14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon has set new standards for carriers, as the online retailer has recently introduced almost unbeatable offers meant to attract customers who usually purchase their handsets from a carrier.
Last week, Amazon started to offer the HTC EVO Shift 4G for just $119 with a new 2-year contract, which is $30 cheaper than Sprint's price.
Starting this week, Android fans who are looking for exceptional deals will be able to purchased the HTC EVO 4G for just $99.99.
Exclusively from Sprint, the HTC EVO 4G smartphone can be purchased for as low as $199.99 after a $100 mail in rebate and a new 2-year contract, which is $100 more expensive than Amazon's offer.
Unlike its EVO Shift 4G successor, the EVO 4G doesn't come with Android 2.2 Froyo out-of-the-box; instead it runs on the Android 2.1 platform.
Furthermore, the carrier hasn't disclosed any information regarding a possible upgrade of the EVO 4G to Froyo, which might be the main reason behind Amazon's offer.
Apparently, Sprint wants to sell as many EVO Shift 4G units as possible, before upgrading the older EVO 4G, which is superior in terms of hardware.
As a reminder, the EVO 4G is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 1 GHz processor, while the EVO Shift 4G only embeds a slightly lower Qualcomm MSM7630 800 MHz CPU.
The smartphone comes with a 4.3-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with 65K colors support, 480 x 800 pixels resolution, accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, proximity sensor for auto turn-off, as well as HTC Sense UI.
Other key features of the EVO 4G include: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g connectivity, WiMAX 802.16 e (Wi-Fi router), Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support, 512 MB RAM, 1 GB ROM, microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB, 8GB included), 3.5 mm audio jack, Stereo FM radio with RDS and GPS with A-GPS support.
It's weird that a high-end smartphone such as the EVO 4G is now cheaper than a mid-tier device like the EVO Shift 4G. Most likely, this has something to do with the mobile platform each of the models run.