Yet another 5G phone can be had for free from T-Mobile with 'any' trade-in
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Just in case all the killer deals introduced by T-Mobile with more or less fanfare in the last week alone were not compelling enough to convince you to switch or talk to a friend about switching to the industry-leading "Un-carrier", yet another very interesting promotion appears to have (quietly) debuted earlier today.
Released back in February as Magenta's most affordable 5G handset, the TCL 30 XE 5G is now available completely free of charge with "any eligible trade-in."
While trading in an existing phone to get a new one at a big discount is often considered inconvenient, especially by buyers of low-cost devices like this 6.52-inch mid-ranger, said inconvenience practically goes away when T-Mo is willing to accept anything that works. Yes, even dumb phones and archaic smartphones that got their last software update when HTC was a thing. Heck, you can even trade in an HTC.
If this all happens to sound familiar, that might be because T-Mobile has offered similar deals in the past on a few other Android mid-rangers, starting with Samsung's Galaxy A32 5G more than a year ago.
The TCL 30 XE 5G is basically joining the undoubtedly popular "5G For All" program as an alternative to the T-Mobile REVVL V+ 5G and OnePlus Nord N200 5G right now, although the latter is probably still a better choice... unless, of course, it's set to go away soon.
Normally priced at $198, TCL's "free for all" 5G option comes with a decidedly modest 1600 x 720 screen resolution and a totally unremarkable 13 + 2 + 2MP triple rear-facing camera system, but also silky smooth 90Hz display refresh rate technology, the same reasonably powerful MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor as the just-released TCL Stylus 5G, and a hefty 4,500mAh battery capable of 18W charging speeds.
Bottom line, this is definitely not a bad phone... if you can get it for free, which by the way, is also possible with a new line of service and no trade-in whatsoever. In both cases, you're obviously looking at monthly bill credits amounting to the handset's aforementioned full value after two years.
If you opt for a trade-in, keep in mind that your old device will need to be "undamaged" and fully functional, which distinguishes this deal from Verizon's trade-in program. Less restrictive from one standpoint, that latter promo is however more selective when it comes to the phones you're welcomed to ditch, which can't be "dumb" or extremely outdated.
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