News - Motorola MILESTONE hits the UK via eXpansys

[HEXUS]

The Android 2.0 phone, known as DROID in the US, is now available as a stand-alone purchase.

Read more.

[miniyazz]

At what point did £450 become "middling" smartphone price? You can buy a 16GB iPhone 3GS from Tesco for less than that.

[Gunbuster]

At what point did £450 become "middling" smartphone price? You can buy a 16GB iPhone 3GS from Tesco for less than that.

You can't Sim Free though. Having said that £450 is silly money.

[miniyazz]

You can't Sim Free though. Having said that £450 is silly money.

True, although you could probably unlock it if you wanted to for a nominal sum of say ~£20 for use with at least o2 and orange. If you wanted to, since that comes with unlimited internet despite being PAYG

Anyway, I'm sure there're other routes of buying these things if you don't want to spend full price. My HTC Touch HD, for example, I bought from eBay at £320, one week old as new condition. Another £15 to unlock it, and I'd still knocked ~£100 off retail price of what was then a top-of-the-range phone. A quick google suggests the Touch HD 2 can be readily had sim-free for <£500, and that is surely one of the very best smartphones around - I maintain £450 is not 'middling' money for a smartphone

[Gunbuster]

As much as I like HTCs stuff I am really interested to see what Huawai who made the T-Mobile Pulse do. A sub £100 payg Andriod phone is the sweet sport for me.

[McPhee]

A quick google suggests the Touch HD 2 can be readily had sim-free for <£500, and that is surely one of the very best smartphones around - I maintain £450 is not 'middling' money for a smartphone

£500 is the standard launch price for smartphones, it has been for years. That's why the Milestone's price is noteworthy. It's launching below the average price. It's also an oddity considering the reputation that it has built up in the States. Accounting for that, it's premium build quality and the QWERTY keyboard it could easily have cost £100 more at the same price point as the Touch Pro 2, Xperia (X1 and X2) and various other "premium" devices while still being comparatively good value.

[finlay666]

True, although you could probably unlock it if you wanted to for a nominal sum of say ~£20 for use with at least o2 and orange. If you wanted to, since that comes with unlimited internet despite being PAYG

Anyway, I'm sure there're other routes of buying these things if you don't want to spend full price. My HTC Touch HD, for example, I bought from eBay at £320, one week old as new condition. Another £15 to unlock it, and I'd still knocked ~£100 off retail price of what was then a top-of-the-range phone. A quick google suggests the Touch HD 2 can be readily had sim-free for <£500, and that is surely one of the very best smartphones around - I maintain £450 is not 'middling' money for a smartphone

You would lose the PAYG if you changed the simcard

That is £440 locked to network, and likely branded. The milestone is £450 (even on play.com) and sim unlocked meaning you can use any network and it's unbranded. That price is likely to drop on the milestone in all honesty.

Best way will be on contract. I know when my contract is up that is the phone I want to get if it stays this way with android and I'll change networks if I have to to get a good deal on it. By the time I upgrade the Milestone should have settled in and the initial kinks worked out. I really enjoy a full qwerty now having used my X1

[Agent]

Want this on O2

[bsodmike]

That is £440 locked to network, and likely branded. The milestone is £450 (even on play.com) and sim unlocked meaning you can use any network and it's unbranded. That price is likely to drop on the milestone in all honesty.

Been looking to get a second mobile for a while and with the recent DROID news, been looking forward to an unlocked version. I also kind of miss the tactile feel of a qwerty pad and think the MILESTONE would be a really great twitter etc. phone.