The Boost Mobile Motorola i1 popped up on Best Buy recently and it looks like it'll be priced a bit higher than any of us wanted and/or expected: $349.99. On one hand, the Motorola i1 is a pre-paid device that comes with no commitments or contracts. Not to mention that you could use Boost Mobile's $50/month all inclusive plan to save even more money down the road. But for a device that is decidedly mid-level--3.1-inch screen, Android 1.5, etc--it's tough to pay that initial premium when better Android devices can be had for half the price.
Meanwhile, it the i1 now appears slated for Sprint release starting June 6 with direct shipping, and everywhere else on July 11. It still isn't likely to do much for most consumers. But for the iDEN crowd, well, chop the price down to $149 and things get interesting. Leave it at $349 and the i1 stays in a niche market. [bestbuy via engadget]
Reader comments
Boost Mobile Motorola i1 costs $349.99; coming to Sprint over next few weeks
Borrrringgggggg...
$350 for a phone that comes with a $50/month unlimited plan seems like a bargain.
But Android 1.5 is, sadly, a dealbreaker. Upgrade it to 2.1 (or 2.2) and I'm there.
i agree or leave it at 1.5 and make it under 200
Yeah I know you might hate this android phone for the version of android it comes with but here in San Diego, all the Mexicans are gonna trade up for their Nextel Black Berries! I know this because I'm Mexican and all my family has Nextel (I don't, I hate nextel) and it's cheap to get in contact with other family down south using PTT. The majority of Mexicans here in San Diego have Nextel and for then this is a step up. For us technogeeks, we know whats up. I don't know how popular nextel is in other border cities but these are gonna fly off the shelves here in San Diego. In reality, given all the crappy nextel/boost PTT radios they have, this is actually a step up. Yes, it would of been better for them to include the newest version of android but IDEN network is outdated anyways and their data is ultraslow. Probably why it wasnt justified to include the newest Android OS. (but I could be wrong)
i had nextel for years and bought one of their nice phones. right as the smart phones start hittin the scenes. nextel sucks but are great phones with shitty plans. boost struggles with phones but has the plan. i would love to have this phone but its a lil prices esp for being 1.5 for less i could change over to another company and get a better phone for a quarter of the price with the rebates. they need to drop price or go with 2.2
So this will be Sprint's official 4th android phone (and arguably the worst android phones on the carrier).
It sounds like a decent phone (5 MP camera, Skype and Opera Mini installed) until you realize that it has android 1.5 and IDEN
I concur with SoCalMario. Android isn't marketing every single one of its phones to the nerds. There's much broader audiences to cover also. Plus there's no setting in stone of the i1 not being eventually upgraded to the latest Android version in the future, as with any other Android phone. I'm sure if/when the Mexican community in San Diego (and in LA/OC/IE which is my area) receive Froyo, it'll definitely bring a whole new wave of Android clients to the smartphone future. And we all know that's one giant demographic. One more MMA elbow across the nose of Steve Jobs.
{{-_-}}
Yeah, I echo what people say above. Boost is HUGE with the, well, lower class at my school, so yeah, this is gonna be a hot one. I live in the East though, so yeah.
Want to get this phone, it has everything I could want, however it still seems too expensive to me. Also, Best Buy changed the price to $399.99 for some reason.
i have the motorola i1 and i was wondering can i upgrade it to froyo 2.2