What each carrier is offering

Which one is actually best

The credits are identical at $1,300, so the offers differ entirely on what they cost you around the phone. AT&T's is the cheapest to qualify for: its full credit is available on any eligible unlimited plan from $75.99 a month, where T-Mobile reserves $1,300 for plans starting around $100 and Verizon requires Unlimited Ultimate, its most expensive tier. Across 36 months that plan gap is worth more than any difference in the credits.

T-Mobile's advantage is the term. Its credits run 24 months against 36 at both AT&T and Verizon, so it clears the commitment a full year earlier — and it has run new-line offers with no trade-in required at all. AT&T's trade-in requirement is also unusually generous in the other direction: a Galaxy S24+ or Z Fold5 in any condition qualifies for the full amount, damage included.

A free phone is a bill credit

Carriers do not discount the phone. You finance it at full retail across 24 or 36 months and the carrier applies a monthly credit that cancels the payment. The phone reaches zero only if you complete the entire term on a qualifying plan.

None of these offers are free at the register either. Tax on the full pre-credit price is due at purchase, plus an activation charge — $35 at T-Mobile and AT&T, $40 at Verizon. On a $1,299.99 phone that is a meaningful amount of money on day one.

The four conditions that decide what you actually get

1. Plan tier. The largest credits usually require the most expensive unlimited plan. A cheaper plan often qualifies for a smaller credit rather than none.
2. New line or upgrade. Adding a line typically pays more than upgrading an existing one, which is why switchers see the best numbers.
3. Trade-in device and condition. Offers are tiered by what you hand over, and 'any condition' offers pay less than tier-one device offers.
4. Term length. A 36-month agreement spreads the same credit further and locks you in a year longer than a 24-month one.

Two offers with identical headline numbers can differ substantially once these are applied. The figure to compare is not the credit — it is the total you will pay over the full term, plan included.

The comparison nobody runs

A device deal is only worth what it saves against the alternative, and the alternative is rarely paying full price on the same plan. Buying the phone outright — or buying last year's model — and pairing it with an MVNO on the same network is frequently cheaper across three years than a free phone on postpaid, because the plan difference compounds every month while the device credit is fixed.

Run it as a three-year total: device cost plus plan cost across 36 months, both ways. The carrier deal wins when you were going to buy the flagship and stay on postpaid anyway. It loses when the deal is what pushed you onto a more expensive plan than you needed.

What to check before accepting

1. The term length, in months, and what the remaining balance would be at the halfway point.
2. Whether the required plan is one you would have chosen, and what it costs against your current one.
3. Whether the credit is contingent on keeping that specific plan, not merely staying with the carrier.
4. What your trade-in is worth elsewhere, including selling it privately.
5. Whether the phone arrives carrier-locked, and the unlock waiting period that applies.