Sprint today announced a beefed up version of its phone insurance program known as Total Equipment Protection (TEP) Plus. The updated offering includes all of the protection that’s included with the regular TEP program, including protection from loss, theft, damage and device malfunction, and adds in the following features:

• Support for automatically backing up and securing data
• Built-in antivirus and privacy security
• Optimization tools that can maximize battery life and improve performance (Android only)
• Remotely locate a phone as well as lock it and erase date (locking feature is Android only)
• Easy access to tech expert for “premium support”

Sprint’s new Total Equipment Protection Plus program is priced at $13 per month, which is $2 more than the regular TEP program. Additionally, Sprint says that only “higher-tier” devices are eligible for TEP Plus. Those products include Apple’s iPhone hardware, the HTC One (M8), Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5.

This new Sprint TEP Plus program sounds like it provides some pretty comprehensive support for your device, especially with the automatic backup and one-click access to support. That said, I’ve got a feeling that the program will be more attractive to new smartphone users rather than those folks that’ve been in the smartphone game for a while and already have preferred backup and security solutions. 

Is your smartphone or tablet enrolled in a protection plan?

Via Sprint