by Bill Snyder

How to Get a Great Deal on a High-End Smartphone

Opinion
Sep 05, 20132 mins
AndroidMobileSmall and Medium Business

The cost of some high-end smartphones from companies including Google, Nokia and Apple are dropping as new models become available, so now's the time to find great deals on devices, according to CIO.com blogger Bill Snyder.

If you blinked at just the right time, you missed it, but Amazon recently knocked $50 off the price of the Nokia Lumia 1020, one of the best Windows Phone smartphones available. The sale only lasted a day, but now that Microsoft purchased Nokia’s smartphone business, you can expect to see a fire sale on any and all devices sporting the Finnish company’s logo.

Meanwhile, in Android land, Google discounted the Nexus 4 by as much as $100, and it looks like the Moto X is about to get a price cut too. Apple is also widely expected to launch a new iPhone next week. The new iPhone’s tech specs are still a mystery (rumors are all over the map), but specs don’t matter when it comes to price. A new iPhone means that existing iPhones will get cheaper in a hurry. In fact, prices on used phones have already started to slide.

Google reduced the costs of its Nexus 4 models by a third to $199, down $100 from $299, amidst speculation that the Nexus 5 is on the way. But the Nexus 4 isn’t exactly new anymore, so the discounted Moto X (pictured below) is more interesting.

Moto%20x%20mashable.jpg

Rogers, the Canadian wireless carrier that offered the Moto X before other North American carriers, last month offered the phone for $189. Now the Rogers price of the base model is $169. Best Buy and a handful of other retailers are knocking off another $20, putting the price at $149.

And a rumor on Twitter (via @evleaks) suggests that some carriers will soon slash prices even more, selling the Moto X for $99 with a two-year contract. Of course, that is only a rumor, and I’m only passing it on to make a point: the plethora of new smartphone releases is forcing vendors to cut prices in hurry. And that, of course, is good news for consumers who want to step up to a better phone without paying top dollar.

Image: Mashable