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We now have even more information about T-Mobile’s upcoming “T-Mix” plans, and boy is it…interesting.
First posted on Reddit, the new system T-Mix plans will use for phone promos and account benefits is called “picks”. The more lines you have, or the higher tier your plan is, the more “picks” you get to spend.
Earn your phone promos
According to u/desterpot on Reddit (who was banned by Reddit while writing this article, so the source post may disappear), phone promos will now be valued based on the number of picks they cost. For example, a promo offering $1,200 off a new iPhone with eligible trade would “cost” three “picks”.
A lesser-value promo, like $1,100 off a new Motorola razr with trade, would only cost two picks. Other low-end promos don’t seem to require spending picks at all.
This will now be the system for getting device promos moving forward. Instead of having phone promos based on which plan you have, it’s now based on how many “picks” you have.
In addition to spending your picks on phone promos, you’ll also be able to spend them on benefits, specifically the ones we detailed last week. It’s not yet clear how many “picks” each perk will cost.
More lines, more picks
According to a comment on the aforementioned Reddit post, the number of “picks” you have is determined by both your plan and your line count.
For T-Mix Standard, each line you have is good for 1 pick, but you can only get up to four picks per account. Even though the plan allows up to 6 lines, you’re capped at four picks on this plan.
On T-Mix More, you get two picks per line, up to three lines. After that, additional lines earn one more pick, up to a maximum of 12 per account.
Finally, T-Mix Loaded, as implied by its name, gives you the most picks per line, up to a maximum of 20.
The tables below shows line counts and pick values.
T-Mix Standard: (Max 4)
1 Pick for 1 Line
2 Picks for 2 Lines
3 Picks for 3 Lines
4 Picks for 4+ Lines
T-Mix More: (Max 12)
2 Picks for 1 Line
4 Picks for 2 Lines
6 Picks for 3 Lines
+1 Pick for lines 4-9
T-Mix Loaded: (Max 20)
3 Picks for 1 Line
6 Picks for 2 Lines
8 Picks for 3 Lines
10 Picks for 4 Lines
12 Picks for 5 Lines
14 Picks for 6 Lines
+1 Picks for 7-12 Lines
The full list of available perks that can be redeemed is also now known, and our coverage for that can be found here.
Unnecessary confusion
It’s not entirely clear how the picks are “spent”. If a customer uses three picks on a phone promo, are those three picks deducted from their overall pick count? If so, for how long? Would it be the length of the installment?
What if a customer wants a phone promo, but they’ve already spent their picks on Xbox Game Pass, and they don’t have enough left to get the phone promo. Do they cancel Game Pass to then spend those picks on a phone promo?
This entire system seems pretty convoluted. T-Mobile will certainly market this idea as great for the consumer, because they can mix and match what they want and choose to get either phone promos or free subscriptions to things. In reality, though, it seems like it might end up confusing the average customer.
Imagine being a T-Mobile representative in a store, and you’re trying to explain to a customer that they can’t get a discounted iPhone right now because they spent their imaginary T-Currency on DoorDash Dash Pass this month. Who knows, though, maybe this will end up being half-decent.
We also don’t know how legacy plans will be impacted. Will ONE customers be assigned picks to spend? Unclear.
All that aside, we still don’t know when the new plans launch, but signs are now pointing towards the end of this month. Another comment on the Reddit thread stated that these new T-Mix plans are being tested in select local stores right now, too.
Regardless, we will, as always, keep you updated when we learn more.
