T-Mobile wants to keep you locked in longer with new installment changes

T-Mobile offers plenty of freebies and perks that keep its customers satisfied, but the carrier also frequently makes contentious decisions. For its latest move, T-Mobile is reintroducing three-year payment durations on select devices, which is somewhat surprising given the carrier’s previous advocacy for “Phone Freedom” when it transitioned from three-year to two-year payment durations.

According to a report from DroidLife, T-Mobile is offering a variety of tablets and smartwatches with an extended 36-month term, rather than the typical 24-month term provided by the carrier. Customers can either choose to pay in full for the tablet/smartwatch, or pay monthly for three years — there’s no choice to pay monthly for two years. The report notes that these 36-month terms are new, having previously been listed as 24-month terms.

These longer terms are not yet present on all tablets. Most of Apple’s iPads are now offered on 36-month terms, and even the Galaxy Tab S10 FE 5G is part of the club. However, a bunch of relatively older Samsung tablets are still offered with 24-month terms. All smartwatches from Apple, Google, and Samsung are offered on 36-month terms, though.

AT&T and Verizon currently offer practically all devices (phones, tablets, smartwatches) on 36-month terms. T-Mobile is going back to convention rather than pushing the industry towards a shorter term. It remains to be seen whether the carrier will make the same move for phone EIPs as well.

There’s an argument to be made for pushing tablets and smartwatches onto a longer-term payment plan, as these devices are typically held onto for longer periods compared to phones. It’s very common for people to use their smartwatch for over three years and their tablet for as long as five to six years. On the other hand, people switch phones on a slightly shorter period, typically two to three years, though even that is slowing down these days, as phones usually stick to incremental upgrades over generations.

Of course, there’s no denying that a longer equipment installment plan also locks the customer in for a longer duration, which directly benefits T-Mobile’s bottom line. However, in the case of devices like smartwatches and tablets, many people are in for the long haul anyway, so spreading out the cost of the device over a more extended period and reducing the monthly bill may make better sense, especially in this economy. This move is also the latest in the carrier’s slow walkback on several of its “Un-Carrier” promises.

We’ve reached out to T-Mobile to learn more about this move to a 36-month duration for EIPs on smartwatches and tablets. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.