It is! If you also need service, Google Fi has had a promotion for a while that gives you the $500 purchase price back over 24 monthly bills.
In fact, they also have a promotion right now where you can get $800 back on either the Pixel 9 or 9 Pro, spread over 24 months; that makes the 9 free and the 9 Pro only $200.
I have been trading in my phone every year to get the new Samsung S2x (now S24) model since S21. There were always new model deals plus some regular cashback. I ended up paying <200 USD every year.
It's like a manual phone upgrade plan. Not sure how long it could last. Last year the Google Fi deal wasn't as good and I almost missed the budget target.
Are you including the extra $50/mo you pay your carrier for this privilege? There ain't no such thing as a free lunch; you can either pay up front or pay over time (and often more than you would otherwise).
The only thing I have to do is keep using the phone for 120 days. Monthly price for service is $20 plus $10 for each gig of data, unchanged by their phone price promotions.
Don't even have to pay a fee to use a cellular smartwatch, as long as it is made by Google or Samsung.
OP here- my last two phones have been Moto G Power. I think the first one only cost $200! I value battery life and simplicity. As an Apple shareholder I prefer you buy an iPhone.
I have a 5G Stylus rn, it's totally fine except I ruined the camera 3 days in so it takes TNG soft focus photos... love the G Power line, battery for days is not to be underappreciated
I got the SE 2 used, a year after it came out for a serious discount[1]. If that's something you're comfortable with, you can get a really good deal if you pay attention to what's posted on FB Marketplace.
More than anything, I'm most impressed by Apple's OS support. I'm pretty convinced that SE phones are some of the best deals in the industry if you keep them until they run out of support. They have the same guts (minus cameras) as tier 1 flagship phones. Apple is a bit tight with ram, but the processor is faster than any Android phone.
And the support - 7 years is standard right now, and it could very well go longer.
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1. I think I paid $150 for it. It has a small crack in the screen, but just the part that's over the chin, not anything that affects the display. If I wanted a pristine phone, I'm sure I could have found one for a bit more. But after several years, I'm happy with my decision.
That's a cracking result! I'll definitely keep an eye out and hopefully the second hand market is healthy.
I think the SE never really turned any heads from the flagship causing the second hand market to be lively. With these new touted SEs, they're looking to be as good as iPhone 14 (maybe pros) which has a very wide reach.
