January can be a very depressing month for a lot of holiday lovers, overeaters, and shopaholics, but if you're a T-Mobile fan, one thing that's become guaranteed to put a big smile on your face every beginning of the year is Opensignal's relentless research into the strengths and weaknesses of the big three US wireless service providers.
The independent analytics company's January 2025 mobile network experience report is no exception to that rule, awarding the aforementioned nation-leading "Un-carrier" with no less than nine outright trophies (and a shared one) out of a maximum of 16 individual distinctions.
Pretty much all the big prizes are T-Mobile's again
Be honest, what's the most important mobile network experience aspect for you? It's speed, right? And in particular, download speed (unless you're MrBeast or Marques Brownlee, of course). T-Mobile is not just the nation's undisputed champion in that field (once again), simply playing in an entirely different league than the competition with a mind-blowing 158.5Mbps score based on measurements conducted between September 1 and November 29, 2024 across the US.
That's nearly thrice as high as AT&T's 53.3Mbps download average in the same timeframe, while Verizon disappointingly scores an even lower 46Mbps tally that obviously pales in comparison with T-Mo's crushing figure from above.
That's a huge advantage for T-Mobile in a crucial mobile network experience battle. | Image Credit -- Opensignal
These are overall download speed experience results, mind you, and of course, all three operators have received significantly higher marks as far as 5G download speeds are concerned. But while AT&T and Verizon's 5G scores are incredibly still lower than T-Mobile's overall speed results, Magenta manages to jump to 238.3Mbps in the 5G section of the latest Opensignal study, absolutely demolishing its arch-rivals where it probably matters most for many smartphone users in this day and age.
Naturally, towering 5G speeds are nothing without decent 5G availability, and "decent" is clearly not the best way to describe T-Mo's 71.7 percent January 2025 result in that category. "Remarkable" is undoubtedly a much more fitting label, and "overwhelmingly dominant" perhaps encapsulates the industry's status quo most accurately.
This is an even bigger margin of victory for T-Mobile in another very important department. | Image Credit -- Opensignal
With 14.7 and 10.6 percent respectively, AT&T and Verizon can't even begin to dream of catching up to their rival anytime soon... if ever. These numbers, by the way, don't reflect the geographical availability of the three carriers' 5G networks, instead measuring how often users actually have access to the fastest mobile technology out there. So, yes, this is another key victory for T-Mobile, both based on how easily it is obtained and how important this massive advantage is likely to prove for many "regular" consumers.
Verizon's trophies are not to be ignored either, while AT&T settles for a consolation prize
Yes, some categories are arguably more important than others, but that doesn't mean Big Red's five outright wins today in the 5G video experience, 5G live video experience, 5G games experience, 5G upload speed, and overall coverage experience sections of Opensignal's first nationwide analysis of 2025 are anything to scoff at.
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In fact, for the right type of user, these gold medals could be enough to lead to an imminent switch from T-Mobile or AT&T, especially when you consider that Verizon took home the exact same awards in July 2024 as well. That shows stability in a number of fields that are likely to matter for quite a few folks around the nation, and on top of everything else, Big Red is also a joint winner of the newly established reliability experience category together with T-Mobile.
The overall tally is T-Mobile 9.5 trophies, Verizon 5.5 wins, and AT&T a single victory. | Image Credit -- Opensignal
Then again, Magenta manages to essentially cancel out that draw and tip the balance in its favor even further with a "consistent quality" victory as well, leaving AT&T with the dubious honor of edging out the overall availability battle and nothing else.
That's an especially pointless win for Ma Bell when you take into account the microscopic differences between the similarly impressive availability scores of all three US operators. Yes, you're generally more likely to get a signal (be it 5G or 4G) on AT&T, but only barely, at least compared to Verizon.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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