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Samsung’s all-new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones, which are the company’s flagship mobile handsets, will be available for preorder starting March 27 through AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Verizon Wireless has not yet announced its Galaxy S6 preorder plans.
While AT&T and T-Mobile are offering monthly payment plans to help spread out the costs of the new smartphones, Sprint has unveiled a special limited-time deal that offers free or almost-free Galaxy S6 phones to new and existing customers.
For a limited time, Sprint will offer a 32GB Galaxy S6 to customers for free for 24 months under a Sprint Unlimited Plus Plan at $80 per month. The plan includes unlimited talk, text and data all on the Sprint network, a Sprint spokesman told eWEEK. The plan is normally $100 per month, but customers who choose a Galaxy S6 will receive a $20-per-month credit over the two-year contract to cover the cost of the actual device, according to Sprint. At the end of the lease, customers must return the device and can choose to upgrade to a new device.
Sprint customers will also be able to choose from a 64GB Galaxy S6 for $85 a month after a $20-a -month credit or a 128GB Galaxy S6 for $90 a month after the $20-a-month credit, according to Sprint.
A Galaxy S6 Edge 32GB model can also be selected on a 24-month Sprint Unlimited Plus Plan lease for $85 a month after a $20-per-month lease credit, while a 64GB Edge is $90 per month with a 24-month contract after the $20 monthly lease credit. Sprint is not offering the 128GB Galaxy S6 Edge to its customers. The monthly payments are mostly for the mobile service plans, plus a comparatively small payment for the actual device compared with a typical device purchase plan.
In addition, Sprint will pay all the costs for a new customer to switch to Sprint from another carrier, including the contract and whatever is owed on the device, according to the company.
AT&T announced on March 26 that it will accept preorders for both phone models in its AT&T stores or on its Website, with prices starting at $22.84 per month for 30 months ($685.20 total) on the AT&T Next 24 payment plan for the Galaxy S6 with 32GB of built-in storage, or at $27.17 per month for 30 months ($815.10 total) on AT&T Next 24 for the Galaxy S6 Edge with 32GB of storage. AT&T is offering the two models in Black Sapphire, White Pearl or Gold Platinum colors and with 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage.
In addition, AT&T customers can save $50 on a Samsung Gear Circle Bluetooth Stereo Headset at the time of purchase if they buy a Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge or any other Samsung Galaxy S smartphone through AT&T Next, according to the company. The offer ends on May 11.
T-Mobile said its Galaxy S6 preorder program will open at 10 a.m. EDT on March 27 in its T-Mobile stores and on its Website, and added that it will be shipping the preordered devices to its customers just before the smartphones go on sale in stores on April 10. T-Mobile is pricing the new phones starting at $0 down and $28.33 per month on a 24-month payment plan ($679.92 total) for a Samsung Galaxy S6 with 32GB of storage, or at $32.49 per month on a 24-month payment plan ($779.76 total) for a Galaxy S6 Edge with 32GB of storage. Customers will also be able to see the new phones up close in T-Mobile stores starting on March 27, according to the company. Both models will be available in White Pearl and Black Sapphire as well as in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities. The Gold Platinum versions of both phones will also be available no later than April 10.
The 64GB version of the Galaxy S6 is priced at $99.99 down plus 24 monthly payments of $27.50 ($759.99 total), while the 128GB version of the S6 is $199.99 down plus 24 monthly payments of $27.50 ($859.99 total) through T-Mobile.
The Galaxy S6 Edge 64GB model is priced at $99.99 down plus 24 monthly payments of $31.66 ($859.83 total), while the 128GB S6 Edge is priced at $199.99 down plus 24 monthly payments of $31.66 ($959.83 total).
Samsung Galaxy S6 Preorders Start March 27 With AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint
T-Mobile is also offering customers of other carriers up to $650 to pay off each of their old devices with former carriers, while also paying any early termination fees on up to 10 lines to move over to T-Mobile.
“Samsung’s built insane power into two beautiful bodies—you have to hold these phones in your hands and experience them for yourself,” John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile, said in a statement. “And now that we’ve knocked down every barrier the other guys use to lock you in, there’s no reason to wait to come over to the Un-carrier to grab Samsung’s Next Big Things.”
T-Mobile is also offering customers a free one-year subscription to Netflix if they order their new Samsung Galaxy S6 devices before April 12. Qualifying customers must visit SamsungPromotions.com to get a Netflix promo code redeemable at Netflix.com/SpecialOffers for a $107.88 credit ($8.99 per month for 12 months) on their new or existing Netflix account, according to T-Mobile. The offer is good through April 12 for as long as supplies of the codes last.
Customers will also be able to buy a new Samsung Qi Wireless Charging pad for $49.99 starting April 10 through T-Mobile so they can take advantage of the wireless charging capabilities of the new devices.
Earlier in March, Samsung reportedly upped the production of the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones due to a high level of consumer interest and promising numbers of preorders around the world, according to an earlier eWEEK story. Instead of producing 7 million Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge devices in April, Samsung has placed orders for an extra 1 million units, boosting its order to 8 million smartphones for the month. Samsung had previously said it had ordered 5 million of the smartphones for March, bringing the total production for the two months to 13 million phones.
The improvements in the new S6 smartphones over the previous Galaxy S5 model are many, ranging from a chassis made of aircraft-grade aluminum to a higher-resolution 5.1-inch, quad HD Super AMOLED (Super active-matrix organic LED) display, Samsung’s latest eight-core 64-bit Exynos 7 processors and new LPDDR4 flash RAM.
A successful launch for the next Galaxy is very important for Samsung, which continues to battle its way out of a slump caused by cheap smartphones from China and the release of the new and improved iPhone 6 models from Apple. Samsung has been losing market share and revenue to its rivals and is already in the midst of plans to pare back its model line and cut production costs to better compete, according to earlier eWEEK reports.