AT&T Unlimited Elite Plan Review
AT&T’s Unlimited Elite plan is the fanciest of AT&T’s consumer-grade unlimited plans. While it comes with a steep price tag, the Unlimited Elite plan includes more features than any of AT&T’s other plans. I trialed the Unlimited Elite plan in November 2020 and had a positive experience.
Key plan attributes
- Unlimited minutes, texts, and data
- Unlimited high-priority data (for better speeds during congestion)
- 40GB per month of full-speed hotspot data
- Free access to HBO Max
Coverage
Subscribers on the Unlimited Elite plan get access to coverage from both AT&T’s native network and AT&T’s roaming partners.
Speeds
Speeds on the Unlimited Elite plan will depend on factors like the a subscriber’s location and the device a subscriber is using. In most cases, subscribers will experience solid speeds. The screenshot below shows the results of a handful of speed tests I ran while using the plan in Chicago, IL.
Data priority
The Unlimited Elite plan comes with unlimited high-priority data. Subscribers with high-priority data will experience faster speeds than some other users on the network during periods of congestion.
A QCI test I ran found a QCI of 7 for AT&T’s Unlimited Elite plan. Given my understanding of AT&T’s prioritization procedures, I expect subscribers on the Unlimited Elite plan to have even higher priority data access than subscribers on some of AT&T’s other premium plans.1
Video streaming
AT&T recently changed its policies around video streaming on the Unlimited Elite plan. Subscribers can now stream video in 4k resolution. Subscribers might need to manually opt out of video throttling before they can stream in 4k.2
Mobile hotspot
The Unlimited Elite plan comes with 40GB per month of full-speed mobile hotspot data.
5G access
Unlimited Elite subscribers with a 5G-capable device can access AT&T’s 5G service with no extra charge. I did not use a 5G-capable phone when I tried the plan.
Other perks
Subscribers on the Unlimited Elite plan get a handful of miscellaneous perks:
- Free access to HBO Max
- Minutes, texts, and reduced-speed data in Mexico and Canada
- International texting from the U.S. to most of the world
Pricing
The price of the Unlimited Elite plan varies based on the number of lines on an account. The table below shows the prices of AT&T’s postpaid unlimited plans before taxes and fees and after a discount for subscribers that set up automatic payments and paperless billing.
| Lines | Unlimited Elite | Unlimited Extra | Unlimited Starter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85 | $75 | $65 |
| 2 | $75 | $65 | $60 |
| 3 | $60 | $50 | $45 |
| 4 | $50 | $40 | $35 |
| 5 | $45 | $35 | $30 |
Within a single family plan, AT&T customers can mix-and-match among AT&T’s three postpaid unlimited plans.
Review background
I tried the Unlimited Elite plan in November 2020. For most of my trial, I was in Chicago, IL and used a Motorola G7 Play.
In July 2021, AT&T made upgrades to the Elite plan, and I updated this page accordingly. When I trialed the plan, it only included 30GB of hotspot data and 100GB high-priority data. Video throttling also worked a bit differently than it does now.
Last updated: July 2021
Footnotes
- I found a QCI of 8 for data use on the Unlimited Extra plan. On the Unlimited Starter plan, I found a QCI of 9 for regular data use.
- I haven’t confirmed whether subscribers need to take manual action to enable higher resolution streaming. Here’s how this section used to read before AT&T updated the Elite plan:
By default, AT&T throttles subscribers with the Unlimited Elite plan to standard-definition video streaming. However, subscribers on the Unlimited Elite plan have the option to turn off this throttling.
A test I ran with the app Wehe confirmed that the Unlimited Elite plan throttled video by default:
I ran a second test after turning off video throttling:
