Samsung opens US preorders for unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

Samsung has opened preorders for the unlocked variety of its new Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus smartphones. The company originally confirmed to The Verge back in March that unlocked versions would be arriving in May, and now Samsung will let you put money down with an availability date of May 31st. As we noted when the Best Buy listings first went live earlier this year, this time frame is about one month earlier than past unlocked Galaxy devices have been made available in the US.

You’ll be able to place a preorder online at either Best Buy or Samsung.com, with prices starting at $724.99 for the 64GB unlocked S8 and $824.99 for the 64GB unlocked S8 Plus. Both models will be available in the “Midnight Black” color option. Those prices are about the cheapest you’ll find for the S8, though you don’t get any of the free stuff AT&T, Verizon, and others have bundled with the phone. You do, however, get the added benefit of a unit without any of the carrier bloatware we’ve become accustomed to with Samsung devices in the past.