T-Mobile Cell Phone Plans Review

T-Mobile’s looking darn good these days, especially for those who prefer lightning-fast data speeds over rural coverage. Here’s the summary of T-Mobile's main specs:

• Prices: T-Mobile offers prepaid plans from $40 and post-paid unlimited talk, text, and data plans from $50 monthly
• Talk, text, and data: All T-Mobile unlimited plans come with unlimited talk, text, and 5G or 4G data
• Family plan discounts: You can save a significant amount of money by bundling up in a family plan with T-Mobile. For the T-Mobile Essentials plan, you can get plans for as low $25 per person for four lines.
• Coverage: T-Mobile’s 5G network is the biggest and fastest in the country. Its slower 4G network has some big gaps, especially in the rural western US.

T-Mobile's unlimited cell phone plans range from $50 to $100 per month for unlimited talk, text, and data. Why the wide price gap for "unlimited" plans? It comes down to premium data, hotspot allowances, and additional perks like free streaming subscriptions and travel benefits. 

Here’s a weird thing about unlimited data plans—most of them don’t actually give you unlimited high speed data. There’s usually a data cap. If you go over your data cap, your data speeds can be significantly reduced (making it hard to stream or game).

Even though my plan comes with 50GB of high-speed data, I was surprised that I only use about 2 to 5GB of data per month, even though I feel like I spend a lot of time on my phone. 

While I don't max out my premium data cap, I still think it's worth having T-Mobile for the peace of mind that I always have real time traffic alerts when I'm driving, or I can update my Instagram story on the fly when I'm visiting another state.

Companies like AT&T and Verizon set their caps at 75GB per month for mid-level unlimited plans and allow unlimited standard data with their entry-level plans, which is slowed during times of high traffic. But T-Mobile’s mid-tier Go5G plan has a data cap of 100GB of premium data per month, and its entry-level Essentials plan includes 50GB of premium data.

That’s a ton of data, but it’s the Go5G Next plan that really impresses us.

T-Mobile’s Go5G Next 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 and stream that new episode of Severance.

T-Mobile family plans range from 50GB of data to unlimited data with HD-quality streaming. From Essentials and up, you’re looking at unlimited everything plans—unlimited talk, text, and data. 

The best T-Mobile plan for your family depends on what kind of unlimited you want:

• Do you have a family that requires tons of hotspot data and HD streaming?
• Do your college kids need laptop access on the go?
• Do you enjoy watching The Walking Dead on your morning train commute?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then you might want to check out the Go5G Next plan that gets unlimited full speed data, 50GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data, and entertainment perks like AppleTV+, Netflix with ads, and Hulu with ads. 

On the other hand, if you primarily use the internet for email, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, you’ll want a basic unlimited plan, like the Essentials plan, for just $100 for four lines.

How do these T-Mobile family plans compare with other family plans? Let’s take a look.

Among the major three providers—AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon—the Essentials plan from T-Mobile is $44 less than AT&T's plan and $20 less than Verizon's Unlimited Welcome Plan. But if you're a fan of hotspot data, Verizon's Unlimited Welcome plan doesn't offer any.

With T-Mobile's Essentials family plan, you can get four lines for just $100, or about $25 per line. That’s a good chunk of change that stays in your bank account each month. In short, if you can get on a family plan with T-Mobile, then you should.

If you compare T-Mobile prepaid plans with the unlimited plans, you’ll notice the prepaid options are a bit cheaper. The main catch is that you’ll have to pay in advance instead of paying T-Mobile your bill at the end of the month, and you won't be eligible for T-Mobile Tuesdays. 

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 aren't perk-less, though. You still have a 50 GB data cap and mobile hotspot on the go.

T-Mobile has lots of deals and special offers, including discounted plans for military, first responders, and people aged 55 and above. So if you qualify, make sure you sign up for these specific plans to get the most bang for your buck. 

T-Mobile offers active-duty military and veterans 40% off its Go5G plans when you bundle with family lines. This is a pretty darn good deal for one of the more powerful cell phone plans on the market.

T-Mobile also offers 40% off family lines on the Go5G unlimited plans for first responders. You can get the Go5G Next plan for just $85 a month for one line or as low as $47 a month per line with four lines. That’s a pretty darn good deal for one of the more powerful cell phone plans on the market.

T-Mobile offers steep discounts for customers who are 55 years old and above that can save you $10 to $15 on your monthly bill. 

Getting a few extra perks isn’t the main reason to choose a cell phone plan. But it is a nice cherry on top. Here’s what you’ll get from T-Mobile’s Go5G plans:

• Free Netflix Standard with ads subscription
• Free Apple TV+ subscription for six months
• Free Hulu (With Ads) subscription (Go5G Next only)
• Free in-flight texting plus four full-flight streaming sessions a year and one hour of streaming
• Worldwide data coverage
• Mobile hotspot data (50GB on Go5G Next and Plus)

Any T-Mobile postpaid mobile customer can also get monthly discounts when they bundle with T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. These nifty broadband plans cost as low as $35 monthly with autopay and a T-Mobile voice line. 

As long as you're an active T-Mobile wireless customer (without a prepaid or pay-as-you-go plan) or home internet user, you'll be able to get freebies, discounts, and the chance to win prizes with the T-Mobile T-Life app. Every Tuesday, you can open the app for a myriad of T-Mobile Tuesdays discounts as well as get a sneak peek of what will be available the following week.

Here are a few examples of T-Mobile T-Life app benefits:

• 40% off hotels
• Cruise credits
• Up to 40% off car rentals
• 10% cash back at participating restaurants (5% cash back every other day)
• 30% off theme park admissions

T-Mobile's perks are practically never-ending, as they change weekly and vary depending on where you live. And because not every service is available nationwide, some users are trading codes on Reddit with fellow T-Mobilers. That means if you live in Florida and get an In-N-Out code, you can swap it for someone's Culver's code in Idaho. 

While T-Mobile’s cheapest unlimited plan costs similar to AT&T’s and Verizon’s equivalents, it’s still much pricier than plans from smaller discount mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) providers.

T-Mobile MVNOs rent T-Mobile towers but don't need to pay to maintain the infrastructure, so they offer more affordable plans. Here are our favorite T-Mobile MVNOs:

Our top T-Mobile MVNO choice is US Mobile, which costs $25 monthly for 35GB of high-speed data, 10GB of hotspot data, and unlimited talk and text. US Mobile is interesting in that you can switch between different cell towers, so if a Verizon or AT&T tower is stronger in your area, you can easily switch. 

This plan is very similar to Tello's Unlimited plan, which also costs $15 monthly for the first three months, and then costs $25 monthly afterwards. 

Mint Mobile is also a good alternative to T-Mobile—you can get an unlimited talk, text, and data plan for just $30 per month for the first three months. After the promo price, the price goes up by $10 monthly. The caveat with Mint Mobile is you need to pay for your plan upfront, so you pay $90 for your first three months of service.

For those who truly want an affordable plan, Red Pocket is a great MVNO. The Unlimited Essentials plan costs $10 monthly for just 1GB of high-speed data, but for those who are usually working from home with full access to Wi-Fi, this should be enough data. 

T-Mobile has excellent coverage and speed. We’ve collected speed data from over 100,000 mobile users on a variety of networks. We discovered that, on average, T-Mobile has the fastest data speeds in the country. T-Mobile clocks the fastest average 5G download speed at 135.17 Mbps and the highest average customer time spent connected to 5G.That’s a big deal when it comes to streaming, gaming, or working on your phone.

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.

Since I live near the city center, I get pretty good T-Mobile coverage day to day, but coverage isn't great when I visit national parks. 

Before you consider switching to T-Mobile, check if you get T-Mobile coverage below:

Out of the three major networks, T-Mobile currently has the worst 4G coverage but also offers best 5G coverage overall. For context, here are the rankings for best 5G wireless coverage.

1. T-Mobile: 7.4 out of 10
2. Verizon: 5.8 out of 10
3. AT&T: 5.8 out of 10

Evaluating which carriers have the best 5G networks is tricky because the technology is so new and because there are different kinds of 5G. Some companies use “high-band” technology that gives you very fast speeds but has limited range. Others use “low-band,” which goes further but isn’t much faster than 4G.

You can expect everything to be faster on T-Mobile’s wireless network versus Verizon or compared to AT&T. You can download apps faster, buffer streams more quickly, and upload your video to Instagram quickly as well. The biggest downside to the network is its coverage.

Whatever phone you want to use, you can plan on using it on T-Mobile’s network. You can use the latest iPhone devices or Android devices. Here are the most popular cell phones on T-Mobile’s network right now.

Be ready to share your credit score if you sign up for a lease on a new phone. Even average credit means you’ll most likely need to fork over a down payment with your monthly payments. This is fairly common with other major phone service providers, though we didn’t get asked about our credit when we signed up for Verizon.

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.

Talk to a T-Mobile customer, and you’ll probably hear a mix of stories about customer service, both good and bad. For me, when I've wanted to switch to a family plan, I found it annoying that I had to set up a conference call with T-Mobile's customer service to transfer my line. However, the phone call was swift and the process was immediate, so it wasn't too much work.

My colleague has had great experiences with in-store customer service. They once ordered a phone from T-Mobile’s website, and it was stolen before it even arrived on the doorstep.

Thankfully, the in-store representative walked them through what to do and how to get a replacement phone, and T-Mobile remained understanding and helpful even though it was near closing time.

However, the stolen phone did end up getting activated, which incurred a bill. So, my colleague had to contact the call center several times to cancel the service. Moral of the story? Visit your local T-Mobile store for a better experience.

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.

In my opinion, the T-Mobile Essentials Saver plan for $50 monthly is the way to go for the most value. However, if you're not so sure if it's the right one for you, here’s what you should look for in the perfect phone plan:

• Data: Check how much data you really need by looking at your past usage over the past month. T-Mobile unlimited plans come with at least 50GB of high-speed data, which is plenty for most users. 
• Price: Use comparison charts and customer reviews to be sure you’re getting the best price available. 
• Coverage: Check coverage maps to see who has the best 4G/5G network in your area. T-Mobile has the largest 5G network in the nation, but if you live in rural areas, it might not be the best pick. 
• Features: Special features—like HD streaming and hotspot data—aren’t standard. You may want to consider paying a bit more for these perks.

T-Mobile is one of the major three cell phone providers in the country. So we monitor the company’s plans, performance, and prices constantly, and we regularly update our reviews to reflect the newest information.

We wrote this review using publicly available information, T-Mobile reviews from real customers, 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.