By By this point it may be fairly common knowledge that Sprint’s varient of the HTC Hero is going to cost you around $179.99 with a 2-year contract but up until now, information about getting one off-contract has been a bit on the thin side.
As of today however, Sprint says the Hero will be going for $329.99 off-contract, which means that for all you Sprint customers out there with grandfathered plans, the Hero will be a good deal. Especially when you consider the cost of importing an unlocked version in.
EDIT: After much discussion on the price, one of our readers has picked up something that may indicate a different price than what Leakdroid has. According to sprint.com/hero, the price starts off with $429.99 as the initial no-contract price. Check out this fineprint:
Phone Offer: While supplies last. $429.99 – $150.00 (two-year activation) – $100.00 (mail-in rebate) = $179.99 (final price).
However, one reader also raised the point that the $329.99 may be derived from the inclusion of the mail-in rebate.
[Via Leakdroid]
Only a $150 subsidy? Wow!
One is better off buying the thing and not renewing the contract.
This makes me wonder if in a month or two they will have a price drop. Not to mention with more Android Phones coming to Sprint, (IntinctQ) if they are releasing this as a demo more more than anything.
I’m pretty sure the Hero will probably cost $99 with contract 2 weeks later. Sprint is taking advantage of the Sprint Phandroids who can’t wait to get their hands on it. If Sprint doesn’t drop the price this soon.. best buy or another retailer will. 3 months after the pre droppped Walmart was sselling it for 79.99.
i dont get it …you can buy it for 330$ and walk out the door and let sprint never see your face again !!! or what ?
I’m a SERO user with a 2 year old phone and was told by a Sprint rep that I would qualify for both the $150 upgrade credit as well as the $100 mail in rebate … AND I’ll be able to stay on the SERO plan. I’m pretty happy since the math on that takes me down $79.
For those not on the SERO though, $329 should be awfully tempting to avoid the 2 year commitment.
Would I be able to use the Sprint HTC Hero on a German network, say O2 Germany? Because 330$ = ~225€ which is pretty much awesome. You cannot get the Hero here in Germany without a contract for under 430€ which is almost 500$.
I dont like the chin anyways ;)
kitze,
The Sprint Hero has a CDMA radio instead of GSM so unfortunately no, it won’t work on any network other than Sprint or Verizon in the States.
I just switch from sprint after 9 years. They could give the phone away for Free and I would not switch back. But, I do hope it puts downward price pressures on the Smart Phone industry and the HTC Hero is light years ahead of Palm Pre.
Will this phone work on Verizon? If this is possible, would there be any loss of functinoality (aside from the Sprint-specific things like SprintTV)?
Steven:
Wait for the Sholes.
The Sholes has better specs that the Hero.
that=than
Why wait for a Motorola on Verizon’s network? Sprint has better plans and Motorola’s hardware is always crummy at best.
Cellular South HTC HERO $99.99 after $50.00 mail in rebate
http://www.cellularsouth.com/DiscoverCenter/phones-apps/android/
Can someone explain to me then how $329 – $100 rebate -$150 bi-annual upgrade = $179.99?
What good is it unlocked if it doesn’t have SIM card slot according to crunch gear.
john,
They’re not saying it’s unlocked, they’re saying it’s off contract, which is a totally separate thing.
When they were talking about importing in an unlocked version, they were talking about the European GSM version.
Oh man, you lucky Americans :) I just bought the HTC Hero unlocked in Sweden for more than *twice* that amount, $725 to be exact. I feel ripped off, somehow. It’s weird that the price can differ that much for the same product. Well, at least we have free healthcare and get paid to go to college ;)
Is this compatible with AT&T network?
Even if this is unlocked, it wont work on T-mob, right? I hate the fact that sprint has a better android phone than me.
@bray424 – It’s actually 429 – 150 – 100 = 179. In this case it’s 429 – 100 rebate.
Jeff: I was reading buy you are limited to certain areas for no longer than 2 months and I don’t see unlimited data.
Just the $99 price and $80 plan
Rizo: Different networks. SPrint doesn’t work on GSM so it wont be useful to you. However, the Samsung Behold2 looks pretty sweet. Similar specs to this; however, it has a better screen display.
Come Novermber I think we will see a lot of carriers vying for top android dog.
Give it a month.
Rob: It’s a small regional carrier and if you don’t live in the Cellular South area then the 2 month thing come into effect,it doesn’t effect us who live in the Cellular South home area.Unlimited data is included.
https://www.cellularsouth.com/cscommerce/products/plans/product_plan_details.jsp?navAction=push&navCount=0&id=prod26340022
@Bray, it doesn’t.
Check out the bottom of http://www.sprintenterprise.com/hero/?id9=SEM_Google_P_Sprint_HTC%C2%A0
$429.99-150.00-100.00 MIR = $179.99
But who knows.
According to sprint.com/hero “$429.99 – $150.00 (two-year activation) – $100.00 (mail-in rebate) = $179.99 (final price).”
that article seems flawed.
RUMOR until officially stated.
Yes the pricing makes absolutely no sense here. I wish a “news” outlet would maybe delve a bit deeper into this. B/c if we get the phone for $329-$100MIR-$1502Yr=$79.00. If that’s the case, I might be willing to call sprint, and have them switch me and the wifey’s discounts (she’s only good for $75 now), that way she can get the 150.00 off her phone.
Can someone official get in touch with someone official and make this pricing more official? Gracias.
So the HTC HERO costs $160 LESS than the much weaker MyTouch? Ive been had!
so, should one wait til the Holidays to see what else hits the marcket…
$330 for this phone off -contract sounds delicious! Especially for us pre owners who want a little android action too. I’ll love my pre and my hero.
Sorry folks but $329 off contract isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Best Buy already has it up on their website as “coming soon” and their full price is $599.99.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9509784&st=htc+hero&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218120547637
That said Best Buys full retail price is usually higher then Sprints. I don’t know why Phandriod is spreading rumors like this. All they had to do was check Sprints website. Their HERO page has been up for a while.
http://www.sprintenterprise.com/hero/
Phone Offer: While supplies last. $429.99 – $150.00 (two-year activation) – $100.00 (mail-in rebate) = $179.99 (final price).
To Setaside; The Sprint discount of $150 is for a qualifying account that has met its 2 yr agmt and also, for anybody who is new to Sprint (except for those who have met only 1 yr of their 2 yr agmt., they instead get $75). It doesnt matter the type of account either. Just be prepared to pony up the dough from your $79 guestimation. All this can be verified by them and on their website. Good luck. =)
Kitze,
To you and those wondering if this phone will on T-Mobile as well, this phone will likely work on any network. That is if this phone follows similar specs to the HTC Touch Pro 2, also on Sprint, it will have radio for all frequencies!
Gadget of the year – beat the iPhone. But wait it wont stop Androiders from whining !
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1217723/HTC-Hero-smartphone-judged-best-gadget-2009.html
Hey you phandroid editors, why did you neglect this ?!!
I got hands on with this phone last weekend. (Sometimes, it’s not whatcha know, but who) Anyway, it’s very nice. It was running 1.5, not the 1.6 donuts. When typing, the phone vibrates as you press. That’s something I don’t remember hearing in the reviews. I think it’ll take a bit to get used to. Can’t wait till Sunday.
for this the off contract price you will pay $429 and get the htc $100 mail in rebate hence the $329 off contract price. with a qualified sprint contract at the sprint store you will pay $279.00 and also recieve a htc $100 mail in rebate hence the $179.00 price.
Cripes… it’s back and forth like this that make me happy I have to wait until December before I can upgrade. Dust should be settled by then (I hope).
well i work for sprint and had to go to a HTC Hero training and the price for the phone without a contract will be $479.99
@ danooooo the vibrating while typing can be turned off. some reviewers mentioned it
dude, it’s not HTC rebate, you will not get the 100$ off. it’s sprint rebate, if you sign up for two years. I REPEAT, THIS PHONE WILL NOT BE $330 OFF CONTRACT. this article is pure stupidity.
the point of a MIR is for you to not fill it out correctly and the company will keep your money.
People are thinking and stating that $429 minus the $100 MIR comes out to $329.
Their mistake is believing/thinking they’ll get $100 MIR, in order to get the $100 MIR you’d have to sign a 2 year contract. At least that’s the way it’s worked with all their other phones.
If you look at any phone on the Sprint site the MIR amount is blue text, as is the term eligible upgrade.
Off contract price should/will be $429
Sweden have free health care and gets paid to go to college??? Man, America sucks!
Even at $179 with a contract this is a good price.
I will wait to grab one around Black Friday, hopefully the price will come down even more.
How much will the monthly service charge be? what does it include?
Nationwide? tethering? texting? Data transfer?
So what does this mean for us SERO customers? Sprint has said that SERO will not work with Hero, however if we buy the phone for full price, can it still be activated on our SERO plan?
Yo.mag neegroes
If:
your a premiere member w/sprint you get an upgrade equal to new customer price…(for instance I got my Pre the same $$ as those just joinin sprint
also:
I have a Pre but want an android/hero fone can I use google voice on android? I know this is dumb cuz its a google phone, but I figure w/my gvoice numbr I can use mytethering create wifi signal n use mag phone!
I have had the HTC Hero for 4 days and so far I am not happy and returning the phone and Have Emailed a response to HTC on how I feel about the phone and this is what I said….
Thank you for your time and I actually do appreciate that you email me back, however, I will be returning the phone back to Sprint. I do not think the phone is worth the retail price of $479.00. I switched from the Palm Pre after having an Iphone and I honestly believe the internet usage and the email on the Pre worked efficiently as well as faster where the Hero lags and the Microsoft Exchange doesn’t work. I had the same exact settings on Microsoft Exchange from the Pre as the Hero and the Hero failed to sync. I was able to see the folders in my inbox, but was unable to open the folders and retrieve any messages. I could send out emails, but could not receive any. Also the camera on the phone is 5MP but the quality looks bad and it’s sluggish. I could not take 1 picture where it was not blurry. And why can you only take a picture with the trackball, you should have the option to take the picture by tapping your finger on the screen. Also, each day, there would be a time frame where I was not receiving any text messages at all. Each time was a different time, but I would have to reboot the entire phone in order to retrieve some texts, but my attempts were slim. The applications on the phone are really cool, except, the phone is incapable of running them efficiently. I have had the phone for less than a week, and the apps continues to freeze, some errors were: unable to run application, others were: unable to connect to network. I thought the phone was 3g? At least the Palm Pre is 4g and the network was always working and worked flawlessly. And what is with the idea of being able to customize the phone? I love this idea, but you limit your users to 7 pages, where the Iphone is capable of doing numerous pages. The Pre definatly beats this phone in that the Pre is capable of running up to 10 programs at once, while the Hero can only run one. And for the phone to lag on only running one program is not exceptional. Overall, I do not believe your developers executed the software nor the phone well enough. You have a GREAT idea and you have numerous applications to make the phone worth the money, but the phone itself takes everything you have and puts disapppointment into consumers eyes. I would think by being HTC and also working with Google, you would have unlimited resources, however, this is not executed. Your phone should be your name and have pride. However, it does not show with in this phone. This phone should have all the technology the Iphone and the Pre has and combine them and make something better! If you want me to buy your phone, don’t give me another Iphone or another Palm Pre, give me something BETTER! Thank You