By Earlier this morning, we reported that the Samsung Vibrant for T-Mobile would be priced to sell at $329.99. This revelation came to us through fine print that the Even More Plus plan option would see you paying $82.50 over the course of four monthly installments. One of our readers also managed to grab a screen from T-Mobile’s website (before they promptly pulled it down) showing that the price for the Even More Plus option was indeed $329.99.
T-Mobile’s since contacted us and updated us with an official price.
T-Mobile’s Even More Plus price for the Samsung Vibrant is $449.99
That’s more in line with what we figured a smartphone like the Samsung Vibrant should cost. We can’t help but wonder where the mix-up came in, then. My first thought is that the $329.99 price is for a 2-year contract before mail-in or instant rebates. If anyone follows T-Mobile’s new tiers closely, they’ll know that Even More subscribers usually split the discounted cost of their new phones over the course of four months, while Even More Plus subscribers pay the unsubsidized cost over a period of 20 months (first payments due at the time of purchase for both plans).
That fact leads me to believe that someone screwed up with the pricing information on the site, forcing T-Mobile to take it down and quickly update us on the matter. Whatever the case may be, at least it’s cleared up. Our excitement got the best of us for just a few hours, but we can all come back to reality: this is a high-end phone and you’ll be paying some high-end bucks to get it.
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
what about the price just for the phone itself without new contract?
Sadness
However maybe this will help drop the price for the N1.
You really didnt expect it to be 329 did you?
Under 500 still isn’t too bad. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see anywhere between 500-600.
Dang… 329 would have been a sure bet for me. As it is, I’m torn between waiting for a Sprint Epic with a 2 year contract and picking this up for 449… Somehow, I think the 449 option is my best bet because I just know I’m going to want to dump it on ebay and pick up the next greatest thing on whatever carrier it happens to land on…
@James
Yep, I was really expecting 5-600…which had me eyeballing the sprint epic.
I was planning on getting the international version for the front facing camera, but if the FFC will cost me $200+ more it isn’t worth it. I could get the T-mobile version and I bet you they will unlock it for me if I ask nicely.
Does anyone know if and when tmoble stores will pre sale the vibrant?
wait, so this is if u already have the plan rite? not the new contract+phone price rite?
ummm… hello?? doesn’t anyone realize that it has no flash for the camera? when the previous iphones didn’t have it, they were criticized daily for it!! i love android but despite the “super AMOLED” screen is there anything else, besides the gyroscope, that the N1 doesn’t have?
Geeez! is that the contract price? What’s the retail price? What am i missing here? what is so great about this phone? Doesnt really look any better than the nexus one or evo to me.
Still sounds like an overpriced Daewoo to me.
I think I will just pay the extra $50 and get an unlocked Streak straight from Dell.
I’ll wait till my contract expires with Tmob in Feb’11. There will be a high end phone around that time with the specs i’m looking for. Still loving my G1 till then, seen!
no one’s gonna buy that phone anyway
@Josh
ZThis is the price for people on the EMP (no-contract) plans.
For contract people, the price is 199 with 2 yr contract.
How do you explain this then? It says $199.99 and is on the T-Mobile site.
http://galaxy-s.t-mobile.com/
Bash or not to Bash that is the question!! Lol
Good luck for anyone else purchasing this device. I hope it works out for you.I’m going to gracefully decline this offering by tmobile.
@ Josh
Galaxy S advantage over N1
1) Super AMOLED
2) 1ghz Hummingbird processor
3) Gyroscope
4) Full suite of audio and video codec (largest in the market)
5) Avatar movie :)
6) Great photos (even at night with the night mode turned on )
7) HD video recording and play back
Why don’t people fire up a couple of neurons, and take them for a drive once in a while. $449 is more than fair considering the Evo is $499, and the Nexus is $529. If I have to hear about a front facing camera one more time I am going to go ballistic. WHO GIVES A @#$% ABOUT A FRONT FACING CAMERA??? What are you going to sit around and video conference all day? Get real. Now for the FACTS. 1ghz Hummingbird blows the Snapdragon away in every benchmark test. This thing runs like a 1.5ghz. 4 inch Super Amoled, need I say more? Dusts every other screen out there in brightness, outside viewing, viewing angles, and power consumption, including Apple’s new Retina. The thing is light as a feather, thin as hell, comes with 16GB internal, and supports a 32GB MicroSD. We are talking up to 48GB of storage here people. When this phone drops it will be HANDS DOWN the best phone on the market. Use your brain before you talk smack.
1. “super amoled”no matter how hypermasculine it may sound, it’s not that great, still glares almost as much, if not more.
2. 1ghz hummingbird vs. 1 ghz snapdragon, samsung vs. qualcomm, that’s it! both 1 ghz and both very responsive w/ video.
3. Gyroscope – point to you.
4. audio and video code – point to you, until …
5. Avatar sucked!!
6. Nexus One is one of the best cameras, if not THE best, out there!! we’ll see the duel when it’s actually out!
7. HD recording is available to Nexus Ones…
So really, is this phone an innovation compared to the N1? NO! just a software upgraded version without an LED flash… 0.3 inches more just doesn’t seem worth it!
btw Apple’s Retina is waaayyy better than the “SUPER AMOLED” no matter how much i hate the Iphone, don’t compare this to the Retina screen.
@Jackson, I think you huffed a bottle of glue before writing your post. The ONLY thing the Retina beats Super Amoled in is higher resolution, which unless zoomed in at ridiculous levels is indiscernible to the human eye. Contrast, brightness, colors, viewing angles, outdoor viewing, power consumption are ALL stacked HEAVILY in Super Amoled’s favor. Use your brain.
@Jackson, And I am not even going to respond to your Hummingbird vs. Snapdragon reasoning. Well, actually I am. DO SOME RESEARCH BEFORE POSTING. Hummingbird decimated the Snapdragon in every benchmark test.
@Jackson
Umm Snapdragon vs qualcomm is not just it…The hummingbird processor is wayyy faster and more efficient than the Snapdragon. The hummingbird is a 45n chipset that uses 50% less energy than a Snapdragons 65n chip. The GPU on the Galaxy is also running at 90million tri a sec while the Nexus One can only process up to 22 million tri sec. Graphics on games will be way better on the Galaxy. Also the memory in the Galaxy uses 512mb LPDDR2 memory instead of the Nexus LPDDR1, again the LPDDR2 uses less energy and is more efficient. Lets not forget that the Galaxy will also have 16gb of internal storage with support of micro sd cards up to 32gigs. Let’s see a nexus do that..
the Retina is not waaayyy better than the super amoled. engadget did a comparison and couldn’t decide on a winner. imo, i like the amoled just because it’s 4″.
however i’m a little disappointed that t-mobile ditched the ffc and especially the led flash. why couldn’t they at least keep the flash? other than that it’s a step in the right direction for t-mobile.
Really, really, disappointed that it will cost me 250 more dollars since my contract isn’t over yet although it’s only a few months away(Verizon let’s customers join in on the Droid X even if their plan isn’t over till the end of the year, why can’t T-Mobile do that?). I wanted the Nexus One but couldn’t afford it since I’m on a family plan, so I decided to wait. After waiting 6 months I find out the phone I thought would be 200 dollars cheaper is now only around 80 dollars cheaper. Oh well, might as well just get the Nexus One at this price, I can’t keep my G1 unless I buy a new battery and want to deal with waiting a minute for my phone call app to open.
B*tch, b*tch, b*tch about no front facing camera. If it’s THAT big a deal keeping this from being the zOMG best phone evah!!!, the iPhone is ready and available for you. Those raving about this phone have probably never owned a Samsung product before as I have. All I can say is good luck.
@Rock: You’re upset that the no-contract price is $250 more than the contract price of $200 (after rebate,likely? Ummm. If you are not tied down to the more expensive contracted plans, with the EvenMorePlus plans, you save hundreds over the term of a contract. I would rather buy the phone for $450 and pay $20-$40 less a month for as long as I want.
Regarding the Front Facing Camera, a lot of people seem to say it is necessary and a lot of people say it is stupid. The reality is… BOTH. You see, some people, like myself, have international relatives for which the main means of communication is hooking up a webcam and chatting over skype. Enter the front facing camera phone and now I can do that without being chained to my desk or at least to a chair with a laptop. It is a VERY desirable feature for some people to the point that it is a deal breaker. For most people it is never used and thus viewed as a gimmick. Everyone needs to understand that there are very different and equally valid views here.
JaylanPHNX, not to mention TMO offers payment plan on the non-contracted price
+1 to Jared’s comment. However I am deciding at this point that I will just buy the phone off contract and when a phone comes out that has a FFC on T-mobile I will sell my other phone and pick the new one up. This Galaxy is going to be my in-betweener. I’m tired on not having a Android Smartphone.
While the Vibrant may be one of the top phones when it comes out you have to ask yourself for how long? Today’s “top” of the line phone becomes mid range pretty quickly these days. Tmo is rumored to have a dual core phone from HTC due out in time for the holidays, the much whispered about Project Emerald. Supposedly this new phone from HTC will be the top of the tops. Rumor has it it will be the first 3D display phone. So if we sit tight for another 6 months or so the Vibrant may actually come down in price a bit as Tmo will look to move those out to make room for their new super phone. If I’ve learned anything it’s that you never have the top of the line for long. there will always be better,faster,sharper and it seems much quicker these days. Either way with gingerbread having a 1 Ghz minimum requirement the Vibrant of the new dual core phone will be good to go for the near term future
They had it up for free for a while:
http://www.cloudave.com/link/samsung-vibrant-galaxy-s-android-superphone-free-deal
But joke apart, the no-contract plan is not only, well, contract-free, but $20 cheaper per month, so over a 2-year period you save $480 by buying the phone upfront. I think I’ll buy it at full price.
Also wondering what it will do to the current $700 price level on eBay…
Jared’s right.
It’s been hashed out on the T-Mobile forums as well as pretty much everywhere. The flash and front camera are two things that people are unwilling to simply agree to disagree with.
Like Jared I have friends and business partners around the world who I video chat with several times a week via Skype. Having that ability without having to take a notebook with me would have been perfect. Even if 3G didn’t handle it well there are plenty of places with WiFi – cafes, restaurants, hotels, etc.
For some it’s a highly desired feature. For others something they’d never use.
However the exclusion of it doesn’t make any sense. Same with the flash, however the flash not being there isn’t as bad since it isn’t on the international version and was being added in for the Verizon and Sprint variants.
It doesn’t make sense that it would save money especially when you consider the changes made to the case, hardware and the addition of Avatar and The Sims (both of which we’re paying for).
It doesn’t make sense from a marketing side. People love features even if they never use them. It’s the ability to have it and show it off that people love.
For me, I’ll likely buy this off contract and wait for a better device then give this to a family member. With any luck T-Mobile will pay attention to these conversations and we won’t have to have conversations again.
When I first saw the $329 I was like “no way because they are advertising it for $199 w/2 year contract & the MT3G slide is $179 w/ 2year contract & $429 flat out.” But I think $449 isn’t that bad of a price considering what other price points the other carriers are charging. I think I saw the EVO for $499 & the Nexus One is $529. I’ll be online that morning ordering mine on the 21st. Bye Bye Motorola Cliq (& their so-called promises, lies, & deceptions of their ancient first android phone) & hello Vibrant!
You are all geeks. It is a phone, not a woman.
@Jackson….Dude, your living in a dreamworld if you think the Snapdraggon can compare to the Hummingbird. The Hummingbird blows the Snapdraggon out of the water in every benchmark they threw at it. The Snapdraggon is out-dated and over-hyped.
To those who think Apples Retna display is better your right. But your only right when you look at the display 1 centimeter away from your face. When held at a normal viewing distance the Super Amoled display actually has better contrast and produces better colors. It also uses less power.
To those trying to compare a regular Amoled to a Super Amoled. Everyone is saying that the Super Amoled is 10 times better in sunlight not to mention it’s also more touch responsive since everything is built into 1 sheet of glass rather than 2. Someone just did a multi-touch test with the Galaxy S and the Nexus One and the Galaxy S destroyed it.
It’s actually $499.99 + $4.99 shipping via Fedex. Checkout RadioShack’s pre-order site – http://radioshackwireless.com/eCommerce/SpecialOffer.aspx?cid=25578_e5d2f6008e53463283d79f189ec98047
So wait. . . its not $339?
C’mon Streak! Where Are You!?!?
The Vibrant actually has a pretty good night mode which lessens the effect of not having a LED flash. Looking like a pretty good buy, especially at 450.
T-Mobile modified fine print-
-QUOTE-†On approved credit. $125 down payment, plus 3 monthly payments of $125, required. 0% APR. Taxes & fees additional. Available only at T-Mobile-owned retail stores; see store for details.
†0% APR. Availability & amount of financing subject to credit approval. Down payment required at time of purchase. Remaining amount owed is paid over 3 monthly payments (with Even More Plan) or 19 monthly payments (with Even More Plus Plan). Qualifying plan required for duration of EIP agreement; account must be in good standing. Taxes, late/non-payment fees and other upfront and monthly charges may apply. Example shown above reflects the down payment and monthly payments for our most credit worthy customers; down payments & monthly payment amounts for other customers will vary.-QUOTE-
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/6462/sgve.jpg
4x$125.00= $500 for non-contact..
This is interesting. What was the $329.99 price for? Obviously it’s for something (maybe a one year contract?). We will have to wait and see.