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In all the commotion surrounding the highly anticipated announcement of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 5G a couple of weeks back, you'll probably excuse us for not noticing an interesting US availability detail.
As pointed out by a more eagle-eyed Redditor, Samsung's latest (and greatest) foldables were the first-ever smartphones T-Mobile customers could activate on their "Un-carrier" of choice through Best Buy's official website. While said activations were seemingly paused shortly after the August 11 Unpacked event, the retailer is now back with a bang, selling an assortment of different mobile devices for T-Mo use, at least online.
It's all mostly about select iPhones and Samsung devices for now
At long last, "T-Mobile is now at Best Buy", as the retailer proclaims on a special section of its website dedicated entirely to the second-largest wireless service provider stateside. That means you can finally shop Magenta-flavored phones and plans both online and "in a Best Buy store with no activation fees", although we don't have a full list of participating physical locations yet.
While waiting for your local BB store to join a party that's been many years in the making, you can select an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy handset to purchase online. The selection is not quite as extensive as on AT&T or Verizon, including the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, second-gen SE, iPhone 11, 11 Pro, Galaxy A52, S21, S21+, S21 Ultra, A32, Note 20 Ultra, Z Flip 3, and Z Fold 3, but for a little-advertised start, that's actually pretty good.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 are just two of the T-Mobile phones you can get from Best Buy
The same goes for the fact you don't seem to be able to buy any of these phones on a monthly installment plan just yet, with one-time payments and upfront activations allowed for both new and existing T-Mobile subscribers.
Even better, there's a separate and much lengthier list of unlocked devices you can also activate on the nation's leading "Un-carrier" at Best Buy, many of which are available at solid discounts.
Check out some of the best T-Mobile deals available at Best Buy today
Probably the best deal you can claim at the time of this writing, however, is a $429.99 iPhone 12 mini 5G with pretty much no strings attached. We're talking no monthly payments, no bill credits, no device trade-in, and no number port-in required to shave a cool $300 off the regular price of one of the best phones (with one of the worst box-office records) out there.
The same $300 discount can be applied to Samsung's 5G-enabled Galaxy S21+, S21 Ultra, and Z Flip 3, mind you, while the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G is on sale for $500 less than its $1,799 list price with an upfront T-Mobile activation and essentially no other special requirements.
Naturally, we expect this to be merely the timid beginning of a beautiful and long-lasting friendship between two of the major forces of the US wireless and retail industries. Rumored to take place since early 2021, the alliance comes after a years-long partnership between Best Buy and Sprint, the latter of which was acquired by T-Mobile last year.
In fact, you could say Magenta and Best Buy became brothers in arms in 2020, but T-Mobile's brand is now way more prominent than ever before at the retailer, as evidenced by a video embedded above that was purportedly recorded last week in one of the stores that quietly started to sell phones under T-Mo's banner.
For the time being, by the way, you can still activate devices like the aforementioned iPhone 12 mini on both T-Mobile and "Sprint, now part of T-Mobile", although we obviously expect the latter option to be retired soon enough along with the Sprint name and 4G LTE network.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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