Just days after Google announced the “Google experience” edition of the HTC One for $599, HTC went ahead and increased its price of the HTC One from $575 to $599 to match Google’s. The company has now made the price hike a little more bearable by throwing in a $25 Google Play gift card with every purchase.

So, effectively you are still getting the device itself for $575, but you are also purchasing a mandatory $25 Google Play gift card to accompany it. While many would prefer to pay less for the device and forget the gift card, it’s not a bad incentive at all. At least you’ll be able to load up your new device with some movies, music, apps and games to get you started.

The One is HTC’s flagship device for 2013, featuring a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, 32GB of built-in storage, 2GB of RAM, BoomSound, an UltraPixel camera with HTC Zoe, and a 4.7-inch 1080p display. We think it’s one of the best smartphones on sale right now, and we would recommend it to anyone in a snap.

• SourceHTC