The reality is you can always upgrade your phone. What changes is whether you pay full price or not. If you haven’t received anything from Verizon stating you’re due for an upgrade but you think it’s time, you should check your account for possible offers.
Under your account’s device management section, you’ll see whether you’re eligible for an upgrade or not. Go to My Devices and click Manage under the device you want to upgrade. Here, you’ll see any active payment plans and upgrade eligibility. If you still have a balance left, you can pay it off in one lump sum if you’re that adamant about upgrading. Typically, Verizon is not shy about device upgrades. Once eligible, you will likely start to receive text messages or emails regarding offers on new devices.
Verizon will also sometimes offer an early upgrade option, so long as 50% of the retail price has been paid. This is typically on select phones, which you can see in Verizon’s support portal. Otherwise, just as you did before, check your My Devices tab to see if you can upgrade your device early via this program.