Is it just me, or are wireless carriers boning customers on new phone prices?

[Jason]

I used to get a new free phone every two with VZW... then when I got an iPhone on AT&T I got a new iPhone every two years for $100 or $150, forget. But my bill was about $100/mo

Told AT&T to fuck off at the beginning of this year, and now I'm contract free with T-Mobile on a $30/mo plan. I'll buy a new unlocked phone when mine breaks.

[thesameguy]

OIC!

Definitely people got screwed here - and I am personally of them. But most people I'm aware of are saving money. I ended up saving money because I transferred my number to my parents' account and became part of their group plan. Because I use about zero data (almost always wifi), I'm saving money - about $20/mo. Just the two of them saved the aforemention $50, which then put towards two new phones. You could say it was a wash, but they didn't have to fork over $250/ea for those new phones. If they got the expected two years from them, $500/two years = $20/mo they're truly saving. Still a better deal than before.

[Freude am Fahren]

I'm still on contract until November or December, since I last got a new phone in 2014.

[thesameguy]

They will typically let you switch 2-4 months early, if you care.

[Freude am Fahren]

I can get a new phone anytime from AT&T, since there are no subsidies, but if I choose to leave AT&T, I think I'd have to wait.

[Alan P]

My initial contract with Virgin Mobile ran out about 4 months ago and I was happy enough with my Galaxy S4 after replacing the battery (What a difference!!) so I went from an inclusive 500Mb/1000 minutes/Unlimited texts (actually 3,000. I checked) for £37 a month down to the same deal, on a 'SIM only' for £8pm. My Galaxy S4 is getting rather long in the tooth so I am considering an S7 (non-Edge) but as my work is launching their own mobile service later this year I'm hoping to hold fire and pick up a sweet deal on a new S7. or maybe a Note 7 but I think that'll be too big for me.

[Freude am Fahren]

I just ordered a new battery (Anker) for my Note 4. Looking forward to those problems going away hopefully.

I went by AT&T to talk to them about it, they said it was likely a bad battery as I thought, but they didn't sell new ones (plus they would probably be like $50 from them). They were more than willing to take my phone and get me a refurb for a $99 deductible. Online shopping for an OEM batter turned up a lot of sketchiness, but then again, why would I want another of the same battery that sucks?

If the new battery is good, I'll likely hold on to this phone until the contract is up, and switch to google, so long as the new Nexus doesn't disappoint. I like the looks of the new Note, so Google better do well.

[Drachen596]

Still running a Note 2 myself. replaced the battery with a double size one from Batteries Plus.

Really want a new phone as this one is super dated but still works.

[drew]

I too have a Note II. Been looking at the S7 Edge (Samsung whore). But even with the "upgrade discount", it's still stupid.

As to the original question, carrier wars used to be service driven, then device driven (thus, why you can only get certain phones on certain networks, yet they all work on each others').

Now it's just about the $. I've had a Sprint "Everything" plan (unlimited) for 6+ years, at $130. Yet if I were a new customer, I could get the same thing for 1/2 that.

DirecTV does the same shit. Great deals for new customers, fuck the existing ones.

[Freude am Fahren]

The problem is serious for those of us that have only one device. Families and people who have multiple devices are much better off than they used to be.

I'm trying to figure out if AT&T's GoPhone might be a good choice. It looks like $55 for unlimited everything (data throttled at 6GB, but rolls over for one month). And you can cancel at anytime since it's pre-paid monthly. I feel like there must be a catch somewhere I'm missing. Sure, you have no option of a financed phone, but in the end that doesn't save you money. Just their closest normal mobile share plan is $75 for 5GB, with $15/GB overages.

Speaking of DirecTV, they are now part of AT&T, and you can get unlimited everything for $100. Even with their increases in grandfathered unlimited data prices, that's about $15 more than I pay before fees and discounts for my old school plan. I only have 450 talk and 1000 text, but I never get close to either. I have about 5000 rollover minutes, and my highest text month in the last two years was about 350.