By 
Sprint today had a couple of new plans to announce. The first is All-In, which is the company’s new pricing structure that makes it easy to understand and buy new smartphones and service. Sprint’s fuel against competing carriers is that those fancy “$80 all you can eat” plans are often advertised without mentioning the other monthly charges tacked on, such as Verizon’s infamous access fee, or the cost of paying for your smartphone.
The idea is that you get one easy-to-understand monthly rate for the cost of service + buying your smartphone, no matter which smartphone you buy. The starting rate is $60 for unlimited talk, text and data + $20 per month for covering the cost of your device off-contract, which amounts to a smooth $80 per month.
That’s the idea. The reality is as follows (as noted in the fine print that they never want you to read):
- You can only choose between the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S6, HTC One M9, LG G4 or iPhone 6, with no further options hinted to be on the horizon.
- There is a $36 one-time activation fee, but there are no other upfront costs.
- The $20 per month smartphone payment is considered a “lease.”
- If you can’t go the full 24 months, you have to give the phone back and pay the remainder of the lease period.
- Sprint notes you have the option to “purchase” the phone at the end of the 24 month leasing period or at time of termination, but we’re not yet sure if any previous payments made through leasing will go toward that. We’ll reach out to confirm.
- Note that you also have the option of simply continuing to pay the $20 per month lease beyond 24 months.
- Sprint says the “offer” for the plan ends August 6th, so this pricing may not even be a permanent option.
That’s just what we know from the fine print, but it doesn’t sound all that amazing on paper (sure does make for a sweet way to advertise, though). We’ll be looking to clarify every nook and cranny of this new plan and we’ll be sure to update you on anything we hear.
Regardless, Sprint is excited about it — so much so, in fact, that they’ve teamed up with David Beckham to advertise it. Nothing like having one of the most famous men in sports talking up your new plans.
Also on tap is a new plan in conjunction with Best Buy. It’s the Best Buy One Family Plan, which gives you and another soul unlimited everything for a cool $100 per month. That doesn’t include any possible smartphone payments, and adding more people will add an additional $40 per month per line. Not amazing, but not bad.
Both the All-In and Best Buy One Family plans (only available when upgrading or buying new service at Best Buy Mobile) are available starting today. Be sure to consider your options carefully before jumping in!
Okay, so let’s just get it out of the way. Yes the signal is not so strong but I have seen it get a lot better. I traveled from Charlotte to Chicago and had connection everywhere. I did not lose signal once. I had 4G LTE over 70% of the time I would say.
I also agree on the pricing options. Sprint is by far the easiest to understand and the cheapest. I can see Sprint changing things actually. This might be an awesome change for once. I really hate all the data packages BS.
Way to go Sprint!!!
About a year ago, I was seriously considering leaving Sprint. I got horrible signal at work (4G LTE was very spotty, usually only getting one bar) and data speeds that would actively SLOW DOWN to the point of being unusable during 12-7pm. Before and after that were normal speeds, but during that time my data connection was next to worthless. Then, all of a sudden, I had 4G LTE everywhere and it was FAST. Now I stream 1080p Netflix like a champ all the time. Call quality has improved, no dropping, I always get my texts. I’ve been pleasantly surprised and happy with Sprint ever since.
Sprint should had taken a better picture what isee is a homless man and a street advetiser lol.
Netflix only streams at a Maximum 480p on smartphones. And 720p on select tablets, unless you are tethering to a computer.
There are a few phones that support Netflix HD, including the Note 4, Moto X, and the Nexus 6 (which I own).
Read the fine print. Sprint is trying to pull a move that even Verizon and AT&T would be ashamed to do – always capping video streaming speeds.
That 600kbps will be lucky if it lets you pull 480p
Try 240p.
Easiest to understand, perhaps. Cheapest, not by a long shot.
I kept digging to see if tethering was included with this plan. No such info was found.
On another note, I seen this story on S4GRU regarding Carrier Aggregation beginning to roll out.
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-386-sprint-lte-advanced-carrier-aggregation-discovered-live-today-in-atlanta-b41-2xca/
Upload speed is okay. I haven’t seen that download speed since I first discovered Verizon XLTE last summer.
That’s what I need as well. Tethering on this plan would be great.
Does any other carrier even offer tethering free, or part of their plan? I’m comparing it to Tmo. How they’re most expensive data package comes with like 5GB of tethering (you pay for more).
AT&T includes it with their Share Data plans & Go Phone prepaid plans per one of their chat reps. I’m currently using Cricket, and while their ToS says tethering is prohibited, I’ve gotten away with it since I only use it from time to time and not a lot of tethering when I do.
OK, when you click the link, it only presents the S6 and iPhone as options. You can choose other memory configurations, but that will raise the lease price. Really, the plan is $60. The 64GB S6 is $25/month and the 128GB is $30/month for a total of $85 and $90, respectively
They also still have the “data access” charge on their family plan.
I have yet to see any of these plans that would actually save me money. Everything Data 1500 with 3 lines and its cheaper after taxes and fees than the Best Buy Family plan would be before taxes and fees.
I can pick up the same 32 GB Galaxy S6 at Amazon for $199 with a renewal, which tracks to about $8/month over 24 months and I own the phone at the end.
Assuming the lease buyout is simply the remaining retail price of the phone after the 24 payments (currently listed at Sprint for $648, $700 at Best Buy) you’re talking a minimum of $168/phone to pay off at the end (probably not worth it given the resale value of a 2 year old phone).
If I chose to then hold onto the phone and use it without payments, it would still take a long time for the $20/month savings to catch up with what I get from the contract price.
Someone pointed out that you’re just doing the initial payment at the end, if you want the phone.
If you don’t keep your phones, this will be good. If you keep your phones, you *shouldn’t* notice a financial difference, in the end: overall.
Not really. As I said, my current plan is cheaper after taxes and fees than these plans are before them.
So it’s a contract but there’s just throwing what used to be the initial payment on the phone (i.e. $199 with 2 year commitment) and tacking it on the end if you want to actually own the phone.
the US is running behind…
in the Netherlands we’ve had it for a while, it didn’t work out, and carriers decided to go back to the old system.
I wonder how long they’ll keep it up.
The US is running behind on mobile device service, infrastructure and pricing compared to Europe? Good thing someone else actually noticed that.
it’s just odd that they try something that was already tried and failed in europe.
they have the benefit of seeing others fail, only to make the exact same mistake.
i do think the US was ahead of europe with the roll out of 4G though.
Well if history says anything, the US has always seemed to ignore the way Europe does things.
Yep, good old standard vs metric, month/day/year vs day/month/year, driving on the left vs right side of the road.
Most European countries drive on the right like we do. Only UK, Ireland, and a couple others are the odd-balls that drive on the left.
But I agree with the sentiment, we tend to do the opposite of Europe.
It’s actually working. The only reason Verizon Att and sprint are even playing this game is because of T-Mobile going solely no contract and achieving exploding growth as a result.
Quentyn, you failed to mention one key issue.
Please read the fine print:
To improve data experience for the majority of users, throughput may be limited, varied or reduced on the network. Streaming video speeds will be limited to 600Kbps at all times, which may impact quality.
Sprint sucks! They offer a deceptive plan saying unlimited data but they will always cap video steaming. This move is worse than AT&T and Verizon.
Bwahahahaha Can you even stream video at 600Kbps? Dial up anyone?
This plan is totally stupid for an LTE phone. Basically, streaming is stuck at 3G speeds. LTE speeds are usually needed for smooth video streaming.
Yes… you can on dial-up. =.3
I seriously hope this is a mistake by Sprint… 600 Kbps for video streaming? What is this the year 2000?
Yea, you know you love them 144p videos. Don’t front.
“To improve data experience for the majority of users, throughput may be limited, varied or reduced on the network. Streaming video speeds will be limited to 600Kbps at all times, which may impact quality.”
Sprint must not have heard about Net Neutrality.
Yep. But my guess is they soon will. FCC will “remind them.”
I, for some reason, still use Sprint. That will change with next phone. F^*% sprint.
I still have the old Data everything 1500. I don’t get this cap since I can stream LTE and its fast. I guess I’ll stay put. I want to save money but not at the expense of bad experience
Hmmm another gimmick. All these guys are trying to copy Tmo but they are so bad at it. At least among the other three members of the big four carriers…sprint is trying more than the other two, though they still have to improve their data speed.
They made Tmobile look grimy because you have to pay off the rest of the phone you financed if you cancel?
Isn’t that what happens with Sprint?
I’ve stuck by Sprint for a very very long time (since the logo was red)…but to be honest – the past 5 years were out of convenience and price, nothing more. The lies about not paying extra for 4g after WiMax launched, the eventual crippling of their once superior 3g service, the never ending toying and tweaking of the LTE service for l almost 2 years, the absolutely non-existent coverage in the new home I moved to in 2012, having to limp along on a shitty AirRave, data locks when switching towers, etc. etc. etc. …. I stayed on through all that. However, when I upgraded from the Gs3 to the Gs5 last summer and was lied to about VO/LTE “coming soon” to the new handset – that did it. I am finally jumping ship to T-Mo and not looking back. F CDMA networks and especially Sprint.
Good riddance to you.
Feel sorry for you if you work for Sprint. Pretty soon they will have to restructure again. Good luck polishing the turd.
I don’t work for Sprint. Never have and never will work for any carrier. However, Sprint is a lot better off than dopes like you will ever be willing to admit.
Keep deep throating T-Mo though. You’ll see where the real turd is when you open your eyes and pull their d**k out of your mouth.
Yeah mane, I left Sprint years ago for some of the same reasons! I went to T-mobile and now ATT. GSM for me is the way to go! Sprint will never have my business again due to their bad business for me.
lease? LMFAO! hell. no.