The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ have finally landed in Malaysia. They retail at RM2,699 and RM3,099 respectively, but if you do not wish to pay full price for the devices, you can also sign up for a contract with one of our local telcos, and enjoy the new phablets at a subsidised price. All four major telcos – Maxis, Celcom, Digi and U Mobile, are offering these latest phablets, but how do their plans stack up against one another?
All four major telcos are offering both devices with their latest postpaid plans, tied to either a 12 or 24 months contract.
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Each of these plans have their own pros and cons depending on what you are looking for. Maxis is offering both devices with its latest MaxisONE plans – MaxisONE 98/128/158/188. However, the subsidised price is the same for all MaxisONE plan 128 and above. On top of that, the telco is also offering the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 edge+ with its new Zerolution bundle that lets you walk away with the device with zero upfront payment, “zero 24 months contract”, and zero interest.
Just make a monthly payment for the device, a monthly fee for Zerolution, and a phone protection plan (optional), and after 12 months, you can swap the phone for a brand new one to start a new Zerolution cycle. Check out our previous post to find out more about Maxis Zerolution for Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+. On top of that, MaxisONE plans also comes with additional freebies like free social chat, free Spotify and more.
As for Celcom, its plans are very straightforward and easy to understand. The telco is offering the new phablets with the main Celcom First plans – First Basic 85 and First Elite. First Elite comes with two SIMs, as well as privileged services from the telco. Both plans comes with Optimiser, which will automatically either allocate you more calls & SMS, or more data every month, depending on which one you need more.
The telco is also currently having a roadshow in Sunway Pyramid (Selangor), Gurney Plaza (Penang) and Sutera Mall (Johor Bahru), which offers a free wireless charger and power bank from Samsung for every purchase of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. More information about the roadshows are available at our previous post.
Digi recently refreshed their higher-end postpaid plans with more data but unfortunately, does not apply to the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 edge+ bundle. They have, however, replaced the SmartPlan 108 with the new SmartPlan 98 at RM98 a month. All plans comes with either High Data or High Voice option, catered for different users.
Digi’s plans also comes with freebies like free WhatsApp/WeChat/Facebook, free Music Freedom and free 100GB of cloud storage on Capture. On top of that, they are also offering a free wireless charger and power bank from Samsung for those who purchase a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 from their online store.
Finally for U Mobile, the telco is only selling the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 with its postpaid plans. However, instead of using its super affordable postpaid plans that are on promotion now – U28 with 3GB of data and free calls, P50 with 5GB of data and P70 with 7GB of data and unlimited calls, the telco has opt for their more expensive Ultimate Device plans. These plans are not expensive on their own, but if you compare UD65 (3GB data + 60mins free calls) to P70 (7GB with unlimited calls), it doesn’t make sense to sign up for a 24 months contract to something that is RM5 cheaper, but offers much less in its bundle.
Fortunately though, U Mobile’s phone bundles comes with “Contract Freedom”, which means that although there is a 24 months contract, you can terminate it without any penalty fee. You will have to however, pay back the subsidy price (divided by 24 months) for the number of months left in your contract.
Check out our postpaid plan comparison for a more in-depth look at what each telco offer for their postpaid plans. Are you buying the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ this weekend? If so, will you pick a telco subsidy, or will you buy a device outright from Samsung?
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