Microsoft has an amazing deal on Lumia 635 -- just $39 off-contract

If you want to get a Windows Phone 8.1 device for cheap, chances are you are waiting for Black Friday or Cyber Monday to start to pick one up. And who could blame you? Microsoft as well as various retailers will have some nice deals waiting for you -- and millions of other shoppers -- then.

But why not get one right now? Microsoft has an amazing deal on Lumia 635, selling the smartphone -- in black, AT&T trim -- for just $39, off-contract. That is amazing value for the money.

Normally, the AT&T version of Lumia 635 goes for $99 off-contract, which means that you save $60 by taking advantage of this deal now. Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals could be worth waiting for still, but at $39 the difference will be small anyway.

For the money, the only other option in Microsoft's portfolio is the T-Mobile-branded Lumia 521, which is very old and, quite frankly, less of a smartphone in late-2014. It only just got Windows Phone 8.1, months after the roll-out began, which says a lot about the level of support it will receive in the future.

Lumia 635 was unveiled in early-April by Nokia, alongside Lumia 630 and Lumia 930. Its highlights include: 4.5-inch IPS display, glove-friendly, with a resolution of 480 by 854; 1.4 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor; 512 MB of RAM; 1,830 mAh battery; 8 GB of internal storage; microSD card slot (can house cards up to 128 GB in size); 5 MP back-facing camera with 720p video recording (there is no front-facing camera, however); Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; GPS with Glonass; Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 2.0. The physical dimensions are 129.5 x 66.7 x 9.2 mm and weight is 134 grams.