Today all of the major US carriers revealed their Samsung Galaxy S8 launch plans, but if you prefer your smartphones to be unlocked and free of carrier shackles, you’ll be able to get a GS8 soon, too.
Best Buy says that it’ll begin taking pre-orders for the unlocked versions of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ on May 9. Pricing will be set at $724.99 for the GS8 and $824.99 for the GS8+, making them cheaper than most carrier variants (Verizon’s are a bit cheaper).
While these versions of the Galaxy S8 are coming out a couple of weeks after the carrier-branded models, the upside is that they won’t have any carrier branding or pre-installed carrier apps. Unlocked phones typically get faster updates, too, since the updates don’t have to go through carrier testing, but the unlocked Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge haven’t had a stellar track record of receiving updates from Samsung, so hopefully that’ll change with the GS8 and GS8+.
Are you thinking about buying the unlocked Galaxy S8 or S8+?