T-Mobile is running a sale that runs through December 31. Many of it top smartphones are available for no money down. You'll have to consider a few things before deciding if it is good deal or not.
The sale, however, could be misleading because even though customers receive a rebate for the money they put down, you are also paying $20 15-$20 a month with EIP monthly payment for two years, making the total amount paid as much $240 for the device.
Just because it says zero-down doesn't mean the smartphones are free.
The small print reads "Offers expire 12/31/12. Select devices only. Mail-in rebate card, new 2-yr. agmt. on qual’g. value plan, and monthly device payments req’d; O.A.C "
You will have to meet credit approval.
We find the deal interesting because man of the top smarpthones listed the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC 8X, HTC One S, Nexus 4 and Samsung Galaxy Note II appear in the our T-Mobile Review of the Best Smartphones for 2012.
As we noted in the review many of the zero down phones are already cheaper from online retailers such as Wirefly. Unlike the major carriers such as Sprint, AT&T and Verizon that continue to heavily subsidize smartphones with plans, T-Mobile prices on phones tend to be slightly higher.
The nice thing however about T-Mobile is that you can bring your own SIM with an unlocked phone such as the Nexus 4 which sold-out quickly. We may be seeing more unlocked T-Mobile phones from Google soon. Priced at $299 the Nexus 4 received good reviews and is loved by Android developers.
Next year T-Mobile will offering the iPhone. T-Mobile will also stop subsidizing smartphones all together with plans. Therefore if the T-Mobile will stop subsidizing phones, these deal are good because without the discount many of the T-Mobile smarpthones cost between $300 and $600.
The day after Christmas, we will announce the best smartphone of the year. Newsletter subscribers will get access to all the data we used.