That’s the hope, at least.
In an attempt to swindle iPhone users away from their dearly beloved device, Samsung has an offer that’s hard for any tech enthusiast to refuse: For just $1, iPhone users can test either the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, or Galaxy Note 5 for 30 days. All iPhone users have to do is visit the promotion page via the Safari browser on their phones.
However, if you’re reading this now then it’s probably already too late. The promotion itself seemed to have opened up very early this morning, but when I attempted to order a Note 5 for AT&T the device was out of stock. So was every other device for AT&T. The only device I seem to be able to snag every once in a while (I’ve been checking throughout the morning like my life depended on it) is a Galaxy S6 Edge for either Sprint or T-Mobile, but my interest right now is primarily with the Note 5.
All hope is not lost, though; when a device is out of stock, the prompt tells you to either select another device or check back later. Hopefully this means that there will be more opportunities in the future, and I can’t imagine Samsung offering this great promo, but only for a brief period of time early one random morning. Then again, who knows?
Still, the promotion itself is intriguing to say the least. There’s an infamous tension between Samsung and iPhone loyalists, largely in part due to the similarities that pop up between the two manufacturer’s devices, the sheer popularity of both brands, and of course the obvious fact they’re using competing operating systems. For Samsung to target iPhone users specifically is one of those “shots fired” moments where one has to wonder – and maybe hope – if Apple will respond with something similar.
The Ultimate Test Drive also seems to have very agreeable terms, without much to lose unless you forget (or refuse to) return the product within the 30-day (plus 5 grace period days) period. It would seem that Samsung really is charging just $1 for the trial. Even if the phone gets some type of obvious damage (physical or liquid) they’ll only charge you $100 rather than the full price of the device. (And since nobody can ever be certain whether their device will encounter such an unfortunate incident or not, I would highly recommend that anybody wanting to participate in this promotion have $101 handy, just in case.)
It is a shame that it’s only targeted to iPhone users, but it also makes sense. Opening this promotion to everybody would be an even bigger risk and would require a lot of product. Still, I think Samsung probably could have snagged a lot of people with a promotion as seemingly low-risk as this one, even (and dare I say especially) if they had already been using another Android device. It’s basically a free flagship phone for 30 days – not a lot of people would say no to that.
I do hope that the promotion eventually gets restocked; I’ve been trying to love the Note for a long time, and 30 days is double the amount of time I would get if I went and bought the device for myself from my carrier, not to mention way cheaper and with a significantly lower risk. Even if it doesn’t, though, I can’t complain. Samsung’s Ultimate Test Drive seems like an exemplary way for iPhone users to experience an Android flagship on the cheap, and in this industry that’s not something you come across often.
