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Today, T-Mobile announced that it’s launching a new cheaper mobile plan for people that tend to use their smartphone only for necessities. Called T-Mobile Essentials, this new plan will cover talk, text, and data on the cheap side, but there’s a catch you need to be aware of.
This plan, which include unlimited talk, text, and data will run you $30 per line for a family of four, which is a discount of $10 from T-Mobile ONE plan. Now, what’s different here is the quality of video stream you get because that will suffer.
T-Mobile has pointed out that customers on the Essential plan will be the first to see slower data speeds, and if these subscribers use upwards of 50 gigabytes of data in a billing month period, internet speeds as well as video quality may be further throttled, not just during congestion.
In the company’s press release, they said that video “typically” streams at 480p, which is DVD quality, just so you’re aware.
If you aren’t subscribing for the family plan, there’s something you should know: individual packages start at $60 for a single line, $30 for the second, and then an extra $15 for every additional line that’s added to the plan. Unfortunately, features like in-flight texting and unlimited music streaming, will not be available to T-Mobile Essentials customers. These features are available currently to T-Mobile One plan subscribers.
