KIN ONEm and KIN TWOm return to Verizon, cheaper all-around

They're back from the dead!  After being discontinued back in the middle of July, the KIN phones are available at Verizon once again.  This time around, they're much cheaper, both initially and when it comes to your monthly bill: the KIN ONEm will cost $19.99 with a two-year contract or $119.99 full retail, while the KIN TWOm will set you back $49.99 on-contract or $219.99 off-contract.  The KIN TWOm is also available for a buy one, get one offer, allowing customers that buy a TWOm to get up to three LG Allys for free.  Meanwhile, the data plans available for the KINs are either a $15/150MB option or the $30/5GB plan.  There's also $9.99/25MB feature phone data plan advertised, but no one can seem to pair it with a KIN.  Now that they're considered feature phones rather than full-fledged smartphones, some of the features from the original KIN devices, like the Loop, didn't make the jump to these handsets, which is probably why they have an "m" tacked on to their names.

Seeing the KINs make their returns to Verizon's lineup is pretty surprising, especially considering that they were initially only available for around six weeks.  While it's likely that Microsoft and Verizon are clearing out their left over inventory, it'll be interesting to see how the two KINs fare now that they're cheaper all-around.  I'm not entirely sure that they'll do much better than they did earlier this year, but the lower prices may end up appealing to customers searching for a capable feature phone.  Do you think that the KIN ONEm and the KIN TWOm will succeed in their second go-round?

Via Verizon (1), (2)

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