That's how I've purchased every phone I've owned since the G1. I buy it and pay it off over time, same as subsidizing but without the contract tether. Old Value Plus plan on T-Mo and freedom to switch anytime to any GSM carrier. A tiny APR is better than a contract imo. And waiting to save the money always leads to a better more expensive phone being released driving me to need to save more and more. Rather have the phone for the time I'd be 'saving' and using it for a small finance charge. In the case of the GNex Pay it over 4 months, or wait until August when the S3 will be approaching US release and rumors of the next nexus are already on the way. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.