HTC Flyer now available, winging its way to Three and Talkmobile contracts
HTC has announced that its Flyer tablet is available to buy SIM-free in the UK today, while Three and Talkmobile are expected to offer it on contract.
The HTC Flyer is available to buy in the UK today. If you've been waiting patiently for the Android tablet to arrive, today is most definitely your lucky day. We've just reviewed the Flyer and found it didn't quite hit the heights we hoped.
Earlier today we saw some photos of Three's print catalogue listing contract details for the Flyer, reported by CoolSmartPhone. Despite being shown as "coming soon" on the website, the shiny paper gave the game away.
It looks as though the tablet will be available for £169 up-front on a £25 per month, two-year contract. That gets you a whopping 15GB per month data allowance, ideal for surfing the Web over 3G (before the lacklustre battery gives up).
The Carphone Warehouse has also announced that from today, Talkmobile will be offering the HTC Flyer on a two-year contract at £25 per month, with a £129.99 downpayment on the device. This includes 5GB of monthly data.
Should you wish to choose your own network, you can buy the 32GB SIM-free model for a penny under £600. Those happy with half the memory and Wi-Fi can lay down £479.99 for the 16GB version.
What you have to ask yourself is whether you want to commit to a two-year contract, or pay more than you would for an arguably superior iPad 2. Or indeed many other tablets. That coupled with the likelihood that HTC could be rendering Flyer mark one redundant in a couple of months by launching two juicy Android 3.0 tablets.
It's not even a dead cert you'll get that snazzy little stylus for free if you opt for the 3 or Talkmobile contracts. No other UK mobile networks have yet made any noises about the Flyer either. We originally thought the HTC Flyer would arrive on 9 May but we'll excuse a few days' slippage.
The longer you dawdle, wondering if you can get this good-looking but underachieving tablet on your favourite network, the more likely something better will come along, looking all smug and trying to take your cash.