T-Mobile's today rolling out yet another program for customers that aims to make upgrading even easier. It's called Score! (yes, with the exclamation point) and at $5-a-month for both postpaid and prepaid T-Mobile customers it offers a free upgrade to an entry-level smartphone after just six months, or a steep discount on a mid-range-to-premium phone after 12 months.
Okay, but what phones are we talking about here, and how much are you saving? Glad you asked.
After paying a total of $30 into Score over six months, your upgrade choices are just one phone: the Alcatel Onetouch Evolve 2, though it won't cost you anything to do the upgrade. You'll save $50 on that if you're a postpaid T-Mobile subscriber, or $80 if you opt for T-Mobile's prepaid plans.
But if you're willing to wait a year and pay $60 into Score, then your choices expand to some phones that are a bit more appealing. It won't cost you anything more to upgrade to an Alcatel Onetouch Fierce 2 or LG Optimus L90 (prepaid or postpaid), or the T-Mobile Concord II (prepaid only). Those options run at retail from $126 to $198, so you could save up to $140 right there.
If none of those mid-tier phones suit your fancy, you can save on some of the best phones T-Mobile has to offer, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 ($40 off after deducting the $60 you've already paid into Score), or $90 off on either a Nexus 6 or Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
Opting for any of the upgrade options resets your eligibility calendar, naturally. As we mentioned earlier, this program is open to both prepaid and postpaid customers (though which payment scheme you're on will affect the phones available to you), and the discounts are available to both those who choose to pay for their phones up front or finance the cost over 24 months.
So is Score worth it? That depends on if you're somebody who either has or wants to upgrade their phone frequently. If you prefer a cheap Android handset that you can abuse and replace every six months, $30 per phone isn't that bad. Same if you really want an annual upgrade to the latest and greatest — unlike programs from the likes of AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile's upgrade program might actually save you money if you strive to take advantage of it. It might not be a lot of money considering how much you'll be spending on new phones overall. And there's no saying which phones will be available through Score when your time comes and if the phone you want will be among those choices (that the Nexus 6, Galaxy S5, and Galaxy Note 4 are there is an encouraging sign, though we'd prefer T-Mobile offer all of their phones through this program).
Source: T-Mobile, T-Mobile Score Upgrades
Reader comments
T-Mobile's new Score! upgrade program could save you up to $140 on a new phone every year
What ever happened to keeping it simple? Too many options will just make people go away back to Sprint and ATT.
I love T-Mobile but they are doing too much. This is stupid.
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T mo's service is hit or miss in my area. It's okay if you are in a populated metro area but once you head out of town - not very far- and you are on edge in a hurry. That's the downside to t-mobile
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This sounds like a good deal, and I buy a new flagship phone every year. I just wish it were open to any phone. I don't want to be limited to 3 phones I may or may not want.
I thought about also taking advantage of sprints cut your bill in half deal, but I don't want to have to turn in my moto x I paid full price for to get some subsidized phone that's locked down. It would be dumb if I did that.
Posted via the Android Central App on the 2nd Gen. Moto X
So get a note 4, it is very easy to crank open and the best phone of 2014
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
T-mobile is the worst my bill went from 0 to 188$ in a coupke weeks and i used 3gb of data eorst ever do not get tmobile
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Even I have to call bs, I am guessing there is a language barrier at play here
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
never thought I'd see the day
Do not fall for these carrier financing plans. They want you to pay for the phone and by doing so lock you into a contract even though it's a "contract free" plan. You still have to pay off the phone before you switch.
Buy a phone at full price! Then you will save with lower rate plan.
Oneplus one on att! :)
Posted via Android Central App on 1+1
?? Carrier financing is no different from buying on a credit card with 0% interest for 2 years. Which is no different than paying for the phone full price up front. Except you get to keep money in your wallet with the free financing program.
I think I'll get the $30 back up then see how upgrade prices are for next year it's a little too late for the phone I want now, seems like this is best to buy right when you get a new phone.
Sounds like a wait for TMobile to get money upfront from clients but can't use for 6-12 months. No thanks.
That's exactly what it is. And anybody who's thinking of switching will think twice if they have money in this program.
Am I missing something here or does this article not actually explain how the discounts work? How do you figure out how much cheaper a phone will be after a certain amount of time?
6 months in you get a cheap phone for free. 12 months you get $100-150 credit, but yeah there should be a clear discount to what you are saving not just a random credit for each phone, I'm surprised they didn't show iphone pricing maybe the discount will only be the up front payment since they sell so many now.
If it was a discount on any top of the line phone after a year , I'd join, but not if its only select phones. I'll pass on this on T-Mobile.
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I'm still grandfathered in with the original Jump! plan, and it doesn't look like they do anything with the tablets. I'll stick with what I have.
It must be a sickness. I probably change devices 3 or 4 times a year.
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My name is NoNexus and I am a tech addict...
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
Hi! Nonexus, and welcome.....
to Techoholics Anonymous
Posted via the Android Central App
It's been three weeks since my last phone and I fear I will buy again this Friday. Damn you pusher man, why did you make the note 4 so irresistible?
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
Me too!!! Must be a very rare sickness then for only two people to have it! Maybe there's more?
Posted via the Android Central App
Any upgrade plan is nothing more than a way for your carrier to get more money out of you. The absolute cheapest way to go is with a prepaid plan, and always buy your phones for cash from where ever you can get the best deal at the time you are ready.
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Unless you need more than one phone, then the value is usually in postpaid family plans. When phones are brand new there usually isn't a sale right away unless the phone completely tanks. Saving a few bucks this way may or may not be worth it depending on the discount you get on the phone. T-mobile needs to make a clear price discount not this random pricing phone gets X discount another phone gets Y discount.
this is trickery. don't get caught in the trap of unnecessary upgrades and unnecessary monthly expenditures. keep your monthly overhead low. don't leak money. pay cash, avoid debt, and save/invest as much as you can every month and never touch it. buy a good phone and keep it for 2 years. good luck.
You sir, get it
posted from an undisclosed device
I agree. While upgrade plans can be great for upgrading often (especially if you must have the latest and greatest), if your goal is to save money and get the most from your smartphone, plans like this aren't the way to go. More often than not, if someone is on a prepaid plan, they're trying to save money anyway and couldn't care less about upgrading every 6 months or a year.
Whenever I see someone say, " pay cash, avoid debt" I can automatically assume they don't own a house or car.
I have friends that have paid cash for both. There's nothing wrong with paying cash, especially if you take the time to save the money.
Then your friends are idiots that don't understand the value of leverage.
Well, that's your opinion. Do you feel high and mighty insulting someone's friends behind the safety of your keyboard?
That's not an opinion, to forgo the significant benefits of leverage with regards to interest rates and loans to "save" with cash is stupid and idiotic. A person that performs an idiotic move is referred to as an idiot. I would say the same thing to them as the move they did was just moronic.
Neither a house nor a car are investments. A house is ESPECIALLY NOT an investment in this market; and a car can never grow in value once bought, unless it's a collectible, which most newer cars are not. My friends actually invest in several different stocks and portfolios, things that actually increase in value. Unless you personally know my friends, then you have no room to judge. Listen to what you're saying, and stop thinking that you know it all.
"A house is ESPECIALLY NOT an investment in this market"
When you say that, that tells me you have obviously not kept up with the current market and anything else you say is a waste of my time to read.
Good. That tells me that anything else you say is an insult and you're a dumb, broke bastard that has nothing better to do than insult people behind the safety of your keyboard. Have a good night, you sorry piece of dog shit.
You're getting mad over a comment section and raging at the keyboard, and I'm the "sorry piece of dog shit."
You have thoroughly entertained me for the night. Sorry your friends fail to understand the opportunity cost that they missed out on with buying significant purchases in cash.
Yeah these people are delusional. Lol.
You're right on this one.
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ha i paid cash for my brand new loaded Lexus 11 years ago. i'm still driving it. i was talking about consumer debt - there's a difference between good debt and bad debt. at least with a mortgage you have an asset - the house - behind it. beware of leverage - it's great on the way up but it's a real bitch on the way down.
“I’ve seen more people fail because of liquor and leverage — leverage being borrowed money. You really don’t need leverage in this world much. If you’re smart, you’re going to make a lot of money without borrowing. I’ve never borrowed a significant amount of money in my life. Never. Never will. I’ve got no interest in it. The other reason is I never thought I would be way happier when I had 2X instead of X.” – Warren Buffett
Don't take things out of context.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/01/19/how-warren-buffet...
Your eleven year old nexus isn't worth what you paid for it eleven years ago. My house appraised at 335k last July, and I bought it 15 years ago for 212k...see the difference?
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And I like android devices too, wait isn't that what we are supposed to be talking about,?
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How much did you pay in interest?
Exactly!
Well said.
Doesn't sprint already do something like this? It may have been an older plan but I swear they did/do.
Not trying to make a Sprint / tmo battle here, just wondering
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
JUMP! was similar, but a little different. I'm curious if JUMP! is still around now.
Edit: Excuse me, I thought you said T-Mobile. But yeah I think Sprint did do something like this.
Yeah i found it. It seems like it is an add-on to a bunch of their plans. It also seems as if it is better than Tmo. It does not mention having to pay anything for a phone, no fine print restrictions that I saw on which model. Granted I did not look terribly hard, I just wanted to know it did exist.
Sprint:
Early Upgrade for Easy Pay: Req. active add-on thru time of upgrade with min. 12 consecutive payments of both the buy up and an installment agreement for phones, new phone Installment Agreement, acct. in good standing, & give back of current eligible device in good & functional condition. After upgrade, remaining unbilled installment payments for giveback device are waived. No discounts apply. If you choose to not upgrade early, we will remove the $5 monthly option charge after your Sprint Easy Pay installment agreement is paid in full. Requires enrollment within 30 days of new activation on upgrade eligible phone.
@NoNexus
On a side-note, my little brother has Sprint and he just got offered a great deal: he had 05 lines on a Framily Plan for $450, with everyone using either a Note 3 or Mega. He went into the store to upgrade one of his phones to an S5 and his wife's phone to the Note 4. After doing the upgrade, the rep gave my brother and his wife two Galaxy Tab 3's, added unlimited data to all of his lines, and reduced his bill down to $380!
Not bashing any other carriers, but this is the first time I've heard of a carrier throwing so much in and simultaneously reducing someone's bill. Is there some kind of special promotion going on at Sprint, or do they just normally hook up long-term customers?
Not that I know of. I know that when I went in to look at upgrading, they were going to lower the bill (4 line Framily) by a bunch through some promotion, but never heard the tablet thing.
When the wife went to the S5, they were going to throw in Tablets at an additional data charge (I think 15$) but that was early last year. Things could have changed a lot.
I guess I will find out this Friday. I am going to pass the Note 3 on to one of the kids. He has been clamoring since November for me to upgrade.
Your Brother got a heck of the a deal. The tab 3 isn't the latest and greatest as you know, but it is a very serviceable tablet, and you cannot beat the prices!
They're still offering the Tab for free and a monthly charge for data, don't remember how much, I just upgraded a couple of weeks ago
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I'm thinking about sprint. I have tmo. I'm just worried about service in Atlanta
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You have a little over a week to get out of it.
Or maybe ask in the forums. There is also a Sprint specific message board out there that keeps track of the progress that sprint is making in all parts of the country. It is reader reports so maybe take it with a grain of salt.
Cannot remember the name of it right now because I haven't used it in years. 4gsru or something like that. I will try to find it when I get back to my desk
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
That is referring to Sprint's Easy Pay program. You pay for the whole cost of the phone spread over X number of months. After 12, you can upgrade, turn in the old phone and finance a new one. This all has a $5/mo cost associated with it. You can choose to drop the $5 fee if you haven't upgraded and you pay off your current phone.
T-Mobile is offering this basically as an add-on for anyone and it gives discounts on devices, which the Sprint fee does not. The Sprint charge is more like a finance charge with the option of an upgrade after a year if you finance another phone. You don't have to be financing a phone with T-Mobile to add this on and it isn't required with a financed phone like Sprint's fee is.
Yeah I know it just hit me as similar is some regards. It even says easy pay in the post
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
That's a bad Tmobile, bad bad Tmobile...!
Galaxy Note 4
Galaxy S III
LG G2
If it ain't Tech, it ain't Right.
I think the significant difference is that this applies to pre-paid as well. I suppose that's pretty cool, since T-Mo has done a good job of scooping up pre-paid customers.
Yeah I get that, I was thinking in broad terms.
Prepaid is a dangerous way to live. Just as easy to go as it is to get there
Posted by my soon to be retired Note 3
The phones they're doing this with on prepaid are not that expensive. The fact that you have to have 12 consecutive months of on-time prepaid service plus this extra $5 fee, makes this seem like a high interest rate money grab on poor Tmobile customers.
Tmobile is laughing in the back room. "Easy money."
Rooted Galaxy S III
Stock Galaxy Note 4
Rooted LG G2
If it ain't Tech, it ain't Right!