By offering the newly unveiled Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ a few days ahead of other wireless carriers, T-Mobile hopes it can capitalize on the hype surrounding the smartphone duo and get more customers to switch to its own network.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced over Twitter that T-Mobile is doing away with preorders for both devices. Instead, the magenta Uncarrier will begin selling the smartphones beginning Aug. 18, Tuesday, and will ship all orders right away. In contrast, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint will be three days late as they start accepting online orders on Aug. 21, Friday.
I heard you! You want to preorder and get your new Samsung devices pronto. So, we’re going to speed this up and skip preorders altogether!
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) August 17, 2015
We’re opening up #Note5 and #GalaxyS6Plus ordering starting Tuesday 6am PT – no pre-order needed. AND we’re going to start shipping ASAP! — John Legere (@JohnLegere) August 17, 2015
Told you we’re listening! Go to https://t.co/VcpdbMZdKB, https://t.co/kNqu2LP9hy or call 1-800-T-MOBILE to order the #nextbigthing Tuesday AM
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) August 17, 2015
The first shipments of the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ have been made for customers who previously preordered their new smartphones from Verizon or AT&T. However, online orders will not be accepted by the two carriers until three days after T-Mobile launches its own online sales. T-Mobile will start selling the new pair of flagship devices at 9 a.m. Eastern or 6 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday. To sweeten the deal, T-Mobile is also offering a free one-year subscription to Netflix for customers who go ahead and make their purchase before Aug. 20, Thursday. However, customers who are on T-Mobile's JUMP! On Demand plan, which lets them upgrade to a new device anytime they like, will have to wait until Aug. 21, Friday, as the rest of the country to get their hands on the new smartphones.
For #JumpOnDemand customers and those who want instant gratification – we’ll be ready for you in-store when doors open on Friday! — John Legere (@JohnLegere) August 17, 2015
Currently, T-Mobile only offers the 32GB versions of the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+, which might turn off people who are gunning for the 64GB and 128GB versions, especially now that Samsung has ditched for good the ability to expand the built-in storage with a microSD slot.
Customers can pay for the Galaxy Note 5 in full for $700, while the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is more expensive at $780. Using T-Mobile's device payment plan, the Galaxy Note 5 is $29.17 every month for the next 23 months and $29.08 on the 24th month. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is available in 24 monthly installments of $32.50.
Here's a more detailed breakdown of all payment plans from T-Mobile as well as Verizon, AT&T and Sprint for both devices.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
