{"id":650483,"date":"2013-04-03T21:18:40","date_gmt":"2013-04-04T01:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.talkandroid.com\/?p=156254"},"modified":"2013-04-03T21:18:40","modified_gmt":"2013-04-04T01:18:40","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-the-t-mobile-simple-choice-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/650483","title":{"rendered":"What you need to know about the T-Mobile Simple Choice Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"T-Mobile<\/p>\n

T-Mobile made a splash announcing its new no-contract Simple Choice plans<\/a>\u00a0and we here at Talk Android are wondering: Can they actually save you money?<\/em> For the longest time, the wireless industry here in the U.S. has been dominated by two-year contracts. Whether you go with Sprint, Verizon or AT&T, the only way to get a solid smartphone at a lower price ($99 to $299), is by signing a two-year contract. Many Americans simply don’t have the cash to pay full price for an unlocked smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n

T-Mobile wants to change that with Simple Choice. There are no contracts and kicking off with the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 for just $99<\/a>, it sounds like a great deal. First, let’s see what Simple Choice has to offer and at what prices:<\/p>\n

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\"T-MobileThere are two plans to choose from, which in many ways complicates things rather than “simply” things. The new Simple Choice plan has a capped and throttled data plan, which starts at $50 per month (1 line) for unlimited minutes\/texts and 500MB of data that you can use for either your phone or hotspot. You won’t be charged a dime if you go over 500MB, but you will be throttled to 2G speeds. If you need more than 500MB of data, it will cost you an additional $10 per month for every 2GB. Sounds simple enough, but here’s where things get complicated. The Classic unlimited plan starts at $70 per month (1 line) and includes unlimited minutes, texts, and data. There is one caveat, and that is that the unlimited data is only for your phone. They do include 500MB of hotspot only data, and if you need more it will cost you an additional $10 per month for every 2GB of data.<\/p>\n

Now, without contracts means you’ll have to pay for the device over time. Depending on the device, it’ll cost an additional $5 to $20 per month over 24 months for either plan, and you always have the option to just buy the device upfront. For example, let’s say you get two lines and two Samsung Galaxy S III’s with Classic unlimited 4G (500MB tethering). You’re looking at $120 per month plus $40 per month over two years just for the phones themselves. If you know you won’t use more than 2.5GB of data, you can opt for the capped Simple Choice plan, which would cost $100 per month plus $40 per month over two years for the phones. You would be capped at 2.5GB, but you would also have access to that entire amount of data via hotspot.<\/p>\n

T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plans aren’t “technically” no-contract\u00a0because if you opt to pay for a device over time and terminate your service before the 24 months, you still have to pay off the device. It’s a bit of a catch 22. Now, looking at pricing for three other carriers, Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T, let’s see how much it would cost for at least 2GB of data:<\/p>\n