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Ask Slashdot: Is Leasing a Smartphone Better Than Buying One? (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what-to-do dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The biggest benefit with a lease program is you have the option of upgrading to a newer phone model, usually after just a year. You don't get that option when you buy. But with a lease program, although it may be cheaper, you have to return the phone at the end of the agreement or when you upgrade -- meaning you can't pass it off to your child or sell it. So rather than leasing, buying may be a better option. But a New York Times column makes case for why leasing is the right way to go about it. I wanted to check with Slashdot readers, what do you prefer and why?

7 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Too little, too late by darkain · · Score: 4, Insightful

    At this point, it is too little, too late. Phones are not changing frequently enough to really need to upgrade all that often anymore. Being on the Galaxy S5 right now and looking at the S8, there is only marginal increases over the past three years. Sure, it has a little more processing power, a little more RAM, and a little more storage, but that isn't all that needed.

  2. When to say no. by geekmux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Lease or buy? Are we serious with this shit?

    When a phone gets so fucking expensive I have to debate whether to lease or buy it, it's time to buy a cheaper phone.

    Sadly, many people feel otherwise, and will sacrifice a lot in order to maintain the "celebrity" status of owning fashionable hardware.

    1. Re:When to say no. by ZorinLynx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This mirrors my girlfriend's experience. She was buying cheap prepaid Android phones before we met and ALWAYS having problems with them.

      I gave her my previous iPhone 5 and she was trouble free for nearly two years until the phone developed some issues (at that point it was nearly FIVE years old), then we got her an iPhone 6. No problems at all since.

      "You get what you pay for" definitely applies when it comes to phones. Premium phones are better built, have better manufacturer support and last far longer.

  3. Re:I almost always lease... by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I find that the upgrades each year...really aren't that groundbreaking or earth shaking....

    And as opposed to the article, I don't find my phone trashed in 2 years....I dunno what is with most people, but I tend to try to take care of all my possessions,including my phone.

    It is in a case, and I am not careless how I handle it and I rarely if ever drop it.

    Right now I'm not in a hurry to trade phones, in that I have some interesting lens attachments that likely wouldn't work on a new phone...so, I'm not in any hurry.

    Does everyone else abuse their phones so badly that it requires annual replacement?

    Do some people actually still consider XYZ phone to be some sort of status symbol?

    To me, a smart phone, no matter the brand is pretty much a commodity item.

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  4. Re:I almost always lease... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I look at it this way: Apple gives you a 2 year, 0% loan on a phone.

    How sweetly naive. They're not giving you a 0% loan, silly, the interest is incorporated into the exorbitant price in order to make you think that you're getting a free loan.

  5. Re:I almost always lease... by bobbied · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seriously?

    If it's cheaper to buy over the life of the item you use than to rent, BUY. Appreciating Asset or not.

    I would think better advice is thus:

    1. Don't ever borrow to secure items that cannot secure the loan used to buy them. (I.E. Only buy real property on time.)

    2. Never owe more on an item than it's worth.

    Followed up by:

    NEVER charge to unsecured debt if you cannot pay it off at the end of the month (i.e. pay cash).. And, if you don't want to live in fear all your life, always put aside money for saving every month so you can deal with the unexpected when it comes, because it will.

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  6. Re:Never a borrower nor a lender be. by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nope. That scheme requires that you take out Applecare+ insurance. That's where you are paying extra.