Sprint will start shipping pre-orders of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge beginning on April 6 even though Samsung will not officially launch its pair of new handsets until April 10.
In the hopes of getting a leg up over Verizon, which has so far announced no plans of shipping the smartphones ahead of schedule, Sprint said on Twitter that customers can start expecting their shipments as soon as the start of this week. Samsung itself will not start selling the smartphones until Friday.
Samsung GS6 starts shipping Monday! Pre-order now to be among the first to get yours. https://t.co/JItKnSad1p
— Sprint (@sprint) April 3, 2015
The third biggest wireless carrier in the U.S. is actually following in the footsteps of T-Mobile, which Android Central reported a few weeks ago has started shipping pre-orders of the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge to the first lucky customers who pre-ordered their smartphones. AT&T has also followed suit and started shipping pre-orders of both devices on Sunday, April 5.
All pre-orders are made via Sprint's online store. Customers who want to visit a physical Sprint store and walk out with one of the two smartphones in hand will have to wait until the official launch of April 10. T-Mobile is also scheduled to start selling both devices in its physical locations on Samsung's launch date.
Sprint offers the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge on its lease program first launched with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The lease requires zero down payment plus tax and 24 monthly payments of $20 for the Galaxy S6 and $25 for the Galaxy S6 Edge for "well qualified buyers" or buyers who meet Sprint's credit requirements. Under Sprint's two-year installment plan, the Galaxy S6 is $27 a month while the Galaxy S6 Edge is $32 a month.
On Sprint's two-year contract, the Galaxy S6 will set buyers back by $199.99 and the Galaxy S6 Edge by $299.99. For customers who want to purchase the phones at their full retail price, the Galaxy S6 is at $648 and the Galaxy S6 Edge is at $768.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile hopes to lure more customers by throwing in an entire year's worth of Netflix subscriptions to anyone who purchases any of the two smartphones from the Un-carrier. With a Netflix subscription worth $7.99 a month, that means T-Mobile buyers get $95.88 worth of free Netflix viewing, not including the taxes, which T-Mobile and Netflix have waived.
April 10 will be a busy day for Android flagship launches, as HTC will also launch its new HTC One M9 handset on the same day.
