No, this is not an April fools trick. HTC One (M8) to go on sale 1 April.Due to be launched tomorrow in Sydney, HTC’s New One M8 smartphone boasts a larger 5″ Full HD screen, BoomSound front-facing stereo speakers (same as original One), Duo Camera – two cameras on the rear that lets you do funky stuff like add 3D effects.
The new One also has a faster 2.5GHz Quad-Core processor, powerful 2600MAh battery, 16GB of storage expandable up to 128GB via microSD and runs Android Jelly Bean.
It goes on sale at all the main carriers Telstra, Optus and Vodafone next Tuesday April 1. All three have opened pre-orders today.
So how much?
Telstra are offering the new HTC One (M8) on the 24 month $70 Plan + $12 handset fee ($82) per month with $700 worth of included calls, MMS, and unlimited SMS all to standard Australian numbers and 1.5GB of data.
It costs $840 RRP to buy outright.
The telco are also offering One M8 on plans that work out as $101 and $134 pm with higher data of 2.5GB/3GB and talk and SMS allowances. Telstra say they are trying to limit bill shock by cutting excess data rates to just 3 cents per MB.
HTC One (M8) is the first smartphone compatible with Telstra’s new 700MHz spectrum which means better in-building 4G coverage and internet speeds when Telstra switches the APT700 on 1 January 2015.
Telstra are also throwing in HTC Dot View case on pre-order M8 before 1 April, and offering a trade in on One for a new phone after 12 months, although this luxury costs extra.
Optus also today opened pre-orders online and in store for HTC One (M8), on 3G/4G and 4G Plus networks. It is not selling the new HTC outright.
It is offering M8 on $60 My Plan + $12 monthly phone fee ($72), which includes 600 mins of standard calls, unlimited standard SMS/MMS with the same data allowance of 1.5GB as Telstra’s $70 option.
It is also offering on higher plans including $88 p.m with 2GB data, $800 calls, unlimited SMS/MMS and $105 p.m with unlimited calls/SMS. There is cheaper options including $67 plan but would only suit if user is extremely light on internet usage.
Vodafone too announced what appears to be excellent value M8 2 year plans, including a $75 plan ($65 allowance + $10 handset fee) which includes infinite calls in Oz, Infinite TXT here and overseas, a massive 3GB data, and there is also $80 options with same Infinite allowances as the latter.
There’s also a cheaper $70 plan with Infinite standard national and international TXT, Infinite national calls to Vodafone and 1.5GB data. Vodafone too are throwing in HTC Dot View Case on pre-orders only.
However, Vodafone outright pricing is a different story. Its charging a massive $929 to purchase HTC’s new smartie outright, almost $100 more than Telstra.
