- When I reviewed Metro by T-Mobile in 2017,
I called them the better version of T-Mobile Prepaid.
They offered essentially the same plans as T-Mobile Prepaid
at cheaper prices.
But, how do Metro by T-Mobile's plans stack up in 2021?
It turns out only one of their plans is worth it,
and only under one circumstance.
The other plans? I don't think they're worth it all.
In this full review I'll be covering
everything you need to know about Metro by T-Mobile,
including their current plan offerings,
why one plan is worth it and the other ones aren't,
the network data speeds and performance,
and ultimately whether or not
you should sign up for their service.
Hi, I'm Stetson, and I review cell phone plans.
My goal is to help you save money on your cell phone bill,
and I even designed and built BestPhonePlans.net
to help make it easy to find and compare plans.
For a select group of people, Metro may actually be
an excellent option for reducing their cell phone bill.
But for others, you'll be better off looking elsewhere.
Let's get into it.
Metro offers four plans to choose from.
The $30 plan includes unlimited talk and text
with 2 gigs of high speed data.
After the 2 gigs, you get unlimited data,
but it's capped at 2G speeds, or 128 kilobits per second.
The $40 plan includes unlimited talk, text,
and 10 gigs of high-speed data
before unlimited data at 2G speeds.
Metro also throws in an added perk of Music Unlimited.
This lets you stream unlimited music
from your favorite services, including Spotify,
Apple Music, iHeartRadio and more,
without counting against your 10 gigs
of high-speed data allotment.
Unfortunately, the mobile hotspot is not supported
with either of these lower-tier plans.
The next plan is the $50 Unlimited plan.
This includes unlimited talk, text, and unlimited data.
Metro also adds support for the mobile hotspot
and includes 5 gigs of hotspot data.
Hotspot data is shut off after the 5 gig allotment, though.
Another interesting perk is Metro
includes 100 gigabytes of Google One storage.
This storage can be used in Gmail, Google Drive,
Google Photos, and for backing up your phone.
Normally this is $2 per month or $20 per year,
so it's a nice perk to have.
Unfortunately, the link in my Metro account
to add the 100 gigs of Google One storage
brought me to a broken URL filled with ads.
I think to add the storage,
you need to reach out to customer support,
or use the Metro app on an Android phone,
but the truth is I never got around to it
because I was signed up for this plan for such a short time.
Finally we have the $60 Unlimited plan.
This is the same plan as the $50 plan,
but it increases the hotspot data to 15 gigs,
and it also adds an Amazon Prime membership
on top of the Google One storage included with the service.
I initially thought this was a great deal,
and it certainly can be for some people,
but considering Amazon Prime is $120 per year
for the annual plan, that's only $10 per month,
which is exactly the same difference
as the cost between these two plans.
That means arguably the only real difference
is the 10 gigs of extra hotspot data with the $60 plan.
And, unless you need the extra hotspot data,
I would opt for the $50 plan
and get an Amazon Prime membership separately.
That way the two services are not tied together,
and you won't lose your Prime membership
if you cancel your Metro service or switch providers.
And of course, all of Metro's plans
include excellent feature support.
You get full support for Voice over LTE, Wi-Fi calling,
visual voicemail, 5G access on T-Mobile's 5G network,
domestic roaming data, and mobile hotspot
on the plans that support it.
One thing to note here is that I wasn't able to confirm
how much domestic roaming data was included.
The representative I spoke with over the phone
wasn't able to provide an exact amount.
T-Mobile Postpaid include 200 megabytes
of domestic roaming data,
and T-Mobile Prepaid includes 100 megabytes
of domestic roaming data with their plans,
so I would assume with Metro,
it's around 100 megabyte mark for domestic roaming data.
Metro also offers a wide selection
of international calling add-ons.
There are too many to cover in this video,
so you can see the fill list on my website
BestPhonePlans.net.
Interestingly, the only option
for international data roaming is in Canada and Mexico
with the Canada and Mexico unlimited add-ons
at $5 each per month.
Metro previously offered a $10 World Calling add-on
that included 200 megabytes of roaming data
in 18 supported countries,
but customer support told me that add-on was discontinued
over two years ago.
So if you need coverage when traveling abroad,
you'll need a different solution.
You may consider an international eSIM plan
from carriers such as US Moblie or Airalo,
or you may consider signing up for a plan
that's local to the country you're visiting
because oftentimes they have excellent and affordable rates.
Besides the lack of international data roaming,
there are two big cons with Metro's service.
The first is visual voicemail.
While it works natively on iPhones,
Android users are required
to use the dedicated visual voicemail app.
Some users are complaining the app can be hit or miss.
The second is that you still have to pay
a $20 device swap fee.
This means any time you want to switch phones,
whether you're upgrading to a new phone
or you just wanna switch to a different phone
to try it out, you have to pay $20.
I switch devices all the time,
so this would literally add up
to hundreds of dollars per year for my particular use case,
and it's the main reason why I would never use Metro
as my personal provider.
For most people though, it's likely not a big deal.
You probably upgrade your phone once every couple of years,
so switching phones would just be a mild inconvenience
along with a $20 charge.
Speaking of charges, Metro also charges you
a one-time $20 activation fee and $10 SIM card fee
when you first sign up.
Once you're activated though,
Metro's billing is simple and straightforward.
Their prices include all taxes and fees,
so what you see is what you pay, and I absolutely love that.
Metro also makes it easy to pay
via their mobile application, online,
or even through an automated system over the phone.
And if you're like me and running behind
on your Metro by T-Mobile review
and your service is up for renewal
while you're filming the video,
Metro also offers a one-time billing extension
where they will restore your service and give you
and extra 72 hours, or 3 extra days, to pay your bill.
Thank you, Metro. This low-key came in clutch.
Okay, so at the beginning of this video
I said that only one of Metro's plans was worth it,
and only under one circumstance.
So which one is it, and why?
Let's start with the plans that aren't worth it.
And those are the $30 2 gig plan,
the $40 10 gig plan, and the $50 Unlimited plan.
For the $30 and $40 options, you can find cheaper plans
with way more data from Mint Mobile and US Mobile.
You can get the same 10 gigs of data as Metro's $40 plan
for just $20 per month on Mint Mobile or US Mobile.
That's half the price for the same service.
I'll also add that Mint supports
many of the same features as Metro,
so you're not missing out on much.
If you want more data, you even have the option
to bump up to the $30 plans from Mint and US Mobile,
which include 35 gigs and 30 gigs of data respectively.
This is plenty of data for average consumers
and at a cheaper price than Metro.
Heck, even T-Mobile's own prepaid service
offers 2.5 gigs of data for just 15 bucks a month,
half the price of Metro's plans.
So yeah, Metro's plans are not worth it at all.
Speaking of T-Mobile prepaid, that's actually
the main reason Metro's $50 Unlimited plan
isn't worth it either.
The same $50 per month gets you unlimited data
on both Metro and T-Mobile Prepaid,
but there are two key differences.
The first difference is in hotspot data.
Metro's plan is slightly better here.
It offers 5 gigs of hotspot data at high-speeds,
as opposed to T-Mobile Prepaid
which offers unlimited hotspot data,
but It caps the speed at a slow 600 kilobits per second.
The second difference is much more important though,
and it's that T-Mobile prepaid includes priority data
whereas Metro's data is always deprioritized at all times.
What does this mean?
Having priority data means that anytime the network is busy,
such as if you're trying to use your phone
at a crowded football game, at a concert,
or at another public event where there are a lot of people
all trying to use the network at once,
then people with priority data
will have slightly faster speeds.
People who have deprioritized plans,
such as Metro's plans, will have slower speeds.
How much of a difference will this make?
Well, as I said in my full T-Mobile review,
I doubt this will make a significant difference
for most people.
I've been using a deprioritized plan on Mint Mobile
for the past 2 1/2 years now
and I've never noticed a difference in my service.
But why I am I harping on the difference
between priority data between these two plans
for this video?
Because for the same price,
I think more people will have a better experience
on T-Mobile Prepaid than on Metro.
I think having priority data
will provide a better, slightly faster experience
over having 5 gigs of hotspot data,
and I also think having access to T-Mobile support
via T-Force on social media
or by going to a T-Mobile store
will provide a better experience
than Metro's customer support.
And for single-line users, these exact things ring true
for the $60 Unlimited plans as well.
I personally would choose the $60 T-Mobile prepaid plan
over the $60 Metro plan every time.
But I did say one of Metro's plans was worth it.
And it turns out that the $60 plan is worth it,
but only for multi-line accounts.
You see, with four lines, the price drops
to just $30 per month per line flat.
Taxes and fees included.
You also get the 100 gigs of Google One storage included.
And that Amazon Prime membership included.
I think that is worth it.
It's somehow cheaper than Metro's $50 plan with four lines
thanks to a promotion they appear to always be running,
and the plan is way cheaper than Magenta or Magenta MAX.
So would I recommend signing up for Metro by T-Mobile?
Well, if you fall into that one specific use case
of having four or more lines
that all need unlimited data,
then I think Metro's $60 plan is worth it.
It's got nice features, nice perks,
and will an overall good experience.
But for anyone else, I would suggest looking elsewhere.
People looking for budget plans
can find way better deals from Mint Mobile and US Mobile,
and people looking for great single-line Unlimited plans
can get a better experience
by going with T-Mobile prepaid directly.
What do you think about Metro by T-Mobile?
Let me know with a comment down below.
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I'm Stetson, thank you so much for watching,
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