AT&T announces the Jetstream - HTC's first Honeycomb tablet, available Sept. 4 for $699 with LTE data

By Phil Nickinson  | Aug 31 2011 | 10:19 am  | 59 Comments

HTC Jetstream

AT&T has finally unwrapped HTC's first Honeycomb tablet -- the 10.1-inch Jetstream. This puppy's been leaked every which way to Sunday, and specs are largely as we've previously seen.

Here's the breakdown:

  • LTE (700/AWS)
  • HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100 MHz)
  • EDGE/GPRS (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
  • Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)
  • HTC Sense™ UX for tablets
  • Display: 10.1” WXGA HD screen
  • Processor: Third-generation Snapdragon 1.5GHz dual-core processor
  • Camera: Front Facing 1.3 MP, Rear facing 8 MP and Dual LED Flash
  • Battery: 7,300 mAh
  • Expandable Memory: MicroSD up to 32 GB
  • Dimensions: 7” (l) x 9.87” (w) x 51” (d)
  • Weight: 25 ounces

It's also got the HTC Scribe writing feature, which isn't a huge surprise since HTC outed it previously in its Honeycomb SDK.

Now, let's talk pricing. This is all a little new since AT&T's just now launching its LTE network in a scant few cities. The Jetstream itself retails for a whopping $699 with two-year contract. Then you have to consider a data plan. And you've got three options there:

  • A $35, 3 GB-a-month deal with a two year contract.
  • Month-by-month post-paid (as in it shows up on your bill) contracts of $14.99 for 250MB, or $25 for 2 GB. If you have the 2GB plan and go over, you'll be charged $10 per extra GB.
  • Month-by-month prepaid service with the same pricing as the post-paid plan, only if you go over the 2GB plan, you can purchase another 2GB for $25. You'll be billing all this directly to your credit card.

Interesting choices, indeed, though the relatively small footprint of AT&T's budding LTE network and that $699 price point on the tablet itself are going to cause a bit of heartburn.

Source: AT&T


Phil Nickinson

Phil Nickinson Editor in Chief

"Phil is a recovering print journalist, editor of Android Central, subtitles and street signs."

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There are 59 comments

Nirvana328 says:

Dear HTC,

Are you on drugs?

Sincerely,

A consumer who isn't made out of money

moonoverparma00 says:

Way too expensive.

dallas90733 says:

I guess HTC need to see Motorola's Xoom ( even tho specs was excellent) Profit and loss sheet when they launch.....The only people whom would OVERPAID for merchandise like this are Apple's customers(no offensive)

glinc says:

Overpay?? lol, Apple products are the only ones that stay at a fix price until next gen comes out. Any other tablets prices go down like flies in matter of months.

Its just these companies are funny trying to sell their tablets at like or more than ipad prices.

dallas90733 says:

I understand, but just because a price stays at a fix rate ( in which Apple decide what the profit margin is) do not mean you are getting a great deal on their product is what I mean; I mean honestly if you remove the name and Icon off their products, I would be curious to see how much the product is worth specs alone; that's my point.

ldominguez1986 says:

Wow, how many times do these companies need to be told that if they want a chance to sell their tablet that it needs to be priced at or cheaper than an iPad.

MedioGringo says:

People keep talking about how Android has failed in the tablet market. This is why.

Joet says:

$699?? and I have to add an 32 gig SD card?

This only fuels the iCrowd on how android can't compete with their precious iPad.

I have loved my HTC Evo, then my HTC Evo 3D and my HTC Flyer. I WAS going to run out and grab one of these, but at that price point there will be no one in line and they will be steeply discounted within a month or two.

Did anyone at HTC or AT&T not notice the pricing lesson provided by the HP Touchpad? I'm not looking for an HTC product at $99, but how about $500 if I have to add memory cards?

Maybe they should have skipped spending $300 Million on Dr. Dre Beats.

MisterHijinx says:

Someone hand me the Vaseline, because that hurts

whosaidwhat says:

LOL...This is too funny. It looks like this OEM's are not learning anything from the current market. $699, did they just ask people to buy a tablet for $700?

Between the Xoom, Transformer, Galaxy Tab, and HP touchpad, you'd think that this guys have figured it out already. Price is everything. If a Transformer can be had for $380 then there's no sense in paying $700 for this guy.

I can't wait for the fire sale. I like the HP touchpad I grabbed for $150 a lot and patiently waiting for the Amazon tab or Transformer two. At least I can rely on those two OEM's to price them right.

$700? Ok

colin.mckean says:

But, but, but it has Scribe! That has to be worth at LEAST $200.

DarknesSx says:

Well, apparently people in the US aren't willing to pay as you see HTC... so how about giving people in EU a F***ing damn device to buy?

DarknesSx says:

You know what, forget it... i mean seriously, WHY would i have to wait for HTC every time they release a stupid device in the US to be released in EU 1 or 2 months after that? Screw this one and HTC. I'm getting a Galaxy Tab 10.1... the ONLY thing this JetStream has better than the Tab is the battery which is already HUGE on the Tab 10.1... the rest, ALL goes to the Tab (We don't care about/have LTE in EU)

mpaul4 says:

I guess At&t didn’t learn anything from the Xoom price or more recently the sudden death of the Touchpad #ridiculous another big fail #at&t

patfactorx says:

This is the cost of 7 touchpad.....

t0406peru says:

Wow. $699 is just crazy. And that's ON contact... Seriously, is anyone going to buy this thing?

AC should start a poll: "Are you going to buy this overpriced tablet?"

mpaul4 says:

Let me know when the fire sale starts...

mpaul4 says:

Let me know when the fire sale starts...

blutz18 says:

Might have to wait for Amazon's tablet.. Looks like they might go under cost like they do the kindle to get people to buy it because they make money on other products consumers buy in conjunction with the tablet...

Droid Mart says:

Way too much for a tablet. Love HTC but they are way off on this one.

El Jefe says:

$700 & a 2 year contract with AT&T using a network that doesn't really exist yet. No thanks.

Telperion says:

There was recently a sale on a 3.2lb, magnesium alloy, 13.3", Core i5 laptop with optical drive, 640GB HDD, and 6+ hours battery life. $689.

I know the target market is totally different, but you just can't launch a tablet at the same price point as thin and light, powerful, sleek, long battery ultra portable laptops.

MedioGringo says:

Where? I might get one of those...

Telperion says:

It was on Amazon for a Toshiba, but they jacked the price to $799. Check out Acer's AS1410 / 1430 and AS1810 / 1830 lines, I have previous gen 1410 with SU2300 and SSD and I get 9 hours battery life, can run 1080p, is as responsive as my quad core desktop with both running 7 Ultimate, and it has a 1366x768 display on a 11.6" screen. Best laptop I've ever owned. Of course it doesn't have the power of my Q6600, but unless you're encoding media, the perceptual user experience is the same.

ZDriver says:

Stiff price, my Asus Transformer will suit me just fine

moosc says:

I can't believe the cry babies out here. Have u seen the price for a 32gb 3g ipad2? 699$ so stop whining

MedioGringo says:

Actually it's $730, but that's WITHOUT a contract.

IceDree says:

Plus , you will have to buy your own 32GB card for the HTC

whosaidwhat says:

This isn't the IPAD is it? Apple = Premium hardware + Apple sheep.

El Jefe says:

You realize that HTC isn't even including the 32GB card in the price, right?

dman977#AC says:

We are not comparing to the Apple stuff. We are comparing to the rest of the Honeycomb tablets, which should be the point of reference. Even if you did compare to the iPad, the Jetstream does not even give you the spec for internal memory. It says expandable to 32GB, which means you would need to spend more than $699 to get the same memory as the iPad 32gig.

I could really care less though since I have no intention of buying a tablet.

hoosiercub says:

If this had something revolutionary to bring to the honeycomb tablet scene maybe.. since it doesn't. This pricepoint is going to kill it.

whosaidwhat says:

$850 off contract? Now I feel like crying for both HTC and ATT.

Asbjörn says:

Listen up. You CANNOT compare the price of an android tablet to an iPad. You can't. There are tons of android taboets, while there is only ONE iOS tablet around. The market has spoken and people are willing to pay top dollar for an iPad. But the average Android tablet? Ehh...not so much. Here's the point. If you hope to sell a tablet, that's not an iPad - sell it at a low price!

turbofan says:

ou're wrong you're wrong. If android manufacturers price them lower, they are implying that it is worth less than an iPad. Price it the same, get good sosoftware on it, and you have a comoetitor. APPLE is not above competition, especially in the mobile space.

greydarrah says:

I hope it comes with a long power cord...I've never seen a company do a worse job with battery management than HTC.

El Jefe says:

Haha. Very true.

frettfreak says:

cool... but this is going no where at that price!! Who was the one on crack... HTC or ATT or both? Hasn't ANYONE learned from the whole touchpad fiasco? PRICE SELLS.. especially if you are still playing catch up with the iCrap.

Combine the price of this tablet (with NOTHING amazing in the specs) and the WAY overpriced network its on and guess what... you have the

MOST EXPENSIVE TABLET THAT WILL SIT ON SHELVES!!

dman977#AC says:

i.e. Logitech Revue

musashiken says:

Lol, why is every site copying and pasting the same typo? 51 inches thick tablet anyone? No wonder the price. Lol. But seriously, now I have more reason to love my Xoom and remain jealous of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

dougandmegan says:

This is ridiculous. Android is a much more powerful OS than iOS, but people seem to be willing to pay for the Apple hype. Apple will loose the tablet wars just like they have lost the phone wars, but it will be awhile. Either way, the iPad is overpriced and Android tablets are overpriced. We should be seeing these specs for about $299.00.

cowboys2000 says:

Really,

I am a big Android fan but, Apple makes good products and everywhere I go, I can buy accessories for iPhone's and iPad's. I see people of all ages using them and Ipods. And again see accessories at corner stores, grocery stores, electronic stores, Walmart, Target, etc.

This tells me that there is a large customer base these stores are catering to. I purchased my HTC EVO 4G at launch. Other than going to a Sprint Store and Android Central, where are all the stores and accessories? Sure, I was able to buy some off eBay. Some worked well, some worked well for awhile.

My Point?

It takes MANY Android phones to match the sales of the Apple Iphone. If that is what you are referring too, yes, android has sold more "products running Android". But, tablets? The race isn't even close. Apple is selling more units than all the Android Tablets combined has shipped. With each new Android tablet that is priced this high, people will shop based on price.

We know many of us love our Android phones, but let's keep things in perspective. For $699, I'd buy a laptop or an IPad before this tablet.

I Monarch says:

Anyone else notice that those data plans that you "can chose from" are incorrect? If you're signing a 2-year, you can chose from $35 for 3GB or 50 for 5GB. Why would someone chose 3GB for 35 bucks, when they could chose 2GB for $25 and a possibility for an extra gig for $10 IF they need it?

turbofan says:

Because in order to get the subsidized tablet on contract they require yyou to select the $35 plan.

icebike says:

Hidden way down on the at&t page is a hint that it has wifi which they never mentioned in the specs.

The hint was that you could use Google talk for video chat on wifi. So they even have locked you out of video chat on their locked down data plan on their non-existent LTE network.

And HTC aided and abetted them in that.!

And no thumb drive support?

IceDree says:

The Snapdragon CPU will make it stand among the Tegra 2 Tablets
But at that price , good luck selling them
I'll just get a WI-FI 32GB XOOM for half that price in Saudi Arabia
As much as im tempted to get one , i can't find a reason for owning a Tablet

booboolala2000 says:

So, now really kinda ticked. Was one thing that we got another tablet on VZW that has LTE before my XOOM, but now AT&T gets one? Blasphemous

Con_Valian says:

Can you use your phone upgrade to go to a tablet on AT&T? I have my upgrade coming in March and would like to move to a tablet (probably not this one) since I do not use my phone as a phone very often. Will I have to get an all new contract or can I just keep going with my current one, keeping my unlimited data plan? Anyone know? Thanks!

JSquared534 says:

They might as well have listed this price as 50 gajillion dollars. It will be DOA. I hate Apple. But, they make a product that is simple, and s,mooth. Androids advantage is that we can tinker with it, and it is more reasonably priced. So HTC decides to massively overprice their product, AND lock their bootloaders. Nice job alienating your main fanbase. If i wanted an overpriced, closed product, i would buy Apple products. They work better, and are more polished. Anyone who doesnt think so is deluding themselves. And, the scribe technology is done by Lenovo for a reasonable price. Why buy this? My HTC lovefest has ended, officially.

Immolate says:

Thank God! We really, really needed a $700 tablet in the Android space!

Look mutton-heads... if you have a tablet that retails for $500 or more, it better be as appealing as the Samsung Tab 10.1, or better yet more appealing, if you hope to sell any. The fact is, everyone who looks at your tablet will compare it to the Samsung, and you'd better be cheaper or better if you want to make a sale.

Tablet fail #1,326

JOHNGAETANO says:

I think it's funny that we are willing to pay $700+ for an iPad 3G, but we find $700 steep for anything else. This has a 1.5 dual core, LTE, and a Pen. I find it appealing for business use for sure. Taking notes in meetings will be sweet.

keithz says:

Where's the apps for Honeycomb? And why should I pay for an LTE module when I can wifi hotspot tether with my Android phone? These morons are adding specs that consumers don't need to try and justify the price they want to sell it.

It's not going to sell. And the price will drop within weeks (if not a week).

snowglyder says:

Can we get an update if there is 1 of these that sells? I'd like to see that customer's picture, too.

NAWF_SIDE says:

Over priced , for a 3.1 honeycomb tablet, where's the ICS OS@? !!! And those data plans are retarded!!! Tho it does have a 8maga pixel cam :),, but nahhh

Fumetsu says:

HTC, I love you, I really do...but you've lost your damned mind.

15israellai says:

The specs are not bad honestly. It does stand out. But as everyone has said, the price is mad. It would be slightly overpriced even if it's $700 off contract.
Hey, hasn't HTC been overpricing these devices since the Flyer?

turbofan says:

Yep, they've overpriced all *two* of "these" devices.

cowboys2000 says:

Let's see what level of features and performance this has when it launches. You could buy a very nice laptop with 3G/4G connectivity for that price.

On the surface $699 WITH contract seems to price the item at $699 PLUS the ETF of $350. No way most consumers will jump at this. This seems to be marketed for business use or niche markets.

I would expect this type of price for a Windows or Apple product, but not Android.

keithz says:

I say this as an Android user. Nothing really appealing here. None of these tablets have what it takes to beat the iPad.

Google's a day late and a dollar short on the tablet OS (at the moment). And nobody is really sure which tablets will get ICS. The apps for Honeycomb aren't even close to the apps for the iPad. For the billions they spend on acquiring companies, I have never understood why Google can't set up a billion dollar fund to pay the best app makers on iOS to port their apps to Android. That would do more to turbocharge Android than most of their other efforts.

On the phone front, I have no doubt that Android beats out the iPhone for day-to-day funcationality. The iPhone may be pretty, but I would find things like the lack of widgets, the lack of navigation, the pop-up notifications (till now, the small screen very annoying.

On the tablet front, however, despite their severe software shortcomings, none of these OEMs are putting forward comparable (or better) hardware at a cheaper price (one compelling way to sell your wares). Nor are any of them are promising OS upgrades.

In this type of environment, why would anybody buy anything but the iPad. I'm looking forward to upgrading from the Nexus One to the Nexus Prime in the next few months. But the first tablet I'll be buying will be the iPad 3....unless I can get one of those $99 Touchpads.

/rant off