T-Mobile and Verizon seem to be playing a game of leapfrog when it comes to our best phone carrier rankings. One of the wireless phone service providers will make a change — maybe to its assortment of data plans, maybe to the various perks it offers — and vault ahead of the other in our estimation. Then, the other company will respond, and our ratings will change once again.
Well, it's T-Mobile's turn at the head of the line. In our most recent report on phone carriers, the Uncarrier has overtaken Verizon as our pick for the place to turn for your wireless phone service.
Picking the best phone carrier boils down to more than just who offers the lowest monthly rate for the most data — though attractively priced cell phone plans are a big part of the discussion. But there's also customer service, coverage and network performance, and the perks that come with getting your service from a specific carrier.
At the moment, T-Mobile ticks more of those boxes. Here's why we reshuffled our phone carrier rankings.
Why T-Mobile is tops
T-Mobile wouldn't seem to be a likely candidate to climb up the phone rankings after it introduced its Experience More and Experience Beyond plans earlier this year. While certainly fine options for unlimited data, they're on the pricey side — a single line of Experience More costs $85/month while Experience Beyond is $100. You'll find cheaper options at both AT&T and Verizon among the larger carriers.
More to the point, the arrival of those new T-Mobile plans came at the expense of some of my favorite offerings at the Un-carrier. Plans like Go5G Plus may still be in operation for existing customers, but you won't see those plans on T-Mobile's website anymore.
So how'd T-Mobile pull off its rise up the rankings? I think it comes down to three factors.
Great perks
Experience More and Experience Beyond may be on the pricier end of the spectrum for the best cell phone plans. But they come loaded with perks, starting with a five-year price guarantee, an increasingly popular benefit from phone carriers at a time when prices seem to be rising all around us.
But there are other noteworthy perks as well. Looking at just the Experience More plan, you get free subscriptions to Netflix and Apple TV Plus included in your plan. Considering how prices for streaming services seem to constantly be on the rise, it's good to have those folded into your price-locked wireless plan. You get 15GB of high-speed data when you travel in Mexico and Canada and 5GB in 215-plus other countries. And you can upgrade your phone every two years.
Perks are even more generous with Experience Beyond, as you'd imagine for the more expensive plan. There, you can upgrade your phone every year. You get larger data allotments when traveling to other countries. And Hulu joins the mix of free streaming services included with your T-Mobile subscription.
Earlier this summer, T-Mobile dangled another benefit toward its customers — a year of DoorDash's DashPass, promising no delivery fees and reduced service fees when you order food or groceries. Customers have until August 8 to claim that perk.
A top-ranked network
Current TV ads from T-Mobile make a lot of hay out of the fact that the carrier's network is now rated tops in the country. That's based on findings from third-party test firm Ookla, which says that T-Mobile won its Speedtest Award for best mobile network in the U.S. for testing covering the first two quarters of 2025.
Ookla isn't the only testing firm to sing T-Mobile's praises. In Opensignal's January 2025 report on network testing, T-Mobile swept the overall experience categories and also posted wins for 5G download speeds and 5G coverage. (Verizon tops the overall coverage category for Opensignal and shares honors for reliability with T-Mobile.)
It's worth noting that a third firm, Rootmetrics, recognizes AT&T as the best overall network, while also praising Verizon's 5G speed and reliability for its report covering the first half of the year. That same report does recognize T-Mobile for having the highest 5G availability among the major carriers.
New services
This coming week, T-Mobile throws the switch on its satellite-to-mobile service. Starting July 23, a network of 650-plus satellites will offer texting support when there's no cellular connectivity. The service is supposed to work out of the box with 75% of the devices currently in use on T-Mobile's network.
Data-based connectivity follows in October, which is the same month that T-Mobile expands emergency texting to any mobile customer from any carrier who's got a compatible phone. For T-Mobile customers, the service is included on Experience Beyond plans and is a $10/month add-on for other plans.
Don't overlook Verizon
I don't want to give the impression that Verizon's slip down to No. 2 in our rankings reflects any backsliding by that carrier. Really, the rankings change reflects the new things going on at T-Mobile more than anything.
Indeed, Verizon remains a formidable contender and is the carrier that I turn to for my wireless service. That's a reflection of how strong Verizon's signal is where I live and work, but there are other factors keeping me in the Verizon fold as well.
I like the flexibility of Verizon's unlimited plans, which come in three different tiers starting with the $65/month Unlimited Welcome offering. Unlike T-Mobile, you can mix and match different Verizon plans if you have more than one line, so that some lines can turn to Unlimited Welcome while others enjoy the better perks of either Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Ultimate.
I wish Verizon would follow T-Mobile's lead and add complimentary streaming services with its plans. Instead, like other perks, those are $10/month add-ons. The benefit to this approach is that you can drop extras when you don't need them, such as a travel benefit covering data use when you're overseas, that's of little use if you're not on the go. Even at $10/month, these perks save you money, as I'm able to add on the Disney Plus bundle at a $7 savings each month over what I'd pay for that streaming package without Verizon.
And, as I noted up above, Verizon gets high marks for its coverage from testing firms. Rootmetrics ranks Verizon tops in most categories surrounding 5G service, while Opensignal says the carrier has the best overall coverage experience in the U.S.
Phone carriers outlook
The point is, it's a pretty tightly contested fight between the top carriers in our rankings. T-Mobile may be the choice at the moment, but if I know one thing, its rivals will be ready to fire back very soon.
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- Mint Mobile just slashed its unlimited plan's price in half — now just $15 a month
- Best cheap cell phone plans
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