in HD. These data speeds, combined with high data caps (so that your speeds aren’t slowed), makes T-Mobile a powerful contender for those who want high performance over all else. By most metrics, T-Mobile is ahead in the 5G race. T-Mobile has the fastest average 5G download speed at 135.17 Mbps and the highest average customer time spent connected to 5G.1 These impressive 5G statistics are just further evidence of T-Mobile’s dominance when it comes to data speeds. There is a variety of other T-Mobile MVNOs that use the same superfast network and offer pretty affordable plans like Mint Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, and Consumer Cellular that are worth checking out.
Free Netflix subscription (on Magenta family plans and Magenta MAX individual plans) Free Paramount+ subscription for one year Free Apple TV+ subscription for six months Free in-flight texting plus four full-flight streaming sessions a year and one hour of streaming Worldwide data coverage Mobile hotspot data (5GB on Magenta and 40 GB on Magenta MAX)
T-Mobile’s better plans (Magenta and Magenta MAX) will set you back a clean $70 or more every month. While these are still cheaper than the equivalent plans from Verizon, they will be too expensive for some users. Do you have a family that requires tons of hotspot data and HD streaming? Do your college kids need laptop access on the go? Or do you enjoy watching The Walking Dead on your morning train commute? Then you might want to check out the Magenta Family plan or Magenta Plus Family plan. On the other hand, if you primarily use the internet for email, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, then you’ll want just a basic unlimited plan, like the Essentials plan. And for our true minimalists living off the grid, you can get a plan without any data at all. How do these T-Mobile family plans compare with other family plans? Let’s take a look. With T-Mobile’s Essentials family plan, you can get four lines for just $105, or about $26 per line. That’s a good chunk of change that stays in your bank account each month. You’ll see similar savings when you look at four-line Magenta and Magenta MAX plans. In short, if you can get on a family plan with T-Mobile, then you should. The prepaid system can get a little annoying if you forget to pay for another month of service, but as long as you stay on top of things, you’ll save more than a few bucks every month. The T-Mobile prepaid plans have the same perks of their postpaid counterparts. You still have a 50 GB data cap and mobile hotspot on the go. Before you consider switching to T-Mobile, make sure to check your neck of the woods in the coverage map below. Here are the rankings among the big three for 5G coverage.2 T-Mobile announced that by June 30, 2022, Sprint’s LTE network will be officially retired. Nothing needs to be done by customers unless you have an older Sprint SIM card, which will need to be replaced with a SIM from T-Mobile.5 If you prefer to skip the credit check, you can—just be aware you’ll need to pay the full retail price of your new phone right then and there. We’ve had great experiences with in-store customer service in the past. Long story short, we ordered a phone from T-Mobile’s website, and it was stolen before it even arrived on our doorstep. Thankfully, the in-store representative walked us through what to do and how to get a replacement phone, and they remained understanding and helpful even though we showed up at the store right at closing time. However, when we later noticed the stolen phone was activated and we started receiving a bill for it, we had to contact the call center several times to cancel the service and zero out the bill. Moral of the story? Visit your local T-Mobile store for a better experience. If you prefer to avoid phone calls and trips to the store, we feel you. You can make contact with T-Mobile and ask questions on social media. Prepare the hashtags.
Twitter: @TMobile Facebook: @TMobile
We hope T-Mobile will continue to improve on its customer service and keep pushing out transparent, easy-to-understand pricing. Because being able to understand what you’ll owe each month is important.
Plans: T-Mobile’s Essentials plan is pretty weak for the price. But it’s Magenta and Magenta MAX plans have super-high data caps, awesome performance, and cool perks. Family plans: You can save a significant amount of money by bundling up in a family plan with T-Mobile. There’s no reason not to go with a family plan if you can. Coverage: T-Mobile’s 4G network has some big gaps, especially in the rural western US. This will be a dealbreaker for some. But, on the other hand, the company’s 5G network is the biggest and fastest in the country. Summary: If you want fast data speeds, look no further than T-Mobile. Just make sure you get coverage in your area first.
That’s the end of this T-Mobile tale. You can easily sign up online. Or, if you’re still not sure that T-Mobile is right for you, check out these other great carriers. We wrote this review using publicly available information, customer reviews, plan comparison sites, and our own proprietary data from over 100,000 mobile customers. Overall, we’ve spent dozens of hours researching, writing, and updating this T-Mobile review. We hope that our analysis and recommendations have helped you find the ideal cell phone plan. If we’ve left anything out, please let us know in the comments below. Also, T-Mobile’s 5G infrastructure is currently bigger and better than the competition. While this doesn’t fix its rural coverage issue, it does mean city-dwellers will experience awesome performance. Check out this coverage map to see how T-Mobile’s network looks in your area. If you live in a service area with more T-Mobile coverage and you’re looking to save some money or want to sign up for a family plan then T-Mobile is a better option.
