We have all seen them. The ads with Ryan Reynolds, his deadpan humor, and the promise of a phone bill that doesn’t look like a car payment. For a long time, I just laughed at the commercials and moved on. But after seeing them enough times, curiosity finally got the better of me.
Could an upstart carrier like Mint Mobile really compete with the big guys?
With Black Friday rolling around, I decided to stop wondering and actually investigate. I wanted to see if the numbers held up or if it was just good marketing. What I found was a deal that didn’t just lower our monthly bills—it got us flagship technology for a fraction of the retail price.
Here is what I found when I dug into the Mint Mobile Black Friday sale.
The Hardware: A Flagship for Half Price
The first thing that caught my eye wasn’t even the phone plan—it was the phone itself.
I was looking at the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. This is a top-tier flagship device that normally retails for around $1,200. Even on Amazon, during big Cyber Monday sales, you might see it discounted to $850 if you are lucky.
Mint, however, had a deal that really caught my eye.
They were offering the Pixel 10 Pro XL for $499.99. That is nearly $350 cheaper than the best Amazon price and $700 off retail. The catch? You have to bundle it with a year of their phone service (also on sale). But when I crunched the numbers, “the catch” turned out to be the best part.
The Service: High-End for Low-End Prices
Mint Mobile’s subscription model is different. Instead of paying monthly, you prepay for 3, 6, or 12 months at a time.
For Black Friday, they were offering their high-end, unlimited plan for just $15 a month if you commit to the year.
When I added it all up—the discounted flagship phone, the taxes, the fees, and a full year of service—the total came out to roughly $740 upfront. To put that in perspective: for $740, I walked away with a brand-new $1,200 phone and my phone bill paid off for the next 12 months. The plan that I had with T-Mobile was $35 per each of two lines, or about $840 per year.
The Secret Weapon: “MINTernet”
As I was digging through the checkout process, I noticed another offer that looked too good to pass up: 5G Home Internet (which they call “MINTernet”).
If you already have a phone line with them, they offer a 5G home internet gateway for $30 a month (paid all at once for year).
This was the final piece of the puzzle for me. We were currently paying $50 a month for our 5G home internet ($600 per year). Switching to Mint would drop that cost significantly, and because I had done my homework on the network, I knew I wouldn’t be sacrificing speed.
The Network Reality (The “T-Mobile” Factor)
The biggest fear with switching to a smaller carrier is coverage. Will my calls drop? Will the internet be slow?
Here is the interesting part: T-Mobile actually bought Mint Mobile (as of May 1, 2024).
This means Mint isn’t using some discount, second-rate tower network. It runs on the exact same T-Mobile 5G infrastructure we were already using. We are essentially getting the exact same signal and coverage we are used to, just billed through a different (and cheaper) system.
The Verdict: The $1000+ Question
So, is it a downgrade? Based on the infrastructure, absolutely not. It’s the same service tier for a much lower price.
Here is how the math worked out for my household (my wife and me):
- Old Costs: Monthly, we were paying $35/line for phones and $50 for home internet.
- New Mint Costs: We are looking at an effective $15/line for phones and $30 for internet (monthly but paid for a year in advance).
By switching our lines and our internet to Mint, we aren’t just getting a new phone; we are saving roughly $1000+ the first year in pure service costs plus a smartphone.
It’s rare to find a “downgrade” in price that feels like an upgrade in value, but this investigation proved that sometimes, the ads are actually on to something. Ryan Reynolds might be funny, but the savings are serious.
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