Best option to get a Nexus

[lildj0809]

I am contract free at the moment, so I have plenty of options. The outright price is kind of steep for me (64g), but manageable. Ideally I wouldn't like to go that route, but it's possible. I live in a slightly above average city. I'm with AT&T and have great signal everywhere, but it's pricey. T-Mobile sounds like a possibility but worried about coverage area. I see a lot of people saying they're going to see about getting their N6 from T-Mobile, but the more I see people saying that, it seemed like they meant for full price. Just using TM as a way to buy the phone rather than going on contact with them. So with all that said, what's my best option?

A) Wait it out for the Play Store. Even then, I don't know exactly what carrier I should go with. Although the freedom of month to month without a contract would be nice.

B) Stay with ATT and get it through them.

C) Get on contract with TM and hope for the best (while saving plenty of money)

D) Wait everything out for Black Friday and make a decision then. (Least likely lol j

Also, in terms of "returns". Is that only if you buy outright? What if a week later of going on TM I decide it's horrible and can't do it? What's the policy on new contracts with companies?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, I'd just like to get answers beforehand.

 

[Robbie317]

T-Mobile sounds like a possibility but worried about coverage area

I switched from Sprint to T-Mobile with the Nexus 5... Overall I couldn't be happier... Much cheaper plan and speeds and saturated coverage in my area is ten times better than with Sprint..... Plus it's cheaper..

However their coverage in between major metro markets isn't that great.. I live in between Dallas and Fort Worth Texas... and just about anywhere in the Metroplex you get amazing coverage and speeds... Once you got 5 - 10 miles outside the Metroplex your coverage drops to 3G or HSPA+ get a little further out you drop down to Edge... Which while driving isn't a big deal at all (for me at least) If you are using your phone and data connection for GPS or something like that it will get spotty....

The Nexus 6 is a different animal because of it's price... I was out of contract when the Nexus 5 came out so I paid for it outright and threw a T-Mobile SIM in for a couple of weeks to test it out before switching.... and the Play Store Nexus 5 worked with Sprint so if I didn't like T-Mobile I could take it back to Sprint... but it's worked out amazingly and I've saved about $500 over the last year in plan spending on T-Mobile... and I use 5 times more data because of better coverage and signal.......

 

[Jeremy8000]

I am contract free at the moment, so I have plenty of options. The outright price is kind of steep for me (64g), but manageable. Ideally I wouldn't like to go that route, but it's possible. I live in a slightly above average city. I'm with AT&T and have great signal everywhere, but it's pricey. T-Mobile sounds like a possibility but worried about coverage area. I see a lot of people saying they're going to see about getting their N6 from T-Mobile, but the more I see people saying that, it seemed like they meant for full price. Just using TM as a way to buy the phone rather than going on contact with them. So with all that said, what's my best option?

A) Wait it out for the Play Store. Even then, I don't know exactly what carrier I should go with. Although the freedom of month to month without a contract would be nice.

B) Stay with ATT and get it through them.

C) Get on contract with TM and hope for the best (while saving plenty of money)

D) Wait everything out for Black Friday and make a decision then. (Least likely lol j

Also, in terms of "returns". Is that only if you buy outright? What if a week later of going on TM I decide it's horrible and can't do it? What's the policy on new contracts with companies?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, I'd just like to get answers beforehand.

I don't expect that T-Mobile will just sell the phone outright without any associated account or service. Since their stock will be unlocked and without bloatware (other than 1 app that auto-downloads from Play Store on activation with their SIM, and is removable), selling it to anyone that wanted to buy it would just turn them into another retail outlet and drain their inventory at the risk of not having them available for existing customers looking to upgrade or new customers to activate new service.

Play Store is the only route that, with the information we have today, is certain to be usable and permitted by all carriers that choose to offer it themselves. So A, while it might cause some delay, is the safest bet.

B is a great route to go if you're certain you want to stay with AT&T since in return for committing to a contract extension (if eligible) you'll get a decent subsidy on the cost.

As to C, T-Mobile doesn't do contracts anymore, so you'd be buying the phone outright (but with the option to pay out the cost over 24 months). Nice thing there is that once the phone is paid off, your bill effectively drops - not like other contract-based carriers who elevate the cost of service to recoup the subsidy, but maintain that toll even when it's been recovered.

D probably won't see any deals since stock will likely still be limited and carriers that do promote BF deals are more likely to be pushing the broadly recognized brands.

If you get service with T-Mobile and decide it's not for you, you can cancel within 15 (?) days and just return the equipment. Or you could keep it beyond that period and cancel (there's no ETF as it's not an annual contract, but rather month-to-month) and keep the equipment, just paying off the balance of the deferred cost (though you might also have give 'notice' meaning you might be subject to another 30 days of service costs - not sure if they still do that).

 

[codeda]

I don't expect that T-Mobile will just sell the phone outright without any associated account or service. Since their stock will be unlocked and without bloatware (other than 1 app that auto-downloads from Play Store on activation with their SIM, and is removable), selling it to anyone that wanted to buy it would just turn them into another retail outlet and drain their inventory at the risk of not having them available for existing customers looking to upgrade or new customers to activate new service.

Play Store is the only route that, with the information we have today, is certain to be usable and permitted by all carriers that choose to offer it themselves. So A, while it might cause some delay, is the safest bet.

B is a great route to go if you're certain you want to stay with AT&T since in return for committing to a contract extension (if eligible) you'll get a decent subsidy on the cost.

As to C, T-Mobile doesn't do contracts anymore, so you'd be buying the phone outright (but with the option to pay out the cost over 24 months). Nice thing there is that once the phone is paid off, your bill effectively drops - not like other contract-based carriers who elevate the cost of service to recoup the subsidy, but maintain that toll even when it's been recovered.

D probably won't see any deals since stock will likely still be limited and carriers that do promote BF deals are more likely to be pushing the broadly recognized brands.

If you get service with T-Mobile and decide it's not for you, you can cancel within 15 (?) days and just return the equipment. Or you could keep it beyond that period and cancel (there's no ETF as it's not an annual contract, but rather month-to-month) and keep the equipment, just paying off the balance of the deferred cost (though you might also have give 'notice' meaning you might be subject to another 30 days of service costs - not sure if they still do that).

I actually don't know why they wouldn't. I've bought plenty of devices outright from T-Mobile and its pretty much been no questions asked. I don't think walking in and picking one up would be an issue.

 

[Robbie317]

I don't expect that T-Mobile will just sell the phone outright without any associated account or service.

I would say this is very much true... I actually have T-Mobile.. but I bought my Nexus 5 outright from the Play Store.. I then went to Walmart and got the $30 unlimited data (5 GB LTE) text and 100 minutes talk plan.... When the LG G3 came out I tried to buy it from the T-Mobile online store and it wouldn't allow me to add it to cart even when logged into my account without upgrading to the $50 plan with unlimited talk, text and 1 GB LTE.... Actually when logged into my T-Mobile account it wouldn't even show the LG G3 as an option to buy period.... I had to log out... I'd add it to my cart and at check out say I already have a T-Mobile account and then it would just go away.......

I did a chat session with them and they told me I'd have to go to a store and buy it outright and then put my SIM in from there....

I ended up passing on the G3... I went to a store to buy it but after waiting and waiting for someone to help me I just left and then eventually I started reading these Nexus 6 rumors and decided to wait...... So I don't know what kind of hands on restrictions they will have trying to buy the phone outright in store........... I never go to where I was ready to pay for the phone...... I just know with the Nexus 6 I'll need a new SIM card that fits vs what is in my Nexus 5.....

 

[Jeremy8000]

I actually don't know why they wouldn't. I've bought plenty of devices outright from T-Mobile and its pretty much been no questions asked. I don't think walking in and picking one up would be an issue.

My reasoning was in my post:

selling it to anyone that wanted to buy it would just turn them into another retail outlet and drain their inventory at the risk of not having them available for existing customers looking to upgrade or new customers to activate new service.

Not saying the won't, but it would be surprising given it's a new flagship device, likely to be in short supply for the demand. Also, unlike other devices you might have walked in and bought w/o an associated account, this is the first one that they might be able to buy from T-Mobile and walk next door to their competitor to activate.

 

[lildj0809]

I don't expect that T-Mobile will just sell the phone outright without any associated account or service. Since their stock will be unlocked and without bloatware (other than 1 app that auto-downloads from Play Store on activation with their SIM, and is removable), selling it to anyone that wanted to buy it would just turn them into another retail outlet and drain their inventory at the risk of not having them available for existing customers looking to upgrade or new customers to activate new service.

Play Store is the only route that, with the information we have today, is certain to be usable and permitted by all carriers that choose to offer it themselves. So A, while it might cause some delay, is the safest bet.

B is a great route to go if you're certain you want to stay with AT&T since in return for committing to a contract extension (if eligible) you'll get a decent subsidy on the cost.

As to C, T-Mobile doesn't do contracts anymore, so you'd be buying the phone outright (but with the option to pay out the cost over 24 months). Nice thing there is that once the phone is paid off, your bill effectively drops - not like other contract-based carriers who elevate the cost of service to recoup the subsidy, but maintain that toll even when it's been recovered.

D probably won't see any deals since stock will likely still be limited and carriers that do promote BF deals are more likely to be pushing the broadly recognized brands.

If you get service with T-Mobile and decide it's not for you, you can cancel within 15 (?) days and just return the equipment. Or you could keep it beyond that period and cancel (there's no ETF as it's not an annual contract, but rather month-to-month) and keep the equipment, just paying off the balance of the deferred cost (though you might also have give 'notice' meaning you might be subject to another 30 days of service costs - not sure if they still do that).

Thank you. Pretty much answered everything. I didn't know you could do the payments with T-Mobile. So it's basically their version of AT&T's Next deal?

 

[Jeremy8000]

Thank you. Pretty much answered everything. I didn't know you could do the payments with T-Mobile. So it's basically their version of AT&T's Next deal?

The simple version is the EIP (Equipment Installment Plan) which has no associated costs, finance, etc, ans just breaks down the cost over time.

AT&T's Next program is essentially their answer to T-Mobile's JUMP program, in that it allows for upgrade to a newer device before 100% of the phone is paid off and basically extends out the time of payments. T-Mobile does you to be enrolled in their "JUMP" program for $10/month, but it's worth noting that that includes their premium insurance and Lookout security program, which would cost you more separately without the JUMP program, and T-Mobile doesn't require a contract.

 

[coolqf]

With phones I always preferred outright and buying with visa signature or amex because of the extended warranty and full refund in case of theft or any damage within 90 days.