Nokia Surge: a smartphone at a smart price (terms and conditions apply)
Nokia has unveiled a smartphone with some handy web features at a pretty low headline price. However, the deal comes with some pricey terms and conditions.
The Surge, available on the AT&T Network, launches on July 19 for $79.99. It’s got some decent data communications tools, but appears to be aimed more at the casual consumer with a marketing push based around social networking.
That’s mainly due to the inclusion of the JuiceCaster application which, while designed as a social network in its own right, is popular more for its ability to easily update Twitter and Facebook accounts. It’s also got built-in e-mail software and what looks to be a pretty sturdy slide out QWERTY keyboard.
There are also some web browsing and other mobile multimedia tools which aren’t common in such a low-priced handset. For example, there’s Flash support (which is inevitably pushed as a YouTube enabler, though these days it’s a must for many websites). It’s also compatible with AT&T’s in-call video sharing service, AT&T Music (which includes both live radio and downloads) and AT&T Navigator, a satellite navigation system from TeleNav.
The device also supports tethering (using it to provide internet access to another device such as a laptop) which isn’t officially available on many smartphones.
All of that would be a pretty good deal at $79.99. However, there are some catches beyond the usual need to be tied to a carrier, in this case AT&T.
Anyone signing up will actually pay $129.99. The extra $50 is issued through a mail-in rebate but, rather than being in cash, comes as an AT&T Promotion Card. Though this can be used as payment at any retailer which accepts Visa (and can be spent on any product), it can’t be converted to cash and any remaining value automatically expires after 120 days. So if you are looking at the low-price phone because you are trying to cut back on spending, it might not be such a great deal.
To make the deal even less of a bargain, the rebate is only available to customers who sign up not only to a voice plan of at least $39.99 a month, but also a data plan of at least $30.00 a month. That’s not much more than AT&T’s cheapest subscriptions but with a two-year minimum it more than wipes out the $50 “saving”.
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