Sprint’s Galaxy S5 preorders start at $0 down

New York Times pits Galaxy S5 against iPhone 5s, says competition isn’t even close

Following AT&T, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile, Sprint has also announced its Galaxy S5 preorder plans. Starting Friday, interested customers will be able to preorder the 16GB Galaxy S5 model online in either white or black for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with new two-year contracts, or for $649 outright.

Additionally, Sprint offers the handset with $0 down – followed by 24 monthly installments of $27.09 each – as long as it’s purchased part of a Framily plan, but buyers will have to reserve their unit in an actual Sprint retail store, as purchasing it online with Framily plans isn’t available at this time. Customers that sign up for a Framily plan will also get a free Galaxy Tab 3 tablet with their Galaxy S5 purchase, as long as a two-year data plan for the tablet is also activated.

As for shipping, Sprint says on its website that it will “make every effort to get it to you as soon as close to the April 11 launch as possible.”

On April 11, the carrier will start selling Samsung’s new Tizen-based wearables as well, including the Gear 2 ($299.99), the Gear 2 Neo ($199) and the Gear Fit ($199).

The full press release follows below.

Samsung Galaxy S 5 Comes to Sprint Customers for Zero Down with Easy Pay Featuring Super-High-Speed Network Access with Sprint Spark on April 11

Customers can reserve Galaxy S 5 at any Sprint Store now

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), March 21, 2014 – Sprint (NYSE:S) will offer Samsung Galaxy S® 5 paired with the super-high-speed network capability of Sprint Spark™ (available in select markets) and the significant savings of the Sprint Framily Plan on Friday, April 11. With Sprint Easy Pay, well-qualified buyers can purchase Samsung Galaxy S 5 with $0 down (plus tax) and 24 monthly payments of $27.09.

Beginning today, customers can visit any Sprint Store to reserve Galaxy S 5. Customers who have reserved their Galaxy S 5 will be contacted to complete their purchase as soon as devices become available. More information on how to get Galaxy S 5 is available at http://www.sprint.com/galaxys5.

For a limited time only, customers who purchase Galaxy S 5 on a Sprint Framily Plan with Easy Pay will also get Samsung Galaxy Tab® 3 7.0 free with activation on a data plan with a two-year service agreement. Sprint customers can add a data plan for Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 to their account with rate plans starting at $10 per month (excluding taxes and surcharges).

Galaxy S 5 will be available in Charcoal Black and Shimmery White.

Sprint will also offer new Samsung Gear devices, including Samsung Gear™ Fit for $199.99, Samsung Gear™ 2 Neo for $199.99 and Samsung Gear™ 2 for $299.99 (all prices exclude tax) beginning Friday, April 11.

“Samsung Galaxy S 5 is exactly the type of device Sprint Spark and Sprint Framily were designed for,” said David Owens, vice president of Product, Sprint. “Galaxy S 5 customers will be able to do more than ever with their smartphone, and they will appreciate the ability to use all three bands of 4G LTE wireless network spectrum available on the Sprint network for an enhanced LTE experience and won’t want to wait for a slow network to catch up while they’re enjoying the incredible features of this exciting device.”

Galaxy S 5 is the next generation of the award-winning Samsung Galaxy S family of smartphones. Featuring Android™ 4.4.2, KitKat, Galaxy S 5 features a gorgeous 5.1-inch Full HD Super AMOLED® display, powerful 2.5GHz quad-core processor to manage and 2,800mAh lithium-ion battery3 to keep the smartphone powered all day long. Additional key features include:

Dual Cameras: 16-megapixel rear-facing Phase Detection Auto Focus camera with Zero Shutter Lag, flash and video capture, and 2-megapixel front-facing camera with full HD recording at 30fps
S Health™4 helps plan meals with nutritional information, track and map workouts, and monitor heart rate with the world’s first built-in heart-rate monitor (HRM)
Faster browsing, streaming and downloading using 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO support
IP67 water and dust resistant5
Sprint customers will take advantage of Galaxy S 5 with the super-high-speed network capability of Sprint Spark, a unique combination of advanced network capabilities built for data delivering peak wireless speeds of 60Mbps today on capable devices, with the potential for speeds three times as fast by late 2015.1 It is available in 18 markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and part of Sprint’s all-new 4G LTE network, which now covers 402 cities, including new markets Detroit; Rochester, N.Y.; Manchester, N.H.; and Winston-Salem, N.C. Sprint expects to cover 250 million people with 4G LTE by mid-year.

Samsung Gear Devices

New Samsung Gear devices offer comprehensive fitness tools with more features and capabilities than the everyday fitness band. Galaxy S 5 customers can also pair Gear products with a wide variety of third-party apps.

Samsung Gear Fit provides the connectivity benefits of Samsung wearable technology while tracking steps and monitoring heart rate to help achieve health and fitness goals. It also keeps the Galaxy smartphone user up to date with instant notifications such as incoming calls, email, SMS, alarm, Calendar and third-party applications. Key features include:

1.84-inch Curved Super AMOLED Touchscreen Display
IP67 certified dust and water resistant
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate Sensor
Typical battery usage: 3~4 days; Low usage: Up to 5 days
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Gear Fit is designed to comfortably contour to the wrist with a beautiful curved Super AMOLED display. It is available in Charcoal Black, with optional changeable straps in Wild Orange and Mocha Grey (sold separately).

Gear 2 Neo includes the features of Gear Fit and adds the ability to make and receive calls. Key features include:

1.63-inch Super AMOLED Touchscreen Display
IP67 dust and water resistant
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate Sensor, IrLED (remote control)
Typical battery usage: 2~3 days; Low usage up to 6 days
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Gear 2 Neo will be available in Charcoal Black.

Gear 2 includes the features of both Gear Fit and Gear 2 Neo, and includes a camera to capture life’s important moments. Key features include:

1.63-inch Super AMOLED Touchscreen Display
2-megapixel auto focus
Metal body
IP67 dust and water resistant
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate Sensor, IrLED (remote control)
Typical battery usage: 2~3 days; Low usage: up to 6 days
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Gear 2 will be available in Charcoal Black and Gold Brown.

With the new Samsung Gear devices and the enhanced S Health, the new Galaxy S 5 offers more tools to help people stay fit. These personal fitness tools help users monitor fitness with a pedometer, diet and exercise records, and built-in heart-rate monitor.

Galaxy S 5 also joins the growing list of HD Voice-capable mobile phones from Sprint. This new Sprint standard for mobile phones virtually eliminates background noise and sound quality is dramatically enhanced.2 HD Voice is designed to provide a better experience than a landline. A typical phone without HD Voice offers four octaves of sound, but a phone with HD Voice offers seven (10 octaves is considered perfect hearing).

Galaxy S 5 from Sprint also supports Pinsight Touch, a nationwide, open platform powered by Sprint for NFC-enabling mobile applications and services across transit, access control and payment verticals. The service from Pinsight Media+ provides a direct path for brands and credential issuers to NFC-enable their own applications and share secured access to those credentials with other trusted applications using the embedded secure element on NFC-enabled devices running on the Sprint network. Unlike other solutions that require additional investment in SIM chips, additional downloads, or extra clicks for users, no extra hardware for Pinsight Touch is needed, resulting in smoother customer adoption as defined by the issuer.

Sprint Framily Plan

The Sprint Framily Plan is a pricing program available to new and existing customers that lets them decide who they consider family. The more people added to the group, up to 10 phone lines, the greater the savings for everyone on the plan.

For one line of service, new Sprint customers pay $55 per month per line for unlimited talk, text and 1GB of data while on the Sprint network (excluding taxes and surcharges). For each additional new Sprint customer who joins the Framily group, the cost per person goes down $5 a month up to a maximum monthly discount of $30 per line. For only $20 per month per line, Sprint Framily Plan members can buy up to unlimited data while on the Sprint network, and they are eligible to get a new phone every year.

The Sprint Framily Plan is also available to small businesses. Because each account can be billed separately, the business owner and other group members can invite employees, business associates and others to join the Framily group.

About Sprint:

Sprint (NYSE:S) offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint served more than 55 million customers at the end of 2013 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, during the last five years. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America in 2011, 2012 and 2013. You can learn more and visit Sprint at http://www.sprint.com or http://www.facebook.com/sprint and http://www.twitter.com/sprint.

1Sprint Spark actual deployment plans and speeds will be determined over time based on many factors, including build economics and the availability of equipment, devices and applications.

2HD Voice capability requires call between two Sprint HD Voice-enabled devices on upgraded areas of the Sprint network.

3Battery power consumption depends on factors such as network configuration, signal strength, operating temperature, features selected, vibrate mode, backlight settings, browser use, frequency of calls and voice, data and other applications usage patterns.

4This device, S Health, and related software is not intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease.

5This device has been tested and received an IP (Ingress Protection) rating of IP67, which tests for dust intrusion and for water submersion up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. Not shockproof. Covers must be tightly closed.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com

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