Best time to upgrade on the NEXT program?

[cohoman]

I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S7 phone which I bought on the AT&T NEXT 24 program, which allows me to upgrade my phone every 12 months after I've paid off 50% of the total phone price. When I upgrade, I understand that I must turn in my current phone to AT&T and they will forgo any future payments on that phone and I will start new payments on the new upgrade phone.

My question is, what is the best time to do the upgrade? It seems the optimum time for the NEXT 24 program is at 12 months, because that is the earliest you can upgrade and you've paid the least amount necessary (50%). If I made say, 18 months of payments and decide to upgrade, I've actually paid an extra 6 months of payments which I would not get credited when I turn in my original phone.

I understand that after 24 months of payments on this plan I can keep the phone and sell it if I decided to upgrade to a new phone. But, I'd prefer to trade my phone in vrs selling it online and have to deal with any potential hassles.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[thejesse]

I'm not sure you're correct. If you never intend to own the phone, then you're monthly cost is fixed whether you continue to use the previous model or upgrade to the new model. It seems to me that the variable is sales tax. Upgrading more often results in a higher tax cost.
The best scenario is paying the phone off, then selling it to recoup some of your money.