Thanks to the efforts of some carriers (here’s looking at you, T-Mobile), we’re starting to see a slight push away from the traditional way we pay for our phones. Now manufacturers themselves are getting in on the action, with HTC announcing a new $0 down financing plan for its flagship One device. Through this plan, you can get a SIM unlocked HTC One for $0 down straight from the company, which means you can take it to a carrier and sign up for a month-to-month plan and avoid signing a contract for mobile service altogether.
Once you’ve got the phone in your hands, you’ll be making $25 monthly payments to HTC for two years. It should be noted that these payments are interest free, which is another perk you can add to the list. Also keep in mind that the $0 down payment is only available for well-qualified applicants, so if your credit score isn’t looking so hot, you probably won’t be able to get away with paying nothing upfront. It sounds like you can still take advantage of a financing plan from HTC, though, as the company says “Other applicants may receive different financing terms or offers based on creditworthiness.”
HTC isn’t the first to try its hand at financing plans, as Motorola recently announced a similar program. There are a few key differences though, as Motorola’s program applies to any purchase worth than $549, while HTC’s seem to only be applicable toward the purchase of a new One. On Motorola’s plan, interest isn’t added to your bill as long as you pay off your device within a certain window of time – specifically, 6, 12, or 18 months. With HTC’s plan, on the other hand, it looks like you won’t be paying interest at all (assuming you keep up with the $25 monthly payments, that is).
Some final points about HTC’s financing plan: this only applies to GSM Ones, so you’ll only be able to use this device at T-Mobile or AT&T. The fine text also states that customers must apply and make their purchases by 12/29/2013 to qualify for financing, so as sad as it is, it looks like this is a limited time offer. Of course, if the response to this is strong, we may see HTC bring it back in the future for other devices. Now that Motorola and HTC are both introducing financing plans of their own, we wouldn’t be surprised to see other manufacturers try something similar. What do you think? Is this a good deal when compared to the alternatives?