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T-Mobile's New T-Mix Plans Let You Pick Your Own Perks. What Changes for You

By , Tech Cheat Codes Team

Published 5 min read

Text card in magenta and white reading: T-Mobile's new T-Mix plans.
On this page · 5 sections
  1. The three plans and what they cost
  2. What a Pick buys
  3. How swapping works
  4. If you're already a T-Mobile customer
  5. References

If you pay T-Mobile for a phone plan, the extras that come with it are about to work differently. On Monday morning the carrier announced T-Mix, three new plans that hand you a small number of "Picks" to spend on the perks you want, like Netflix, YouTube Premium or Xbox Game Pass, or on a discount toward a new phone.

The plans arrive in November. T-Mobile hasn't named an exact date yet.

Until now, a big carrier plan has worked like a set menu. You choose a tier and take whatever streaming service or phone deal is attached to it, whether you watch it or not. T-Mix turns that into a short list you build yourself, and you can change some of it a few times a year without changing what you pay each month.

The three plans and what they cost

T-Mix Standard starts at $55 a month (price as of ; official source) for one line and comes with one Pick. T-Mix More starts at $75 a month with two Picks, and T-Mix Loaded starts at $95 a month with three. Those prices assume AutoPay, and taxes and fees come on top. Discounted versions are coming for customers 55 and older, military members and veterans, first responders and college students, though their prices weren't part of Monday's announcement.

The tiers differ in more than Picks. Standard includes up to 50GB of high-speed "premium" data and streams video at 480p, which is roughly DVD quality. More moves to unlimited data, video up to 4K, 60GB of high-speed hotspot data and 15GB of high-speed data in Canada and Mexico. Loaded raises the hotspot allowance to 250GB and the Canada and Mexico data to 30GB.

All three keep the perks T-Mobile already gives every member, including the weekly T-Mobile Tuesdays freebies and its hotel, rental car and event deals.

What a Pick buys

Not every service costs the same number of Picks, and that detail matters more than the headline price. On a one-Pick Standard plan, your choices are the lighter versions: Apple TV, DashPass by DoorDash, Google AI Plus, Hulu with ads, Netflix Standard with ads, Pandora Plus, Paramount Plus Essential, SiriusXM All Access in the app, YouTube Premium Lite, 500 Delta SkyMiles a month, or T-Satellite texting.

Apple Music, the full YouTube Premium, Google AI Pro, Pandora Premium and Xbox Game Pass Premium each take two Picks. Ad-free Netflix Standard and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate take three. ESPN Unlimited and Netflix Premium take four, which is more than even a one-line Loaded plan includes.

Picks can also go toward a new phone. That's the catch families should look at first. A phone promotion draws from the same allowance as your streaming perks and holds those Picks for as long as the promotion runs, so a household that wants new phones on every line may have little left over for Netflix.

How swapping works

You can change your entertainment picks during three change windows a year, plus a yearly "Annual Remix" when T-Mobile asks everyone to choose again. Some benefits, like T-Satellite, can be switched any time. Others lock your Picks in for a quarter or longer, and changing a partner perk outside a window may cost a fee.

Picks that you don't use in a quarter disappear. They don't roll over, and they have no cash value.

The fine print also leaves T-Mobile room to move. The company can change which benefits are offered and how many Picks each one costs at any time, with changes to perks you're already using taking effect the next quarter. If you already pay for Netflix or Hulu on your own, you may need to cancel that subscription yourself so you aren't billed twice.

If you're already a T-Mobile customer

Nothing changes on your bill today. T-Mobile's marketing chief, Allan Samson, told GeekWire that current customers can keep their plans or switch to T-Mix, and the company hasn't announced an end date for its existing plans.

Before you switch, write down what your current plan already includes. Plenty of T-Mobile plans already come with Netflix or Apple TV built in, and some come with a phone deal you're still paying off. Then compare that with what your Picks would buy on the T-Mix tier at the same price. If you only use one streaming service and bring your own phone, a T-Mix plan could cost less than what you have. If you lean on a phone promotion and two or three paid services, do the math line by line.

T-Mobile hasn't published T-Mix prices for two or more lines yet. We'll update this when it does, and when sign-ups open in November.

References