If you're on a phone plan that covers three or more people, T-Mobile's new Better Value plan looks tempting. It includes perks that should appeal to families or small groups, and even surpasses one of the company's regular unlimited plans. But as with all phone plans, it's important to read the fine print on what T-Mobile is calling a limited-time offer.
In our Best Cellphone Plans, Best Unlimited Data Plans and Best T-Mobile Plans lists, we rank T-Mobile's Essentials plan highly. After reviewing the specifics of the Better Value plan, the Experience More plan -- the No. 2 unlimited postpaid plan -- presents a more interesting comparison. Let's see how they stack up.
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 per 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 600kbps. (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.
One appeal of these plans, especially in the context of families, is the set of included streaming services. The Better Value plan and Experience More plan both include Netflix Standard with Ads and Hulu, and Apple TV can be added for $3 per month.
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