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.