Earlier this summer when T-Mobile introduced JUMP!, their competitors were ready and waiting to roll out their early upgrade plans. AT&T has their Next, while Verizon has their Edge which just launched today. Now when you do the math, none of these really make a lot of sense, but I have to say T-Mobile’s makes the most sense. As you won’t be paying full price for your device twice like you would with Verizon and AT&T’s plans. While T-Mobile does charge you $10/month for their program, that does include the handset insurance that you’re probably already paying $8 or more per month for. So it’s really not a bad deal when you think about it. Especially since you can essentially upgrade every 6 months.
Verizon has made Edge live today, and there are some FAQ’s you should read before you decide if you want to participate in the Edge program. Like the benefits, eligibility, Insurance, contracts, and more. Along with Edge, Verizon is also launching their Verizon Max promotion which is to help get unlimited data customers onto their tiered data. Verizon Max is a program that would allow unlimited customers to join the Edge program, while still having quite a bit of data each month. But instead having unlimited data, you’d get 6GB of data for $30. Now if you were to sign up today as a new customer, that 6GB of data would cost you $80 just for the data. Never mind the monthly fee for your device. So it’s a great deal, but it’s also a bad deal. If you use considerably less than 6GB of data, then I’d say go for it. If not, I’d say stay away.
As we noted already, many of Verizon’s top phones are starting at $25.22 a month on Edge. The DROID Maxx is starting at $27.15/month, HTC One at $25.22/month, DROID Ultra $25.22/month, Galaxy S4 $25.22/month, and the DROID Mini comes in at $18.97/month on Edge. Not bad prices, but you do have to pay off at least 50% of your phone before you can upgrade. With these phones costing nearly $600-700, that’s going to be about 12 months or longer before you can upgrade, unfortunately.