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lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME
Nokia XS-110G-A
Linksys Velop MX5300

lordpuffer

Premium Member

I have an upgrade in early May. How to proceed?

I have an AT&T upgrade on May 13th. The Samsung Galaxy S6 release date is April 10th, and the LG G4 announcement date is supposed to be April 28th. I want one of these phones, just not sure which one.

Is there a chance that AT&T will offer me a new 2 year agreement, and charge me a discounted price for the phone outright? Or will I have to purchase a phone through AT&T Next? Does anybody know? Thanks

iRob
join:2014-08-19
Mckinney, TX
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iRob

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If you do the 2 year agreement, you are probably and most likely have to pay $199.99 up front AND $40 a month for the line. Every single time I tried to do and upgrade, it was either pay up front and $40 a month more for the line, or do the AT&T next for nothing upfront and pay $15(may vary on data plan that is shared) a month along with the price of the installment plan. AT&T next is simply just an installment plan option for phones and they come similar to same price per month compared to 2 year contracts and depending on phone. Personally, I buy my phones outright (requires saving a decent amount) and like that I'm only paying $15 a month for the line plus for the main service.
iRob

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Click for full size
Comparison
This image shows a comparison on it. This is IF you buy the phone for $199.99 on 2-year contract. If you have the 10GB mobile share, that makes the line access only $15 (some are $15, some are higher).
You save only a couple of on the Next installment plans, and that's the cheapest per month on the Next (AT&T Next on 12 and 18 months are much more).
In AT&T Next, you could pay off your phone anytime you want, or pay extra to get it paid off faster, which might become useful.
The line access fee is what is a big rip off....
IF you choose to keep your phone for 2 years or more, then at the end of your contract then:
you will pay $40 per month for 24 months, plus $239.99 (activation fee and phone price) then you would have paid $1200 on a 2 year contract, and throwing in the $100 if you are using the 10GB mobile share and if you are the only one, then it's $3360 in 2 years.
If you do the Next installment plan, then in 30 months (AT&T Next is a 30 month installment plan, upgrade available at month 24) you would have paid $1135 ($37.84*30) and throw in there your main plan then you would have paid $4135 in 30 months.
That access fee changes a lot...

NOTE: I did not calculate any sales tax or extra fees, so the prices will be more than what I noted, and you might also have different numbers due to you might have different plan and maybe have discounts.

Either works
@att.net

Either works

Anon

said by iRob:

IF you choose to keep your phone for 2 years or more, then at the end of your contract then:
you will pay $40 per month for 24 months, plus $239.99 (activation fee and phone price) then you would have paid $1200 on a 2 year contract, and throwing in the $100 if you are using the 10GB mobile share and if you are the only one, then it's $3360 in 2 years.
If you do the Next installment plan, then in 30 months (AT&T Next is a 30 month installment plan, upgrade available at month 24) you would have paid $1135 ($37.84*30) and throw in there your main plan then you would have paid $4135 in 30 months.
That access fee changes a lot...

Big flaw in your logic there...

for 30 months of the same phone (apples to apples)
Contract = 239.99 + 24(100 + 40) + 6(100 + 15) = 4049.99
Next = 0 + 30(100 + 15 + 22.84) = 4135.20

So Next is a little bit more expensive, but not much..

The other way to look at it is:
after 24 months you can get a new phone on either plan..
Contract = 239.99 + 24(100 + 40) = 3599.99
Next = 24(100 + 15 + 22.84) = 3308.16 + remaining balance on phone (6 * 22.84) = 137.04
3308.16 +137.04 = 3445.2

so, if you get a new phone after 24 months, next is cheaper, if you get a new phone after 30 months, contract is cheaper.

iRob
join:2014-08-19
Mckinney, TX
MikroTik RB3011 UiAS-RM
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite
ARRIS SB6183

iRob

Member

I did not include the other 6 months of the 2-year contract, was sticking to how many months a customer has to pay until the phone is fully theirs. Also, on your 2nd point, the customer still has to pay $15 a month on the remaining balance on the phone. Regardless if customer is on AT&T Next or owns the phone, the $15 line access fee is still there. On the AT&T Next 24, it's
30*(100+15+22.84)=$4135.20. The $15 smartphone/line access fee never leaves, not on the last 6 months. Only if for some reason they changed it how it was in the last month or so. Unless there is something I missed, I don't see a flaw in my logic yet.
Also, my whole point is that it varies by customer, depending how much they want to spend per month and for how long they want to stay "locked in" to the carrier.

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Thanks to both of you for the info.....I'll have to make a decision about which way I'm going to go with this. Again, I have a little over one month before I can upgrade, so I have some time to think.

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

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with NEXT, you have to pay FULL SALES TAX on the retail amount of the phone on your first bill.

What's the retail value of the S6? $699?

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME
Nokia XS-110G-A
Linksys Velop MX5300

lordpuffer

Premium Member

I plan on getting the S6 with 128GB internal storage. That's $885 full retail value....Ouch! I'm going to wait until May 13th when I can upgrade and see what the subsidized cost will be. That's if they offer it then. Otherwise it will have to be NEXT.

Edit: I just checked now, and it shows $399 with a 2 year contract. That's just nuts. I've been a long time customer and have 3 devices that I've paid over $100 per month for a while now. Maybe I'll call them at the end of my contract and see what they'll do for me, if anything.

iRob
join:2014-08-19
Mckinney, TX

1 recommendation

iRob

Member

Good luck. I feel like ever since NEXT came out, prices have done nothing but gone up. 2-year contracts seemed cheaper and decent but weren't too great either. Hopefully maybe they can give you some type of discount.

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22 to lordpuffer

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to lordpuffer
said by lordpuffer:

hat's $885 full retail value...
and it shows $399 with a 2 year contract. That's just nuts.

That sounds about right... $399 + $325 (the etf) would be $724.