Mint Mobile just turned 10, and it's celebrating by charging new customers one flat price for every six-month plan: $60 upfront, or $10 a month. T-Mobile announced the offer Oct. 8 through its newsroom. It covers the first six months of service and nothing past that, and current Mint customers are shut out. Since the 6GB, 17GB, 23GB and Unlimited tiers all cost the same $60, an eligible switcher gets the most data for no extra money by picking Unlimited.
Checkout will run higher than $60. Mint's plan terms set the Recovery Fee on a six-month Unlimited plan at a flat $8.75 plus 2.5% of the plan price. On a $60 plan, that percentage adds $1.50, for a $10.25 fee. The order lands at roughly $70.25 before location-based telecom taxes, plus any applicable shipping charge for a physical SIM. Spread over six months, that's about $11.71 a month. And the Recovery Fee isn't a government charge; Mint keeps it.
Renewal is where the real money shows up. Mint's six-month plan page lists Unlimited renewals at $40 a month for three months ($120), $35 a month for six months ($210) or $30 a month for 12 months ($360), each paid upfront. Take the promotion and then renew for six months, and year one costs $60 plus $210, or $270 before taxes and fees. That's about $22.50 a month, handed over in two lump sums. Measured against the regular six-month price of $210, the promotion saves $150 on the first half-year.
What Unlimited includes
- Data: the first 50GB of each monthly cycle at 5G or 4G LTE speeds. Past 50GB, Mint says speeds may be reduced for the rest of the cycle in certain locations when the network is busy. Mint doesn't call that 50GB priority data, and the retrieved pages don't state a fixed reduced speed.
- Hotspot: up to 20GB, with no separate hotspot speed cap listed.
- Video: standard definition.
- Calling and texting: unlimited talk and text, Wi-Fi Calling and Scam Screener. Calls from the U.S. to Mexico, Canada and the U.K. are free, as is texting to more than 190 countries and destinations.
- Canada roaming: unlimited talk and text plus 3GB of high-speed data. The retrieved materials don't establish included roaming in Mexico. The announcement also says the international features aren't meant for extended use abroad.
Eligibility, and what Mint hasn't said
Mint rides on T-Mobile's network, so check coverage at home and at work before anything else. A phone you bring over has to be unlocked and compatible with Mint. Android Authority, which reported on the promotion independently, says it's open only to new subscribers who have never used Mint.
Several questions stay open in Mint's materials:
- There's no published end date. Mint's terms say promotions may be changed or ended without notice.
- Mint doesn't explain how it decides who counts as a new customer, or how long a former customer stays ineligible.
- Neither the offer page nor the announcement mentions an AutoPay requirement or an activation fee. Undisclosed isn't the same as nonexistent.
- The official materials don't say you have to port in an existing number, and nothing in the offer requires buying a phone.
The bottom line
If T-Mobile's coverage holds up where you live and work, and paying about $70 at once fits your budget, Mint Unlimited is a strong buy at this price. It offers the most data among the four promotional tiers, priced like the 6GB tier, and six months gives you time to judge the network before renewal rates apply. Mint calls this its best deal ever. The fit is worse for heavy hotspot users, people who want HD video over cellular, and anyone who'd rather pay monthly than in lump sums.