Here's a new way to save big on three of T-Mobile's best plans (with one key condition)

Largely focused for the last couple of years or so on streamlining its plans and making it simpler for most customers to pick the option that fits their budget and preferences best, T-Mobile appears to have done basically the opposite this week.

Out of nowhere, three new plans have been added to Magenta's postpaid lineup, technically making life more difficult but also offering big discounts with little effort for an entire category of subscribers.

The cheapest new option starts at $30 a month

If you're a student on a super-tight budget waiting for the next school year to begin, it might be a good idea to sign up for a low-cost Essentials Saver plan. This has obviously been a thing for several years, but you can now reduce its monthly price from $50 to a measly 30 bucks for a single line of service with student verification.

T-Mobile student plans benefits and prices for one line

This is what you get with T-Mobile's student plans and what you need to pay for one line of service. | Image by T-Mobile

That sounds like a pretty amazing deal to me, although the two-line discount is curiously a little less spectacular, also allowing you to slash $20 off the plan's normal total price of $80 a month.

As the name suggests, this is not a very feature-rich option, but it does include unlimited talk and text, as well as 50GB of "premium" data on the "best mobile network" around.

You can "experience more" for as little as $65

In case you haven't figured that out, none of the three "new" T-Mobile plans are entirely new, merely representing student-friendly equivalents of existing options.

T-Mobile plans benefits and prices for one line

This is what you need to pay on the same plans without a student discount. | Image by T-Mobile

The second such plan is called "Experience More with Student Perks Savings", which is obviously not the greatest name in the wireless industry's history. But the benefits are certainly awesome, including everything from unlimited talk and text and unlimited "premium" data to 60GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data every month, 15GB of high-speed data in Canada and Mexico, complimentary Netflix (with ads), ultra-affordable Apple TV access, 4K video streaming support, and a five-year price guarantee.

What do you think about T-Mobile's new student plans?

Naturally, that can't come very cheap, but students are able to pay $65 instead of $85 a month for one line of service and a grand total of $110 instead of $140 for two lines. Those aren't exactly super-low price points, but a $30 discount with little to no effort sounds super-cool.

What do you get for $80 and up?

Unlimited premium data;
Unlimited mobile hotspot;
Unlimited text, 30GB high-speed data in Canada and Mexico;
Unlimited text, 15GB high-speed data in 215+ countries and destinations;
Free Netflix Standard with ads;
Free Hulu;
Apple TV for $3 a month;
Watch and tablet lines for $5 a month;
T-Satellite;
Upgrade every year with the same deals as new customers;
Five-year price guarantee.

The Experience Beyond with Student Perks Savings (another great name, T-Mobile) packs an incredible amount of value at a price that... doesn't feel excessive, and the $80 you need to cough up for one line will only go up to $130 for two lines.

T-Mobile student plans benefits and prices for two lines

This is what you need to pay if you're a student with two lines of service. | Image by T-Mobile

That's down from the $100 and $170 monthly costs of the non-student Experience Beyond for one and two lines, respectively, and in case you're wondering, none of these three student plans will allow you to get three or more lines, which... kind of makes sense.

Regular student verification will also be required to sign up for these plans and stay on them, so don't even think of trying to cheat T-Mobile's system. And no, the Better Value plan isn't getting a student equivalent because that explicitly requires at least three lines of service.

Want more T-Mobile news? Why don't you start right here:

$90

$210

$120 off (57%)

Mint Mobile is now allowing you to get whichever plan you like for either three, six, or 12 months for just $15/mo. If you go for the six-month unlimited service, for instance, you'll now have to pay just $90 upfront instead of $210.

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