I'm not the sort of person to update phones every year (I've had my current phone for almost two years and the one before that for six years), but it's often cheaper to pay the flat price when upgrading every two years than to pay the reduced price with the contract. It all depends on how your carrier structures their plans.
with the contract. It all depends on how your carrier structures their plans.
Historically, US carriers don't change plan pricing based on having a contract. So, you can be month-to-month for $100 per month, or get a two year contract for $100/month plus they give you $500 up front towards the purchase of a $1,000 phone (as received by just discounting the phone up front).
I know this was the case historically, but I think it stopped being the case for my carrier (ATT) a couple of years ago. I believe our plan is cheaper by not taking the phone subsidy, and sufficiently cheaper to justify paying for the phone up front.
You can take the "estimated monthly cost" that they showed and multiply by 24. i.e. $36/mo = $864. $32/mo = $768. It may not be exact but it should be close.
