Cell carriers have a vested interest in making it as hard as possible to directly compare their service plans — one will show prices for three lines by default, another will show prices for four, and they all do their best to make sure their perks look like shiny apples next to the competitor’s oranges. T-Mobile has just announced a new set of Go 5G plans, and if you’re not looking closely, it’s hard to spot the difference between these and the existing Magenta plans.
There are three new plans in total: Go 5G, Go 5G Plus, and Essentials Savings. T-Mobile’s existing Magenta and Magenta Max plans will continue to be offered alongside them, but Essentials Savings appears to be replacing the current Essentials plan.
If you’re already a T-Mobile customer, there’s not a lot of incentive to switch here. Go 5G is analogous to the Magenta plan, with a few exceptions: it costs $10/month more for three lines and you get 50GB of premium data instead of 100GB, but on the flip side, hotspot data has been tripled from 5GB per month to 15GB.
The headlining feature of Go 5G Plus is a guarantee that you’ll get access to the same device deals as new customers, but for the most part, that’s already true with Magenta Max — you just don’t get a guarantee. Meanwhile, the new plan costs $10/month more for three lines, comes with the same unlimited premium data, and perks like free Netflix and Apple TV+ remain unchanged, but it does up the hotspot data from 40GB/month to 50GB.
The new Essentials Savings plan is the same as the existing Essentials tier across the board, but can be cheaper depending on how many lines you have. For one line, the price drops from $60/month to $50, and two lines will only run you $80/month instead of the current $90. However, three lines still cost $90/month and four lines will still set you back $100 monthly.
Clearly, these new plans weren’t meant for existing T-Mobile customers. But if you’re considering making the switch from AT&T or Verizon, there’s a lot to like.
In addition to being cheaper across the board for three or more lines, T-Mobile’s new Go 5G plans have some baked in incentives for people coming from other carriers. For AT&T customers making the switch, T-Mobile will pay off your device like it has in the past, and will now even accept locked phones for trade-in. And for any new customers, if you’re not satisfied with the service, you can cancel within 30 days and T-Mobile will credit you $50 per line to help cover your bill.
But if all these prices seem exorbitant to you, an MVNO, which is essentially a reseller of carrier service, might be your best bet. Google Fi has some cheap deals with access to T-Mobile’s network, and Mint Mobile and Visible are extremely affordable options as well.
