Unlike last two years, T-Mobile isn’t offering a 50% off Pixel device offer this year. On the bright side, for the first time ever OnePlus is available in stores of US carriers because of their partnership with T-Mobile and Verizon. T-Mobile itself is running a 50% off the newly launched OnePlus 6T device which really is a $300 off offer after trade in of an eligible phone.
The List of Eligible Phones
Surprisingly the list of eligible phone is fairly interesting. You can trade in anything from OnePlus for $300 off. You can even trade in the good old Nexus 6!
- OnePlus: everything!
- Google: Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL
- Apple: iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus,
- Samsung: Note 5, GS6 series, GS7 series, GS8 series, Note 8,
- LG: G6, G7, V20, V30, V30+
- Motorola: Z2 Play, Z2 Force, Nexus 6
I ended up trading OnePlus X to get $300 discount. Not a bad deal considering I bought OPX for retail price of less than $300 (before tax).
How does this deal work?
You bring in an eligible phone for trade in. They’ll take your phone, ask you to make some down payment (typically the tax), then you pay 300/24 = $12.5 over 24 months. If you weren’t doing the trade in you could obviously pay 600/24 = $25 over 24 months.
Warning
Beware that T-Mobile is only selling one variant of this device – mirror black with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB space. You cannot buy a cheaper version (6 GB RAM) at T-Mobile.
The updates might come slower on T-Mobile’s variant.
Due to the additional level of certification required by T-Mobile on all software releases, there may be a slight offset but we are working diligently to minimize this period in all instances
There is no dual sim capability in this variant either. The exact same OnePlus 6T bought from One Plus will have dual sim capability.
Obviously, the phone will be locked with T-Mobile until it is fully paid off. According to this article from android police, you can pay off the phone early to get it unlocked and the bill credits will still continue to roll in.
Closing Thoughts
I typically do not buy phones on Equipment Installment Plan (EIP) but my dad’s One Plus X needed to be upgraded. Few years ago I had bought him OPX at retail price of little less than $300 (before tax) so a trade in value of $300 isn’t too bad.
Because it is very unlikely that he’s going to cancel his awesome 55+ T-Mobile plan any time soon, I thought committing to T-Mobile for 2 years to get that $300 discount won’t be too bad. We’ll see if the educated risk I took pays off.
