Metro By T-Mobile launched a new offer today. Switchers can now pick up an iPhone 7 for $49.99. It was previously priced at $99.99. Also available is a new unlimited LTE data plan priced at $40 and an offer of 2 unlimited lines for $65. Metro is marketing the $40 plan by highlighting that new customers can pick up a free Samsung Galaxy A20 when they switch to it.
Metro's $49.99 32GB iPhone 7 Offer Details And Fine Print
This is a limited time offer available in-store only to new customers. Those porting from T-Mobile and those who had a line active on Metro in the past 90 days are not eligible for the offer. The iPhone 7 is priced at $399.99 but drops down to $49.99 after an instant switcher rebate discount is applied. Customers will be required to pay sales tax on the device plus a $15 activation fee per line. Sales tax is usually based upon the full retail price of the phone, not the discounted price.
To claim the offer ID validation is required. Metro will validate your ID against an independent database to confirm your name, address, and date of birth. This is done to help prevent fraud.
Bonus Offer: "Share The Experience Of iPhone 7 ON US"
Metro By T-Mobile is also offering the iPhone 7 as a BOGO deal. Customers who pick up one iPhone 7 for $49.99 can get a second iPhone 7 for free when they add a second line to their account. The new line must also have a number that is not currently active on T-Mobile and that has not been active on Metro within the past 90 days. (Update: a rep has informed me that the offer is however available to T-Mobile MVNO customers.) The free iPhone will come by way of a $399.99 instant bonus rebate. Sales tax on the device will cost extra.
There is a limit of four instant switcher rebates allowed per account and household and two instant bonus rebates allowed.
The iPhone 7 offers are available for use with Metro's new $40 unlimited LTE data plan described below.
Metro's $40 Single Line And 2 For $65 Unlimited LTE Data Plan Offer Details And Fine Print
The offers are scheduled to be available for a limited time and are available in-store only and are only available to switchers. The two for $65 offer is for one phone line and one tablet line, not two phone lines.
The unlimited LTE data plan available with both offers includes unlimited talk, text and LTE data. Like all unlimited data plans on the market, there is a data prioritization policy in place. The data prioritization policy states that customers that consume more than 35GB of data during a billing cycle may have their data speeds temporarily slowed down during times of heavy network congestion. Once the congestion gets relieved, data speeds will return back to normal. Video streams at a resolution of 480p. Mobile hotspot is not allowed. Taxes and fees should be included in the plan prices shown. I reached out to T-Mobile to confirm but had not received a response at article publication time. (Update: a rep has confirmed that taxes and fees are included in the price.)
2 Unlimited Lines For $65
Customers that want this deal will be subscribing their phone line to Metro's $50 unlimited high-speed data plan which differs from the new $40 plan in that it includes 5GB of mobile hotspot and a subscription to Google One with 100GB of cloud storage. Subscribers who pick up this offer will receive a free Alcatel Joy Tab when they add a tablet line to their account priced at $15/month. Sales tax on the tablet and activation ($15) will cost extra. The tablet line includes unlimited LTE data with the same data prioritization policy in place as Metro's new $40 unlimited plan.
Free Samsung Galaxy A20
Metro is advertising that customers can get a free Samsung Galaxy A20 when they port their number to Metro and switch to the new $40 unlimited plan. It is also available for free with the two unlimited lines for $65 offer.
Just like with the iPhone offer, a valid ID is required to get a free Samsung Galaxy A20 and sales tax costs extra. The Samsung Galaxy A20 isn't the only phone available for free to switchers, it just happens to be the one that Metro is featuring on its home page. Also available for free with valid ID and number port include the following devices:
- LG Aristo 4 Plus
- Alcatel 3V
- LG Stylo 5
- Samsung Galaxy A10e
- Moto G7 Power
- LG K40
- Moto E 6th generation
- Moto G Play 7
- LG Aristo 3 Plus
- Samsung Galaxy J2
- Alcatel 1X Evolve
- Alcatel GO FLIP 3
Editor's Take
The iPhone 7 has shaped up to be one of this season's hottest phone deals in prepaid. Metro likely dropped the price on the iPhone 7 down to $49.99 from $99.99 to better compete against Boost Mobile where the iPhone 7 is being sold for $29.99. AT&T Prepaid meanwhile just launched a $99 iPhone 7 deal available exclusively at Walmart.
Metro's new $40 unlimited LTE data plan offer likely comes as a response to Visible's $40 unlimited plan and a similar plan that was recently offered by Cricket Wireless. Visible is Verizon's prepaid brand and was the first of the carrier owned prepaid brands on the market to offer a single line $40 unlimited LTE data plan. During the past holiday shopping season, Cricket Wireless became the second carrier owned prepaid brand to offer a $40 unlimited plan but it recently disappeared. It will be interesting to see if AT&T responds to Metro's new offer by bringing the $40 unlimited LTE data plan back to Cricket Wireless as well as a better deal on the iPhone. Cricket currently offers the iPhone 6s to new customers for $49.99, and that offer has fallen clearly behind what's now available at Metro and Boost.
Boost Mobile in the past has been quick to react to Metro's offers, so it is possible Boost will be quick to push out a new unlimited plan or bring back a blast from the past. In late 2018, Boost Mobile offered an unlimited LTE data plan for $25/month.
Can the service be cancelled after 1 month without penalty? If so, will the iPhone 7 be usable at the other big 3 carriers?