Galaxy S4 heads to T-Mobile for $150, Sprint for $250 this month
T-Mobile will be first with an April 24 debut, and Sprint's version of the Samsung smartphone hits the market three days later.
- SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile confirmed that the
T-Mobile's Galaxy S4 will come out first on April 24 for $149.99 down and monthly service payments, which are likely to be $20. Sprint's Galaxy S4 will hit the market three days later, and will cost $249.99 with a two-year contract.
T-Mobile's and Sprint's prices for the Galaxy S4 can't exactly be stacked side by side because T-Mobile requires the monthly fees and Sprint requires a two-year service contract. Sprint said that new customers that switch over will only have to pay $149.99 for the phone.
In addition, regional carrier C-Spire said it too will sell the Galaxy S4, although it didn't provide more specific pricing or availability information.
Likewise, U.S. Cellular is taking pre-orders for the phone, and anyone who places an advance order gets a free S View flip cover. It is selling the Galaxy S4 for $199.99, but has yet to release a launch date.
AT&T yesterday began taking preorders for the Galaxy S4, and said it would begin shipping the phone out on April 30.
Verizon Wireless is the only carrier that hasn't given a specific launch date for the phone, but the carrier has committed to selling it.
The Galaxy S4 debuted with the fanfare usually reserved for an iPhone launch, and promises to be a monster hit for Samsung. The company has worked hard to steadily build up the Galaxy S franchise with aggressive marketing, and the phone is seen as a true competitor to the iPhone franchise.
As with Apple and its iPhone, Samsung has put in the effort to make the Galaxy S4 as broadly available as possible. Samsung earlier today said that the phone would be available on seven U.S. carriers this month, and be sold at all of the major retailers.
Staples separately said it would offer the AT&T Galaxy S4 on April 26 in its stores only, and the T-Mobile Galaxy S4 on May 1. It would support the other two national carriers, but didn't providing launch details for them.
Updated at 6:56 a.m. and 7:33 a.m. PT: to include information from Staples and U.S. Cellular.