T-Mobile’s new T-Mix plans, which arrived on Oct. 26, come with a bold headline claim of at least $120 of value per line, every month, if you take its word for it. Verizon has been making a similar pitch for a while now, with its myPlan perks and the Netflix and Max bundle, and the principle is familiar. Both bundle Netflix, Hulu, and the rest into your phone bill and call it a saving.

If you’ve ever tried to untangle your bank statement to see which streaming service has suddenly siphoned off another $15 this month, you’ll know the feeling. Those savings only materialize if you’d have paid for those services anyway, and some of the numbers look a little less generous when you run them through a calculator.

T-Mix turns streaming into Picks

But not every ‘Pick’ is worth the same

T-Mix launches in November with three tiers, with Standard at $55 a month for one line, More at $75, and Loaded at $95 (all require AutoPay, and yes, taxes and fees are extra). Each tier gives you a set number of Picks (one, two, or three per line) to spend on streaming, music, gaming, or other services, including DashPass and a Google AI plan. You can reshuffle your Picks up to four times a year, but unused Picks don’t carry over, and you may pay a fee if you swap a partner benefit outside the allowed windows.

On paper, it’s more flexible than the fixed bundles carriers have pushed for years. A Pick always costs the same, but the value depends entirely on what you spend it on. If you go direct, ad-supported Netflix is $8.99, and Hulu with ads is $12.49, yet each takes one Pick. Ad-free Netflix eats up all three Picks on the Loaded plan, and ESPN Unlimited needs four, more than any one line can get. The mix-and-match approach is a real plus, though the numbers don’t always land in your favor.

If you’re signing up, I’d bet on whichever Pick covers the service you’d otherwise pay the most for. I’d think twice about using one on Netflix if you’re already on the ad-free plan, as the one-Pick option only gets you the ad-supported tier, so it’s a downgrade dressed up as a perk.

Streaming isn’t the only thing vying for your Picks. T-Mobile says you can use them for device promotions, including a new phone at no extra cost, but the fine print makes it clear that device deals will tie up your Picks for as long as the offer lasts. So the trade-in that used to come with your streaming perks is now competing directly with them.

T-Mobile hasn’t published Pick values for trade-ins, but PCWorld’s numbers, sourced from an unofficial Reddit post, suggest that trading in an iPhone 15 Pro for $930 credit would use up both your Picks on T-Mix More. The old Experience More plan gave you the same credit, plus Netflix with ads and a $10 Apple TV credit each month. Existing customers can stay put, so this mainly affects anyone switching carriers or upgrading, though T-Mobile has moved customers to new plans before (it’s been switching some customers to Go5G plans).

One more line in the fine print is worth a look, as T-Mobile says you may need to manage your existing third-party subscriptions to avoid double charges. So if you’re already paying for Netflix directly and then pick it up via T-Mix, you need to cancel the original. If you forget, your “free” Netflix could cost you $8.99 a month.

Verizon’s perks keep creeping up

But the discount depends on what you watch

Verizon (which has been in the news for losing subscribers) sells its perks à la carte on top of myPlan, and those perks rise in price alongside the streamers themselves. The Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ (with ads) bundle went from $10 to $12 a month on Sept. 17, with Verizon pointing to Disney’s own rate changes.

Hulu with ads is $12.49 on its own, so if you’re already looking at Hulu, the Disney+ and ESPN+ bundle at $12 is hard to beat. The Netflix bundle is a different proposition if you’re not interested in HBO Max, since Netflix’s ad tier is $8.99 on its own, leaving you about $4 a month worse off for a service you won’t watch.

Run the numbers on your own bill

But be honest about what you watch

T-Mobile’s pitch is based on research claiming the average person spends $219 a month on subscriptions. Whether that sounds like you or not, start with what you’re actually paying: go through your current streamers, what tier you’re on, and what each one costs. Any benefit that replaces one of those at the same tier or better is real money saved, and that’s where T-Mix and Verizon could genuinely make a difference.

Anything else is a bonus, rather than a saving. If you wouldn’t be paying for Paramount+ or YouTube Premium anyway, then getting them as part of a Pick you wouldn’t otherwise use is a nice touch, but it doesn’t make the $95 plan any cheaper than the $55 one. I’d also consider how long you’re likely to stay with the carrier, since the perks disappear the moment you leave, and the carrier, not the streamer, sets the price you pay for those benefits.