Short answer: Sprint’s holiday 2013 promotion was real, but it was not a free-phone offer and it is no longer available. Eligible students had to buy an eligible Sprint handset at Best Buy for a full or near-full “Student Activated Price,” activate a new line, and verify enrollment. In return, Sprint waived qualifying monthly plan charges for up to 12 months.
The standard smartphone service included unlimited domestic talk, unlimited text, and 1GB of data per month. Basic phones received unlimited talk and text without a smartphone data allowance. The promotion documentation lists November 15, 2013, through January 4, 2014; contemporary coverage generally described a November 18 launch, with one reference to January 7 in Sprint media materials.
How the promotion worked
- Buy an eligible Sprint device at a Best Buy store or Best Buy Mobile location at the designated Student Activated Price.
- Activate a new Sprint line through Best Buy and select the qualifying Unlimited, My Way plan.
- Submit proof of student status within 14 days.
- Receive the promotional credit against qualifying monthly service for 12 months.
The formal terms are preserved in Best Buy and Sprint’s validation form: Best Buy/Sprint student validation form. The offer applied to a new line, not simply to an existing Sprint customer purchasing another phone.
What “free service” included
| Device type | Included service | Data | 2013 reference price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smartphone | Unlimited domestic talk and text | 1GB per month | $70 per month |
| Basic phone | Unlimited talk and text | No smartphone data allowance | $50 per month |
Contemporary reports said smartphone data could be upgraded to unlimited for an additional $10 per month. Thus, headlines describing “free talk, text and data” did not mean unlimited smartphone data at no cost. The waived amount was the qualifying monthly plan charge; taxes, regulatory charges, activation costs and optional services could still apply. See the contemporaneous announcement language and plan details reported by MacRumors.
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Why the phone was not free
An “unsubsidized device” meant paying the phone’s full or near-full retail price instead of receiving the heavily discounted handset price commonly tied to a two-year contract. The promotion moved cost from the monthly bill to the checkout counter: more money upfront, but little or no qualifying plan charge during the promotional year.
| Example device (2013) | Reported student price |
|---|---|
| iPhone 5s, 16GB | About $700 |
| iPhone 5c, 16GB | About $600 |
| iPhone 4s | About $500 |
| Samsung Galaxy S4 | About $650 |
| LG Nexus 5 | About $450 |
These were examples, not a complete eligibility list. The sources establish eligible Sprint handsets but do not provide an authoritative catalog; store inventory and configuration could affect availability. Device examples and pricing were reported by RCR Wireless News and MacRumors.
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Who qualified and how verification worked
The offer defined a student broadly, covering part-time or full-time enrollment in a U.S.-based:
- Elementary or middle school
- High school
- College or university
- Vocational school or another accredited institute
Acceptable proof could include a current student ID, enrollment confirmation, tuition receipt, report card or comparable documentation. The documentation had to be submitted within 14 days. Missing that deadline could remove the promotion and cause the regular plan price to be charged. That condition made the discount conditional rather than automatic.
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Where and when it was available
The validation form limited the promotion to Best Buy locations and states an offer period of November 15, 2013, through January 4, 2014. News reports described the public launch as November 18, 2013; one contemporaneous account referenced January 7 in connection with Sprint’s media materials. These differing dates are historical documentation discrepancies, not evidence that the promotion continued beyond early January 2014. A summary of the launch timing appears in iDownloadBlog’s report.
What was the financial value?
Nominal service value
Using the reported 2013 plan prices, a smartphone line represented $70 × 12 = $840 in avoided plan charges, while a basic-phone line represented $50 × 12 = $600. Those are nominal service values, not guaranteed net savings: the customer still paid for the phone and could owe activation, taxes, fees, optional data upgrades and other account charges.
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- NEED MORE STORAGE? WE HAVE YOU COVERED: With an improved 2TB of expandable storage, Galaxy A17 5G makes it easy to keep cherished photos, videos and important files readily accessible whenever you need them.³
- BUILT TO LAST: With an improved IP54 rating, Galaxy A17 5G is even more durable than before.⁴ It’s built to resist splashes and dust and comes with a stronger yet slimmer Gorilla Glass Victus front and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer back.
Illustrative iPhone comparison
PhoneArena compared an approximately $199 subsidized iPhone 5s plus 12 months of $70 service (about $1,039 total) with an approximately $699 student-priced phone and no qualifying monthly plan charge, producing an estimated $339 difference. That is an illustration based on the prices used in that report, not a universal result for every phone or customer: PhoneArena’s calculation.
Use total cost, not the headline
For a sound comparison, calculate:
- Student offer: device price + activation fee + taxes and fees + any data upgrade + accessories or insurance + service after month 12.
- Alternative: subsidized or financed device price + 12 months of service + activation fee + taxes and fees + any contract or early-termination exposure.
A consumer analysis noted that the offer could provide up to $840 of nominal annual service value while charging full-price, and sometimes relatively high-priced, handsets upfront: Mouse Print’s analysis.
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Contracts, fees and leaving after the year
Announcement coverage characterized the student line as having no traditional two-year service agreement. A reported $36 activation fee still reduced the value, and taxes or regulatory charges were not necessarily covered by the service credit.
PhoneArena reported that many devices were sold unlocked, but “many” does not mean every handset was unlocked or compatible with every competing network. Activation eligibility, bands and unlocking status varied by model. Anyone leaving Sprint would need to confirm the phone’s compatibility, cancel or port the line, and check the account’s billing terms before regular charges began after the promotional period.
The separate additional-line promotion
Best Buy also advertised a related offer that could provide another 12 months of free service for each qualifying line added to the same account under specified plans. Some versions included a two-year-contract option. That was a separate account-level promotion with its own conditions; it should not be added to the value of the standard single student line unless the customer actually qualified. Contemporary descriptions appear in iClarified’s report.
When the deal made sense—and when it did not
Potentially attractive for
- A student who needed a new Sprint-compatible phone and could afford the large upfront handset payment.
- Someone expecting to remain on Sprint for the full 12 months.
- A user whose smartphone data use fit within 1GB per month, or who accepted the $10 monthly unlimited-data upgrade.
- A buyer seeking to avoid a traditional two-year agreement on the student line.
- Someone able to provide enrollment proof promptly and keep the handset after the promotional year.
Potentially poor for
- A buyer who could obtain the same handset substantially cheaper elsewhere.
- Anyone needing more than 1GB of data without paying for the upgrade.
- A student with weak Sprint coverage at home, on campus or along regular travel routes.
- Someone likely to leave before completing the year.
- A customer who overlooked the 14-day verification requirement or forgot to cancel before regular billing began.
- Anyone assuming an unlocked handset would automatically work on another carrier.
Verdict
Sprint and Best Buy offered a legitimate but highly conditional discount in late 2013. It favored students who could pay full price for a phone and use qualifying Sprint service for an entire year. It was not free wireless ownership: the device cost, activation fee, taxes and possible extras remained, and the standard smartphone plan included only 1GB of monthly data. The promotion expired in January 2014 and should be understood as historical deal economics, not a current Sprint offer.
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