Verizon is locking customers down to 3-year contracts for new devices

Planning on buying a new phone such as the Galaxy S22 from Verizon? Be prepared to sign up for three years of monthly payments or pay for the device outright because the carrier no longer offers 24 or 30-month contracts. This new strategy applies to smartphones, hotspot devices, and smartwatches, with possibly the only positive thing being that customers won't be charged interest.

First reported by the folks at Droid Life, Verizon has removed all options for 24 and 30-month contract options on its website which leaves you signing up for a 3-year contract regardless of how much the phone costs, be it a Certified Pre-owned Galaxy S8 that has a retail price of $112 or Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3 that costs $1,799.

If you want to cut the contract short or upgrade you'll need to pony up the balance in a single payment because Verizon isn't accepting over-payments on the new contracts which came into effect on February 3rd. There does not appear to be any early upgrade offers for Android handsets,

If you are going to sign up for a new contract with a new device from Verizon, you'll need to pay some attention to how long your new phone will receive software support. If you are buying a Samsung Galaxy S22 later this month, you'll be fine because it will benefit from OS upgrades and security patches for the 3-year contract and beyond. The same cannot be said if you buy a Moto G Power (2022) because Motorola generally offers a one-and-done policy towards OS updates.

Does the switch to 36-month contracts influence your decision to sign up to Verizon for a new phone? Let us know in the comments below.

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