LG’s latest flagship, the abominably-named G7 ThinQ, goes up for preorder today and tomorrow. As always, the bulk of sales are likely to be through the carriers, and three of the four major networks are going to be carrying the LG G7 ThinQ at launch.
For most big phone launches, pricing is agreed well in advance and the total device price is consistent across all networks, with only the monthly payment amounts and trade-in deals varying between networks. But for the G7 ThinQ, Sprint has decided to set pricing at $792, $42 more than the $750 Verizon and T-Mobile are charging. Given Sprint’s status as the underdog among carriers, this is probably a bad idea.
Sprint’s pricing has you paying $33 per month for an 18-month lease of the G7 ThinQ. After the 18-month lease is up, you can either give the phone back to Sprint, or make another six months of $33/month payments and own the device outright. If you choose none of these options, you’ll keep paying to lease the phone indefinitely. Either way, $33 over 24 months works out to a total of $792 to own the device outright, which is more than the RRP.
The network is trying to sweeten the pot with a buy-one-get-one, which offers you a second LG G7 ThinQ lease for free. You’ll still have to pay the $200 at the end of the 18-month lease if you want to own it, but in theory, you could get the second device, flip it, and keep making monthly payments to end up with just one device for significantly less than $750. However, the deal requires two new lines or two upgrade-eligible lines, so the math gets harder.
Verizon, for what it’s worth, has a slightly lower monthly payment of $31.25 per month over 24 months, adding up to $750. You get $100 off that price if you buy the device on monthly instalments, but the discount is spread out as bill credits over the full 24 months, so the monthly discount is around $4, and you’re tied into Verizon’s network for the full two years.
T-Mobile offers the same total pricing, but requires a $30 downpayment and then a $30 per month device payment.
Verizon’s pre-orders are open right now, while Sprint and T-Mobile will be live tomorrow.
