What you need to know about T-Mobile's new Score program

T-Mobile wants nothing to do with subsidies, but it is willing to trim the cost for a price. Normally, if you want to buy a new phone from the magenta carrier you will have to pay full price, either outright or through financing. Except that now T-Mobile has a new program, called Score, which was just introduced to allow its customers to get smartphones at lower prices. Is Score a good choice for you?

For just $5 per month, T-Mobile customers who sign up for Score will be able to take advantage of lower prices when purchasing a new smartphone from the carrier, in either six months or a year after joining the program.

For those who are Score users for six months, T-Mobile will give them the option to get a new budget smartphone for free. T-Mobile says that can be a device like Alcatel OneTouch Evolve 2, for instance.

That device normally costs $80. Six months of Score only cost $30. So, in the end, you can save $50 through the program, so there is a clear benefit in joining it.

If you can wait a year to get a new smartphone through Score, T-Mobile will give you the option to get yourself a proper, flagship smartphone at a higher discount. (In fact, T-Mobile claims that, after a year, all of the smartphones it sells are eligible to Score pricing, not just the cheap stuff.)

For instance, a Google Nexus 6 that normally costs $649.99 can be had for just $499. A Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that usually goes for $749.76 can be bought for only $599. So, basically, you can save about $90, after you factor in the $60 you will have paid for a year of Score.

T-Mobile is opening Score to all of its customers, no matter if they're pre-paid or post-paid customers, if they pay in full outright or finance their purchases. I'm calling it the un-subsidy.

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