Dallas – AT&T is building up its smartphone selection for the fall with the Aug. 23 launch of the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega smartphone/tablet hybrid, Motorola’s flagship Moto X and the HTC One Mini.
AT&T will be the first to offer the phones in the U.S. market.
The carrier will launch the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega smartphone/tablet hybrid at $149 with two-year agreement and at $24/month for 12 months (or $288) without contract under the carrier’s Next trade-in program.
The Android 4.2.2 phablet will be available at launch through the carrier’s direct and indirect channels, AT&T told TWICE. The Next program, however, is not yet available through the indirect channels, the spokesperson said.
Sprint earlier today said it would offer the LTE-equipped Androids 4.2.2 phablet “later this summer.” U.S. Cellular has also committed to carrying it. Neither carrier, however, has yet announced an availability date or price.
Samsung, which announced its U.S. plans for the device early this morning, said the device combines “the functionality of a smartphone” and “the viewing ease of a tablet.”
The addition at AT&T expands the carrier’s lineup of Galaxy smartphones.
Under the carrier’s Next trade-in program, consumers buying direct from AT&T trade in their existing device and pay $24/month for 12 months to buy the phablet with no down payment or financing fees. After 12 months, users can trade in the device to upgrade to a newer device with no upgrade fee or down payment.
Mega’s features can be seen in this video.
Separately, AT&T announced the Aug. 23 availability date for the previously disclosed Motorola flagship MotoX smartphone. Verizon Wireless, Sprint and U.S. Cellular also plan to offer it at a later date, and Motorola plans to offer it on its web site with T-Mobile service. The Android smartphone was unveiled Aug. 1.
AT&T will offer the 16GB Moto X for $199.99 and the 32 GB Moto X for $249.99 with two-year contract. Under the AT&T Next program, the 16GB model is priced at $27 per month for 12 months, and the 32GB model is $32 per month.
AT&T will also become the first carrier to offer HTC’s One Mini, a smaller version of HTC’s flagship HTC One smartphone, when it becomes available in direct and indirect channels on Aug. 23. When HTC unveiled the Mini in July, it didn’t announce its U.S. intentions for the phone.
AT&T will be the Mini’s exclusive U.S. carrier, which is pricing the phone at $99 with two-year contract through direct and indirect channels. The phone is also available under the Next program.
The Mini’s features, outlined in this video, include 4.2-inch720p 341PPI display and dual-core 1.4GHz processor compared to the One’s 4.7-inch 1080p 468 PPI display and quad-core 1.7GHz processor. The Mini retain the One’s aluminum unibody design and such key features as HTC’s UltraPixel Camera with f/2.0 aperture and backside illumination, 1080p video capture with HDR, HTC Zoe, HTC BoomSound, and the HTC BlinkFeed home screen.
The Mini is shorter, thinner and lighter than the original HTC One and measures 5.2 inches by 2.5 inches by 0.36 inches. It weighs 4.3 ounces.
