AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon: Which Carrier Has the Better Upgrade Program?

If you’re the type of person who loves having the latest and greatest smartphone, there’s good news. All four major US carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon -- now offer some kind of early upgrade program that lets you trade in your old device for a new one without having to wait every two years.

The bad news: The plans are so complicated that it’s hard to know which to choose and whether you’re getting a good deal.

It would seem that AT&T is the cheapest, but you need to take into account that the carrier’s monthly data allotment is less than the other carriers. For power users, the unlimited data offered by Sprint might be worth the extra money. And at just $4 more, T-Mobile includes phone insurance, and once you’ve reached the 3GB data limit, they’ll slow your data speeds, but won’t charge you extra like AT&T and Verizon.