If getting a smartphone this holiday season has been your wish, here are some top choices that will meet your needs without digging a big hole in the pocket.
Exclusively available for Black Friday sales, Samsung Galaxy S5, the latest flagship smartphone by the Korean tech giant, gets the biggest discount ever. The list also includes smartphones from other vendors that can help you save on great products.
Samsung Galaxy S5
Almost all retailers and carriers are offering Samsung's flagship for as cheap as $1. In the wake of the Black Friday frenzy, Best Buy is giving away the Galaxy S5 for just $1 with a two-year contract with AT&T, Verizon or Sprint.
Radio Shack beats Best Buy's offer by giving away the smartphone for free with a two-year contract. To sweeten the deal, first 50 in-store purchases will get a free pair of touchscreen-friendly gloves.
Similarly, Target is offering the Galaxy S5 for 1 cent with a qualifying two-year contract across all in-store locations till November 29. Amazon is also taking the $1 bid for the Galaxy S5 with a two-year contract but Walmart is offering the handset for a comparatively higher price at $99 with a two-year contract.
Carriers are also offering the handset directly to consumers with their specialized equipment installment program. Under Sprint's Easy Pay program, the Galaxy S5 will sell for $18.75 per month for 24 months. T-Mobile has a similar offer with $21.20 per month for 24 months. The T-Mo offer will run through November 30.
AT&T's prepaid subsidiary carrier, Cricket Wireless, will also join the race to offer GS5 at half the price on Cyber Monday. In case you miss the Black Friday offer, the prepaid carrier will set you back with a Galaxy S5 for $295, down from its usual $590.
Other Budget smartphones
Amazon is giving away its Fire Phone 32GB unlocked smartphone with 1-year of free Prime membership for just $100, saving $250 on the total. If the budget is lower, Nokia's Lumia 635 through AT&T's no contract GoPhone will help you save $40. The Lumia smartphone will cost $65 with shipping from Amazon.
Refurbished phones are also on sale like the unlocked Nokia Lumia 521, whichwill sell for $50, HTC 8X Windows phone for $99.95 and the Apple iPhone 4 8GB for $68.99 from eBay.