My T-Mobile Review: I’ve Been a Customer for Eight Years, and I’ll Likely Never Switch

For all our mobile reviews, we give a rating based on four main criteria:

• Dollar value ↓
• Network coverage ↓
• Data performance ↓
• Customer service ↓

Then, we average the scores to make an overall score.

T-Mobile offers the biggest 5G network which ensures fast speeds for millions of customers. There are a range of plans that fit different budgets and data needs, plus you get unique benefits like free international calls, texts, and data. You can also opt for a prepaid plan to save money while still getting on T-Mobile’s top-notch network.

Here’s a quick overview of what you can expect from a T-Mobile cell phone plan:

• Unlimited data plus an allotment of premium data starting from 50GB
• Family plan discounts from $10 to $46 monthly with two to four lines
• No contracts
• Five-year price guarantee on select plans

You get unlimited data with all postpaid T-Mobile plans. Depending on your plan, you get a certain allotment of premium data, which is a fancy way of saying “high-speed” data over T-Mobile’s 4G LTE and 5G networks that isn’t deprioritized or slowed down. I get 50GB of premium data each month, and last month I only used 10GB in total. Suffice it to say, I’ll likely never run out of premium data because I connect to Wi-Fi when I’m at home. I end up using over 60GB each month on Wi-Fi, so you might want a higher-tier T-Mobile plan if you don’t use Wi-Fi every day.

Depending on whether I’m connected to 5G UC, 5G extended range, or 4G LTE, the speed of my internet connection can vary. Factors like congestion during the evening hours when everyone else is using their phone, stormy weather, or just being situated between a large building with thick concrete walls can affect speeds. However, even on 4G LTE, I can watch videos with little buffering, so it’s really not a noticeable problem for me to be on a slower network.

Each month, I get 10GB of premium hotspot data, and then unlimited hotspot data at 3G speeds afterwards. This usually comes in clutch when I need to use my laptop without having to connect to spotty airport Wi-Fi, or the occasional time when the power cuts out at my house.

I’ve had very few interactions with T-Mobile customer service because the service works well and I don’t have any complaints. The only time I’ve had to meet a rep in person was when I signed up, but I only did that because I had just moved to the U.S. and didn’t own a phone or a phone plan. Other than getting a bit of pressure to buy my phone via monthly installments, it was painless. 

Otherwise, I’ve never called customer service to solve an actual issue. I’ve only had to call when I wanted to switch from a single line to a family plan, which requires getting on a conference call with a T-Mobile rep and the account holder of the family plan to finalize the process. I didn’t experience any problems, but it was still a hassle because we had to coordinate conflicting schedules. 

Since my own interactions are limited, I called customer service for the purpose of this review to see how they would respond to a complaint about my coverage. Although it’s not a genuine problem for me, it is a little weird that my network switches between 4G LTE, to 5G, and 5G UC while just sitting at home. It took less than two minutes to get connected to an enthusiastic rep, but it took over 10 minutes of the rep asking about the details of my experience. Some of the questions included “How long have you been noticing this?” or “What have you done to troubleshoot the problem?” After answering all the questions, the rep offered me some generic advice that wasn’t helpful.

In comparison to the other carriers you could choose, I would only recommend switching based on three main factors: Coverage, better phone deals, and cheaper plans. For example, T-Mobile offers great coverage in the West, but you might get better coverage with AT&T and Verizon in other areas in the country. At times, AT&T and Verizon also offer better phone deals depending on the promotions available.

If you want a cheaper plan, a T-Mobile MVNO like Mint Mobile offers similar network coverage at a much lower cost. Otherwise, Visible also offers affordable rates on Verizon’s network, with no high-speed data cap. US Mobile is also a handy option if you want to jump between AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon networks for the greatest flexibility.