Ultimate T-Mobile Speed Test: Magenta Plus vs Essentials vs Prepaid vs Metro vs Mint! 

I didn't know that you had to manually enable HD streaming in your T-mobile plan if you had magenta plus. Well now I could stream in HD, so thanks for adding that in the video.

Do this with AT&T!! Some people say AT&T unlimited elite has higher priority over the other plans before deprioritization.

As a Metro by T-Mobile sales rep, this was eye opening, thanks for doing this. On a side note, I would have loved to have also see the new Boost Mobile performance alongside this

Great video! Glad you did an as perfect of a test as possible. I've long argued Mint gets deprioritized speed. I had Mint as personal phone and native T-Mo for a work phone, and I could NOT get any usable data on Mint in high-traffic areas like airports or sport venues. Awesome job!

This was really, really helpful. Thank you for this deep-dive comparison model to help us understanding the pros and cons of each plan. I'd been having a difficult time deciding between Mint Mobile and a T-Mobile prepaid or Magenta Plus plan. The prepaid plan was looking really attractive, but I had questions that you very adeptly answered. I'm now a new subscriber, and I'm looking forward to watching more of your content! Again, thank you for your in-depth analysis of these plans.

Thanks for the comparison. I have the Essentials plan and it’s adequate for our use. There are three of us on this plan with 60gb shared data. Yes the video is at a lower resolution but in a smart phone it’s fine. Hotspot has limited speed also but I rarely use it. Essential is the cheapest plan and texting and social media is what we mostly use it with. The best thing about data plans is it’s included when you travel abroad

This video was exceptionally professional, detailed and informative. Well done, Stetson!

I have T-Mobile Prepaid after 50 GB data sometimes slows down. I have used 80 GB with 8-Days left in the billing cycle. Really a good plan with great service

This shows how underrated tmobile prepaid is, thanks for the vid!

Thanks for such an informative video. I switched from MetroPCS to Mint Mobile. It looks like the MVNO is typically the slowest with prioritization but it still suits my needs. Keep the videos coming!

"I only had 4 iPhone 12s". I don't think those words have ever been said prior to this video.

A VZW pre/post paid, visible and us mobile is much needed since i’m looking to switching!! Great job on this video!

Thanks to this video, I switched from Essentials to Prepaid, saved some money and got better speed. Can't thank you enough :)

Hot dang, I’d never heard of this channel or the other one that discussed T-Mobile speed tiers, but I literally just came to this video from that one. Wild!

Great video as usual. I currently use Mint which has been great so far, but I need more data than the one Mint can offer, specifically hotspot, and I have considered T-Mobile prepaid. Your video just confirmed how good value prepaid offers.

T-mobile shouldn't throttle your data though especially when streaming as Verizon also does. Love having Verizon for their coverage but I much more prefer my AT&T service for their no throttle network. Thanks for the video 👍

I just purchased the OnePlus Nord N10 and am so far pleased with the 5g speeds. This video was helpful to know. I can't complain about the speeds for what I pay and for coming from a prepaid iphone x on Verizon, I'm happy.

Mint Mobile is $30 per month when you prepay for 12 months on a single line. I'm ok with slightly slower speeds to not pay tmobile $70 per month for the same thing.

Id like to see ATT next where you test AT&T Postpaid, AT&T Prepaid, Cricket, and Wing.

“I only have 4 iPhone 12s” I have none

Fantastic comparisons, you guys should do this for each of the 3 carriers.. 👌

Awesome video, thanks for taking the time to put this together. Do you know if there is any difference between "Magenta" and "Magenta Plus"? Also how do those plans compare to "Magenta Unlimited 55" and "Magenta Plus Unlimited 55"?

How did you measure the QCI? I’d like to see where Google Fi stands in comparison.

Stetson, please do this for ATT and their MVNOs

I live in a small town, so I never get throttled speeds even when I use 100+ GB a month. The towers are never congested.

Tmobile prepaid is most definitely the way to go, I'm paying just $50 monthly on tmobile prepaid unlimited data, I'm currently at 140gb data used this months with no caps and HD video streaming and where I live I get around 260mb down on speed test app and 300+ mgps during midnight hours. Edit 7/24/22.. Tmobile prepaid does not include HD video streaming not even their $60 dollar plan.

Here's a fun thing I've noticed. If you use Cloudflare's free WARP service, it will should give you uncapped streaming speeds the same way a VPN does. It may not be perfect, but it's free and it is plenty fast for HD video. Proper VPNs are probably technically a little bit better, but in my experience this works great if you don't feel like paying money for a VPN.

What app did you use to view QCI info?

I was actually deciding between Simply Prepaid (10GB with shared hotspot) and Essentials ("Unlimited" with 512kbps hotspot). Looks like we're going with the ironically faster Prepaid.

Was considering switching to Mint from T-Mobile prepaid, now I know that isn't ideal especially for a power user who needs reliable hotspot data. Thanks.

This video was way more informative than I was expecting, great work!

What app or website did you use to confirm the qci values of the network?

Just curious as to why you left Metro out of some of the testing

6:57 keep an eye on Mint Mobile, the solid 5G icon turns into transparent 5G icon and Speedtest app shows LTE instead of 5G. I wonder if this is some sort of internal power saving feature by Samsung? When I’m doing something intense like watching RU-vid or running a Speedtest on my Note10+ 5G, a solid white 5G icon is displayed but when I do something light such as slowly browse on Twitter/Reddit or if I turn off the screen longer than 30 seconds it displays a transparent 5G icon (meaning 5G is available nearby but due to distance or direction of the mast it’s connected to LTE.) Once again if I go back to a heavy task like watching RU-vid or downloading an app the solid 5G icon appears again, it has to be some sort of internal 5G power saving by Samsung that we can’t toggle off, right?

I bought the Mint 3+3 free 90$ Unlimited Plan SIMs to test out TMO since they are marketing hard in SW Ohio. I am getting faster speeds than Verizon 4g & 5g that I subscribe for. Depending on where I'm at, 150-200Mbps is normal on 4g with Mint, and 250-350Mbps on 5g. I was actually floored on the 5g speeds. As soon as my pixel 5 hits the 60-day unlock on Verizon, I'm jumping ship for Mint entirely.

Excellent vid! Please include Boom Mobile when you test Att & Verizon.

Hey bro quick question. For the T-Mobile prepaid plan, which were you using. The 50 or 60 dollar plan? thanks

Thanks for the reviews. Quite informative and hands-on! Question 1: when you test the speeds and determine how the date rate gets distributed when running the phones simultaneously, how do you know that the distribution is restricted to the phones under test? There are other users in your area using tmobile services and they may take up some BWs too right? How do you know if it's not shared with them? Ofcourse, they are different lines/families but they are using the same network provider. How did you eliminate this assumption? (If you didn't, can you explain how your results are accurate.) Question 2: I was under the assumption that, hotspots are data that we use as wifi. From the view of the network provider, they are just giving me data (it doesn't make a difference to them, if it's a hotspot data or phone data. It's just data). The user can choose to use it as a hotspot if the device supports it. a. In this case, why is there a limit on the hotspot? b. Is hotspot technically a separate subscription with the network provider aside from data? I know this exists. But I am wondering why. Any idea? (Analogy: This is like water supply. I can use water to cook or bathe. Would Utilities dept charge me differently for cooking water and bathing water? Or place limits on how much I can use for cooking or bathing individually? No. So this is what I am trying to understand regarding phone data and hotspot data)

Mint Mobile is great vfm. Nice vid.

I just tested my streaming bandwidth on fast.com on a tmobile one business plan with one plus add-on and got 120Mbps on 5G!

Any idea about the QCI value of Tmobile's 55+ plans, military plans and the first responder plans?

This is a phenomenal idea and done VERY well! I appreciate the effort you put into this project. Thank you so much!

I always love watching your videos Stetson. Keep up the good work!!!👍

Get 3 months of ExpressVPN FREE when you sign up for their 12-month plan - www.expressvpn.com/stetson Mint Mobile is also offering a deal, get 3 months free when you buy a 3-month plan - mint-mobile.58dp.net/c/300828/447970/7915 *TIMESTAMPS* 00:00 - Intro 00:11 - What T-Mobile Tells You 1:28 - Cell Phone Plans & Smartphones Used 2:13 - T-Mobile LTE Speed Test (Individually Run) 3:22 - T-Mobile LTE Speed Test (Simultaneously Run) 4:33 - How T-Mobile Divides Speeds Between Plans 6:17 - T-Mobile 5G Speed Test (Individually Run) 6:57 - T-Mobile 5G Speed Test (Simultaneously Run) 7:40 - Fast.com Video Streaming Test 8:50 - HD Video Pass Add Ons 9:29 - Video Streaming Performance Test 10:28 - HD vs SD Netflix Streaming Test 12:13 - 1080p RU-vid Video Streaming Test 13:07 - VPN HD Video Streaming Test 14:09 - Hotspot Speeds & Performance Test 16:22 - Heavy Data User (50GB+) Deprioritized Speed Test 18:08 - T-Mobile QCI Values 19:15 - T-Mobile is Wrong and Essentials Isn’t Worth It 20:53 - Share this with your T-Mobile friends!

Anyway to improve mint service in areas? By house speeds are amazing. Near my work speeds are pretty bad. Map says I should have pretty good coverage

This actually fascinating. Don't know why these carrier don't have more transparency.

Hey Stetson, what time of day were these test ran?

Excellent video!!!! Very informative!

Always impressed with how well prepaid performs to post paid but at significantly cheaper cost.

This man is doing gods work

What is the tool you used to measure QCI?

Been waiting for this one 🔥🔥

We need a video like this to include people still in Sprint, either those with the "Unlimited" plans as well as those that might be still on the kickstart plan...like i am.....it'll be interesting to know all that on the Sprint side

I think it would’ve been need to see how US mobile compares to the other mobile virtual network operator is featured in this video I believe the Verizon set has already been covered in a previous video. I am really enjoying all of these mobile phone plan reviews and appreciate getting a lot of the extra information so as to make the best choice.

Would have been interesting to see Google-Fi in here too. I'd assume they be with the other T-Mo MVNO's, but who knows.

Best detailed comparison I've seen thus far..

I heard you say on recent video that you were evaluating phone services. Last week I left Mint Mobile because most of the dsy my data was deprioritized to less than 1mbps. I went to an unlimited plan from Boom Mobile that is on the ATT network (actually the SIM has an ATT logo). Boom claims it has ATT postpaid priority. It cost $499 for one year. Where I live, ATT is mostly 5Ge and sometimes 5G. (Side note: a few days after I switched I started getting consistent 5G using another Mint Mobile SIM. Speeds download from 50 to 75mbps.)

T-Mobile really said Metro is not worth anything. Forget the 35 GB prepaid priority data, you’ll be lucky to pull 10 mbps

AT&T next? 👀

This was the best most accurate video I've ever seen in my life I loved every freaking minute of it Thank you so much....blessings

I'm just glad that there is a human still left in existence with this much time on there hands

Damm am still listening to your earlier video now and boom here’s the next

I love your content. As a fellow phone and data nerd, I really appreciate your level of detail.

Do you think you could review google fi? Maybe compare “designed for fi” and “compatible with fi” features?

Best video on this subject ever! So many answers here. Thanks a whole lot. I already shared this.

T-Mobile prepaid is the way to go but the only problem is video stream is limited to 480p quality. Also ping is higher on speed tests. But the download speeds are about the same as Magenta Max

You should do an update including Sprint phones now on T-Mobile via the “T-Mobile Experience”. Very curious about what QCI they have!

Can we get a 2024 update on these speeds?

You’re videos just keep getting better! Keep up gods work so that we know what’s going on haha

Stetson, why had you used different launcher for the Samsung phone? Should've used the default one.

Great work keep up the amazing cellular content!😋

Would you happen to know if a grandfathered ONE plus plan is de-prioritized? Its technically the same as Magenta Plus (sans 3g hotspot), but I have less than 1mb/s speeds in a high coverage area where I live

Any idea what the QCI is on the T-Mobile Prepaid 100gb hotspot plan?

The US mobile plan on T-Mobile is the same as the essentials , Metropcs and mint mobile you get up to 40 mbps to 50 mbps and about 10 to 20 mbps that’s fast and convenient for anybody who likes to stream movies or sports or watch RU-vid

This is exactly what I wanted to know. Well done you earned a sub 👍🏻

Hey Stetson, thanks a lot man. Nice video. !

Wow this literally makes T-Mobile Essentials such a bad plan compared to their prepaid option as prepaid has more priority.

I'm curious what's the difference between my military one plan vs the others. I only get 1.5mb on fast.com

Do you know what plan the T-Mobile 3 month trial runs on?

Do you think that T-Mobile Connect would have the same QCI value as T-Mobile prepaid or the MVNO?

Although the VPN improved the others, it negatively impacted mint mobiles streaming speed.

Video streaming is weird. It isn't a linear scale when upping the resolution, there is a lot more than just more pixels. On RU-vid on my 1440p monitor, playing back at 4k is noticably sharper than playing back at native 1440p, due to the higher bitrate. If 480p from Netflix/RU-vid was just a downsized stream, it would be fine, but it's too compressed.

What is the app that shows the Qci? Checked network signal guru but it requires root

What people don't know u can add hd streaming for $10 more on metro and it gives u twice the speed even during deprioritize data speeds

I have prepaid and it works pretty Good 👍

So glad I have an unlimited Simple Choice plan with no video throttling.

What's the difference between T-Mobile's Magenta and Magenta Plus? Do they have the same priority levels? Other than that, great video

Good thing I don't live in an area where this matters. I'm going to give mint a try next month. Will save me huge if I transfer the whole family over.

If you included Ting mobile, I would really appreciate it. I'm getting speeds like 3 Mbps and it's driving me nuts that nobody has information about their speeds.

Very good video as always. Thanks Stetson.

Who has mint mobile here in Chicago is it great or does it have great coverage or service

Under which category is T-Mobile ONE TE on ? Or is it it’s own thing

I'm learning the speeds for LTE vs 5G on Metro since I'm a customer. Tomorrow, my iPhone XR with 4G LTE will be upgraded to iPhone 13 with 5G.

I’d love to see a speed test comparison of all 3 lower tier cell phones going at the same time as 1 high tier cell phone. Would the 3 lower tier cell phones be sharing 20% while the 1 top tier phone still gets 80%?

Any idea where sprint customers using a tmobile sim card would fall on this?

I have no prob with T-Mobile Essentials it's cheaper for the more lines you have and I carry two phones so I always have a backup if I need it

Awesome , didn't know you were local to Longmont , I'm in Brighton.

Hell. All of these are better than my Simple Mobile speeds rn.

I’ve been on Mint mobile for a few weeks now and when your in area around a lot of ppl the data is atrocious basically my phone is a paper weight

What about older plans like TMobile ONE?