Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Wireless is now offering the Motorola Droid Razr for $199.99-one day after offering the phone for $111.11 with a Verizon Wireless contract.
The $111.11 deal, which has lapsed, commenced on Nov. 11, 2011. Still, the $199.99 price is $100 less than Verizon and its fellow retailers are selling it for, putting it on par with the average costs of a premium Android smartphone.
Amazon passes along the discount if consumers agree to become a new wireless subscriber, or renew their existing carrier contracts and keep the service for at least181 consecutive days. Amazon Wireless will charge consumers $250 early termination fees for breaking their contracts.
As eWEEK noted in its review of the Android 2.3.5 “Gingerbread” phone, the Razr is as good an Android handset at Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) has made to date.
The Razr is only 0.28 inches thin, has a 1.2GHz processor and a special new Smart Actions battery saver and task automation application.
Verizon’s 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology fuels applications well on the Razr, but it does burn the battery down quite a bit. And as we noted, $299.99 is a lot of money for a phone, even subsidized from its $799.99 asking price. Amazon’s discount to $199.99 should make it more palatable to some consumers this holiday season.
Amazon Wireless, which is also discounting Android handsets such as Verizon’s HTC Droid Incredible 2 to as low as 1 cent on contract, has also kicked off a “hotspot holidays” promotion.
Consumers can purchase a hotspot-ready smartphone-which will enable users to connect anywhere from five to eight devices via WiFi from the phone-and they will get a $100 Amazon.com gift card.
These include such handsets as the Droid Razr and Droid Bionic 4G from Verizon, the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Epic Touch 4G handset from Sprint and the Galaxy S II 4G from AT&T.
Alternatively, shoppers can buy a mobile hotspot device to receive a $50 Amazon.com gift card. The devices include the Novatel MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot, the Sierra Wireless Overdrive Pro 3G/4G, T-Mobile’s 4G HotSpot and Verizon’s Samsung SCH-LC11 4G Mobile Hotspot.
“With a hotspot-ready smartphone, you can access the Internet on your Kindle Fire or other WiFi devices anywhere,” said Amazon, which is launching its WiFi-based Kindle Fire tablet Nov. 15 for $199.
Amazon expects to ship as many as 5 million Android-based Kindle Fire slates through the rest of the year.