Now is the sweet time to own Samsung's Galaxy Note 2, which U.S. telco AT&T now sells for only $US.0.99 with a two-year contract.

You read it right. The 5.5-inch phablet is being pushed out by the giant American telco for less than a dollar but there is one catch - what you get is a pre-owned unit, resurrected and refurbished by AT&T.

So if you don't mind owning second-hand but good as new smartphones, and a Note 2 at that, this is a steal of a deal. The U.S. firm offers the handset in Pebble White and Silver Gray, assumingly both in shiny state.

The offer is restricted to online purchase only and buyers need to avail of the two-year lock period to get the heavy discount. Without the price off, the Note 2 on AT&T sells for $US249.

The deal is open-door, AT&T said, meaning everyone is welcome to buy - new and existing subscribers of the company.

As the expected launch of the Galaxy Note 3 approaches, attractive deals involving Samsung's hottest mobile phones - the Note 2 and the Galaxy S3 - have started emerging.

Earlier this year, Sprint and Verizon slashed the retail price of the Note 2 that left the handset up for grabs for as low as $US99. More of these juicy deals are expected as Samsung gears up for the launch of its new phablet, which reports suggest will be pushed out between August and September this year.

Two chief reasons are behind the price cutbacks, analysts said. One is retailers and distributors would want to deplete their Note 2 stocks to make room for the Note 3 arrival. Another is Samsung's aim of keeping the former's brisk sales movement.

It is expected then that more price cuts are coming, especially deals that Samsung would instigate if only to keep the sales momentum of the Galaxy Note 2, which by this time should have exceeded the 10 million mark, per Samsung's earlier sales report for both the Galaxy S3 and the Note 2.

The phablet is a surprise hit as its predecessor, the original Note, was pelted with predictions of early demise. Experts scored its awkward size but consumers embraced Samsung's idea of an oversized smartphone, which also re-introduced the stylus via the S-Pen.

Now the Galaxy Note series is setting the stage for more phablet arrivals. Even Apple is being rumoured to join the fray with its 4.8-inch iPhone 6 that is set to for a likely release on Q1 2014.