Verizon’s next 4G phone: the $300 Samsung Droid Charge, coming April 28

The newest entry in Verizon’s super-fast LTE 4G smartphone crew is Samsung’s Droid Charge, which will be landing at the carrier on April 28 for a hefty $300 with a two-year contract.

The Charge is Samsung’s first LTE 4G smartphone to hit the market, and it comes on the heels of Motorola delaying its 4G Droid Bionic for Verizon.

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The most striking thing about the phone at this point is its $300 price tag. In an era where $200 smartphones are the norm, a $300 price sets a new precedent. But that just may be the cost for playing in Verizon’s 4G pool. It’s first 4G LTE smartphone, the HTC Thunderbolt, also broke the $200 barrier by launching at $250 with a two-year contract.

The Charge’s specs are about what you’d expect: A 1 gigahertz processor (surprisingly, not dual core), 8 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front camera and a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. It will run Android 2.2.

The phone’s high price may be worth it if you’re a heavy mobile hotspot user, though. Verizon says it will include the hotspot feature, which lets you connect up to 10 devices on the Charge’s 4G connection, for free for a limited time. The carrier normally charges an extra $20 a month for hotspot features on its phones.

This April 25-26, VentureBeat is hosting its inaugural VentureBeat Mobile Summit, where we’ll debate the five key business and policy challenges facing the mobile industry today. Participants will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. The invitation-only event, located at the scenic and relaxing Cavallo Point Resort in Sausalito, Calif., is limited to 180 mobile executives, investors and policymakers.