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AT&T has introduced a new option for their Next program that allows folks to buy smartphones for $0 down on monthly payment plans. It’s AT&T Next 24, and as its name suggests it’ll give you the option to go the AT&T Next route to receive an upgrade every two years instead of after 12 or 18 months.
Next 24 actually spreads payments out over the course of 30 months which makes the monthly installments for expensive smartphones considerably more easy to swallow. You have the option of upgrading your device at the 24-month point as long as you trade your device in while in good condition.
And that’s pretty much the only difference compared to the other Next plans — you still get $15 (less than 10GB data plans) or $25 (10GB or more data plans) off of your monthly access charge, you still have $0 down, and you still have a brand new phone as often as you could ask for. The plan will be available beginning November 9th.
[via AT&T]
I’m still confused by the Next plan, especially the 24 month plan. How is it different from the 2 year contract?
If you want to change your phone early, wouldn’t it be cheaper to pay the ETF and get a new contract?
Also, with the contact path, you can keep the hardware, and sell it for some cash.
It’s the same as a two year contract, they just word it differently. Those sneaky AT&T people…
Also, with the Next route you’re paying full price for the phone, just spread over 30 months. If you upgrade after 24, you’ve still paid 80% of the full off-contract price. With a 2 year contract, you get the phone at a considerable discount.
Use AT&T’s Mobile Share Value tool; myattmst.com, to see the overall investment and which makes the most sense. That should help clear your confusion.
Luckily i prefer using my phone for 2 yrs before upgrading to a new device. I’m not obsessed with upgrading every 6 mons bc quite frankly Samsung releases 2 phones a yr and just happen to be 3 due to Limited Edition NOTE Edge this yr
To me, the bargain with the Next plans comes by paying the phone off instead of giving up the phone after a certain number of months….You will save the $25 per month on the large data plans ($300 per year!), buy the phone outright when you are ready to upgrade, sell it on craigslist/swappa, and go get another new phone.
A $600 outright phone is now free since you saved $600 with your data plan discount. Then you can sell the phone for $200+ if you kept it in good shape. Rinse and repeat.
You’re one of the few who get it.