lomapaseo,
You always pay a premium with a bundled contract where you're getting a "free phone". Typically this equates to the amortised cost of the phone plus a profit margin for the carrier (typically the cost of financing the phone to you plus a bit for their coffers).
If you were looking at a Blackberry, then that's different, because the carriers do charge a Blackberry premium on their tariffs as part of some royalty kickback for RIM.
Might be worth you looking into "sim-only" plans which do what the name implies. Then go shopping separately on your own terms for a phone and buy it as capex.
Not only will you find "sim-only" line rentals are lower, but you'll normally even be able to bring down the contactual commitment to 12 months without too much penalty.
FYI according to Amazon, the list price for the HTC Rezound is $799....so that seems to equate with the amortisation you're seeing.
Last edited by mixture; 25th October 2012 at 17:31.