China's second largest carrier China Unicom offers iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C for free.

Yes, however, the network locks consumers in a three-year contract for iPhone 5C and 30-month contract for iPhone 5S with a high-end plan.

Unicom's competitor China Telecom, which announced the pre-order of iPhones on its network before the devices were even revealed, offers slightly cheaper price on the said handsets. Details of China Mobile getting its first ever TD-LTE iPhone for the upcoming national 4G rollout are still unclear but expected soon.

Tech giant Apple recently unveiled their flagship smartphones this year at the recent press event last week. In the launch event, Apple boasted new specs and features of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, including the first 64-bit chip processor in a smartphone paired with M7 chip, various colour options and fingerprint sensor.

The full-fledged iPhone 5S comes with iPhone 5 specs and features along with minor addition such as the new 64-bit A7 processing chip with an accompanying M7 motion-sensoring chip and fingerprint sensor on the home button.

Meanwhile, the cheaper variant announced as the iPhone 5C boasts 4-inch retina display, dual core A6 chip processor, and 8MP rear camera. Handset is available in blue, green, yellow, white and red plastic casing.

In the US and other markets, iPhone 5S is available for $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB with the usual two-year contract. The iPhone 5C costs $99 for 16GB and $199 for the 32GB with 24 months lock-in period.

The new iPhones, especially the iPhone 5C, are criticized for not being relatively cheap compared to other smartphones in the market. Pre-orders of the smartphones started last September 13 and will be available for purchase on Friday, September 20.