Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority

TL;DR

• Total Wireless is introducing postpaid-style free phone promotions and EIP device financing to the prepaid space.
• The catch is a 24-month repayment agreement tied to bill credits, effectively locking customers in long-term.
• It’s convenient upfront, but buying a phone outright can still be cheaper and more freeing, if you can afford it.

All three major postpaid carriers are known for offering free phone promotions to new customers, so you don’t need to pay for a device up front. In reality, these “free” phones often cost much more in the long run than you would pay if you bought a phone outright and paired it with prepaid service. Still, many people would rather pay more over time than come up with a larger amount all at once.

Until now, this practice was mostly unheard of in the prepaid world, but that’s beginning to change with Total Wireless. Not only is the company introducing a free phone offer that works similarly to those from the larger carriers, but it will also now offer comparable device repayment plans.

To be fair, some of these features already existed in the prepaid world. What’s different is how everything works.

While there are plenty of prepaid carriers that offer third-party financing through services like Affirm, these are usually billed outside the carrier account as a separate service. This new method is actually built into Total’s billing system, much like a postpaid carrier’s approach. It also offers zero-percent financing for those with qualifying credit and charges monthly payments directly through your existing Total bill.

As for free phone promotions, prepaid free phone deals were previously limited to new customers committing to annual plans or transferring lines from a competitor. Typically, these devices were owned free and clear as part of the account setup process, though they would not unlock for 60 days or more if you wanted to use them on another carrier. These phones were also almost always low-end devices or aging mid-range models.

Total’s new approach, in partnership with Glow, works much more like a traditional postpaid carrier, as it is tied to a long-term device repayment plan. This means you can’t leave Total until the full 24-month repayment cycle is complete. There is currently very little information on which devices are eligible for financing, but the iPhone 16e appears to be the only free option for now. Of course, Total still offers its older style of free phone promotions as well.

To qualify for the new free phone offer, new customers will need a qualifying credit score. Existing customers will need either qualifying credit or a year of on-time payments, and at least six months must have passed since the last Total promotional device purchase on the account.