T-Mobile launched their new Go5G range of plans earlier this year. They were largely the same as their predecessors, the Magenta plans, but with a very slightly higher cost and a few extra perks. Now the “Uncarrier” has surprised the internet by unexpectedly announcing an even more premium version of the Go5G plan: Go5G Next.
According to the press release, Go5G Next appears to be the same super-premium plan as Go5G Plus, but with a very nice added benefit. Every year, customers on this new plan can trade in their phone and get top value towards a new phone. The crazy part is T-Mobile will pay off the rest of your phone after a year.
Here’s how it works. Buy a new phone on a two-year EIP (that’s T-Mobile’s 0% interest installment plan for devices) while on the new Go5G Next plan.
After a year, trade that phone in for top value (the same deals new customers get, apparently) towards a brand new phone and T-Mobile will forgive the second year of payments.
The deal cuts up to half off the price of a new phone for customers that have no down payment.
Let’s say you sign up for Go5G Next once it’s available, and buy a new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 with no trade-in. That’s an installment plan of $1,799.99 over 2 years. Once you’ve paid off half of that, about $900, you become eligible to trade it in towards a new phone (perhaps the Fold 6). T-Mobile will take your phone and forgive the remaining $900 you owe.
The plan is designed to allow customers to upgrade once a year, but you can also upgrade up to twice a year. Once at least 6 months has passed, and you’ve paid off at least half the price of the phone’s EIP, you become eligible to upgrade.
There’s a price to pay for this premium perk. The plan will set you back a hefty $180 for 3 lines. That’s an increase of $30 per month over the current Go5G Plus plan. There’s also a pretty big catch for those with free lines.
Existing customers with promotions will likely be able to upgrade to the new plan and keep any discounts, like the Insider discount and free lines, which will help with the costs. Single-line customers will pay $100 per month for the Next plan.
T-Mobile says about 10% of customers prefer to upgrade to the newest device every year. That’s around 33 million customers. This plan will surely be popular with those customers once it launches this Thursday, August 24th.
