X

Sprint Easy Pay revives early phone upgrade option

After killing off the One Up plan last week, Sprint quickly reintroduces a new upgrade program to take its place.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
Roger Cheng
Mysterious Sprint Spark phone
How mysterious--Sprint keeps two Spark compatible phones under wraps, literally. Lynn La/CNET

You will be able to upgrade your phone early at Sprint after all.

Sprint on Thursday unveiled Easy Pay, a program that allows customers to purchase a new phone at any time and paying for it through a down payment and 24 monthly installments.

Easy Pay replaces Sprint's One Up upgrade program, which was retired last week in favor of the company's new "Framily" friends and family phone plan, which provides greater discounts as you add more members. With One Up gone, there was no program in place to quickly upgrade to a new device.

The early upgrade option has become a key feature at the wireless carriers since T-Mobile kicked off the trend with its Jump program. AT&T and Verizon Wireless followed shortly after, with Sprint offering One Up a few months later.

Once on Easy Pay, a customer can upgrade again at any time, but that person will have to pay off the balance of the cost of the old phone. Customers have the option of selling the phone back to Sprint through its Buyback program, which will provide up to $300 for a used phone.

Sprint customers can check the company's Web site to see their eligibility for an upgrade.