If you hit a deal at the right time, you can find excellent high-end smartphones for half the price.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
A hundred greenbacks is a respectable chunk of change, but when it comes to personal electronics like the ultrapersonal smartphone, $100 on contract (before taxes and fees) is a darn good deal. Since the smartphone operating system remains the same across handsets from the most entry-level to the most premium, what a price hike usually gives you is a step-up in features — like LTE or wireless charging support, a faster processor, and more-premium camera components, for example.
Here are some of today’s top picks for carriers with two-year contracts — I’ll give T-Mobile phones its own roundup, since the carrier has just switched over to no-contract plans. Smartphone prices fluctuate all the time due to slow sales or short-term promotionals, so keep your eyes peeled for more deals.
This article was originally published on October 2, 2012 and updated on May 8, 2013.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
HTC One (Sprint), Released April 19, 2013
You’d never expect a fantastic flagship like the HTC One to sell for $100, half its full retail sticker price, but right now, Sprint is proving its commitment to customers who might otherwise flee to more LTE-rich pastures. The One has a stunning visual design, a strong camera, and one of the fastest processors available anywhere. On top of that, its external speakers put other phones to shame.
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
Samsung Galaxy S3 (all major carriers), Released June 21, 2012
Sale-savvy shoppers know that there’s nothing like a newer, shinier model to drive down the price of a perfectly good product. That’s exactly what happened with the Samsung Galaxy S3 when Samsung revealed its brand-new Galaxy S4 model. The GS3 may be a year old now, but with a fast processor, an excellent 8-megapixel camera, and the
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, it’s nothing to sneeze at.
Read the full Samsung Galaxy S3 review.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
Apple iPhone 4S (Verizon, ATT, Sprint), Released October 14, 2011
With the iPhone 5 now on sale, the iPhone 4S gets an automatic deep discount to $99 on all its postpaid networks. Its 3.5-inch screen may look shrunken next to the 5′s new 4-inch face, but this phone still has the power that made it the blockbuster it was last year: a brilliant screen, a terrific camera, and a robust operating system that will support
iOS 6 and even more software tricks. Its smaller screen size and absent 4G LTE speeds are the more pertinent drawbacks.
Read the full iPhone 4S review.
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
HTC First (ATT), Released April 12, 2013
HTC, Facebook, and ATT conspired to make the First an affordable, interesting, and nearly stock Android smartphone for a reasonable $100 on contract. The big appeal? Facebook Home, an app experience that re-skins your home screen with Facebook friends.
This handset debut would have made sound sense except for the fact that the
Facebook Home app experience is also available for the HTC One X, which costs the same price and serves up better features. Now that ATT’s slashed the First to a dollar ($1,) this moderately sized Android Jelly Bean device with a 5-megapixel camera is suddenly the bargain we always knew it could be.
Read the full review of the HTC First.
(Credit:
CNET)
HTC One X (ATT), Released May 6, 2012
Originally $199 on contract, the HTC One X has held steady at $99. It may not boast the quad-core processor of the HTC One X+ or HTC One, but it has an high-end camera and screen, a very fast chipset in its own right, Android 4.0 (upgradable to Jelly Bean,) and LTE speeds.
Read the full HTC One X review.
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
Pantech Discover (ATT), Released January 11, 2013
The $49.99 Pantech Discover has an interesting ergonomic design and 4G LTE speeds. It’s also Pantech’s most ambitious effort, with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a dual-boot mode that offers you a simpler version of Android as training wheels in addition to Pantech’s custom ICS interface. Unfortunately, the 12.6-megapixel camera isn’t entirely up to snuff, and there’s no Google Now, if that’s your thing. However, the phone’s $50 price is hard to beat for everything else you get.
Read the full Pantech Discover review.
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
LG Spectrum 2 (Verizon), Released October 30, 2012
What has Android 4.0, zippy 4G LTE speeds, and wireless charging capabilities? LG’s Spectrum 2, a smart midrange handset that comes in for just about 100 bucks. The feature-packed 8-megapixel camera may not blow your socks off, but all in all, the Spectrum 2 is a pretty decent little package for a reasonable amount of dough.
Read the full LG Spectrum 2 review.
Best smartphones for $100 or less
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét