Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere 2 now available from Verizon for $129.99, free at RadioShack

The Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere 2 has finally gone on sale on Verizon, though the carrier has chosen to keep mum about the launch of this QWERTY slider-toting smartphone, putting it on sale today without any announcements.

The Stratosphere 2 is one of the few Android smartphones with a QWERTY slide-out keyboard available today, and is one with respectable specs to boot, including a 4.0″ Super AMOLED display of WVGA (800 x 480) resolution, a 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor and 1GB RAM, and 4G LTE connectivity on Verizon’s network.

Other features include 8 GB of on-board storage, microSD support, a 1,800 mAh battery, 5 MP/1.3 MP dual cameras, NFC, and Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Not bad at all, and while it might not beat all those quad-core high-end droids out there, anyone looking to buy a phone with a QWERTY keyboard will certainly not be turned off by the specs.

The Galaxy Stratosphere 2 is available from Verizon’s online store for a price of $129.99 on a 2-year contract, though you might want to check at your local RadioShack store for availability first, as the retailer is said to be giving it away for free to upgrading customers.