Related
Just wondering what kind of deals people have seen on the Bionic. It almost seems like 3rd parties werent really pushing this phone. I know Costco had an ad with some accessories, but I also saw in the ad that it might not be on opening day.
Has anyone else seen anything worthwhile?
unfortunately nothing special as of yet. i have heard that you can do the $100 off trade-in deal if you are upgrading from a non-smart phone. other then that just accessories.
I got the 100 off for using a non smart phone upgrade then 50 off the new every two rebate. See what happens.
Phone Arena's reporting Costco's doing $280 + a nice accessories bundle.
I was in Costco today. They said they would have 8 tomorrow at this store. He wouldn't say the price but claimed it came with $170 worth of accessories including a dock. He did say they would be cheaper than the Verizon stores.
I am seriously considering this phone instead of my Droid Charge.
Im getting rid of my Charge for this phone. I just cant take the battery drain any more.
I wonder if Amazon or anyone else will be running big specials.
mrhunter602 said:
Im getting rid of my Charge for this phone. I just cant take the battery drain any more.
I wonder if Amazon or anyone else will be running big specials.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably be some deals within a couple weeks, but I doubt it this week.
I just logged into my verizon and the upgrade price they have for me is $249. I totally expected $299.
I got this price by logging into the main phone account on a family plan and attempting to upgrade a secondary line.
$249 at amazonwireless
$50 for NE2, $30 off as loyalty bonus, free o/n shipping.
So one major gripe most reviewers had has been reduced. At $219, unlimited data and rooting it seems like a better deal, somewhat worthy of the delay.
I guess all new smartphones would receive such discount, but by most accounts the bionic is a capable phone and a significant jump from my D1.
mrhunter602 said:
Im getting rid of my Charge for this phone. I just cant take the battery drain any more.
I wonder if Amazon or anyone else will be running big specials.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon had it for $199 as of a couple hours ago.
pjosman said:
Amazon had it for $199 as of a couple hours ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For new customers only, unfortunately. Upgrade is $249.
wow didnt know verizon had it cheaper. was about to go to BJ's to buy it as I usually do, since the price for the phone is generally the same and they have better deals on the accessories. Thanks for saving me the money.
EDIT: just went to VZW and it only wants to give me a price of $289 with no loyalty bonus. I am part of a family plan but that shouldnt matter. I have been eligible since july for upgrade. amazonwireless says its backordered.
Checked this morning and:
Wirefly.com was $249
Amazon.com was $199 ( backordered)
Letstalk.com was $199
I'm hoping BJs/Costco will drop the price to $199 and waive the activation fee for me
Walmart.com also has it for $199. stores don't have them yet. Just checked. Don't want to wait though. Plus I'm always paranoid about a 3rd party seller screwing up my plan and charging me extra. Especially my unlimited plan.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
$269 in store plus $100 trade-in credit for old phone when adding a line.
Can anyone confirm the $249 price with verizon for upgrading a current line?
I am secondary on a family plan, and my upgrade isn't until 9/13, but the extra $50 off makes the deal a little easier to swallow. As far as loyalty, we have been good customers for at least 5 years, not sure how they do their calculations as to who is "loyal"
Kyledoo said:
Can anyone confirm the $249 price with verizon for upgrading a current line?
I am secondary on a family plan, and my upgrade isn't until 9/13, but the extra $50 off makes the deal a little easier to swallow. As far as loyalty, we have been good customers for at least 5 years, not sure how they do their calculations as to who is "loyal"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also secondary on a family plan and the best I got was $289. Just got mine a little while ago. Been with verizon for 8 years, but only 2 have been on the family plan I am now. Guess they dont count the other time before that.
Kyledoo said:
Can anyone confirm the $249 price with verizon for upgrading a current line?
I am secondary on a family plan, and my upgrade isn't until 9/13, but the extra $50 off makes the deal a little easier to swallow. As far as loyalty, we have been good customers for at least 5 years, not sure how they do their calculations as to who is "loyal"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My mistake, this price was listed on my verizon for me because I had a $50 phone credit that I was unaware of. When I asked the verizon rep he said that all family plans are credited this $50 every 20 months.
I went in to the store today and got the Bionic for $289 without an upgrade and almost 50% off some accessories. Got the phone $589, a extended battery and door $49.99, case and holster $29.99, HDMI dock $99.99, and screen protectors $12.99 plus 24.43 tax and out the door for $431.63. Saved $375.75
So where is the best place to get this phone off contract? I have been free of the Verizon strangle hold for over a year now and will never go back...
BTW... I'm still rocking the Droid Incredible, now running CM7, that I picked up on release day...what an awesome phone!
bvd
If you buy it from Verizon directly, it's $589. If you buy it from Best Buy, or anywhere else, it's going to be $699.
However, if you buy it from Best Buy, you can pay them something like $60 for their buyback program. When you want to buy another phone, just give it to them for a buyback and they will give you credit for half of the retail price towards a new off-contract phone.
So when you want to trade your Bionic in, it'll be $350 off a new phone. This works even if you buy on-contract, they still give you half of the retail price when you trade it in. This only works on phones that have been activated at Best Buy.
Not sure where the best place to get it is, but this is one expensive phone, it almost approaches Iphone retail price. Maybe try grabbing one off a reputable seller on Ebay?
Are you even able to unlock it to use on a service other than Verizon?
I bought mine full retail at Verizon. One BB I talked to wouldn't match Verizon's retail price. One did match an AT&T price on a Captivate, but that was only $30 different, not $110.
I bought it for $589 at BestBuy yesterday. (they price matched the local verizonwireless store). The buyback program which was referred to earlier is a sliding scale (which I don't have in front of me). I do know that it's 50% of the retail price of the phone for the first 6 months (assuming that you don't scratch it). If memory serves me after 2 years its down at 20%.
Also as far as the buyback is concerned it does not make a difference if you bought the phone on or off contract.
I had bought a thunderbolt a few months back for $299, signed up for a 2 year, to lock in the unlimited data. I traded up to the bionic yesterday and got $350 back for my thunderbolt since it retailed at $699 back when I got it.
Wait jstrangfeld, are you saying the buyback program is based on the retail price of the phone REGARDLESS of what you paid for it?
Roland Deschain said:
Wait jstrangfeld, are you saying the buyback program is based on the retail price of the phone REGARDLESS of what you paid for it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bet.
I paid $299 for my Thunderbolt in june (with a 2 year contract). It retailed for 699 at the time. Yesterday when I got my bionic I got $350 for my tbolt (less than 6 month = 50% of retail value).
So I had to pay $589 - $350 = $239. Actually I paid a bit more due to taxes getting screen protector and what not but you get the idea.
Interesting...thanks. Makes me tempted to go buy a Bionic right now since I could upgrade it to the rumored Nexus Prime if it really is all that and a box of crackers when it comes out in 2-3 months, lol. I'd still take a bath on the price of it, though; since I'd be buying it for retail price. Bleh.
Most eBay phones are going to be more expensive than Verizon. Honestly right now your best choice is to buy through Verizon. If you wait a few weeks you may be able to pick up some good sellers from eBay or elsewhere.
Sprint has HTC Evo 3D and Samsung Galaxy SII
T-Mobile has G2X, HTC Sensation, MyTouch 4G
Verizon has... well, the Bionic
I really want to stay with Verizon, they have the best network and the absolute best more reliable network.
So, anybody knows if they will have a decent dual core phone any time soon?
I need
1) descent screen. Super AMOLED cool, but any phone will do. HTC and LG usually have good screens. I love the screen of my G2X for instance
2) 1GB of RAM, or maybe even 728MB, but preferably 1GB
3) At least 1GB of space for apps, I believe that is called Internal Storage
4) 4G. At least >= 4000 kbps/s inside malls
5) Nvidia Tegra >=1Ghz would be nice
If you Google it you will find that VZW is not going to sell the GSII because they don't think it has enough to compete with the IP5 when it drops. They have a newer offering from Samsung called the Prime that they hope to have on the market in time for the holidays. Possibly as early as next month.
Chopstix9 said:
If you Google it you will find that VZW is not going to sell the GSII because they don't think it has enough to compete with the IP5 when it drops. They have a newer offering from Samsung called the Prime that they hope to have on the market in time for the holidays. Possibly as early as next month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well my main concern if I switch to Spint is that I will have to pay around $80 per month or something like that
I don't have a problem with having two carriers within the family, but with Verizon I only have to pay a cheap $50 per month price
I like the fact that Sprint has the Samsung Galaxy SII, the HTC Evo 3D
They even have a Motorola Dual Core as well
All 4G, Dual Core, nice screen, good RAM
So 3 devices vs 1
From what I am reading, if I use this phone from Verizon, I will use it for at least 6 months, till January or something
I know how technology works, and how long it takes for new devices to appear
example the GTX 600 series will appear in January, AMD Bulldozer still hasn't arrived, Intel took forever to fix their motherboards, and 6 months after they released the Intel Sandy Bridge, they were still releasing new chipsets
Here is how much it will cost me to switch carriers for the next 6 months
If I stay in T-mobile and stay in no contract
$120 every month.
Total: $720
If I move to Sprint
$90 per month
I need to finish paying $350 to T-Mobile for the phone, Let's say I sell the phone in $200, $150 out of my pocket
$250 for the Samsung Galaxy S II
I still need to pay July and August to T-Mobile, so add another $240
Total: $1180
If I stay in Verizon
$50 per month
I need to finish paying $350 to T-Mobile for the phone, Let's say I sell the phone in $200, $150 out of my pocket
$350 for the Droid Bionic
Let's say I sell the Bionic for $350, let's say the Samsung Prime is $600, so $250 out of my pocket
I still need to pay July and August to T-Mobile, so add another $240
Total: $1290
In theory I want to stay with the cheapest one (T-Mobile), but again, I don't like them
I had no-contract plan with them, but now those plans are no existing anymore.
So I can't drop down to the $99 plan I had before, freaking idiot$..., they told me the ONLY way to drop my price is to make a new 2 year contract.
So if I want to cancel with them I have to pay them a ****load of money since I am still paying the phone
So even if T-Mobile is the cheapest, I wouldn't trust them with my credit card or bank account anytime soon, so I won't stay with them no way
I think I'm going to stay with T-Mobile, and then someday try to switch to Sprint
If I can switch to Sprint this week, that would be great.
If I can't, then I don't see what's the point of doing this deal with Verizon. I am 110% sure that I don't like this phone
now, with T-Mobile I had no contract, so I had the ability to go up/down in plans. Now those idiot$... removed all those plans, so they respect my rate but they won't allow me to upgrade/downgrade
So another nasty tactic would be to allow T-Mobile to send us to collections and hopefully we can go to court and explain to the judge that they can't destroy my plans, and then expect me to pay $120 forever
They actually want me to pay $120 per month, for 2 years (until I finish paying my phone), because those idiot$.. just say they don't have no-contract plans anymore.
So screw them, I haven't decided yet if I can sue them or if it's even worth my time
Anyway, if I just forget about them, maybe throw them a bone here and there, here are my new estimates
If I stay in T-mobile and stay in no contract
$120 every month.
Total: $720
If I move to Sprint
$90 per month
$250 for the Samsung Galaxy S II
Total: $790
If I stay in Verizon
$50 per month
$350 for the Droid Bionic
Let's say I sell the Bionic for $350, let's say the Samsung Prime is $600, so $250 out of my pocket
Total: $900
Now, my question would be
If Sprint and Verizon have good reception inside malls, Best Buy, Frys, Walmart... and the price is around the same
Which one would you chose?
My main problem with Verizon is that they only have ONE FREAKING PHONE that works with 4GB, and has a dual core CPU
So anyway, even though I hate doing this, tomorrow, if for some reason I don't sign up with Sprint, I am going to stay at $tupid T-Mobile.
rafarataneneces said:
So another nasty tactic would be to allow T-Mobile to send us to collections and hopefully we can go to court and explain to the judge that they can't destroy my plans, and then expect me to pay $120 forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not worth it bud. You don't want ANYTHING remotely bad on your credit report, especially in these economic times. Creditors are looking for an excuse not to lend. You might not need a loan now, or in the near future, but you never know if an emergency comes and you get denied because of a not paid phone bill.
Just my 2 cents...
Chopstix9 said:
If you Google it you will find that VZW is not going to sell the GSII because they don't think it has enough to compete with the IP5 when it drops. They have a newer offering from Samsung called the Prime that they hope to have on the market in time for the holidays. Possibly as early as next month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not even close to true. Verizon sees no point in selling the GSII because the Prime is the same phone except for the LTE radio and Ice Cream Sandwich (reported to be the first ICS phone).
The IP5 will probably be the IP4 running the iPad2's SoC and iOS5; the GS2 has been out for many months and can already run with that as can other devices.
TauntingBull said:
Not worth it bud. You don't want ANYTHING remotely bad on your credit report, especially in these economic times. Creditors are looking for an excuse not to lend. You might not need a loan now, or in the near future, but you never know if an emergency comes and you get denied because of a not paid phone bill.
Just my 2 cents...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, but hey, not to brag or anything, but if I work hard I can make all the amount that I owe them (including the phone cost and the 2-3 months I will be behind) in a couple of days
The problem is that I have a NO CONTRACT plan with T-Mobile
Somehow I ended up stuck at $120 per month because those plans don't exist anymore
so they can't discount me or anything
From what I know, they do send you to collections after 3 months.
So I can screw them and after 2 months and 29 days just pay them the cash and shut their mouth
I just dislike companies being dishonest
If I have NO CONTRACT how on earth did I ended up with such a high fee?
I can't even remove or add features to the plan, it's ridiculous
modal realism said:
That's not even close to true. Verizon sees no point in selling the GSII because the Prime is the same phone except for the LTE radio and Ice Cream Sandwich (reported to be the first ICS phone).
The IP5 will probably be the IP4 running the iPad2's SoC and iOS5; the GS2 has been out for many months and can already run with that as can other devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But do you know if the Prime will take another 6 months to arrive or so?
I can't stand my phone it's only being 4 days of use
Well, from the daily reading I've been doing it IS a superior phone to the GSII. It isn't even going to run the same processor! It is based on Samsung's in-house Exynos CPU at 1.5 GHz with 1GB RAM. It will not be using the TI processor like the duece. The phone has a metal body. That's right, a Samsung with a metal body. It will also sport a 2000 mAh battery. On the soft side, there's a new browser that is said to be leaps and bounds ahead of anything else on the market.
Obviously, this close together it isn't extensively different, but quite a bit so at e same time. The plan is to have it on the market for the holiday shopping season. Probably within the month or not a lot longer.
Your back? You said good bye already what gives chief?
Just a heads up sprints unlimited data will be going away soon enough. Or at most switch to a $30 unlimited so either way sprint will be going up
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
Chopstix9 said:
Well, from the daily reading I've been doing it IS a superior phone to the GSII. It isn't even going to run the same processor! It is based on Samsung's in-house Exynos CPU at 1.5 GHz with 1GB RAM. It will not be using the TI processor like the duece. The phone has a metal body. That's right, a Samsung with a metal body. It will also sport a 2000 mAh battery. On the soft side, there's a new browser that is said to be leaps and bounds ahead of anything else on the market.
Obviously, this close together it isn't extensively different, but quite a bit so at e same time. The plan is to have it on the market for the holiday shopping season. Probably within the month or not a lot longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on my inside sources, the processor will be infact a TI processor, specifically the TI OMAP4460, and it will be housed in a plastic body to be released sometime in October, though that could change. Also, another tip: the official name of the rumored Prime has nothing to do with the word Prime or Droid, and that's all I can say about this rumored phone without getting into too much trouble.
Hands on reviews posted on-line dis-agree with your claims... I have been waiting since last year's CES for the Bionic. Waited thru all the delays/scraps. After 9 months, the phone looks to me to have landed with a resounding thud !!
Chopstix9 said:
Hands on reviews posted on-line dis-agree with your claims... I have been waiting since last year's CES for the Bionic. Waited thru all the delays/scraps. After 9 months, the phone looks to me to have landed with a resounding thud !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying you're wrong or I'm wrong, I'm just relaying the insider information I have. I have a friend who works for Verizon high up there, so I know his information is 100% correct and I've also seen the information myself.
Amazed nobody has mentioned this phone in this thread.
http://tinyurl.com/63a7rgm
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
I'm aware it's out there but I've never been a fan of HTC products. Normally I really like Moto offerings but I am less than impressed with the Bionic. Especially after all of the hype surrounding it all year.
Chopstix9 said:
Well, from the daily reading I've been doing it IS a superior phone to the GSII. It isn't even going to run the same processor! It is based on Samsung's in-house Exynos CPU at 1.5 GHz with 1GB RAM. It will not be using the TI processor like the duece. The phone has a metal body. That's right, a Samsung with a metal body. It will also sport a 2000 mAh battery. On the soft side, there's a new browser that is said to be leaps and bounds ahead of anything else on the market.
Obviously, this close together it isn't extensively different, but quite a bit so at e same time. The plan is to have it on the market for the holiday shopping season. Probably within the month or not a lot longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well yesterday I went to Sprint and man that phone is absolutely gorgeous
However, my HTC Thunderbolt does a lot of the things about the same
Yes the Samsung Galaxy S II is thinner,and the screen a bit bigger
the MAIN difference is the screen quality, man NOTHING can beat Samsung now a days
However, I would like to know if there are news about HTC Vigor or the Prime
I am having a hard time figuring out why I should change to Sprint just for one phone.
Let's say Verizon does comes up with a phone that has dual core 1.2Ghz or 1.5Ghz in the near future, then that phone would be the best
the Samsung Galaxy S II was able to achieve 8000 kbps/s
The HTC Thunderbolt was able to achieve 16000 kbps/s
So, none of them is a clear winner, one has bigger more beautiful screen, but the other has faster internet
Anyway, I think I'm going to try the Samsung Galaxy SII, just because I bought the HTC thunderbolt cash, so I can cancel the contract, and I can go back to Verizon any day I want
Right now it's the time to test all carriers (I am testing all except AT&T which has a limited bandwidth for customers), and decide
My co-worker is amazed by his S2! He suggested I switch out of Verizon....Now! I laughed and told him my unlimited plan is keeping me with Verizon. He measured the speed of the phone and it was twice the speed of the bionic. Maybe that phone will come to the Verizon network as the Samsung Function soon!
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
I to went into sprint and played with the sgs 2 and it is VERY nice. I was thinking about returning my bionic and going with sprint also. I know the quadrant scores are for losers but I was able to get about 2400 with my bionic. I ran it on the sprint store phone and was able to get repeat 34-3500 scores! However, I was only able to hit 4mbs down and .645 up on the same phone. My bionic in the same location hit 16 down and 5 up.
Latest word on PhoneArena:
Vigor release: 10/20
Prime release:11/3.
Take it with a grain of salt, but that's the latest word.
Hey all, my Nexus 6 will be here tomorrow, and I want to make sure that I understand what I can do with my Turbo. I bought a Turbo Nov 1, on contact with my work account, I'm assuming I can simply put my Nano-Sim into the N6 and off I go. But, I would like to sell my Turbo to off-set the costs of the N6, am I going to have any issues with that? The phone would be clean to sell correct?
Thanks in advance.
Brocja01
Yes
You can sell it. The phone will be clean.
yes, as long as you arent doing one of those payment plan deals with verizon.
Excellent, hoping to recoup most if not all my investment into the N6. Got the 64gig Ballistic Turbo.
I suppose that really depends on how you purchased the Turbo. did you buy it literally on contract? or did you do the verizon Edge plan? or did you do a 2 year contract?
Regardless of what you did if you sold the phone it would be CLEAN however if you did something like cancel your contract for your 2 year contract with out paying the ETF and your account goes into collections OR if you are on EDGE and you stop paying the device portion of your device payment plan then in both instances the IMEI will be black listed and the person you sold it to will be stuck with paperweight phone.
so you bought the droid turbo and then did what, pay full price for the nexus 6 as well?
You should do a comparison when you get the nexus. I've ordered a Nexus knowing very well that I'm probably going to get a Turbo eventually. Depends on if I can survive without root or if Motorola ever makes a developer edition. Best case scenario the nexus battery lasts long enough and I won't even bother
SymbioticGenius said:
You should do a comparison when you get the nexus. I've ordered a Nexus knowing very well that I'm probably going to get a Turbo eventually. Depends on if I can survive without root or if Motorola ever makes a developer edition. Best case scenario the nexus battery lasts long enough and I won't even bother
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both the Turbo and N6. Yes the Turbo battery is better, but that is the only thing going for it. The N6 absolutely blows it away in every other category IMO. The best part is that I feel great giving big red the finger using an unlocked and rooted device with unlimited data on their network
nextelbuddy said:
so you bought the droid turbo and then did what, pay full price for the nexus 6 as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I bought the Droid Turbo cause the Nexus wasn't out, then I bought the Nexus at full price. I really wanted the nexus, and don't have the patience for it to come to Verizon, so I bought the Turbo and now the N6.
I bought the Turbo by simply signing another 2 year contract. I have a work account, so I buy the hardware they pay for the line. So I renewed the contract and got the 64gig Ballistic Turbo for 50 buck as a 200 trade in of my old phone.
Just wanted to make sure I could still sell the phone after I got my nexus up and running. Otherwise I'll have to sell the N6, wife won't let me keep both.
I know that I probably just need to drag my ass down to Best Buy or Verizon, but thought that I'd ask here first.
I am currently on a two year contract. Actually the contract expired last year, but the point is that I go with the whole two year contract thing. If I take advantage of Best Buy's offer on the Verizon, how will that affect my contract? You get the phone through BB, and it is $150 off. The monthly payment is something like $33 per month. Is that a contract price? Or do I lose my contract?
It's difficult to keep up with this stuff. I have always had contracts and never gone with anything else.
usmaak said:
I know that I probably just need to drag my ass down to Best Buy or Verizon, but thought that I'd ask here first.
I am currently on a two year contract. Actually the contract expired last year, but the point is that I go with the whole two year contract thing. If I take advantage of Best Buy's offer on the Verizon, how will that affect my contract? You get the phone through BB, and it is $150 off. The monthly payment is something like $33 per month. Is that a contract price? Or do I lose my contract?
It's difficult to keep up with this stuff. I have always had contracts and never gone with anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be the monthly payment for the phone itself, in addition to your Verizon plan cost.
Very few phones are subsidized anymore. They care more about the device payment than the contract. I have been out of contract for 2 years. When they used to subsiduze the phones they would lock you into a 2 year contract on the phone. That is no longer done by VZ. If you have a contract it's either because you got a subsidized phone less than 2 years ago or you added a VZ tablet or smart watch to your account. They still provide minimum subsidies on VZ tablets and smart watches.
I just cancelled my VZ preorder and paid off my S7. I then pre ordered from Best Buy to save the additional 150. Plus, I'll get 425 for my mint condition S7 Edge. I paid 786 with the 150 off, 56 dollars in tax and will get my Note 8 for 361 excluding tax or 15.04 per month. I also get to keep my Pixel XL as a spare.
Mike02z said:
Very few phones are subsidized anymore. They care more about the device payment than the contract. I have been out of contract for 2 years. When they used to subsiduze the phones they would lock you into a 2 year contract on the phone. That is no longer done by VZ. If you have a contract it's either because you got a subsidized phone less than 2 years ago or you added a VZ tablet or smart watch to your account. They still provide minimum subsidies on VZ tablets and smart watches.
I just cancelled my VZ preorder and paid off my S7. I then pre ordered from Best Buy to save the additional 150. Plus, I'll get 425 for my mint condition S7 Edge. I paid 786 with the 150 off, 56 dollars in tax and will get my Note 8 for 361 excluding tax or 15.04 per month. I also get to keep my Pixel XL as a spare.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I actually completed my contract last October. I've had this Note 4 for almost three years. Turns out that I'm kinda dumb, because I've been paying the same price that I did when under contract, and my phone has been mine for almost a year. I pre-ordered a couple of Note 8s from Best Buy and once I get them, I'm going to knock my plan down to 2GB. With the 2GB plan and the two phones on payment plan, I'll be paying just a few more dollars than I'm currently paying.
I didn't keep up on what's going on with phones now, but it almost seems like this is a better way to go. I can pay this phone off any time I want, get a different phone, and sell it. Seems like more freedom.