T-Mobile douses down payments for the summer, but shifts cost elsewhere

T-Mobile no money down
We don't need no stinkin' down payment!

Update: We suppose summer is technically winding down, so in a way we're not terribly surprised T-Mobile reportedly decided to take two of its no-money down devices off the list.

According to AllThingsD, starting Saturday, T-Mo will no longer offer the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 4S for a $0 down payment.

Saved by zero

Of course there's no such thing as a free phone, so the nixed down payment shows up as an increase to monthly handset payments. Most phones picked up with no down payment end up saving you money, but the amount vary.

For example, the S4 normally has a $149.99 down payment and $20 monthly payments for 24 months, so the phone costs $629.99. The zero-down route gives you the phone for $25 a month for 24 months, or a total of $600.

With the iPhone 5, the $145.99 down payment and $21/month for 24 month installments total up to $649.99. The no down deal gets you the phone for $648.

T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan will probably make up for that, starting at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and 500MB of data, but be warned that while you owe nothing at the outset, you'll see the cost elsewhere.

Despite this, T-Mo is confident in the promotion.

"The number of reasons not to switch to T-Mobile this summer is ZERO," proclaimed T-Mobile President and Chief Executive Officer John Legere in a press release.

You'll need to be a "well-qualified customer" in order to get 0 percent financing on top of no money down, and the balance of the device payments will come due if wireless service is cancelled during the 24 months.

T-Mobile isn't saying when the summer promotion will end, but the deal is open to both new and existing personal or small business customers on all devices.