Retail giant Best Buy is getting in on the 7-inch Android tablet action that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is promising this holiday season.
The iPads and Tablets section of Best Buy’s website links to the Verizon and Sprint versions of the 3G-enabled Galaxy Tab, which are both priced at $650. That’s a bit curious, as Verizon will be selling the same product for $600 in its own stores. Sprint hasn’t officially announced its pricing yet, though it’d stand to reason that it would price the tablet in line with Verizon.
Website Pocketables.net dug up pricing for the Wi-Fi-only model of the Galaxy Tab as well. Best Buy will apparently be selling it for $500.
We haven’t seen any pricing from AT&T or T-Mobile yet, and we haven’t seen any subsidized pricing from any of the wireless carriers. It’s beginning to look more and more like the Galaxy Tab will be sold without a two-year contract and priced very similarly to the iPad—$500 for the Wi-Fi models, and $630 for the 3G iPad versus $600 for Verizon’s 3G Galaxy Tab.
UPDATE: Sprint just announced that it’ll be selling the Galaxy Tab for $400 with a two-year data contract starting November 14. Two plans are available: $30 per month for 2GB or $60 per month for 5GB of data. Even with the cheapest monthly plan, the total cost is over $1100 after two years. Unless you’re really sure you’re going to use the mobile data often enough to get locked into a contract, the $600 unsubsidized price tag looks much better.
UPDATE 2: Best Buy dropped the prices of the Verizon and Sprint versions to $600, which is now in line with the carriers’ respective pricing.
More on Techland:
Samsung Galaxy Tab: The Specs Sheet