HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition Smart Phones Currently Available in the US
The Google Edition platform on the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 smart phones is currently available in the US at the Google Play Store. However, third-party retailers such as eBay and Amazon are accepting pre-orders as well for the two devices with a more expensive price offer.
Photo credit: Twitter/@AndroidMX
Customers can order the two smart phones at the Google Play Store and place their payment using a credit or debit card linked with a Google account. The HTC One Google Edition price is $599 while the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition price is $649 and both devices are anticipated to be shipped on July 9.
At Amazon, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition is offered with a price of $945 while the HTC One Google Edition costs $845. If the Google Edition smart phones are purchased from a wireless carrier, consumers can reportedly get one at a price of approximately $200 on a two-year agreement.
According to mobile tech web site liliputing.com, there will be a couple of wireless carriers that offer lower priced plans when customers bring their personal smart phone. This means the customers could spend less over the period of 2 years compared to purchasing a device up front.
The Google Edition smart phones are considered "Nexus" devices because both of them run on a pure Android operating system without custom launchers and other add-ons that could mess up the Google-like experience. Both smart phones have the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean stock version as a replacement for the custom versions that are typically installed on HTC and Samsung.
In addition to the well-liked Google operating system, owners of the HTC One Google Edition will take pleasure in the flagship-quality hardware similar to HTC's UltraPixel camera with dual-speakers and polished aluminum body while the Samsung Galaxy S4 includes a micro-SD card slot and 13MP camera in the Google Edition model.