Switching to T-Mobile may be worth it

Is it worth jumping from one cell phone carrier to another?

T-Mobile, in its latest commercial, urges people to “break up with your carrier” by offering to pay cancellation fees up to $350 per phone.

"When the early termination fee appears on your bill, you have to turn it in to T-Mobile for reimbursement,” said Mike Gikas, senior electronics editor for Consumer Reports. “So you actually have to pay that money up front."

Potential customers would also have to turn in their old phone and buy a new one, which will cost more for those with bad credit.

But a credit is offered for the old phones – about $100 for an iPhone 4S and about $160 for a Samsung Galaxy.

"What T-Mobile actually pays will depend on the phone and the condition it's in when you turn it in," Gikas said.

While T-Mobile promises that every plan comes with unlimited talk, text and web, data speeds are reduced with cheaper plans after a certain amount of usage.

Gikas said even with the restrictions and potential extra costs, there are still good reasons to switch. A recent Consumers Reports survey found T-Mobile customers were among the most satisfied.

"We've crunched the numbers. And in most cases, T-Mobile's rates were cheaper than those from AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon," he said.