T-Mobile shoppers looking to finance a new tablet or smartwatch will now be spreading those payments over three years instead of two. The carrier quietly rolled out 36-month payment plans for wearables and tablets this past weekend, ending its longtime practice of offering shorter financing options than its competitors.
According to The Mobile Report, every smartwatch and tablet currently available on T-Mobile's website now comes with a 36-month installment option. This includes popular devices like iPads, Samsung Galaxy watches, and Google wearables. Phones still have the standard 24-month payment plans for now.
The shift means lower monthly payments since the device cost gets divided across more months. But there's a catch: if you want to keep the promotional credits T-Mobile offers on these devices, you'll need to stick around for the full three years. Paying off your device early means losing those monthly bill credits, which effectively locks customers into a longer relationship with the carrier.
T-Mobile had been the last major carrier holdout on this issue. AT&T switched to 36-month phone financing back in 2022, and Verizon followed in early 2023. T-Mobile resisted the change until now, but signs point to this eventually extending to smartphones as well. The carrier briefly tested longer payment terms on some devices back in June before pulling them from its website.
For customers on tight budgets, the extended timeline does mean smaller monthly bills. But anyone planning to upgrade devices frequently will find themselves waiting an extra year to avoid forfeiting promotional savings.
Source: The Mobile Report
