Sprint's 4G gets cheaper with Samsung Conquer 4G Android smartphone

Sprint and Samsung have announced the seventh 4G WiMAX phone, The Samsung Conquer 4G, which differentiates itself by being the first to launch with a sub-$100 pricetag.

Sprint debuted its first WiMAX phone (HTC EVO 4G) a little less than a year and a half ago, and the flagship device became Sprint's best-selling smartphone of all time. By the one year anniversary of the launch of the EVO, Sprint had launched a total of 22 WiMAX-capable devices which included netbooks, tablets, hotspots, USB modules, and, of course, smartphones.

But none of the six WiMAX smartphones Sprint has (EVO, EVO Shift, EVO 3D, Photon, Epic, and Nexus S) launched at a mass market price; the ability to connect to a 4G signal is a premium feature and all the devices were high-end.

The Samsung Conquer 4G will break that trend, and will launch at $99 after new two-year agreement and after $50 rebate. This is currently how much Sprint charges for a Nexus S, but when that device launched last May, it cost $200.

Based upon the equipment the Conquer offers, and the uncertain future of WiMAX 4G as a mobile wireless technology, it looks like $99 is just about right. It has a 3.5" (320 x 480) touchscreen, 1GHz processor, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), a 3.2 megapixel flash camera and a 1.3 megapixel chat cam, 802.11 b/g/n, stereo bluetooth, and five device WiMAX hotspot capability.

Sprint will begin selling the Samsung Conquer 4G on August 21 in all of Sprint's usual retail channels.