Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Price Drops At Walmart, Nexus 4 Gets $52 Discount On Contract

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 doesn’t exactly fit into the “budget phone” category, but Wal-Mart and T-Mobile are teaming up to make the device a little more affordable. Samsung’s second-generation “phablet” will be available for $278 for those willing to use T-Mobile’s network.

In the near future, both the Galaxy Note 2 and Google’s Nexus 4 will come to 1,500 Wal-Mart retail locations nationwide at a discounted price, T-Mobile news blog TMoNews reports. The offer will be valid with T-Mobile’s standard mobile payment plan, meaning that buyers will have to sign up for two-year contracts with the carrier.

At participating Wal-Mart locations, Samsung fans will be able to snag the Galaxy Note 2 for $91 less than T-Mobile charges after its mail-in rebate. The device sells for $369.99 on T-Mobile’s website, with the rebate bringing its price down to about $320. T-Mobile’s price point for the Note 2 on contract is noticeably higher than those of other carriers, with Verizon and AT&T selling it for $299.99.

Samsung’s second-generation smartphone tablet hybrid will also be one of the first phones to support T-Mobile’s new 4G LTE network when it launches later this year. Kansas City and Las Vegas are the first two cities to get T-Mobile’s 4G LTE service, but the carrier has not announced any further plans at this time.

As for the Nexus 4, Wal-Mart will be offering the 16GB version of the phone for just $148 on a two-year contract. This is a $52 price drop from what the carrier typically charges for a Nexus 4 handset on contract. However, those looking to purchase the device without any binding commitment would be advised to snag the phone from Google’s Play store instead. The department store will be selling contract-free Nexus 4 handsets for a whopping $550, which is $200 more than Google charges for the 16GB smartphone.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen some eye-grabbing price drops for these two leading smartphones. Last week, mobile reseller LetsTalk announced a deal in which users could buy a Nexus 4 for $84.99 with a two-year T-Mobile contract. Back in November, Amazon offered a very similar discount on the Galaxy Note 2, slashing the phablet’s price to $279.99.

Wal-Mart also discounted Apple’s iPhone 5 in December, selling the smartphone for $127 on a two-year contract rather than the standard $199 price point. Additionally, the retail chain sold the previous-generation iPhone 4S for just $47, marked down by $52 from the $99 price on contract.

About The Galaxy Note 2

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 saw a widely successful launch when it debuted on the market last fall, selling 5 million units in its first two months. It comes equipped with a quad-core 1.6GHz Cortex-A9 powerhouse, a gorgeous Super AMOLED touchscreen display, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box and a 3100 mAh lithium ion battery among its other specs.

The Note 2’s S-Pen stylus is far more responsive than that of its predecessor, marking a significant upgrade from the first-generation Note. Samsung was sure to pack its flagship phablet device with a slew of multitasking features, which you can read about here in our Premium Suite features guide.

About The Nexus 4

Google launched its flagship Nexus 4 handset back in November, and the smartphone sold out immediately following its release. Google and LG have since been struggling with supply chain issues, but the search engine giant’s CEO, Larry Page, declared in its earnings report that fixing these problems will be a priority moving forward.

The Nexus 4 features a 4.7-inch display made out of Gorilla Glass 2 from Corning, with a 1280 x 768 pixel resolution. It comes packed with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean right out of the box. Sadly, there aren’t any 4G LTE radio bands built into this device despite its high-end specs and sleek form factor, complete with its own signature sparkled back plate.