Unlimited used to be a wonderful word that could be said at all different carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, and with a monthly fee, you could plug away on your smartphone or device without worrying about going over some sort of data limit. Unfortunately, as time has went on, large carriers have gotten far more strict, got rid of unlimited plans altogether, and have customers tied down to a few gigs of data each month.
While Verizon and AT&T went the much more strict route, as did T-Mobile, Sprint remained steady in their offering of unlimited data to customers. Quite frankly, that was the only competitive edge they had so getting rid of unlimited would have pretty much been the death of them. Now, things are changing and come September 5th, T-Mobile is launching unlimited 4G data that they claim will have no data caps, speed limits, or overages.
This is very exciting news, but how do they stack up to Sprint? Well, when it comes to pricing, T-Mobile happens to be a bit better. They have two different kinds of plans. A classic plan which entails you getting on a contract, or a value plan which means you pay full price for a phone, yet don’t have to be on a contract. If a classic customer, unlimited everything will run $89.99/month. If you don’t need unlimited minutes, it’ll cost just $79.99/month with 500 minutes.
If a value customer, it will cost $74.99/month, or $64.99/month with 500 minutes. Comparing to Sprint, they charge $79.99 which includes 450 minutes, $99.99/month with 900 minutes, or $109.99/month for unlimited everything.
As far as 4G coverage, Sprint is still in the early stages of their 4G LTE deployment. T-Mobile on the other hand is far more established so they clearly have a better advantage in that area. With that said, it’s worth noting that depending on the success of them offering fully unlimited 4G, their networks could experience much more load. More load could mean slower speeds, less great coverage which could definitely be a big deal.
Lastly, we get to the selection of smartphones. It’s funny because at one time, Sprint had a very lackluster selection, one that was kind of disappointing. That’s clearly changed over the years and Sprint definitely 1-ups T-Mobile when it comes to phones to choose from. Sprint costs more from a plan perspective, but T-Mobile could potentially cost more upfront if you decide to go with the no contract option.
We recommend reading up on or finding some people who have either Sprint or T-Mobile in your area, and seeing what they have to say. Both carriers have their advantages and disadvantages, but coverage still remains King which can potentially be great in one area, and not so great in another.