With these longer timelines you can get a flagship phone for significantly less, but you need to stay on that carrier (and potentially with a pricier unlimited plan) for two or three years. T-Mobile still has options for 24 months but pricier devices, such as Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4, require a 36-month plan should you want to finance them monthly. Unfortunately, they now seem set to be replaced by increasingly longer installment plans.ĪT&T and Verizon now consistently only offer 36-month installment plans for the latest devices from Apple, Google and Samsung. Two-year contracts have largely disappeared from the US wireless market. Know how much you owe on your installment plan We've broken down a few of these providers, including which provider uses which network and explained some of the trade-offs you'll want to keep in mind. If you found that Verizon works best where you live but its service is too pricey, switching to Visible, Spectrum Mobile or Xfinity Mobile could potentially allow you to keep similar coverage but pay a bit less (though you may lose out on some other perks like free streaming services). The benefit of these smaller carriers - many of which are known as mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs - is that you can get access to the larger provider's service at a more affordable rate. It's still in beta before a full launch later this year. Dish recently started offering its own service that rivals the big carriers, which it calls Boost Infinite. Mint Mobile and Google Fi, for example, use T-Mobile's network, while cable companies Comcast and Spectrum rely on Verizon for their respective Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile brands.īoost Mobile, which is owned by Dish, uses a combination of T-Mobile and AT&T while Dish builds out its own 5G network. Smaller players also rely on the larger networks for service. All use their parent's respective networks for service. Verizon has Visible, AT&T has Cricket and T-Mobile has Metro (and soon Mint Mobile). First, there are the prepaid brands each carrier owns. While AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon operate the major networks, there are a number of smaller wireless providers that offer service on their airwaves. A promotion the carrier is doing has it available for $100 per month for four lines which is $20 per month cheaper than the Base Essentials option. If you're looking for multiple lines on T-Mobile and its cheapest rate, you're better off going with its regular Essentials plan. Verizon Play More and AT&T Unlimited Extra also don't require you to have every line on the same plan, so if only one of your family plan's lines needs extra hotspot data, you can drop the others down to cheaper options and save a little there (Verizon only needs one line on an account to be on Play More for you to be able to get its Disney perks). It is worth noting that some plans, like T-Mobile's Magenta and Verizon's Play More, include streaming perks like Netflix or the Disney Bundle (Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and Hulu). For this chart, we focused on each carrier's cheapest plan, as well as their respective "middle" options that we think could make sense for most people. Below is a comparison of some of the latest plans from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Then, of course, there are the plans themselves. Verizon now offers a similar 30-day "trial" program while the Cricket prepaid service has rolled out its own trial offering that lets you try out parent AT&T's network. You could also go to a carrier's store and see if they offer any free ways to try out the service before switching over, such as T-Mobile's Network Pass which lets you sample T-Mobile's service for free for three months. ![]() ![]() If you know any friends or family in your area that already use the carrier you're considering, ask about their experience.
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