The only thing more surprising than learning that Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds had bought a stake in the new Mint Mobile was learning that his new network offered some of the best mobile deals in the US mobile market.
T-Mobile acquired the MVNO last month, and its early changes actually look good for existing and new customers. Here's why Mint Mobile is always a good deal.
Mint Mobile has always operated on T-Mobile's network, but its offering was somewhat unique, somewhere between a prepaid wireless plan and a postpaid wireless plan. Customers can buy three, six, or twelve months in advance, and the earlier you buy, the cheaper the plan.
Mint Mobile's cheapest plan is a whopping €15 per month, if you pay €180 up front for the whole year. For that price, you get unlimited LTE data and up to 4GB of 5G network usage. You can even use your phone as a mobile hotspot at no additional cost, but that data comes from your 4GB monthly limit. Once you run out of data, you will get much slower network access.
No other major carrier in the US offers such a cheap plan, even for a prepaid plan. Both AT&T and Verizon offer prepaid plans with data caps. AT&T will give you 5 GB of data, including a faster 5G network, for €30. Verizon offers a 15 GB limit on their smallest prepaid plan, and you pay €45.
The big problem is that both plans charge extra if you run out of data, they don't just slow you down to 2006 network speeds.
Perhaps noting what Mint Mobile offers, AT&T also offers a prepaid plan that allows you to pay up to a year in advance. You can pay €300 per year, or the equivalent of €25/month, and get 16GB of data instead of just 5GB. You get a lot more data for less if you pay upfront.
T-Mobile gives every Mint Mobile user more data
Perhaps that is why T-Mobile has announced that it will improve the Mint Mobile offer. 4GB plan subscribers will now get 5GB Mint offered 10GB per month for €20, or 15GB per month for €25 if you pay for a full year upfront, like AT&T. Now you get 15 GB or 20 GB per month for the same price.
On AT&T you get 16 GB per month, but on Mint you get 20 GB per month for the same annual price.
For subscribers to the unlimited plan, the amount of 5G hotspot data you can use before Mint slows you down has increased. You can now use a hotspot up to 10GB over 5G. Other subscribers still get hotspot data from their monthly data limit.
New customers will find the offer available this week, and existing customers don't have to. Your cellular plan will automatically get more data. It's common for mobile carriers to remove existing subscribers from new deals, so this is great news for Mint Mobile users.
You don't need to pay for a full year of Mint Mobile up front. If you only want to buy three months in advance, you only pay $45. That's the price Verizon charges for 15GB of data on its cheapest prepaid plan, with no discount for paying multiple months in advance. It's clear that the big carriers have their eyes on Mint Mobile and are aggressively circumventing its pricing options.
What makes Mint Mobile the clear winner is that its 20GB monthly plan is a red herring. If you only buy three months at a time, the unlimited plan is cheaper. Even for a full year, unlimited data costs just €60 more than the cheapest plan with data caps. For €360 you get a year of unlimited 5G, or for €300 you get 20 GB per month. If it runs out, the network works slower, you are not charged extra.
More data for a lot less money, so what is Mint missing?
The more expensive monthly plans will let you stream in all its 4K glory. If you pay less, the video quality suffers
One serious drawback of Mint Mobile is that it will only allow you to stream videos in SD format. It's standard definition, or the same resolution as your grandpa's old DVD player. Forget Full HD and don't even dream of 4K UHD resolution.
In fact, only AT&T and T-Mobile, on the most expensive monthly plans, will let you stream in all its 4K glory. If you pay less, the video quality suffers.
The other things Mint Mobile doesn't offer are bundled streaming services and subscription services that just mess with your budget. Verizon is rolling out a fruit salad of Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Hulu, and Disney Plus.
T-Mobile currently offers you Netflix and Apple TV Plus, or possibly Paramount Plus, depending on your plan.
It's smart for Mint Mobile to forgo these plans because they just confuse customers, especially when it's time to switch. It's easy to ditch your carrier for a better deal, only to remember a month later that your monthly plan paid for your Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Ryan Reynolds helped T-Mobile make its initial acquisition announcement, and the company said Reynolds would stay on for creative purposes, of course. Those big Mint Mobile ads. Even without the MCU's Merc with a Mouth, it's nice to see that Mint Mobile is still customer friendly.