First of all, Happy Thanksgiving, all! Here's to eating too much turkey, watching football (I'm not really a football fan, by the way), being with family and being ... well, grateful for all the things we have in life that truly matter. Oh, and best wishes to any of you brave enough to suit up and take on the masses in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.
And that's really why we're here, isn't it? To talk about deals. Tomorrow, a lot of you are going to set out to find the best prices possible on all of the items on your Christmas shopping list. Tools, clothes, kitchenware, home entertainment systems and, yes, even smartphones. And lest we forget about tablets! This year may be one of the biggest years when it comes to holiday deals. There are literally hundreds of phones to choose from, and carriers, third-party dealers and online retailers want in on the fun, too.
This year, if you or a loved one are in the market for a new smartphone this holiday season, there are several deals to be had. Here are some of the most notable holiday specials I was able to round up:
Announced on Tuesday, Amazon easily has one of the best deals going for them this week. They are offeringa slew of topnotch smartphones for just a penny with a new two-year agreement. The long list of eligible phones includes devices like the HTC Rezound, DROID RAZR, all Galaxy S II models and the HTC Titan. There is also another sweet perk. If you buy a hotspot-capable smartphone and enable the feature, you will receive a $100 Amazon gift card. Pretty awesome, no?
There are, however, some noteworthy caveats. All iPhone models are ineligible for the Penny-Pincher sale. You must also sign an additional agreement when buying subsidized phones from Amazon. If you deactivate the phone you purchased from them within 181 days, you will be charged a $250 fee. Otherwise, this is a great way to get some of the latest phones for a single penny.
If you can't cope with a second agreement with Amazon, no fear! Best Buy has included several phones in their Black Friday Door Buster sale. Devices included are the HTC DROID Incredible 2, HTC EVO Shift 4G, BlackBerry Torch 9810 from AT&T, Samsung Stratosphere 4G, LG Thrill 4G and Motorola Atrix 2. These phones, which were either originally $99.99 or $49.99 are now selling for only $1 on Black Friday.
As a quick side-note: also included in the Door Buster deal are some hot deals on tablets. The Dell Streak 7 is $159.99, the Acer Iconia 7-inch tablet is on sale for $189, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer is on sale for $249.99, the BlackBerry PlayBook is $199.99 and the Toshiba Thrive will be cut to $279.99 for the Door Buster sale. Not a bad deal if I say so myself, especially if you're looking to get your tablet fix!
RadioShack is offering all sorts of specials for this holiday season. as you can see detailed above, some devices with new and additional lines are eligible for free activation and a $25 gift card. They are offering a handful of smartphones for free and others, like the HTC EVO 3D on Sprint, for some reasonably deep discounts. These offerings last until November 30th, so get a move on!
Unlike third-party retailers who have been slashing prices for Black Friday, Verizon has remained pretty firm on the price of devices. They have, however, introduced a totally red version of the DROID Incredible 2 and are offering it for free with a new two-year agreement. What's more is that Verizon's double data deal is still going on. While their offerings for cheap (or cheaper than normal) smartphones are scarce, you can at least use this deal to your advantage by buying a penny or dollar phone and asking for double data, that is, if you're a new 4G customer.
Like Verizon, T-Mobile has remained rather firm on their smartphone offerings. But there are a few phones up for grabs for free from T-Mobile in some online-only deals for Black Friday. The T-Mobile G2x by LG, Samsung Gravity Smart, HTC Wildfire S, LG Optimus T and Samsung Dart are all being offered for free online by T-Mo. Oh, and they're offering free shipping as well. You've got to take what you can get, right?
Last and certainly not least is Sam's Club. Not a lot of phones are in on this deal, but three hot 4G smartphones are being offered for $0.96 with a two-year agreement. The three phones eligible are the DROID Charge on Verizon, Motorola Photon 4G on Sprint and Samsung Galaxy S II on AT&T. This is a Thanksgiving offer that ends on Sunday the 27th, so gram 'em while they're hot!
Enjoy! And be safe out there tomorrow!
Image via IntoMobile
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