Samsung's flagship Galaxy smartphone - the S3 - is just about to launch in US markets and we now understand the pre-order price has been set at a strict $199 (with a two year contract for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint) for the 16GB model.

Now, however, third-party retailers like Amazon, Target and Wirelfly are offering truly extraordinary discounts on the phone. Wirefly, for example, is offering Sprint customers the near unbelievable price of $179.99.

Unfortunately for the carrier, while the initial price seems wonderful, experts point out some drawbacks that could eventually cancel out the joy of saving the extra $20.

The first negative point is the lack of LTE support. Although Sprint has announced plans to roll out access to Long Term Evolution services, it will be available only in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio after launch for first few months.

The second negative is that the carrier does not provide a quick enough HSPA+ network. Instead, it relies on the usually slower CDMA-based EV-DO Rev. A to deliver data. As Samsung has not made the S3 compatible with WiMAX; faster data connections, therefore, may not be something Sprint customers can dream of in the present.

Nevertheless, if you are an ardent Samsung enthusiast and wish to save some money while buying the S3 (and, of course, not mind the slower network speed), you could sign a two year contract with Sprint and buy the phone from Wirelfly for just $179.99. The retailer will ship the device on June 21 and will include a $10 Google Wallet credit with every order.