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T-Mobile JUMP, AT&T Next, and Verizon Edge Compared

posted on Jul 18th 2013 at 7:48pm by Joe Fedewa

frequent

I don’t know about you, but all of these new early upgrade programs from the top three carriers are very confusing. Some let you upgrade twice, others only once. Some have insurance, others have up front fees, and some are just plain not a good deal. It’s time to take a look at these plans and find out how to get you more Windows Phone devices each year.

T-Mobile JUMP

JUMP started this whole frequent upgrade phenom that seems to have popped up over night. I get the feeling T-Mobile didn’t expect everyone to jump on board so quickly. With JUMP you can upgrade twice per year. Let’s take a look at the numbers for JUMP when buying the Lumia 925 on T-Mobile JUMP.

  • $20 per month for 24 months.
  • $50 for the phone upfront.
  • $10 SIM card.
  • $60 a month for 2GB data, unlimited talk/text.
  • $10 JUMP fee.

First month: $150
Following months: $90
Total cost after 6 months: $600

AT&T Next

The next carrier to announce a frequent upgrade program was AT&T. With their service you can only upgrade once per year, and a lot of people were up in arms about how much of a ripoff it seems like. One thing I do like about Next is that it’s much simpler than JUMP. Let’s take a look at buying the Lumia 920 on AT&T Next,

  • 0 down payment.
  • $32 per month for 20 months.
  • $85 per month for 1GB of data, unlimited talk/text.

First month: $117
Following months: $117
Total cost after 6 months: $702

Verizon Edge

Edge is the newest program, and it comes from America’s biggest and most reliable network (or so they say). Like JUMP, with Edge you can upgrade your phone twice a year. Despite the difference in how many times you can upgrade, Edge is similar to Next. Let’s take a look at buying the Nokia Lumia 928 on Verizon Edge.

  • 0 down payment.
  • $27 per month for the phone.
  • $90 per month for Share Everything plan.

First month: $117
Following months: $117
Total cost after 6 months: $702

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So, who is the winner? AT&T and Verizon are more expensive, but you are getting a better network. T-Mobile is cheaper, offers more data, and has insurance built in in case you break your phone. T-Mobile JUMP is a better option, but that won’t matter unless you have good coverage in your area. If all of these plans seem expensive just look at what you’re getting. Usually they offer one phone for two years, not you can double or quadruple that. You get what you pay for.


  • yanivc

    Joe… I would beg to differ regarding the network. I’ve used all 4 major carriers and the only one that really stands above the others is Verizon. However you pay through the anal cavity for their service. AT&T is crap almost everywhere I go. I’ve used it in NY, Miami, L.A., San Fran, Chicago, so many places… and its always dropping calls. Sprint? Well let’s leave the poor guy alone, no sense in beating a dead horse :)
    T-Mobile is the only other option really other than Verizon.
    Also, you left out some math!
    T-Mobile… you pay today $50 for the phone… after 6 months a total of $600 and when you want to upgrade, if the new phone is $100 you pay that PLUS you hand then your old phone. At least with AT&T theres no down payment again, and to be quite honest, all three suck since you have no equity left.
    At least if I don’t use the program I can still make payments on the phone and then sell my old phone to offset the cost.
    Either way, the only winners in any of these plans are the carriers!

  • http://winsource.com/ Joe Fedewa

    Everyone has different experiences with each carrier. In my area AT&T and Verizon are rock solid, whereas T-Mobile is sketchy. When I speak about coverage I am talking about the whole country in general, I understand it may be different for you.

  • Renkman

    AT&T has always been excellent in Orlando. I routinely get download speeds in excess of 40-50 mbps, my calls don’t drop off and they are always crystal clear. Joe is right, everyone has different experiences with each carrier.

  • Chase Elliott

    Woah you’re WAY off with your math, not to mention plan pricing! First, the rates you list for AT&T and Verizon DON’T EXIST. For ATT, unlimited talk is $69.99/mo, unlimited text is $20/mo, and then data at either 300MB for $20/mo or 3GB for $30/mo. Lets say you choose just 300mb, which btw you get charged another $20 per 300mb you exceed! Total monthly bill including phone payment would be $142/mo. You also forgot the $36 activation fee up front. Verizon’s unlim talk&text plan with 2GB data is $100/mo, not $90/mo like you stated. So lets try this again:

    T-Mobile

    Up-front cost: $60 ($50 for phone + $10 for SIM card)

    Cost of plan plus phone payments: $90/mo ($50 for unlim talk&text, $10 for 2GB data, $20 for phone payment, $10 for JUMP upgrade/insurance)

    Total cost after 6mo: $600

    AT&T

    Up-front cost: $0 (First bill has $36 activation fee tacked on though)

    Cost of plan plus phone payments: $142/mo ($70 unlim talk, $20 for unlim text, $20 for 300mb data, $32 for phone payment)

    Total cost after 6mo: $888 ($36 activation fee + $852 in monthly charges)

    Verizon

    Up-front cost: $0 (First bill $35 activation fee)

    Cost of plan plus phone payments: $127 ($100 for plan, $27 for phone payments)

    Total cost after 6mo: $797