Amazon is giving Prime members huge discounts on select phones, but there's a big trade-off

Late last month Amazon launched an initiative that could prove appealing to anyone looking to save cash on a new smartphone.

The company now sells two decent unlocked Android phones - the 4th-gen Moto G, and the Blu R1 HD - for $50 off. That brings their already low price tags down to $150 and $50, respectively.

To take advantage of that, though, you need to do a couple things. First, you have to be an Amazon Prime member, which itself costs $99 per year. Second, and more notably, you have to let Amazon pre-load a bunch of its ads and services onto the device. With these two phones in particular, it's like melding stock Android with a Fire device.

So, is it worth it?

I recently brought in the Blu R1 HD to find out. I'll have a full review in the coming days, but for now, here's a quick look at what you can expect if you try to be frugal here.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.