Wireless Plan Pricing Goes Down, SmartPhones Going Up!

Well, the good news is retail plan pricing has never been lower. The are still making a few bucks on single line plans. Savvy users are going with multiple line deals when possible because the pricing drops substantially with more lines. In T-Mobile's case, why pay $70 for one Unlimited Line when two are only $100? Heck, even Verizon who is known for high plan pricing has Unlimited 4G LTE plans for $180 for four users.

What this all means is the carriers are looking for other revenue streams and can be quite sneaky in the process. We hear about it when T-Mobile decides to pay all of the fees and taxes on their plans for their customers. You may not have noticed that their formerly FREE SIM cards are now $20. Carriers are now also charging activation fees, not just on new service, but for upgrades as well.

Until now, the benchmark cost of most new high end iPhones or Android rarely exceeded $650. Sure, there were some exceptions to this rule, like the S7 EDGE and some of the 128GB and 256GB memory models. The latest iPhone 7/32GB is $650 ($27.09 x 24 months). The Samsung S8 just raised the pricing bar. It appears that all of the major carriers with the exception of Verizon have priced the S8/64GB for $750 and the S8+ version for $850. Verizon is showing a price of $720 for the S8 and $840 for the S8+.

Here are all of the promotions that were put together by our friends at the Verge...

For Verizon...
StartingMarch 30th at 12:01AM ET. Available in stores April 21st.
Preorder customers receive free Gear VR with Controller and Oculus content pack, or can instead choose $99 “Experience Box” with Gear VR and Controller, Harman Kardon headphones, and 256GB microSD card.

Galaxy S8: $720 full retail
Monthly installments: $30 / mo for 24 months
Galaxy S8 Plus: $840 full retail
Monthly installments: $35 / mo for 24 months

Other / trade-in promotions:
Order the Galaxy S8 on device payment, sign up for Verizon Unlimited and trade-in the following phones and pay only $15/month for 24 months -- Apple: iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus; Samsung: GS6, GS6 edge, GS6 edge +, GS7, GS7 edge, Note 5; Google: Pixel, Pixel XL; LG: G5, V20; HTC: 10; Motorola: Z Droid, Z Force
Order the Galaxy S8 on device payment, sign up for Verizon Unlimited and trade-in the following phones and pay only $20/month for 24 months -- Apple: iPhone SE; Samsung: Note 4, GS5; LG: G4, V10; HTC: M9; Motorola: Turbo 2, Z Play

Order the Galaxy S8+ on device payment, sign up for Verizon Unlimited and trade-in the following phones and pay only $15/month for 24 months -- Apple: iPhone 7 Plus; Google: Pixel XL; Motorola: Z Force; Samsung: GS7 edge
Order the Galaxy S8+ on device payment, sign up for Verizon Unlimited and trade-in the following phones and pay only $20/month for 24 months -- Apple: iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7; Google: Pixel; Samsung: GS6, GS6 edge, GS6 edge +, GS7, Note 5; LG: G5, V20; HTC: 10; Motorola: Droid Z Droid

AT&T Preorders start March 30th. Available in stores April 21st.

Preorder customers receive free Gear VR with Controller and Oculus content pack.
Galaxy S8: $750 full retail
AT&T Next: $25 / mo for 30 months
AT&T Next Every Year: $31.25 / mo for 24 months
Galaxy S8 Plus: $850 full retail
AT&T Next: $28.34 / mo for 30 months
AT&T Next Every Year: $35.42 / mo for 24 months

Other / trade-in promotions:
Customers that preorder a new Galaxy device can also take advantage of these great offers:
Up to $750 in credits towards another Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+
A Samsung Gear S3 for only $49 with a 2-year service agreement
Get a Samsung Tab E and/or a Samsung Gear S2 for only .99 cents, when you activate a 2-year agreements

T-MOBILEPreorders start March 30th at 12:01AM ET. Available in stores April 21st.
Preorder customers receive free Gear VR with Controller and Oculus game pack.
T-Mobile @Work customers get free DeX desktop dock with in-store preorder.

Galaxy S8: $750 full retail ($729 at MetroPCS)
Monthly installments: $30 down payment + $30 / mo for 24 months
Jump! On Demand: $0 down +$33 / mo for 24 months

Galaxy S8 Plus: $850 full retail
Monthly installments: $130 down payment + $30 / mo for 24 months
Jump! On Demand: Same as monthly installments
SPRINTPreorders start March 30th. Available in stores April 21st.
Preorder customers receive free Gear VR with Controller and Oculus content pack, or can instead choose $99 “Experience Box” with Gear VR and Controller, Harman Kardon headphones, and 256GB microSD card.

Galaxy S8: $750 full retail
Monthly installments: $31.25 / mo for 18-month lease
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Galaxy S8 Plus: $850 full retail
Monthly installments: $35.42 / month for 18-month lease