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Best Family Phone Plans for 2026

​Is everyone in the family happy with their phone plan? With cellular data, it’s hard to find the right combination of features, perks and cost (and carriers such as T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T don’t make it easy to choose). So we’ve come up with recommendations for families or groups of three or more people who are switching from another plan or adding more members to an account.. Best family phone plans for 2026. Pros. T-Mobile’s 5G network is generally robust. Plan includes 50GB of high-speed data in the US. Phone can be used as a hotspot. Unlimited calls, texts and data in Canada and Mexico. Can have up to six lines on an account. Third line free is a better deal than Essentials Saver. Cons. Data in Canada and Mexico limited to very slow 2G speeds. Hotspot is limited to 3G speeds. No five-year price guarantee. Everyone must be on the same plan. Taxes and fees aren’t included in monthly cost. If you compare the specifics of T-Mobile’s Essentials and Essentials Saver plans, you might think the company forgot to update one or the other — they’re Essential-ly the same. With both, you get 50GB of fast Premium 5G data (depending on the network capabilities in your area), which drops to 3G speeds of still-unlimited data after that allotment is used up. You can use your phone as a mobile hotspot with unlimited data, but only at 3G speeds and restricted to paltry 2G speeds when you’re in Canada or Mexico. In those two countries, calls, text and data are unlimited, while calls made from around 215 other countries are charged at 25 cents a minute.. The Essentials plan also doesn’t include perks such as streaming video from Netflix, nor the five-year price guarantee found on the Experience More and Experience Beyond plans. T-Satellite service is also not included, though it can be added for $10 a month.. Where Essentials comes out ahead of Essentials Saver is the number of lines you can have on your account. Essentials Saver is limited to just three, but Essentials can accommodate six lines. In fact, a trio of people will save money going with Essentials due to a free third-line deal, paying $90 a month (plus taxes and fees) for a $10 savings over Essentials Saver. If your household needs four lines, an Essentials 4-Line Offer plan takes advantage of the third-line deal for $100 a month.. However, if you need just one or two lines, Essentials Saver is still the better deal. A single line on Saver is still the better offer at $50 a month compared with $60 for the same features on Essentials, and two lines on Saver costs $80 a month compared with $90 for Essentials.. Why we like it. You get a solid level of basic phone service, with unlimited calls, texts and data, 50GB of premium higher-speed data and better pricing than the Essentials Saver plan for three or more lines (up to six).. Who it’s best for. Essentials is great for a cost-conscious family of three or more that wants unlimited everything, even at some slower speeds.. Who shouldn’t get it. This pl  

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The Sonos Play puts the best parts of the Era 100 in a portable speaker

​Sonos has just announced its first new products since 2024, when the company’s plans went sideways after a disastrous update to its app. First up is the Sonos Play, the company’s latest portable speaker. Long-time Sonos watchers will recognize the name from the old Play:1, Play:3 and Play:5 speakers, but this new model has little to do with those products of the past. The $299 Play is a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker that sits between the $179 Roam 2 and $499 Move 2 and could be the “goldilocks” speaker in the company’s portable lineup, at least based on what I know so far.The closest comparison for the Play is the excellent Era 100, which Sonos released back in 2023. At 7.6” tall, 4.4” wide and 3” deep, it’s much thinner than the Era 100 which is over 5 inches deep. And compared to the Move 2 (9.5” x 6.3 x 5”) it’s much more portable. That goes for weight, too — the Play is less than 3 pounds, compared to over 6.5 pounds for the Move 2. It’s not the kind of speaker you’ll throw in your bag and forget about, like the tiny Roam 2, but it’s far more portable than the Move 2. Finally, the Play is IP67 rated, just like the Roam 2. That means it can be submerged in up to a meter of water for up to 30 minutes; it’s also dustproof. The grab handle on the back of the Sonos Play.SonosFrom a speaker component perspective, it’s again quite similar to the Era 100. It has two tweeters positioned at a 90-degree angle for stereo separation paired with one midwoofer; it also has two additional passive radiators to increase the bass response in its relatively small case. The Era 100 lacks those passive radiators but is otherwise identical. Obviously, we’ll have to listen to the Play before saying how closely it compares to the Era 100, but this speaker should significantly outperform the Roam 2 simply due to the increased size of its components. The Move 2, on the other hand, is extremely loud and will likely still be the best choice for people who want a speaker to cover a large outdoor space.You’ll find familiar controls on the Sonos Play, which comes in black or white. (Fingers crossed for future color options like the lovely trio that Sonos offers on the Roam.) On the top surface are buttons for play/pause, volume up and down and a microphone toggle. On the back is a power button, a Bluetooth button and a physical switch that disconnects the microphone for increased security. Finally, there’s a new feature here: a removable plastic grab loop. Sonos was keen to note that the Play is a full-featured member of the Sonos ecosystem. Like all of its other speakers, that means you’ll see all Sonos speakers in the app and can group them as you see fit, or have different music playing on different speakers throughout the house. You can also pair two of these in stereo. If you remove one from your network (say you’re outside and away from Wi-Fi), you’ll need to re-pair them though. In addition to controlling playback via th  

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​The MacBook Neo is an absolute banger of a budget laptop, but life’s too short to live without Touch ID.  

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