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Samsung debuts ‘Ultimate Test Drive’ program, giving iPhone owners one-month Galaxy trials

Screen Shot 2015-08-21 at 12.37.44 AM

Samsung has launched a new promotional offer aimed squarely at iPhone owners. In a bid to attract Apple’s users to the latest lineup of Galaxy smartphones, the South Korean competitor will now let iPhone users take one of three new models for the “ultimate test drive” for a full month.

In order to qualify for this offer, customers will need to visit a special Samsung website from their iPhone. Using a desktop browser will notify potential switchers that they need to use an iPhone specifically—not just any mobile phone will do.

Once they’ve logged onto the site with the correct mobile device, users will be asked to choose their current carrier from a list of major US cellular providers and then select which Galaxy model they’d like to try. Available models include the Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, and Galaxy Note5. The terms and conditions also mention the Galaxy S6, but that model isn’t currently listed on the selection page.

Upon choosing a phone, users will need to provide some basic information, such as their name, address, and contact information. From there, the final step is to provide credit card details. Customers who keep the phone beyond the 30-day trial period will be charged the full price of the device, but those who return it in time will only be charged $1, according to the promotion’s website.

Once you’ve finished the final steps, you’ll be charged $1 to verify your credit card details, and then you’re in. You should receive your test phone soon. The phone will come setup with a data plan, but Samsung hasn’t said whether that’s a limited plan or a special unlimited offer for testers.

Interestingly, one 9to5Mac reader notes that Samsung places no hold on the credit card you register, meaning they have no way to guarantee that they’ll be able to charge the full price of the phone to the card in the event that it isn’t returned in time.

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Comments

  1. Kay Krause - 9 years ago

    A shame the program is not available in Europe, specifically Germany. I’d really like to test the Note 5. Oh wait, that’s not coming to Europe anyway. Move along, Samsung.

  2. I signed up for the hell of it, just to try something new. I doubt it’ll make me switch, though.

    • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

      I briefly considered it but I was afraid I’d have terrible luck and break the phone then get charged for it lol. Not worth it for me.

      • you can use a cover, there is a lot of them, and i’m pretty sure you didn’t break your iphone in its 1st month lol, so don’t be so negative…

      • Just thought of that when I saw your comment. Hopefully it doesn’t happen to me lol.

    • lkrupp215 - 9 years ago

      Well that’s exactly what Samsung wants. Even if you return the Galaxy and stick with your iPhone you will be touted as one of the ones who ‘switched.’ Samsung of course will not be reporting any data on how many people decided to stick with their iPhone but they will tout how many test phones were sent out.

  3. focher - 9 years ago

    I can’t wait to try out a new iPhone when Apple offers this same promotion! Wait. What?

  4. Trying so hard! however, I might do it, just to test out the new phone, but after the trial, I will be returning it.

    • windlasher - 9 years ago

      What happens if you break it?

      • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

        You get charged a $100 repair fee if it’s still able to start up and stuff, but if it doesn’t boot at all you have to pay the full price.

  5. windlasher - 9 years ago

    no thanks.

  6. Interesting offer, there is nothing to lose it’s for testing sake lol and for those who are afraid to break the phone, you can just put a case on it and you are ready to go, not a big deal though…

  7. No, thank you, not gonna spy one me Samsung ;) Plus, you would never make me buy your crappy phones.

  8. chris1786 - 9 years ago

    Is this promotion in place because Samsung sales are falling? Latest figures show iPhone sales up by 36% and Samsungs down by 5.3%, Samsung should stop with the gimmicky crap on their phones and then maybe their sales would rise by the fact their phones are generally good!

  9. Howie Isaacks - 9 years ago

    Notice that to attract new customers Apple doesn’t need to do something like this.

  10. 89p13 - 9 years ago

    Do I smell desperation on Samsung’s part?

    Something smells! ;)

  11. This is quite an aggressive, but impressive, move.
    I hope to see some facts about the effects afterwards. if there is an significant conversion-rate etc.

  12. Leif Paul Ashley - 9 years ago

    They should just call it the Samsung iPhone at least to pay tribute to the legendary rip off of Apple’s UI and phone design. At least now if you want to see how bad Android can suck, you can try a galaxy lol

    • How about the hPhone, sold with the slogan “One letter above the i”?

      • Above? Wouldn’t it be jPhone?

      • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

        I suppose that depends on how you layout the alphabet on the scale. If it’s a vertical scale with A at the top and Z at the bottom, then H is above I. If you do it horizontally, it would stand to reason that letters to the right side of the scale are “higher” or “better.” Thus, J would be “above” I in that case. So technically you’re both right.

  13. flem526 - 9 years ago

    Tried to sign-up but every phone is unavailable. WTF!?

    • 89p13 - 9 years ago

      Typical Samsung Phail . . . . But now they can “advertise” how many dissatisfied iPhone users wanted to switch to a Samsung phone.

      BS!

      • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

        Hardly a fail. Their entire supply of test phones has already been claimed. Sounds more like a successful program to me.

  14. pdoobs - 9 years ago

    is the program not officially rolled out yet? wanted to check out the note 5 just for the heck of it and all of the devices are listed as unavailable. cool idea, horrible execution.

  15. I just chose AT&T and it will not let me pick any of the three models. I get a message: “Sorry, that device is not available right now. Select a different device or check back later.” Anyone else get this?

    • Kurt Wong (@drdasd) - 9 years ago

      Same here. I tried selecting different carriers and got the same results regardless of carrier or device.

      • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

        Yep, they’ve run out of phones. Guess the program was more popular than they expected.

  16. srgmac - 9 years ago

    One of the coolest things about the new Galaxy is Samsung Pay which doesn’t require the shops to purchase any extra hardware and works everywhere a normal CC reader works…I would switch just for that, Apple pay adoption is dismal, the damned thing is useless…I’m not going out of my way to seek out stores that have Apple Pay, it should just work at the stores I already go to, as technology should…This is why Samsung is actually innovative.

    • Draver (@draver85) - 9 years ago

      You do realize that Apple Pay does not work at certain places for the fact that its the store’s decision right? Purchasing new hardware is not required if they are using NFC…..just update the dang software.

      • srgmac - 9 years ago

        You do realize that with Samsung Pay the store’s don’t even need to purchase ANYTHING right? They don’t need NFC *at all* — and it’s just as secure as Apple Pay…Why couldn’t Apple develop that kind of technology along side the NFC stuff? Every store in the world would support it…

      • @srgmac Samsung Pay doesn’t need NFC? Yeah, right. Do you even think about what you write? Do you even know how vulnerable Samsung Pay is? Do you even see they did it just because Apple did that (much better imho)?

      • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

        Miroslav, srgmac is corret. Samsung Pay can use NFC, but if it finds that the store’s credit card terminal doesn’t support that, it falls back to a different method that emulates the magnetic stripe on a regular credit card. So no, Samsung Pay does not require any NFC hardware at all.

        And, like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay is tokenized and just as secure. It’s no more vulnerable than Apple Pay is when using NFC, and no less secure than a standard credit card transaction with using magnetic stripe emulation.

        And no, they didn’t just do Samsung Pay becuase Apple did it, they did Samsung Pay because there’s a market for it and they want to tap into that market. Apple didn’t invent mobile payments. There were tons of similar services and companies before Apple Pay.

    • PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

      Thanks for the laugh!

    • You do know that all Samsung did was purchase the company that actually innovated this technology. That’s not innovation.

      • srgmac - 9 years ago

        Why couldn’t Apple have bought them then, or come up with the tech themselves? Innovation means placing a bet and being risky sometimes, and purchasing tech that you can develop into a successful platform. It’s been almost one year since Apple Pay has launched and the support is abysmal, that’s what I’m really trying to say…For me it’s totally useless, there are maybe 3 stores that I go to on the regular that support it — Starbucks (which only half supports it, they still make you display the barcode thing on your phone / watch — how lame…), Tim Hortons (no I’m not Canadian, they have timmy ho’s in USA :P), and Wegman’s which is a grocery store. Samsung pay “just works” at just about every store on the planet that has a normal credit card reader, which is pretty much anywhere.

  17. bpmajesty - 9 years ago

    Somethings up. Can’t sign up anymore. Says all models are unavailable. Guess they ran out of phones. I wanted to try it out just for the heck of it.

    • Vilmar Ghizelini - 9 years ago

      It might be a sign! lol. Maybe you guarding angel just saved you.

    • None of the phones have been available since it launched. The only one you could get was a 6 Edge on Sprint. #AnotherSammyFail

      • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

        All of the phones were available last night. They’ve all been claimed now. You’ll probably have to wait until they get more units to ship.

  18. Vilmar Ghizelini - 9 years ago

    Those people from Samsung do not understand. The Apple users are happy with their iPhones because the iPhone has better hardware but mostly better software and apps. The IOS is so stable, so reliable and it is so easy to easy to use that my grandma is using it now. That’s a true story. I got one used iPhone 5 for her and now she uses iMessage and even has an account on Facebook. Also, iPhones last for so many years and being able to upgrade to the newest versions of IOS. I made the bad decision to buy an Toshiba Android tablet in one of those cheap deals website. Toshiba never upgraded Android on that device so now there is really I can do. I will just give it away. That would never have happened with Apple. Wake up people. Some people can be haters or want something different, but be smart.

  19. Perfect timing. This will allow me to sell my iPhone 6 and have a Samsung loaner as I wait for the 6S. Only trouble this year is my Apple Watch wouldn’t really do much for those couple of weeks. Hmmm…

  20. Guys, I got it! I know why they did this! Not because they think their phone is so great that people will keep it instead of an iPhone. They know their phones suck. They did it because people will be so pissed off while using it, they will break it, it won’t be repairable and they’ll need to pay the full price for the phone. See.

  21. darwiniandude - 9 years ago

    Cool, Samsung is digging into Apple’s past for things to copy now:
    Test drive a Macintosh:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgxurmQSLsc

  22. Danny Guerra - 9 years ago

    So now Samsung is copying T-Mobile with the whole test drive thing? C’mon Samsung…

  23. sardonick - 9 years ago

    Can’t even give it away for free huh? Oh well.

  24. Still haven’t received a shipping notice for the S6 edge I selected. I did receive a confirmation email saying it would be sent via 2 day shipping and my credit card was charged. Not sure what’s going on.

  25. Josh Ebersole - 9 years ago

    I have been an iPhone user since iPhone 3G, and love my iPhone 6 running iOS 9 public beta 5. Though I’d check out the Samsung 6S Edge through the promotion. My thoughts are that the iOS operating system is more solid and user intuitive on iOS 9 beta 5. The application options and functionality are better on iOS. But the camera and screen on the Samsung 6S Edge are leaps and bounds ahead of the iPhone 6. I cannot believe how much better the screen quality and picture quality really is on the Samsung. Apple really needs to step up its game and double up on pixel density, add OLED displays, and hopefully adopt a better light sensor with some more pixels to boot. Additionally, the Samsung has some awesome little features that the iPhone doesn’t, not deal breakers, but would be nice to have. Such as the built in heart rate monitor (that is accurate with my Garmin heart rate strap), side clock display, split screen, and endless customization. I won’t be getting a new phone until fall of 2016, probably will be an iPhone.