The new Google Nexus One is all the buzz on the web. As of now the Nexus One is available for $529 unlocked or $179 with T-Mobile USA service plan (NEW customers only). One hitch now on the T-Mobile US plan is the fact that, you can not get your T-Mobile phone upgrade price on the Google Nexus One if you are on a family plan.
Many T-Mobile users are already digging up the scoop on this one though. According to many discussions around the web, the trick to getting the discounted price on the Nexus One is to pull your number from your family plan and move it to an individual plan.
This is where everyone one has said what? “It’s $10 month for the extra line on my family plan, if I move to an individual plan that is $50 a month more!”. Correct, but the trick is apparently after 120 days, you can move your individual line back to your family plan. I say apparently as T-Mobile customer service is giving different customers, different answers on this one.
Basically, you have three choices now:
- One, buy the phone for $529 for your family plan
- Two, move to a individual plan and pay around $380 ($179 for the discounted phone price + $200 extra for 4 months at the individual plan price)
- Three, stick with the phone you got and wait for a better option on the price of the phone and the service plan restrictions.
I do recommend calling T-Mobile directly and confirming the above options before ordering. Try and get them to “leak” the truth about when you can switch your particular line back to your family plan. Also the new line will need to be placed under a different name as the $179 price is for new customers only.
I won’t be buying a Google Nexus One as of now, but I may soon, as I’m a Verizon Wireless customer. According to Matt Cutts, this spring the Nexus One will be coming to Verizon Wireless.
Did you get a Google Nexus One? If you did, leave a review below, if you didn’t, leave a comment about why you aren’t buying one!
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Update I:
After looking at some prices for other unlocked smart phones online, it looks like the $529 regular price is on the upper end, but is still well within the reasonable price range.
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Good thought. I was thinking about taking my line off of the family plan but then again the family plan is stuck with a service contract. Wouldn’t that be a breach of contract even if you stuck with tmobile? So you’d be paying an extra 250 dollars to break contract.
This is a tough one… T-Mobile would really have to give the definitive answer. What makes sense to me is seeing how T-Mobile is only giving the best deals to new customers and seeing how dropping a line from a family plan is not a breach of contract, you should be able to drop a line and sign up with a new contract. For your family plan to remain valid, you should only have to keep the bear minimum requirements in T-Mobile’s family plans.
The real question after that is figuring out how long you must keep an individual line before you can merge it with a family plan. From what I have read from the forums and past T-Mobile employees it’s 120 days of good-standing credit. Of course, once again, T-Mobile will have the definitive answers.
These contracts to be restrictive in nature, so I see no quarrel with working honestly within them to find the best deal possible. The only question I am wondering at the moment is, when will T-Mobile start trying to close these loopholes :)
I went in to a t-mobile store and asked about getting the Nexus One as I’ve had the same phone since 2002. I have 2 phones on my account but they’re not on a family plan. I have one under contract the other (mine) is not. The gal then said that my price would be $279 for an upgrade. I asked why when it says $179 on the website. I got a response that they where more subsidized for new customers than existing. I told her thanks and that I guess I would be getting the Iphone then even though I’ve had T-mobile for 6 years +. I don’t understand these companies that go after new customers but don’t try to retain the ones they already have. I guess they’ll be just like Directv when I changed over to Dish after 7 years because they wouldn’t give me a free HD receiver but any new customer could get and much more. When I called to cancel they were kissing my butt and told me they would match it and blah, blah, blah, after I had already called twice and told them what I wanted. So, they might get a few others to join but I work for my money and I’m not going to give it away out of loyalty. If I’m signing a two year contract I don’t see a difference betweem me and a new customer.
Your point is definitely valid Ben. If you qualified for the $279 price then you do not have a data plan. If you did have a data plan at the moment, you would be offered the $379 discounted price.
According to a recent study, the hardware alone for the Nexus One cost $184. That doesn’t include manufacturing, packaging, and shipping, so new customers are getting a Nexus One for below cost.
Being conservatively, if the manufacturing, packaging, and shipping cost $100 per phone(just a wild speculation), you would be getting the Nexus One at cost for $279.
On the surface it may seem that the longer you have been with T-Mobile and the more you pay them each month, the lesser incentive is offered too you, but it could very well be that these are incredible deals and the best that could be realistically offered.
Just some food for thought.
I was on the order form ready to transfer our service from Verizon to T-Mobile and buy 2 Nexus Ones when I saw that there was no family plan option. It was a complete deal breaker. I’m considering the iPhone 3GS now with ATT.
Sorry T-Mobile, bad move.