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Today T-Mobile has unveiled its latest "un-carrier" move in the US. It's called Jump On Demand and it's a new program that lets you switch devices up to three times a year.
Unlike the 'old' Jump, Jump On Demand isn't a device installment plan, but a lease plan. The smartphones which you can currently get on Jump On Demand are the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge, Note 4, LG G4, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
It all works like this. Say you want a Galaxy S6. You sign up for Jump On Demand for 18 months, and pay nothing for the phone upfront. You then shell out $28.33 each month. At any point, you can just swap your existing handset for another one that's part of the program. You do have to give back your current model, and it has to be in working order, but that's it. You won't need to pay anything extra when you get the new device, but you do sign a new 18-month Jump On Demand commitment so your monthly fee will change according to the new phone you've chosen.
You can switch devices up to three times each year, and there are no minimum waiting periods or something like that. So if you want, you can change phones on three consecutive days. Just know that if you reach 'the end' of those 18 months, you'll have to pay the remaining amount toward the full price of the handset. For the Galaxy S6, those 18 payments you made equal $509.94, but the handset itself costs $679.92. So if you then make a final payment of $169.98, the Galaxy S6 becomes yours to keep.
But that's not really the intended use case for this program. Rather, Jump On Demand is a good fit for those who do actually like to change their high-end phones often, perhaps when the latest one arrives on the market.
The current Jump (sans On Demand) will remain available too, rather confusingly, still as an equipment installment plan with a $10 per month program fee (whereas Jump On Demand has no such fee). The 'plain' jump only lets you upgrade your phone once every 12 months, or when you've paid 50% of its value. So it's pretty clear which version of Jump is more interesting. There is one advantage for the vanilla option, though - you get more smartphones to choose from, while Jump On Demand is currently limited to the selection mentioned above.
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