new smartphone deals for holidays ($1000 off with payment plan)

[bimmer456]

What do you all think about the new deals being offered by t mobile Att and Verizon? Looks like you can get an iPhone pro for free or pro max for the price difference and just pay the sales tax. I ended up just buying my phone and trade in my old one but looks like I could have kept my existing plan and just pay a couple bucks a month. Just that it’s for 36 months so if I change plans or get a new phone before that I would just pay off the remaining amount. What do you guys think is there a major catch to this in the find print that makes it not a great deal?

[vreihen16]

Me thinks that Apple over-produced the new phones by mis-estimating customer demand, and the carriers are getting fire sale prices to move them so that Apple doesn't have to take a huge beating on their quarterly financials report.

Back in the olden days (pre-smartphones), carriers would give customers a free phone if they signed for a two year plan. I haven't looked at the details of the current offers, but it sounds like the olden days with a three year plan instead of two years.

I also think that there is some motivation to get 5G handsets out to the masses, so they can start planning for the 4G/LTE sunset. We don't have 5G here in the sticks yet, and I personally have zero motivation to upgrade my 4G/LTE iPhone X since it still works fine for everything I need it to do.....

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Me thinks that Apple over-produced the new phones by mis-estimating customer demand, and the carriers are getting fire sale prices to move them so that Apple doesn't have to take a huge beating on their quarterly financials report.

Back in the olden days (pre-smartphones), carriers would give customers a free phone if they signed for a two year plan. I haven't looked at the details of the current offers, but it sounds like the olden days with a three year plan instead of two years.

I also think that there is some motivation to get 5G handsets out to the masses, so they can start planning for the 4G/LTE sunset. We don't have 5G here in the sticks yet, and I personally have zero motivation to upgrade my 4G/LTE iPhone X since it still works fine for everything I need it to do.....

Yeah I remember those days. Looks like t mobile has a 24 month plan but it’s only $800 off.

[Ginster6]

not many Chinese/Asian market wants it. cuz it is 14. not good number for us. the way we say in chinese sounds like "Always Die". LOL...

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Ginster6

not many Chinese/Asian market wants it. cuz it is 14. not good number for us. the way we say in chinese sounds like "Always Die". LOL...

Lol yeah I know the second word for 4 sounds like the word for death. Since you say 10 and then 4 in Chinese.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Ginster6

not many Chinese/Asian market wants it. cuz it is 14. not good number for us. the way we say in chinese sounds like "Always Die". LOL...

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Me thinks that Apple over-produced the new phones by mis-estimating customer demand, and the carriers are getting fire sale prices to move them so that Apple doesn't have to take a huge beating on their quarterly financials report.

Back in the olden days (pre-smartphones), carriers would give customers a free phone if they signed for a two year plan. I haven't looked at the details of the current offers, but it sounds like the olden days with a three year plan instead of two years.

I also think that there is some motivation to get 5G handsets out to the masses, so they can start planning for the 4G/LTE sunset. We don't have 5G here in the sticks yet, and I personally have zero motivation to upgrade my 4G/LTE iPhone X since it still works fine for everything I need it to do.....

The deals are also for Samsung, not just iPhone.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Ginster6

not many Chinese/Asian market wants it. cuz it is 14. not good number for us. the way we say in chinese sounds like "Always Die". LOL...

Chinese brand phones are more popular than even Samsung in china I would think. They offer more features for less.

[Tommy-G]

I'm still on an 11 and have no need to switch. Downside is I have things that dont upload to the cloud and to transfer to a new phone is a P.I.T.A

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

I'm still on an 11 and have no need to switch. Downside is I have things that dont upload to the cloud and to transfer to a new phone is a P.I.T.A

Actually they give you free temporary unlimited iCloud to transfer but it may take awhile to upload depending on your Wi-Fi. If you can exchange for a new phone basically for free might be worth it depends on if they still accept 11 as a trade in you can check.

[wtwo3]

shouldn't be a catch.... samsung did something similar where i traded in my s21 ultra for $1k (I originally purchased it for about $1,200 about 1.5 years ago). I used that $1k credit as a downpayment on a galaxy fold4. Worked as advertised.

[UncleWede]

They get you used to paying $xx/month for your phone. After 36 months, they forget to take it off, since you haven't upgraded, and you keep paying.

I always choose the trade-in credit then buy outright option. Then after 48 months, if my phone is still working fine, I keep using it. . . with no payments.

It's similar to the lease/buy discussion one might have.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

They get you used to paying $xx/month for your phone. After 36 months, they forget to take it off, since you haven't upgraded, and you keep paying.

I always choose the trade-in credit then buy outright option. Then after 48 months, if my phone is still working fine, I keep using it. . . with no payments.

It's similar to the lease/buy discussion one might have.

Already brought my phone outright though I have used the payments in the past but don’t remember if it was also subsidized or free during the smartphone era which this appears to be. Maybe I’ll wait a year and see if they do this deal again and then do the subsidy with the 15. If they can give me a grand for a $1199 phone after a year and they still have my plan it’s a no brainer.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

I always choose the trade-in credit then buy outright option. Then after 48 months, if my phone is still working fine, I keep using it. . . with no payments.

I choose to buy my phones outright up front, because I'm still on an ancient grandfathered $29.95 plan that was written with *real* unlimited data and no restrictions or QoS throttling.....

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I choose to buy my phones outright up front, because I'm still on an ancient grandfathered $29.95 plan that was written with *real* unlimited data and no restrictions or QoS throttling.....

Have heard of similar plans from other companies, one being Spectrum. Same price for two or more phones with unlimited data, I think. Have not really looked into it… yet.

I have Verizon and pay more than that. Going to change companies soon for something cheaper. Curious what company you’re with.

[zx10guy]

Wish I could buy my personal phone through my employer. I bought my S22 Ultra for $429. The way things work with my employer is I buy the phone or bring a phone for work use and they pay for the cellular service. I brought a S9 with me from a previous employer and had to upgrade a few months ago because the S9 was getting all jacked up with the data storage in its flash memory.

I'm still nursing my S8 along as I'm one of the weird ones which prefers to have a physical keyboard. I got a Samsung factory keyboard cover for this phone and it so happens to be the last model Samsung provided this option. But this S8 is doing things that are pissing me off such as running slow/hot and randomly rebooting itself.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Wish I could buy my personal phone through my employer. I bought my S22 Ultra for $429. The way things work with my employer is I buy the phone or bring a phone for work use and they pay for the cellular service. I brought a S9 with me from a previous employer and had to upgrade a few months ago because the S9 was getting all jacked up with the data storage in its flash memory.

I'm still nursing my S8 along as I'm one of the weird ones which prefers to have a physical keyboard. I got a Samsung factory keyboard cover for this phone and it so happens to be the last model Samsung provided this option. But this S8 is doing things that are pissing me off such as running slow/hot and randomly rebooting itself.

My employer subsidizes my cell service since I use my personal phone for work. I also get reimbursed for internet as I’m working from home.

[infinitekidM2C]

Originally Posted by Ginster6

not many Chinese/Asian market wants it. cuz it is 14. not good number for us. the way we say in chinese sounds like "Always Die". LOL...

Is their main worry the battery life or their own?

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

My employer subsidizes my cell service since I use my personal phone for work. I also get reimbursed for internet as I’m working from home.

My past two employers provided a stipend to help offset the cost of home Internet service. My current doesn't but it's also offset by the much better benefits package that more than makes up for no Internet subsidy. I pay $70 a month for medical (PPO), dental, and vision where the medical carries a $250 deductible per year per person. That $70 covers both my daughter and me.

As to using my personal phone for work, nope. Won't ever do it. Work is work. Personal is personal. Lots of good reasons to have it this way and also from decades of working in the Federal government.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

My past two employers provided a stipend to help offset the cost of home Internet service. My current doesn't but it's also offset by the much better benefits package that more than makes up for no Internet subsidy. I pay $70 a month for medical (PPO), dental, and vision where the medical carries a $250 deductible per year per person. That $70 covers both my daughter and me.

As to using my personal phone for work, nope. Won't ever do it. Work is work. Personal is personal. Lots of good reasons to have it this way and also from decades of working in the Federal government.

I just called to get my home internet discounted and they boosted the speed too. So with my credit from work (work from home) my net internet bill is now $9.99 a month for 500 mbps

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by infinitekidM2C

Is their main worry the battery life or their own?

It's a cultural thing. As was explained, the pronunciation of the number 4 sounds like die in Chinese....well at least Cantonese which is what I'm familiar with. Same goes with the number 8 be favorable as it sounds like wealth when spoken in Cantonese.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

I just called to get my home internet discounted and they boosted the speed too. So with my credit from work (work from home) my net internet bill is now $9.99 a month for 500 mbps

Nice. I just wish Mediacrap can get their act together and just provide reliable/quality Internet service. Speed means nothing when their stupid network is dropping packets or the latency shoots through the moon.

[Mosaud1998]

I'm still rolling with my Samsung S10e. Hell, I think I paid like $350~ for it refurbished a couple of years back.

I can't see myself spending more than $700 on a new phone. Over $1,000 for a phone is retarded IMO.

The first new phone that I paid for was an iPhone 6. I paid like $500 for it in 2014-2015. Lasted me until 2021.