Compared: Samsung Galaxy Note8 telco pre-order plans in Malaysia

The Samsung Galaxy Note8 is now available for pre-order in Malaysia between 5 to 10 September 2017. Retailing at RM3,999, this is the most expensive Samsung Galaxy Note yet but you can enjoy substantial subsidy if you get it on contract.

So which telco or plan should you go for? We have compared our current telco offers from Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile and Yes 4G for your easy reference. This includes their device pricing, bundled minutes, sms, data and their minimum cost of ownership. At the moment, all telcos are only offering the Galaxy Note8 with a 24-month contract.

Since Samsung Malaysia is offering a cash rebate of RM321 during the pre-order period, we expect a price revision after the pre-order period. The Galaxy Note8 will be officially available in Malaysia on 21st September 2017 while pre-order customers can get their units starting from 18th September.

Apart from the cash rebate, Samsung Malaysia is also offering a Samsung Protection Plus plan which gives you additional 1-year warranty and 1-year screen crack protection. Also included is a 5,100mAh powerbank.

Below is a comparison of all plans sorted by their monthly subscription from lowest to highest. Click on the table below for a bigger view.

In terms of affordability, U Mobile and Digi have the lowest commitment plans with RM60 and RM78 monthly respectively. If you’re looking for the lowest minimum cost of ownership (device + subscription costs for 24 months), U Mobile is the most affordable at RM4,397 (with GST) on its Ultimate Device 60 plan. While the device price is higher at RM2,708, you only pay RM60/month. If you need more than 5GB, Digi Postpaid 78 is the next best option as it offers a total of 12GB data and unlimited calls for RM78/month.

For less than RM100, both Yes and Celcom offer the most data for your monthly subscription fee with a total of 30GB and 40GB (split weekday/weekend quota) respectively. If you do make lots of phone calls, do note that Yes only provides unlimited voice calls between Yes to Yes numbers only.

Between RM100-RM130, Yes offers the lowest Galaxy Note8 price at RM1,899 (without GST) and it also has the most data without any data split with 50GB for RM128/month. However, the best all-rounder under RM130 has gotta be Celcom’s FIRST Gold Plus. It has an overall cost of ownership at RM5,183 (with GST) and it comes with unlimited calls and a whopping total of 40GB of data at RM98/month. Even the upfront deposit required during sign up is the lowest here at RM300.

Moving to the RM130/month and above mark, you get a total of 8 options to choose from. U Mobile’s Device Plan 130 with just 10GB of data is probably the closest thing to an unlimited plan as it comes with unlimited data for video streaming, music and social (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). As expected, it also has the lowest minimum cost of ownership here at RM5,542 (with GST) for this category.

Beyond this, you are getting above average amount of data ranging from 24GB to a whopping 100GB. Of course, it will be tempting to see that these high-tier plans have a cheaper Galaxy Note8 price but the cost of ownership jumps substantially due to its high monthly commitment. As usual, Maxis is the most expensive here but their plans have remained consistent with unlimited calls and SMS across the board. During the pre-order period, they do have a Zerolution program which lets you walk away with a brand new Galaxy Note8 without any upfront payment and device cost. There’s also an option to swap phones hassle-free each year but that’s an added cost of RM44/month which isn’t included in the table above. If you look at the overall cost, Zerolution is substantially more expensive than your regular contract plans.

Things to take note

Apart from scrutinising the value aspect of the plan, you should also consider other factors such as coverage and customer service. Not all telcos have the same network coverage and its performance would vary depending on location. Yes 4G for example, operates on a pure 4G network but that also means that if you’re out of coverage, you won’t have any backup 3G or 2G networks to fall back on. We recommend that you check for coverage areas and you can rely on 3rd party tools such as OpenSignal And YouTube Video Checkup to see how each telco performs in your area. If you’re going to be tied for a telco for 24-months, you got to be sure that it would work at your location.

For those who don’t want to be tied to contracts, you can always get it outright from authorised retailers such as Senheng. With the cash rebate, the Galaxy Note8 is going for RM3,678 during the pre-order period. If you spot any mistakes on the table, do let us know in the comments below.