My T-Mobile Prepaid Review: A Hands-on Test of Speed and Value

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 rating.

The biggest benefit of a T-Mobile Prepaid plan is premium data for a smaller monthly bill. On three of T-Mobile’s prepaid plans, you get an allotment of data with the same priority as regular T-Mobile postpaid customers (the ones that start at $65 and go upwards of $100 per month). Of course, once you hit a data limit, speeds are throttled and slowed. But starting as low as $40 per month, you can get premium data that is reliably fast wherever you go—commuting, traveling, or simply while out and about.

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

• Generous premium data
• Hotspot data on all plans
• T-Mobile Tuesdays with most plans
• 5-year price guarantee on most plans
• International benefits with the Unlimited Plus Monthly plan

T-Mobile has three standard prepaid plans (with some of the best ones listed here) on its main site. But you can also find three prepaid plans through Connect by T-Mobile that are more stripped down. Depending on your budget and your data needs, you have tons of options with T-Mobile Prepaid plans.

T-Mobile Prepaid plans are on the pricier side for a prepaid carrier. But that’s because of generous amounts of premium data as well as the extra perks that come baked into your plan.

Remember, there are two types of mobile data:

• Premium/Priority data: This data is not deprioritized during network congestion. Your data is prioritized with regular network customers (so T-Mobile Prepaid premium data has the same priority level as postpaid customers). This means your data should be fast, no matter what.
• Standard data: This data can be deprioritized during network congestion. You may find slower speeds in crowded areas or during hours when everyone tends to be using mobile data (like in the evening). You also might notice slower data speeds if you’re not connected to the Wi-Fi.

Important note: Just because you can be deprioritized on some prepaid (and postpaid) plans doesn’t mean that slower speeds will be too slow to do anything. I once had speeds around 7Mbps on my phone and could still open and run all social media apps, email, and YouTube.

Three of T-Mobile’s prepaid plans offer premium data that won’t slow down until you exhaust your data allowance. However, keep in mind that at Reviews.org, we suggest that the average user only needs around 10GB per month if you’re mostly connected to Wi-Fi. On my Mint Mobile plan, I pay $15 for the 5GB plan, and it’s more than enough.

I think we can all agree there’s nothing worse than not being able to use the internet while travelling. Airport Wi-Fi can be spotty at best, and regular data that can be slowed down with network congestion becomes unpredictable. However, my T-Mobile premium data stayed super fast every time I used it. Whether I was rushing to open up my electronic ticket at the gate, scrolling through social media while sipping my $9 coffee, looking up earlier flights while walking to my terminal, or scrolling through different apps while stuck in bumper-to-bumper LA traffic, my T-Mobile data never lagged. I actually preferred it to the airport and hotel Wi-Fi.

For those who travel and aren’t able to fully rely on strong Wi-Fi connections, premium data is an essential. The $40 spent for this peace of mind was worth every penny.

T-Mobile’s prepaid premium data is given the same priority as T-Mobile’s postpaid customers. That means you shouldn’t encounter slow speeds, no matter how crowded or busy it is.

However, if you rely on hotspot data, T-Mobile prepaid plans may not be ideal. On the Starter Monthly plan, you have to use your premium data as a mobile hotspot, but on the other two plans, you either get unlimited mobile hotspot at 3G (that’s slower compared to typical 5G speeds), or 5GB of mobile hotspot data on the most expensive plan. If you’re looking for unlimited hotspot data at varying speeds, then Visible (a prepaid carrier running on Verizon’s network) is the one you want.

Getting started with a T-Mobile Prepaid plan was shockingly easy. It was much easier to activate my eSIM compared to Mint Mobile's physical SIM and even Red Pocket Mobile’s eSIM (both are prepaid carriers that operate on T-Mobile’s network).

While the T-Life mobile app immediately shows you all the deals and discounts you can get, it will not show information about your account. For that, I had to log in to my T-Mobile desktop account.

You’ve got options if you’re willing to look outside of T-Mobile and forfeit some extra perks like T-Mobile Tuesdays and streaming subscriptions.

US Mobile is a prepaid carrier that gives you access to T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. It offers unlimited priority data on its Unlimited Premium plans for $44 per month (even less sometimes with its new-customer promos).

Visible is a prepaid carrier that runs on Verizon’s network. It offers unlimited high-speed and premium data across all its plans and even unlimited use of your phone as a hotspot for as low as $25 per month.

Mint Mobile is another incredibly popular T-Mobile prepaid carrier that offers high-speed data starting from 5GB to unlimited, starting at $15 per month. I have it. I love it.

Tello is best for those who want to pay as little as possible for T-Mobile service. Plans start at just $5 per month!