“Try before you buy” programs seem to be gaining quite a bit of steam in the mobile arena. First Motorola ran a brief promotion that allowed consumers to pay just one penny to try out a Moto X for two weeks, and then T-Mobile announced that it’d begin allowing people to test drive its network with a free iPhone 5s for a week. Now Samsung is getting in on the action, announcing a trial program at some of its U.S. stores.
Samsung announced today that it’s kicking off a new trial program that allows consumers to test out several of its Galaxy devices for a full 21 days. The program includes devices like the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 3, Gear 2 and Gear Fit. The smartphones come with carrier service, a screen protector, USB cord and earbuds, while the smartwatches are bundled with a charging cradle and cord.
The trial program is currently underway at five Samsung Galaxy Studio store locations across the U.S. Those stores are:
- Dallas-Fort Worth/Frisco, TX: Stonebriar Centre Mall, 2601 Preston Rd, Frisco, TX 75034
- Houston/The Woodlands, TX: The Woodlands Mall, 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77380
- Los Angeles/Canoga Park, CA: Westfield Topanga, 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Canoga Park, CA 91303
- New York City: Samsung Galaxy Studio SoHo, 130 Prince Street, NY, NY
- Santa Clara, CA: Westfield Valley Fair, 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95050
Of course, it’s worth noting that Samsung isn’t going to let you just walk out of its store with a Galaxy device without first providing some sort of payment method. Samsung says that while the program is free, those that sign up will need to provide a credit or debit card deposit. If the participants return the undamaged device within 21 days, they’ll get their full deposit back.
These trial programs that are growing in popularity seem like pretty nice ideas. They allow consumers to try out a device or network that they’d normally have to pay for or commit to for a long period of time, but they don’t have to pay for the privilege. It’s great to see another major mobile company getting in on the trend, especially since Samsung is offering up a variety of Galaxy hardware. Here’s to hoping that other firms follow suit.
Are any of you thinking about signing up for Samsung’s trial program?
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