T-Mobile began the new year with a new phone plan designed for families and accounts with three or more lines. The Better Value plan is available Jan. 14 for what the company says is a limited time, though I confirmed with a representative that it currently has no end date.
Despite its name, the question is whether it actually offers a better value compared to the Essentials plan, which we rank highly in our Best Cellphone Plans, Best Unlimited Data Plans and Best T-Mobile Plans lists.
In fact, after reviewing the specifics, T-Mobile's Experience More plan -- the number two unlimited postpaid plan -- presents a more interesting comparison.
Better Value plan pricing and features compared
For an account with three lines, the monthly cost of the Better Value plan is $140 (with AutoPay active), plus applicable taxes and fees. Experience More similarly costs $140 a month for three lines. The Essentials plan costs $90 a month for three lines, but lacks most of the add-ons that make the other two plans appealing.
Both the Experience More and Better Value plans offer unlimited data on T-Mobile's 5G network, a five-year price guarantee and two-year device upgrades.
However, the Better Value plan includes 250GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data, compared to 60GB for the Experience More plan. After those amounts have been used up, data is available at an unlimited rate of 600 kbps. (T-Mobile's highest tier plan by comparison, Experience Beyond, includes unlimited high-speed hotspot data.)
Better Value also includes more high-speed data when you're in other countries, with 30GB available in Mexico and Canada, as well as in 215 countries and areas worldwide. That's more than the Experience More plan, which offers 15GB in North America and 5GB elsewhere.
Announcement of the T-Satellite launch date on stage at a T-Mobile event. Jeff Carlson/CNET
T-Satellite is also included in the Better Value plan, a feature that costs $10 extra for every other T-Mobile plan except for Experience Beyond.
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