iPhone XS Max Dual question: switching carriers and phone upgrade

[kingston73]

I have 2 related questions here. XS Max user, battery health is around 85%. Bought new 2 years ago, currently on tmobile. I'm considering upgrading the phone to a 12 of some sort and also switching to Xfinity mobile.

1. The upgrade: if I'm looking at the stats correctly, the regular 12 is most similar to the xs max? Or is it the 12 pro that's most similar? I really don't care about the camera but the 5G usage would be nice. I'm perfectly happy with my current max other than the battery health. Would you switch or must keep it?

2. Tmobile vs Xfinity/verizon: anybody have any first hand knowledge? I've been with Tmo for over a decade but mostly because I've got a good price. Switching to xfinity would reduce that price and also reduce my overall cable/internet bill. Any negatives? Maybe I should post in a different section?

Thanks for any and all info anybody can give me

 

[Jaggrey]

Regarding XS vs. the 12 lineup - The features across the phones are mostly the same. I remember reading reviews saying between the 12 and 12 Pro there was pretty much no difference outside of the telephoto lens. So if you don’t care about the camera the 12 would be fine. There’s also the cosmetic stuff, like the stainless steel vs. aluminum band. But they all have access to 5G. Now if you want the bigger screen, your only option is the 12 Pro Max. So that’s something else to consider. if you’re switching carriers might as well take advantage of a deal.

Regarding carriers - I had T-Mobile for about 5 years and didn’t have any issues mostly. We started having some coverage issues so we switched to Verizon to take advantage of a sweet trade in deal, and the plan wasn’t much more than T-Mobile at the time. Now a friend of mine that’s a tower tech and works on all the carriers said that the difference between T-Mobile and Verizon isn’t as grand as you’d think. And in short he was right. I’ve been with Verizon for just under two years and the difference wasn’t huge - it was pretty negligible actually. Ironically enough we moved somewhat recently and don’t get great Verizon coverage at home when not on WiFi. I happened to check T-Mobile and they had a great promo, cheaper plans, and 5g. So I said, why not. And now back in e T-Mobile I’m actually getting much better coverage, and so far the coverage issues I had before we went to Verizon have been fixed.

I don’t typically like switching for trade in deals. Heck before T-Mobile I was with Sprint for like 12 years. But the cheaper plan, plus 2 lines that had an XS and an 8 got tons of money on trade in - it seemed like a no brainer.

TL;DR - If you switch carriers, take advantage of a trade in deal and get a new phone. If you stay with T-Mobile just get a new battery, or upgrade if there’s a deal.