Along with a selection of other markets, Microsoft"s Lumia 550, its entry-level Windows 10 Mobile handset, went on sale in the UK in December, priced at £99.99 SIM-free. Its SIM-free price quickly dropped to £89.99 at many UK retailers, and its subsidized price on contract-free pay-as-you-go (PAYG) plans has continued to fall since then.
Until recently, its lowest price had been £49.99 for the handset when purchased with a new £10 PAYG SIM - a total payment of £59.99. But now, its price has fallen yet again, just three months after its launch.
The UK"s largest independent device retailer, Carphone Warehouse, is now offering the Lumia 550 for as little as £39.99 with a new £10 PAYG SIM from O2 or Virgin Media, bringing the total price to just £49.99 off-contract.
The device is also available with SIMs from EE - albeit at a higher price - but given that almost every device sold by Carphone Warehouse is not locked to a network, it makes sense to go for the cheapest option available.
The Lumia 550"s key specs include:
- 4.7-inch LCD with HD (1280x720px) resolution
- Quad-core 1.1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB onboard storage (plus microSD card support up to 200GB)
- 5MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash (720p video recording at 30fps)
- 2MP front-facing camera (VGA video)
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth 4.1
- USB 2.0 with Type-B connector
- 4G LTE connectivity
- nanoSIM
- 2100mAh battery
- 136.1 x 67.8 x 9.9mm; 142g
If you"d still prefer to buy the device without a SIM, Carphone Warehouse is also selling the device SIM-free for £69.99 - that"s £20 lower than its previous price.
Amazon.co.uk has also dropped its price for the SIM-free Lumia 550 to the same amount, but Microsoft is continuing to sell it for £99.99.