Samsung’s latest phone is out of the oven. The Galaxy Note 9 is currently the company’s top dog and their most expensive phone in the market. In the Philippines, the Galaxy Note 9 starts at PhP 55,990 for the unlocked 128GB variant, but the phone is also available through major telcos’ postpaid plans.

Both Globe and Smart are already accepting pre-orders of the Galaxy Note 9 (128GB), but where should you get it? Let us help you with this comparison using Plan 1499 on both telcos.

With Globe’s ThePLAN 1499, you’ll get unlimited calls to Globe/TM, unlimited texts to all networks, and 8GB mobile data allowance. Like with other Globe plans, it comes with a free DisneyLife subscription for six months and Spotify Premium for three months with an additional 1GB allowance just for music streaming.

The device cashout is PhP 31,200 which can be broken down into 24 equal monthly payments for PhP 1,300 via credit card or have it charged to the bill if you’re a recontracting subscriber. You’ll be initially paying PhP 2,799 which includes the first monthly payment for the plan and the phone. Since the plan comes with a standard two-year contract, it’ll cost you PhP 67,176 in all.

As for Smart’s GigaX Plan 1499, it comes with 60 minutes of calls and unlimited texts to all networks. The plan comes with 15GB of total monthly data allowance that includes 5GB of open data, which you can use with any website or app, and 10GB for video streaming on YouTube, iFlix, Fox+, or iWantTV. As for freebies, Smart has an ongoing free daily YouTube access.

The device cashout with Smart is also PhP 31,200 outright or PhP 1,300 per month. There’s no need for a credit card, but if you wish to pay in installments, you’ll have to pay advanced fees that are equivalent to two months of the device fee and the postpaid plan. The monthly fee is PhP 2,799 with an initial cashout of PhP 8,397 which includes the first monthly fee plus the advanced fees.

You can check out Globe’s ThePLAN and Smart’s GigaX Plan websites to apply. Pre-orders are open until August 19 with freebies including a free Gear Fit 2 Pro and NanoFixIt Liquid Screen Protector. You can also avail of the 512GB variant (at a higher price, of course) and you’ll get a Gear IconX for free on top of the existing freebies.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 accessories for every mood

In another round of price cuts of Huawei phones in the Philippines, the current flagship offerings took the hit. Just four months after their initial launch, the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro are now four thousand pesos cheaper.

When the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro landed locally, they were priced at PhP 34,990 and PhP 44,990, respectively. Those numbers were already considered great prices for a new flagship phone with beastly specs and amazing cameras, especially for the P20 Pro. So, the current price cut made them even more affordable as flagship phones.

If you want to get a brand new and unlocked Huawei P20 with 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage, it’s now available for PhP 30,990. The Huawei P20 Pro with 6GB of memory and 128GB of storage, on the other hand, is down to PhP 40,990.

Both phones are also cheaper through postpaid plans from Globe. From the PhP 3,600 device fee for the Huawei P20 under ThePLAN 1999, it’s now only PhP 2,400. You can now also get the Huawei P20 Pro under the same plan for PhP 10,800, instead of PhP 14,400.

The Essential Phone gets more affordable almost every quarter and that’s not even counting the amazing deals during flash sales. So far, the phone got really cheap last month during the Amazon Prime Day sale for just US$ 250. That was only for a limited time, but if you missed it, don’t worry!

Essential’s official online store now lists the phone for US$ 399. Not only that, the price cut even comes with US$ 107 worth of freebies: a 360-degree modular camera (US$ 49) with a protective case (US$ 9) and HD earphones (US$ 49). The deal is available for the Black Moon and Pure White color options, and there’s even a financing option for US customers for only US$ 19 a month.

For a phone with flagship-grade specs from last year, excellent titanium and ceramic build, and bloat-free Android software, this is definitely a steal. The Essential Phone even got the latest Android 9.0 Pie update at the same time as Google’s Pixel phones.

If you’re not familiar with the Essential Phone, here’s our hands-on:

We also have a full review (read here) and a follow-up feature (read here) that re-visited the Essential Phone as an affordable flagship phone.

Source: Essential