Skyway
New member
True, but with the added monthly phone payment added to it, it ends up being around that same amount anyway. Besides, AT&T likes to "price adjust" in their favor to offset the costs that you "think" you're saving, so you probably end up getting screwed either way. I'm sure most everyone on here would agree that AT&T (or any other phone company), couldn't give two sh!ts whether the consumer is getting a good deal or not. All they want is their money, and they're not real worried about hiding that notion from us anymore. I just don't trust those NEXT plans, but I did see that you said you were going to be getting the 950 on the NEXT plan when they came out. I'd definitely be interested to see how that goes for you, and what actual fees they tack on to your bill. I want to get one too, and I definitely don't want to pay $550 for one (especially this close to Xmas), but from my research, it seems like the best way to go....for me at least. Please keep us posted after you get it.
I am currently using an HTC M8 (android) that I got through ATT Next. Personally I think it is a lot better than 2 year contracts (buying outright saves you money, it's just too much for me upfront).
The way they used to do it was you would pay somewhere around $150-200 for a flagship phone with a 2 year contract. If it was a $600 phone, they don't sell it to you for 200 and then eat the cost, the rest is subsidized into your monthly bill. The problem was that when you finally did pay off the phone, your monthly bill WOULDN'T go down. They also buried the phone payments so you had no idea that you were even paying that (a lot of my friends and family didn't understand or believe this is how it was).
The Next contract works a lot better imo. You don't have a contract on your service plan, just on your phone. You pay taxes up front, nothing else. No activation fee, nothing. If you want to pay it off early, you can, and then you own your phone outright and can do whatever you want with it. When you pay off the phone, your phone contract is done and your monthly bill is now $25(or whatever your phone payment was) cheaper. The installment plan is also interest free.