explain the AT&T Next value proposition to me

[Thuleman]

I don't get it. Under which circumstances does AT&T Next save me money?

It seems to be a pure convenience charge and an expensive one at that.

Let's say I do want a new phone ever 12 months.
With ATT Next 12 getting a new phone ever 12 months will cost me $390 (12*$32.50).

Let's say I buy an ATT S5 for $650 outright. I will be able to have it unlocked before 12 months are up. For how much will I be able to sell an unlocked, but ATT branded, S5 in 12 months?

It's tough to say, but the real question is whether I will be able to sell it for more than $260 ($650 - $390). If I can reliably sell it for more than $260 then the ATT Next deal is rather meh, unless one just wants the convenience of not having to deal with selling one's phone.

 

[CHANG3D]

It doesn't. We've been through this a lot back in the day when all these first came out. The only ones that makes sense is with T-Mobile, where you might as well get it if you require phone insurance, or Sprint's Framily Unlimited, where you automatically get an yearly upgrade just for being unlimited. AT&T and Verizon are basically making a bigger money grab.

 

[Domini]

It doesn't. We've been through this a lot back in the day when all these first came out. The only ones that makes sense is with T-Mobile, where you might as well get it if you require phone insurance, or Sprint's Framily Unlimited, where you automatically get an yearly upgrade just for being unlimited. AT&T and Verizon are basically making a bigger money grab.

On tmobile for the S5 it would be 27.50 X 24mo if you just wanted to finance. If you add JUMP, you pay an extra $10mo that would allow you to upgrade at the 12 month mark or pay 50% off. That $10 also gives you insurance

So with jump it comes to 37.50 a month which totals $450 if you go the 12 months. Yes it can be a ripoff but its meant for those that always want the latest and greatest phone.
If you were lucky enough to be grandfathered into the old JUMP plan that allows upgrades every 6 months then its great.

 

[Domini]

It's tough to say, but the real question is whether I will be able to sell it for more than $260 ($650 - $390). If I can reliably sell it for more than $260 then the ATT Next deal is rather meh, unless one just wants the convenience of not having to deal with selling one's phone.

The S4 sold for $650 as well, they are currently selling on ebay for around for $400 and its a year old. Gives you a basis of what you can expect.

The Next deal is only for convenience at a premium

 

[radeon962]

If you are on a 10gb AT&T Family Plan a Next phone is billed monthly like a BYOD at $15/month. Then you pay the monthly fee based on 20 months or 26 months which is typically $32.50/mo for 20 months or $25/mo for 26 months for a phone like the S5.

Upgrade after 12 months with 20 month plan or 18 months with 26 month plan. No activation fee and if you trade in the phone then you have no additional payments as you would enter into a new Next plan.

The old AT&T plan was $40/ month for the phone with a data plan plus the Next fee of $25 to $32.50 so you were essentially paying for the phone twice through your subsidized contract price of $40 plus the Next fee. Now you at least get the $25 credit. Which gets you back to the $40 you paid under the old plan with a phone on a 2 year contract.

It's like leasing a car. I pay cash for my cars and my phones as leasing either makes little sense to me.

 

[Trimlock]

I'm staying on the AT&T 10gb pan for now, if I need to upgrade I'll be buying straight out, although I may go sub $400 phones from now on.

High end phones just aren't worth the premium anymore.

 

[paperwastage]

I'm staying on the AT&T 10gb pan for now, if I need to upgrade I'll be buying straight out, although I may go sub $400 phones from now on.

High end phones just aren't worth the premium anymore.

I would point more to the "plateauing" of high-end features

I consider the S3/S4 to be the start of the era where smartphones were "enough" - enough cpu, enough RAM, (almost) enough battery, enough LTE speed, enough wifi, (almost) enough camera

S5 barely adds to S4. there isn't any big reason to upgrade anymore (vs S1/S2->S3)

 

[radeon962]

I just buy them from Swappa now. My Note 3 cost $410 about 2 months ago and came in like new condition with everything a new phone comes with. There are already S5's and M8's listed albeit still pushing around $600.

 

[Domini]

I would point more to the "plateauing" of high-end features

I consider the S3/S4 to be the start of the era where smartphones were "enough" - enough cpu, enough RAM, (almost) enough battery, enough LTE speed, enough wifi, (almost) enough camera

S5 barely adds to S4. there isn't any big reason to upgrade anymore (vs S1/S2->S3)

I completely agree, we are at a point where software developers are not creating anything that takes huge advantage of the highend hardware. A 1.5ghz dual core with 1-2gb of RAM is still doable for the majority of apps. Their are very few high end games out there that benefit.

 

[JD03Cobra]

It's like leasing a car. I pay cash for my cars and my phones as leasing either makes little sense to me.

Sorta, leasing is based on a residual value of the vehicle and if it's high you can get a cheap lease payment, much less than buying it outright.

Problem with AT&T next is you are actually paying the full price of the phone & you don't own it at the end. I have the 10 GB 4 line plan and like others have said its around $32.50 plus $15 charge. $47.50 a month to have a new phone. Can't justify this, it makes more sense to buy a year old phone that's new in the box.

This is for the person that has to have the latest phone every year and will bend over backwards for it. It's a shitty offer.

 

[Domini]

Sorta, leasing is based on a residual value of the vehicle and if it's high you can get a cheap lease payment, much less than buying it outright.

Problem with AT&T next is you are actually paying the full price of the phone & you don't own it at the end.

I think you missed his point. Its like leasing a car because you are throwing away money without ever owning it.
To compare, you could lease 3 cars over the course of 6 years. At the 6 year point most people would own the car if they financed it. Sure they would pay more per month than a lease but now the monthly payments are gone.


With AT&T Next its completely backwards, you pay more per month for a phone lease instead of financing to own. It sad but the same fool who leased a car would most likely participate in this program.
This is America, the majority only look at the short term but never the long term. They also cant Math

 

[radeon962]

Sorta, leasing is based on a residual value of the vehicle and if it's high you can get a cheap lease payment, much less than buying it outright.

Problem with AT&T next is you are actually paying the full price of the phone & you don't own it at the end. I have the 10 GB 4 line plan and like others have said its around $32.50 plus $15 charge. $47.50 a month to have a new phone. Can't justify this, it makes more sense to buy a year old phone that's new in the box.

This is for the person that has to have the latest phone every year and will bend over backwards for it. It's a shitty offer.

If you pay all of the monthly payments to the end of the agreement then you do own the phone or when you are eligible for the 12 month or 18 month upgrade you pay what's left as a lump sum then you own the phone. It's only if you trade in the phone with payments left per the agreement that you don't own it.

I would agree that it's kind of pointless as you can pick up nearly any flagship phone after 6 months for about 1/2 the retail price, but still an improvement on the Next plan prior to the new family share 10gb plans.

 

[MrCrispy]

A lot of people, even those who can't really afford shiny new $650 phones, don't want to buy used. By spreading the cost out over 12/18 months, ATT and other carriers are essentially hiding this cost and taking advantage of the fact that most people are stupid and can't do simple math about how much the phone will actually cost.

Its the same reason why people will try to save $50 on cost of a subsidized phone while not thinking of monthly plan cost, and end up with a much worse phone they have to live with for 2 years.

 

[JD03Cobra]

I think you missed his point. Its like leasing a car because you are throwing away money without ever owning it.
To compare, you could lease 3 cars over the course of 6 years. At the 6 year point most people would own the car if they financed it. Sure they would pay more per month than a lease but now the monthly payments are gone.

That's a matter of opinion. The key is to get a cheap lease payment on let say a 40k vehicle ($250 a month). A purchase would over double the monthly payment. Yes, you don't own anything but you are simply paying the decrease in value and driving a new vehicle every 2 years. Buy a new car and sell it 2 years later and see what happens. I've leased for years and now have a Cadillac CTS V that is paid for. While free of payments, the car costs plenty to maintain as I drive it plenty.

Sorry to de-rail this thread.

If you pay all of the monthly payments to the end of the agreement then you do own the phone or when you are eligible for the 12 month or 18 month upgrade you pay what's left as a lump sum then you own the phone. It's only if you trade in the phone with payments left per the agreement that you don't own it.

Thank you for clearing that up...I stand corrected!

 

[PNut12345]

If you do the math on the monthly payments (it differs by phone and 12 months vs 18 months) there's no price premium for doing it. If you keep the phone full term it's yours. You're basically paying 0% interest on a loan with the payments rolled into your phone bill.

Wife and I just upgraded, I got the Lumia 1520 and wife got a Note 3. Adds just over $50 to our bill for both phones.

Then again we tend to keep our phones for 2 years anyway, so we chose not to lay out full price up front.

 

[JD03Cobra]

If you do the math on the monthly payments (it differs by phone and 12 months vs 18 months) there's no price premium for doing it. If you keep the phone full term it's yours. You're basically paying 0% interest on a loan with the payments rolled into your phone bill.

Wife and I just upgraded, I got the Lumia 1520 and wife got a Note 3. Adds just over $50 to our bill for both phones.

Then again we tend to keep our phones for 2 years anyway, so we chose not to lay out full price up front.

I was told by AT&T in store that there is an additional $15 monthly charge per phone added to my 4 line 10gb plan. So $32.50 for 12 months + $15 for AT&T next = $47.50 every month. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[Domini]

If you do the math on the monthly payments (it differs by phone and 12 months vs 18 months) there's no price premium for doing it. If you keep the phone full term it's yours. You're basically paying 0% interest on a loan with the payments rolled into your phone bill.

Wife and I just upgraded, I got the Lumia 1520 and wife got a Note 3. Adds just over $50 to our bill for both phones.

Then again we tend to keep our phones for 2 years anyway, so we chose not to lay out full price up front.

You do have a point, you have the option to upgrade at the 12/18 month mark and either upgrade or continue paying until the 20/26 month mark. I'm not sure where the $15 extra charge is coming from, I don't see it anywhere.

I'm curious to how they handle insurance if you want to trade in your phone. With Tmobile if you want the option to upgrade early, you are required to buy the $10/mo JUMP which includes insurance.

I was told by AT&T in store that there is an additional $15 monthly charge per phone added to my 4 line 10gb plan. So $32.50 for 12 months + $15 for AT&T next = $47.50 every month. Maybe I am missing something.

I looked all over att.com and don't see that anywhere. I see $15 mobile savings value plan though.

 

[Trimlock]

I think he's talking about the NEXT program, which applies the phone charge monthly to your bill.
AT&T's plans are flat now, you start off with your data plan and you add phones to it at a $15 monthly charge per phone, if you got your phone through NEXT you would incur additional bill costs.

 

[Thuleman]

If you do the math on the monthly payments (it differs by phone and 12 months vs 18 months) there's no price premium for doing it. If you keep the phone full term it's yours. You're basically paying 0% interest on a loan with the payments rolled into your phone bill.

Alright, so let's do the math then.

Lumia 1520 16GB
no contract: $549
2-year contract: $199
Next 12: $590 (20 (yes, 20, not 12) payments of $29.25 per month)

Let's say you only pay 12 months and upgrade, that's still $351 paid​

You can probably upgrade your 2-year contract after a year and pay however much the phone is on the new 2-year​

Next 18: $585 (26!! payments of $22.50 per month)

Let's say you only pay 18 months and upgrade, that's still $405 paid​

You can definitely upgrade your 2-year contract after a 18 months and pay however much the phone is on the new 2-year​

You can upgrade after 12 or 18 months, but it requires "trade-in of current financed device in good and functional condition", so you really need to have a case for your phone to guarantee that you will get the trade-in value they are looking for or you may be charged the difference you owe (i.e. another 8 payments on the Next 12).

In the case of Next 18 you paid $405 for your phone (you essentially pre-pay your NEXT (get it!?) phone) when you could have had a 2-year contract, paid $199, and then upgraded after 18 months to pay $199 again, that's still $7 less than paying Next 18.

 

[Trimlock]

It may be marginally more, but the actual bill is much lower.

Every one knows that the NEXT program is going to cost you a bit more per phone, but it's a choice program, you can still accept a lower bill without paying for a new phone. I much prefer this, it's inline with tmo billing only slightly more and they simplified the crap out of their tiers.