Buy 950 XL, get 950 free promo?

[Summer_Moon]

Wow... guess I must have gotten my order in just in time. I ordered yesterday (4/26) at about 11am. Got a shipment confirmation at about 3pm yesterday as well (won't be here until Monday though... should have paid for the faster shipping lol). I was also able to apply the .edu discount for 10% off.

 

[jimc4]

I had a problem with this too. I had the phones in my basket and had the discount then the next morning (yesterday) my basket emptied on its own. I reloaded the items and the student discount wouldn't work. I called and spoke very nicely to a woman and she fixed it so the edu discount would work. And she got me $20 off the new surface pro 4 signature type cover because the edu discount wasn't working on that as well. Great Customer service.

 

[wisedesi]

Mine is on the way and I also got 10% student discount

 

[Shaz2012]

Can you combine this with the lumia 925 trade in offer?

 

[Twitter JohnB_123]

I almost pulled the trigger on this thinking I'd sell one on ebay.

Then I checked ebay pricing.

I ended up picking up a brand new in sealed box, single SIM ATT 950 for $379, no tax, including shipping. It shipped the same day. I saw other "new condition" 950 devices ranging from $320-399. There is no apparent pricing separation (or if there is, it's far lower than $100) between 950 and 950 XL, single SIM and dual SIM.

With the student discount and tax, the deal was $643. Assumign I can sell a device for $350, then paying ~12% fees and shipping, I ended up with $335 net price for one of the devices. Not including hassle factor for listing/selling/shipping, that's a lot of work for ~$50. And that's assuming ebay doesn't get flooded with 950/XL devices, which anecdotally it seems that it will.

The problem is these devices are dual SIM. And while that sounds more appealing on the surface, VoLTE / "HD Voice" doesn't work and the ATT LTE speed (yes, theoretical, but still) is 50% of the single SIM version. Plus if WiFi calling ever works properly, it will be on the ATT version before it ever hits the generic unlocked one.

The idea of dual SIM is very much an international appeal - cheap alternate data or roaming. But it ends up being a lesser product/experience with a single ATT SIM.

Bottom line is, this deal is appealing if you're interested specifically in the XL, or truly want TWO of these dual SIM devices (that's four SIM slots ), or are OK with taking on the risk of selling these on ebay.

If you want a bit more choice and are looking for a similar deal, just buy one of these on ebay. Especially in a couple of weeks

 

[J Ice70]

I grabbed the deal today. Got a white 950xl and black 950. Will probably sell the 950

 

[pankaj981]

I almost pulled...
...in a couple of weeks

I see your point and some of them make sense. But that AT&T variant runs the AT&T carrier branded ROM...good luck with getting timely updates on it, especially firmware. HD Voice is not a show stopper, all online reviewers have spoken about "great" call quality on these device. Wi-Fi calling will be enabled natively at some point (Microsoft has already baked in the functionality for some carriers). And you talk about eBay, there are also alternate options like our very own Market Place...its free! For me, I would always weigh in more towards a factory-unlocked variant than paying for a device managed by a carrier.

 

[dumbog]

I chatted with a Microsoft store representative and was told that the 925 trade in offer cannot be combined with this offer.

 

[Bob317]

You may want to try again. I traded in my 925 and got the 2 for 1 from the MS Store tonight.

 

[rudeone79]

Yes, it gave me the $150 off for the trade in. But it will not let you combine any discount like the military one with it

 

[kappatau808]

i prefer to use amazon credit, only way i can justify spending anything over $300 on anything at this point. need credit card and paypal for travel soon that's why. if i wasnt moving to another state i would use credit card to buy 950xl and sell 950 even for half the price. using s7 edge but i still want 950xl. don't need it but i really want it if i can get it from the right source at the right price

 

[chris blah]

I couldn't pass up this deal. My wife's 1020 was getting long in the tooth and this is a major upgrade to my 640. Can anyone recommend a good rugged case for the 950xl? My wife is brutal on her phone. If it wasn't for Otterbox her 1020 would have been buried a long time ago.

 

[Obliterator918]

You can definitely combine the trade-in promo with the BOGO. Before the BOGO was offered I sent in my 1020 for the $150 credit. So I waited to get the credit an tried using it to get the 950XL + 950, and sure enough, the trade-in credit was applied and my phones are getting delivered tomorrow.

Side note: the MS store changed both phones to "back ordered" in my order history right after the order was placed, but they both shipped the next day.

 

[Twitter JohnB_123]

I see your point and some of them make sense. But that AT&T variant runs the AT&T carrier branded ROM...good luck with getting timely updates on it, especially firmware. HD Voice is not a show stopper, all online reviewers have spoken about "great" call quality on these device. Wi-Fi calling will be enabled natively at some point (Microsoft has already baked in the functionality for some carriers). And you talk about eBay, there are also alternate options like our very own Market Place...its free! For me, I would always weigh in more towards a factory-unlocked variant than paying for a device managed by a carrier.

Good points. ATT has been a longstanding good partner to MS, and the ATT 950 variant has better compatibility with their network today (MMS group messaging, HD Voice, faster LTE speeds) vs the carrier unlocked dual SIM variant, which lacks those features.

As an aside, HD Voice on an ATT 950 is a noticeable difference vs. the unlocked 950, which lacks HD Voice compatibility today.

I have enough "soon..." as a W10M user, it's nice to have 100% full carrier support as an ATT customer.

 

[Ira Seigel]

So this would appear to mean that Microsoft is clearing out their present inventory of 950XL and 950 phones. I wonder what that means? There's been no news about any phones they're introducing, and the Surface Phone is apparently a year away (April 2017), but the word from the execs just yesterday is that they are committed to Win10 Mobile. This offer, while good, is sending some very mixed signals on MS's intentions.

 

[VineRider]

I think it's just a simple case of clearing out excess inventory. It doesn't mean that MS will no longer carry the phones, it just means they will have a more appropriate level of stock on hand. From the business point of view, carrying excess inventory is a negative point on a balance sheet. So, moving your inventory levels down to realistic levels is more positive on the balance sheet and the financial world likes to see this.

 

[kaktus1389]

I cry so hard that this isn't available in Europe... :'(((

 

[hasasimo]

So this would appear to mean that Microsoft is clearing out their present inventory of 950XL and 950 phones. I wonder what that means? There's been no news about any phones they're introducing, and the Surface Phone is apparently a year away (April 2017), but the word from the execs just yesterday is that they are committed to Win10 Mobile. This offer, while good, is sending some very mixed signals on MS's intentions.

I don't agree that they're mixed signals. Samsung and Apple did the exact same thing with BOGO offers in their latest launches, and I don't think either is going anywhere soon.

 

[theefman]

I don't agree that they're mixed signals. Samsung and Apple did the exact same thing with BOGO offers in their latest launches, and I don't think either is going anywhere soon.

This is oft claimed but never with any substantiating evidence, are there any links to confirm this? Carriers obviously do this to attract new contract customers but I don't recall Apple or Samsung doing this with handsets at full price directly from their sales channels.

 

[tgp]

This is oft quoted but never with any substantiating evidence, are there any links to confirm this? Carriers obviously do this to attract new contract customers but I don't recall Apple or Samsung doing this with handsets at full price directly from their sales channels.

I was going to post a comment like this. The carriers had the iPhone and S7 BOGO deals to sell new lines, which for them is where the money is. Microsoft is simply dumping phones.