Good deals on a new mobile?

Ian H

Ian H

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I've had an iPhone 5c for 3 years and it's just stopped receiving a signal:

image.png


The SIM card works fine on my sons phone so it's a fault on the phone.

Anyway, I thought I might as well get a new one. First thought was an iPhone 7 but don't want to pay more than £30/month.

I am Sim only with Three, unlimited minutes and text plus 8gb of data for £13/month.

Would I be better buying a phone outright and using my sim or getting a new pay Monthly deal?

What else is a good phone for decent money?
 
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Yes!
No!

Let me qualify that... Yes, buy a phone outright. No, don't go for another contract.

When I bought my first smart phone, I spent ages choosing...and I mean ages! I would look at contracts and break down the costs. It's all very well being attracted by a free handset, but actually, how much does it cost you in total over the contract period?

I found taking a contract with the same handset I wanted would cost me dear. So much in fact, that I could buy a handset, bank the same amount for a replacement in two year's time and buy a top up (I'm PAYG on 3) every month FOR THE SAME MONEY AS THE CONTRACT WOULD COST ME!!

Depends what brand and features you want as to a recommendation. I mean, the 5.5'' Moto G4 is on Amazon at the mo for 145. The advantage of a Moto phone is that you will get prompt updates to at least the next two Android releases. It's currently running Android N. Other Android phones are very slow to update as the manufacturers control the update releases and often you only get one.

What price are you wanting to pay and what features do you want?
 
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I use a cheap Windows phone that I bought without a contract for about 60 quid.
 
When you say you don't want to shell out more than 30 per month, does that include your SIM only fee?

For 579 you can get a 32GB iphone 7 from Amazon. If you assume dividing that cost over 24 months, it's 24.13 per month.
 
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£30 in total. So either my sim and a £400 phone or a £30/month contract.

I have a Windows work phone and wouldn't have one for myself.

I like the Apples, my missus has a Sony android and to me it seems like a bad copy of mine.


I've seen a refurbished iPhone 7 for £26.50/month, £40 upfront with 3gb. I'm not sure who refurbished it though, Apple or the guy in the corner shop with a dodgy new screen.

I like the 7 because it's water proof and does 4K videos.
 
I've been on Vodafone for years, and had my phones through them, but last year I rebelled and went to Sim-only contract, at 60% off their nominal "list price" and bought the phone at Argos.

Works out much cheaper and gives me more data, text and calls than I need (it's on wifi unless I'm away) for a few pounds a month.

I get Nectar and other points that can be used for Argos voucher, so the cash out of my pocket was even smaller. I also considered buying the phone from Tesco as I hear their service was good, but on the day, Argos was cheaper. Horrible shop, though.
 
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The new Iphone 7 is geting a lot of mediocre reviews, bad battery life being the worst I think. The Moto 4G is a good solid better than budget phone, has a good camera, and no faults that I've found yet. The ONEPLUS 3 and 5 are supposed to be top notch phones at very reasonable prices, but the Samsung S7 seems to be the market leader in the premuim phone market at the moment.

If you travel abroad, then 3 is the best sevice provider, whilst Vodaphone has the worst reputation to date. Carphone warehouse sims/phones are worth looking at, and Plusnet are now doing Sims as well. EE will carry on charging you for the phone, even after it's been paid off, whilst Tesco automaticaly drops you down to just a sim plan at the end of the contract, so you need to be careful of dodgey contracts.

It's basically a minefield nowadays.
 
Get our sim free phones from ebay argos shop,ok they are so called refurbished as returns minus the original box,instructions and leads. We consider a mobile a wear item which will wear out or the user will break or lose it.
They also do refurbished tablets,laptops etc,well worth a look.All the items we have purchased have been new and not damaged.
Just add a reasonable sim card only deal and save a few quid.
Edit,their stock varies day to day,still worth a look thou.
 
 
Are you talking about Three's "Feel At Home"?

Have you got that in writing?

What about all the non-EU countries they have on their roaming list?
 
I bought a refurbished laptop from Amazon Outlet and it had a dodgy copy of Windows installed. Never worked well and it went back under protest.
 
And the realtionship of that to deals on a new mobile would be what, exactly.

Some arrangements are just simply reciprocal, 3 sticks with free roaming in the EU, and the EU countries get to do the same over here. I'm sure it'll get verified in the Brexit negotiations, or as Secure says, they got the same sort of deal with non EU countries, so why should it change.
 
Hell, does any company cut their charges before they're forced to, but that doesn't mean they'll go back up as the first one to do so will start to lose customers.

And here's an article in the Telegrapdebunking the possible rises if we leave the EU
 
Three are indeed good for roaming. My lad went to the States and saved a fortune on mobile charges.

CPW often have good prices. I got a couple of Moto G 3rd Gens once for 79 each. If you want a handset only, don't automatically plump for the SIM-free option. Their PAYG handsets are (largely) unlocked (check before you buy, a very small minority are locked to a network). Often, you can pay less for a PAYG phone even though you have to choose a new SIM and top it up.
You can give the SIM to someone else or use it on a spare handset to make odd calls (not that kind of odd call....!).

My sources of handsets are: Amazon, CPW, Argos and more rarely Ebuyer, depending on which phone I am looking at.
 
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