r/MetroPCS

Posting because there's a lot of confusion in this sub and no clear answer about the free upgrades.
I went to my local store today for my free upgrade as the Metro PCS site said i was eligible and i've been on the higher tier plan for a year. The only phone i could get was the A16 and the cost was going to be close to $90. There was taxes, a sim fee, and some other bs $40 fee. I could not get any deals that were offered to new customers.
Like some of you i always got those Tmobile offer texts. Apparently those are coupons that sit on your Metro PCS account. If you go into the Metro store they can start the process to port your lines to Tmobile. When you do this you qualify for free phones. You can get the A17 or Moto G Stylus 2026.
So with Metro i could pay $90ea for an older A16 and with 4 lines which that gets expensive, or i could switch to Tmobile and get 4 newer phones for just a little more. So i switched to Tmobile. I got 4 free phones, only paid about $120 upfront for 4 lines. I was put on the Tmobile essentials plan so 4 lines for about $100 a month. Phones will be shipped to you. Then you take them into the Metro store and they will activate them for you or you can supposedly do it online or in the Tlife app.
Didnt feel like i was getting screwed. The agent at the Metro store was nice and really helpful. The whole process took about 30-40min. You have to talk to the Tmobile rep yourself while in store as they confirm your address, email, and go over the details.
It seems like with any carrier now the only way to get a good deal on a phone is to switch carriers.

I have an iPhone 16e and would like to trade it in for an iPhone 17 through Metro, but I really like my current carrier and would prefer to stay with them.
I’m wondering if it would be possible to take advantage of Metro’s trade-in deal, use their service for whatever minimum period they require, and then switch back to my current carrier. I wouldn’t mind paying a penalty if necessary.

I can afford to buy the phone at full price, but I specifically want an unlocked iPhone. The problem is that the nearest Apple Store is about five hours away, and I’d much rather trade in my current phone in person because I’m hesitant to rely on an online trade-in estimate.

Has anyone done this before, or knows whether Metro allows this? I’d appreciate any advice or insight. Thanks in advance!

In case anyone wondered if the old $65/60 plan they just killed off would be replaced, it will be replaced, supposedly tomorrow, Mon Oct 5! It will get Amazon back and likely more hotspot than the old one. No details yet, including the point of deprioritization, if there is one.

The current best plan is not worth it in my opinion. For $5 less than before, you not only lose Amazon, but hotspot is down from 25GB to 20GB. Any promo info saying 25GB with that $60/55 plan is wrong.

I don’t work for Metro, but am just passing on info from a knowledgeable rep who says the new, high end plan is set to be unveiled tomorrow!

Stupidly, I went down to the $60/55 plan yesterday when an ill-informed rep said that I’d only lose Amazon (which I already pay for annually). There’s a 70GB limit on it before deprioritization.

Should I switch to Google Fi? Getting real tired of losing speed when Im stuck in rush hour traffic. Yall think its worth switching to Google Fi for $100 a month total? I am still getting the free amazon perk with Metro

Yesterday I signed up for Metro’s $15/month unlimited-for-three-months promo. I’m porting over from Visible and using an iPhone.

The initial signup on Metro’s website was easy, but there didn’t seem to be any way to port my existing number during checkout. Once the order was complete, I saw a message saying to call Metro if I wanted to port a number.

So I called before activating the eSIM. The first rep basically didn’t seem to know how to handle the port, or confused I had already made an online order, and I was hung up on while she was researching it.

Thinking perhaps this is easier if I activate the new number and new eSIM first, I activated the Metro eSIM, and ended up with both my Visible line and the new Metro line active on my iPhone.

I called back using my Visible number. The second rep needed to send me one-time passcodes, but they weren’t coming through while I was on the call using the other line. So I hung up once she started talking about waking into a store. Of course the passcode texts came through immediately after hanging up.

On the third call (for a process that should be a step on the website), I just asked to cancel the whole thing. That rep transferred me to the porting department, and from there the port went through without any trouble.

They also mentioned something about crediting my account for three months, which I wasn’t expecting and still don’t totally understand. But at this point everything is working: I have my original number on Metro, only one active line, and my Metro account shows a $0 balance.

So my question is: what is actually the smoothest way to do this?

I may be moving three more lines from Visible to Metro in the near future, and I’d really like to avoid the three-call adventure next time. Should I:

Sign up for the new Metro line
Activate the eSIM
Keep both lines active
Then call the porting department directly?
Or is there a better process?

The last security update is OneUI 8.0/Android 16/June 5, 2026 patch and it claims software is up to date. The google play update is Aug 1.

Does this really only get 3 years of updates?

I’m just curious what experience people have had with Metro by T-Mobile in the LA area, because I’m switching soon and I haven’t had Metro in many years (and in a different state entirely). I don’t even care about it being the fastest service ever, I just want it to be reasonably reliable and not drop to unusable levels on a regular basis.

I’m curious to hear from anyone in LA in general, but I’ll be in the Glendale and Burbank areas the most, so I’m especially happy to hear from anyone that may be around there.

And yes, before someone even says it, I have already looked at the coverage map, but i know how unreliable those can be, and would much rather hear from actual people that are using it every day lol. Thanks in advance!