T-Mobile announced Tuesday that it would begin carrying the iPhone 5 starting April 12. (Woo.) The company is offering a unique “no contract” pricing model and touting itself as the “Uncarrier,” whatever that means, in an effort to haul itself up out of its fourth-place position behind competitors Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. But is its contract-less option really any better than our existing options?
According to the math: It’s totally comparable, if not better, than current alternatives.
If you’ve currently got an iPhone 5, or are interested in purchasing one, here’s what you need to know in order to decide if T-Mobile is the best deal for you. If you just want the phone itself, it starts at $650 for the 16 GB model no matter who you get it from. But if you want to grab an iPhone with a cheaper up-front cost, things start getting dicy. You’ve got to consider your voice, messaging, and data needs, and whether you want to possibly deal with throttling or overage charges.
We’ve broken down what each major carrier offers, and how much you’d end up spending at a minimum after two years.
T-Mobile
AT&T
Verizon
Sprint
iPhone 5 Models
16 GB
16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB
16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB
16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB
Initial Purchase Price
$100, no contract (also available for $200 with two-year contract)
$200, $300, $400 with two-year contract
$200, $300, $400 with two-year contract
$200, $300, $400 with two-year contract
Data Plan Options
500 MB, 2.5 GB, Unlimited (Unlimited Text and Voice)
300 MB, 3 GB, 5 GB (Voice and Messaging extra)
300 MB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 6 GB, up to 50 GB (Unlimited Talk and Text)
Unlimited
Data Plan Pricing
$50, $60, $70
$20, $30, $50 plus Voice (starting at $40) and Messaging ($20)
$40, $60, $70, $80
$80 (450 min Voice), $100 (900 min Voice), $110 (Unlimited Voice)
Additional Monthly Fees
$20 for first 24 months
$40 monthly line access
Early Termination Fees
$50 to $200 (if you do go the contract route)
$325 minus $10 for each full month of completed service commitment
$175 to $350
$100 to $300
Overage Charges, Throttling
Possible speed drops if you exceed limits
$10/GB, $0.45/minute, $0.20/message; Top unlimited plan users may have throttled speeds
$15/GB; Top unlimited plan users may have throttled speeds
3 cents/KB for messaging, $0.45/minute
Coverage
7 markets for now: Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose, and Washington, D.C. for now
157 markets (Link to map)
486 markets (Link to map)
58 markets (Link to map)
Total Cost Over Two Years
$1,780 (500 MB plan)
$1,640 (300 MB plan, pay as you go texting)
$2,120 (300 MB plan)
$2,120 (450 min voice, Unlimited data plan)
Updated 11:35 AM PST to correct T-Mobile’s total
