Video:What's the Range of Prices for Cell Phones?

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Transcript:What's the Range of Prices for Cell Phones?

Hi I'm Nick Jaynes for About.com and this is the price range for cell phones. In the world of cell phones and smartphone, there is a wide variation in both selections and prices.

Range of Prices for Cell Phones

Prices can range widely from free to nearly $1000 for a high-end smartphone. At the bottom of the price scale, we have the phones that carriers are looking to get rid of. For example, Verizon is giving away the Samsung Exhibit 4G Black.

More Information About the Range of Prices for Cell Phones

Carriers are sometimes willing to give away phones for free because the two-year contract the customer is required to sign in order to get the phone is more profitable than potentially seeing that customer go to another carrier. These kinds of deals are known as loss leaders.

Ranges of Prices for Cell Phones

When there aren't phones on special give away, you can always find cheap cell phones. Take the Black Berry Torch for example. Right now with AT&T, the torch is only $29.99 with a two-year contract. It runs on the 3G network and has the renowned Blackberry name behind it, so you know it's not a finicky piece of junk.

In the mid-range for around $99, you can find many smartphones from heavy-hitting brands like Motorola, LG, HTC, and Samsung. Again, all these prices are adjusted for customers who are willing to sign two-year contracts. Without the contracts, the purchase prices vary widely.

At the top of the price range are phones like the iPhone4. With a contract, the iphone4 is around $299 for the 32G with a two-year contract. But if you should not be willing to sign a contract, the iPhone4 can cost you upwards of $600, depending on the carrier. This is simply because without guaranteed contract for monthly income, the carrier wishes to make their money off you right up front instead of over a two-year period.As you can see, there is no shortage of cell phone and smartphone choices and price ranges. If you don't mind which phone you specifically get you can often find some really great deals, if you're willing to sign a two-year contract.

Thanks for watching. If you'd like to learn more, please find us on the web at About.com