Products & Services
How much is your phone?
By JBC on 10 June 2009
LONDON, England – With the Nokia N97 already being snapped up in different cities around the world, we thought we’d check out the kind of deals folks are getting when buying one. When Nokia announces product prices, it is usually a suggested retail price before taxes and any operator sweetening. In the end, the operator decides not only when a device comes out but the real street-price as well.
So we expected some deals close to maybe £299 (what might be expected from a two-year contract on a 32GB touch-screen smartphone), or at least some sort of up-front payment of, say, £99. But we weren’t expecting to not have to pay anything up-front for the N97. Yep, Orange and Vodafone both have offers where the N97 will be available gratis, free, for nada when you sign up to an 18 or 24 month contract.
Orange seem to be offering the cheapest monthly deal we’ve found in the UK with a free Nokia N97 (as in £0) and then £35 per month for 24 months. For £10 more, at £45 per month, you can get an N97 for free on an 18 month contract. Vodafone offers a similar deal with an 18 month contract for £45 per month. Fishing a little deeper, there’s a three month’s half price deal based on £40 per month on a 24 month contract.
We’ve always expected to pay out for getting hold of a brand new top end device. This time round though, things seem to be a little different with some incredible deals on the table.
Have you seen any similar deals? Let us know.
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June 10th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I’d expect the 3 network to be the cheapest in the UK, they were when the N96 was launched (£5-£10 cheaper than the others).
Rumours suggest that they will be doing the N97 for free on an 18 month £35 contract with unlimited texts and free skype.
1gb of data will either be thrown in for free or £5 extra per month, not sure yet.
The only downside to buying the N97 direct from any of the networks is that you may get a branded phone, may get a locked phone and will have to wait much longer for firmware updates.
I wish that nokia and the networks could work together to make firmware updates available quicker, without waiting for network approval.
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June 10th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
SadPart for the people of ASIA especially on SEA..coz no one is offering that high end phones…heheh
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June 10th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I also wrote this on blogs.nokia.com:
I think its a real shame that Nokia is selling N97 in united states but in united kingdom, the London retail store of Nokia won’t have the device until end of this month. Whether this is strategically calculated or completely coincidental, I think it’s to Nokia’s disadvantage that the device comes to Singapore, Spain, USA, Germany, Italy, France, China, UAE and many other markets before entering the UK market.
It seems very odd considering Nokia’s main headquarter and an actual retail store are dedicated located in London!
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June 10th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
26550NTD in Taiwan without contract, about 576.375 euros now.
My N97 will come in 12 june, 48 hours to wait. I already prepared its wallpaper 640×640, I draw it by myself
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June 10th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Shame Vodofone Turkey does not do contracts anything like it’s European counterparts.
This is why iPhone never made a stand in Turkey and neither will high end Nokia phones.
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June 10th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Would love to see it come out for free on the Three UK network, but no sign of it yet. They only have 3 weeks if they want to keep me as a customer though, as that’s when i get to renew my contract, (or move to someone who has the N97!).
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June 11th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Hi guys, do you know any website, etc., where I can getr apps for S40 devices? My device is a 5310.
Thanks
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anand Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 8:15 am
u can get stuffs for ur handset from:
http://www.getjar.com
http://www.mobilesmania.com
etc..
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June 11th, 2009 at 3:20 am
I think it’s a bigger shame that us Americans get absolutely no subsidy for this device. We love Nokia here, but when they’re the only devices without subsidy, almost no one cares. I’m about the only one…
DO AMERICA RIGHT, NOKIA. MORE COMMERCIALS, MORE PRINT ADS, DO SOME INTERVIEWS ON OPRAH, AND MAYBE HAVE A PAGE FOR USERS TO SIGN IN REQUESTING THEIR CARRIER CARRY THIS DEVICE…
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Quietness Reply:
June 11th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
@christexaport, who let you back out onto the streets? Must be nice to take a shower in safety again
It’s the US networks that need to get their acts together and offer a wider range of advanced Euro and Asia phones.
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christexaport Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
@Quietness, Lol! Someone left the door open, so I made myself “available”.
I think the new Nokia touchscreen without 3G would be perfect for TMobileUSA’s young consumers, and allow them to upgrade to a 3G model in 12-24 months. It would also set the stage for at&t to act right, as well as introduce the users to Nokia before the Rover is launched.
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June 11th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Man i am hanging out for my new N97, the waiting is killing me, and still no release date in Oz.
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June 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I’m going to change for Sony Ericsson if I don’t get any cool applications for my S40 device, this sucks. How is it possible this to be the most sold platform and there is not any applications available for this? God….
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