The psychology of non-subsidized phones . . .

[pcguys]

1. Is your over-all anxiety level about dropping an unsubsidized $800 Galaxy Note 3 higher than buying an on-contract Galaxy Note 3 for $200?

2. Would you be more likely to buy insurance on the unsubsidized phone vs. on-contract?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Mike

 

[dpham00]

It depends on the plan and promotions available. My Verizon subsidized legacy plan is way cheaper for my uses then say non subsidized plan over 2 years. Also I picked up my first Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for $90 on contract on release day and my second Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for free after visa prepaid card last year.

I realize that this is about the att Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but a similar concept could apply to the att variant. Promotions vary of course and my understanding is that if you signed a contract with At&t before February, that att would be willing to cancel the etf if you decide to buy a device on their next plan.

To me, I would stick with whatever can get me the service and phone the cheapest, regardless of paying full retail or on contract

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[Rukbat]

I try not to drop my phones. I don't care what they cost, I wouldn't drop a free one if I could help it. And since the hands and eyes are too old to do the repairs myself any more, I buy insurance.

 

[putsometrebleinit]

1)Nope because the money I save each year by not being tied to AT&T would allow me to buy another phone outright if on the off chance I did happen to drop it. I would even come out ahead after I sold the dropped phone on Ebay. And I don't do the insurance for the same reason. By the time you pay for the insurance on the phone and then the deductible if something goes wrong, you aren't coming out ahead because you have to send the phone in once it is replaced in most instances. That takes away the opportunity to resell the phone.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[pcguys]

I'm in total agreement about insurance. I have 3 galaxy s3 phones on my plan currently. If insurance is $10/phone/month, that's $30/month X24 months = $720 so yes, I could buy a replacement phone every 2 years and still save some money.

If an off contract note3 is really $800, I guess it still works out pretty close.

I'm not sure I understand the point you made about not being tied to ATT. Who is your carrier? Or, do you mean you could switch to tmobile or something?

 

[putsometrebleinit]

I use AT&T mvnos instead. I went from straight talk to aio Wireless. both of which saved me around $75 a month over the AT&T plan I had way back when.

Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk

 

[pcguys]

interesting, thank you.

 

[pcguys]

What do you think about the ATT Next plan? It's a finance-free way to divide the payments over 20 months, but you can trade in the phone after 12 months, or own it after 20 months and sell it privately. It seems more flexible than just a 24 month conventional contract: AT&T Next - Get A New Smartphone Every Year from AT&T Wireless

 

[dpham00]

What do you think about the ATT Next plan? It's a finance-free way to divide the payments over 20 months, but you can trade in the phone after 12 months, or own it after 20 months and sell it privately. It seems more flexible than just a 24 month conventional contract: AT&T Next - Get A New Smartphone Every Year from AT&T Wireless

If you are on a mobile share value plan with 10gb or more then your bill will reduce by $20 per line . in this case, it would make more sense to buy on next, since you are getting a $480 reduction over 2 years

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[pcguys]

actually it's $40 vs. $15 which is $25 less which is $600 over 24 months. If you buy a smart phone which costs less than $600 it's a no-brainer: go for value share and buy or next your next phone.

I'm contemplating a note 3 which seems like it costs $720. So, paying $25 more and then paying an additional $300 means you are paying $900 for a $720 phone: so absolutely: go for the $15/line and buy or next your phone.

With all that said, I guess I'm convinced to go for $15/line and buy or next my note 3!!!

Sometimes I need to type it all out before it makes sense to me

 

[dpham00]

Ah, sorry, confusing carriers. Yes, $25 per line for att

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[pcguys]

A few weeks ago, I ended up purchasing a Note 3 on the ATT NEXT (payments $36/month for 20 months).
I got a case on it.

I love it !!!

I no longer am scared I will drop it. (I never have any of my phones).

So, maybe it's all about the pre-purchase and first few weeks, then after that, it just feels like normal. ?

 

[jneusch]

I did the Next plan when I got my Note3 last October. I paid it off with my tax return. I really like the idea of no contracts and a discounted monthly rate. It's not for everyone though. If you are one that gets the cheapest free phone and holds on to it for 2 years maybe you would be better off.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Matt Behnken]

yes, i have never minded a 2 yr contract since Im not likely to change carriers so it was a bonus to get the huge 600 dollar discount for promising not to switch or pay $200 penalty. technically i guess you could sign the contract and then cancel the next day and pay the cancel fee and then sell the phone for a huge profit. I guess there are only so many carriers to do it on so they would run out quickly. I always get the itch to upgrade after 12 months so NEXT is great deal for me. The tax on the note3 was about 55 when I bought through next and i'm paying like $37 extra a month. Luckily I had recently upgraded to a note 2 and I sold it for $300 on ebay. This first year of next will be cheap

I buy insurance because I have kids and anything can happen. One time my phone was charging on the table and a picture frame fell and cracked the note 2 screen. I was shocked but glad I had ins.

 

[mavrrick]

I despised the next plan until the recent changes. Next was insane when you were still paying the subsidized price for service ontop of the next plan. With the recent change it is completely reasonable now. 15$ + cost of phone in most cases is still almost about the price before the change. There are also allot of phones that are dirt cheap on next.

Posted via Android Central App on my Note 3

 

[pcguys]

I agree 100%. The PREV NEXT plan was nuts. Now that I'm on a 10 gig value share, paying just $15 /line instead of $40/line, buying it on contract would be nuts: 24X$25+$300=$900 for a $720 phone !!!

 

[blackdogAC]

I don't get the math here...
For AT&T, the normal service plan (unlimited talk, text) is $40. Data plan extra.
That's on contract.
If you own the phone outright, there's a $15 per month reduction in the service plan. (Plan now costs $25) Data rates stay the same.
So if you're examining the life cost of a 2-year contract for a $750 phone:
They require $250 up front and then you pay the full $40...so
The total cost on contract is 250 + (24x15)
= 250+360
=$610
So that seems to be quite a savings. (750-610 = $140)
However, I realized that without contract:
1. You have flexibility to terminate service and sell device at any time, or just sell and buy up at any time.
2. You avoid a locked device, with carrier bloatware and arbitrary carrier limitations on updates...plus carriers disabling certain features if they conflict with their profit-generating options.
Eliminating all that static and gaining flexibility seems like it's worth $140 over two years.
Someone correct me if my figuring is wrong.

 

[JRDroid]

I don't get the math here...
Someone correct me if my figuring is wrong.

You did make a few errors, let me run it down for you.
First, I'm going to make an assumption that we are going to be discussing a 10 GB plan, which lowers the off contract per device rate to $15 a month, a total savings of $25 a month over hte on contract price. Now math.
15*24=360+750= $1,110 total cost over 24 months for an off contract Note.
40*24= $960 + $250= $1,210 over 24 months for an on contract Note.

So, as you can see, with a $750 phone like the Note, you are only saving $100 over the course of the contract. You also gain the freedom to leave and take your phone with you whenever you want. However, where off contrcract phones make much, much more sense is with less expensive devices. Lets look at our numbers again, this time using a free crappy Android phone for the on contract plan and a $350 Nexus 5 for the off contract plan
15*24=$360+$350=$710 over two years for an off contract Nexus 5
$40*24=$960 over two years for a crappy "free" phone.
You'd save $250 and have a better phone by being off contract in this scenario/

Now lets say you are still okay with a Nexus 5 (or Moto X since they are close in price) but you'd want a comperable phone when you were on contract, say a Galaxy S5.
$15*24=$360+$350=$710 off contract over 2 years
$40*24= $960 + $200 =$1,160 on contract for a GS5/HTC One/Other flagship.
In this scenario, you get a comperable phone in either plan and you are saving $450 over the two years. This means you could get a new Nexus in the second year (assuming similar pricing) and still save $100 if you felt so inclined.

 

[mavrrick]

It is even better if you have a corporate discount. In many cases over the last few years the corporate discount wasn't allowed to be applied to secondary phones or certain data plans. With this change the corporate discount is applying to unlimited services and what ever data tier you are purchasing across the entire account.

 

[JRDroid]

It is even better if you have a corporate discount. In many cases over the last few years the corporate discount wasn't allowed to be applied to secondary phones or certain data plans. With this change the corporate discount is applying to unlimited services and what ever data tier you are purchasing across the entire account.

Yup! I get a 17% discount, so my base bill is only $158 for 5 lines with 10 GB of data. That is only $31.60 a line. You can't even get a prepaid plan with 2 GB of data per line for that price outside of the 100 minute T-Mobile deal, and a lot of people need more than 100 minutes.