My current Note 5 has given me occasional problems and I was in the market for a new phone. As such I've been poking at possible replacements. I spent some time looking at LG phones, but the closer I looked the more I realized LG is in the habit of missing the bus. They are often in a rush to get their half-baked phones out before the competition, and it shows.
I wasn't looking at Samsung phones as I wanted to save some money, so I didn't pay much attention to their offers. Having said that, I bought a Galaxy S9 through T-Mobile for my wife a couple months back and it seems to be a good phone for her. I knew the Galaxy Note 9 was in the horizon, but I didn't give it much thought as I was expecting it later in the year.
Late last night I came across a T-Mobile ad for pre-ordering a Note 9. The base model (6GB RAM/128GB storage) is pricey at $999, and the 8GB/512GB model is a whopping $1,249. However, T-Mobile offered $500 trade-in credit on my Note 5 in the form of monthly bill credits over 24 months. Since I know my Note 5 has the value of a bag of peanuts, I broke down and pre-ordered a base unit through T-Mo. I put $279 down on the phone, plus tax and shipping, which leaves me paying an extra $10 monthly on my T-Mo bill over the next 24 months. The phone is set to ship in 2 weeks.
With the pre-order, Samsung is giving me
AKG N60NC noise-cancelling headphones valued at $250. That's not something that I'd likely purchase on my own, but sure, I'll take them for free.
The phone is big with a 6.4" screen, which is fine for my old eyes. It also comes with a large 4,000mAh battery, and pretty much doubles as a PC that can be connected to a monitor. More here: The Verge:
Samsung Galaxy Note 9