Alright guys, I'm on PAYG at the moment, barely spend a tenner a month but have a crap phone and want an upgrade with more features and what not. I'm with O2 at the moment, get 300 free texts a month with a ten pound top up (as well as the tenner to spend) so a pretty good deal really. Most of the contracts I'm looking at are usually pretty expensive for not something I want. So I'm looking at around the £20 a month mark, ideally stay with O2, maybe get a nice smart phone, HTC (I like Android) or something similar so any suggestions? Should I just stay with PAYG?
okay, starters I am on contract and have a iphone contract (I hated the iphone, battery life is dreadful) so I have bought a Nokia 6700 classic candy bar shape i think they refer to it as...anyhow .. the phone was £125 and you have to add a ten pound top up. Its got every you might need ... and you can remain on PAYG if you are not spending that much monthly ..
I thought about staying on PAYG and shelling out for a decent phone (don't like the iPhone) but with my Sim I can't do anything with my current phone such as send picture messages, access the internet or my email or anything worthwhile. And, on the flip side, is the price. I've found a contract with Orange for £27.50 a month with unlimited texts, 300 minutes (plenty for me), unlimited email, satnav, 50 picture messages and, 750mb of data which seems pretty reasonable. The phone I've chosen is the HTC Desire.
not really that good mate. im with t-mobile and pay £30 and get 600mins and 600texts, unlimited t-mobile to t-mobile and 3GB of data and i also have the desire. you dont need satnav as the HTC desire comes with google navigation and unlimited emails are easily covered in my data allowance. i could have unlimited texts instead of the unlimited t-mobile to t-mobile
When I was looking at contracts I found T-Mobile tended to havethe best deals, although theirs are mainly on the SIM-only contracts. I was forced to switched to Orange as only they had the phone I wanted (HTC Mozart). 100 mins, Unlimited Texts & 250MB of data for £15 a month. On T-Mobile I was getting 100mins, 100texts and 1GB internet for £10. If you can afford to buy the phone then get it SIM free and then get a SIM-only contract as most networks have very good deals and you aren’t tied into long contracts (normally only 30 days). This also means the phone isn't locked and in the case of smartphones; you aren't dependent on your network for official software updates.
The Sim only contracts do look pretty good but then there's the expense of the phone. There are plenty of contracts at around £30 a month with the Desire for free. Said contracts usually contain a large number of texts and minutes and then a certain amount of data. O2 seem to be the most expensive, any less than £40 a month and you have to pay for the phone and, as much as I like them, I think that means they're out. Then there is the deal with Orange as stated above. £27.50, unlimited texts, 300 minutes and 750mb of data; also included is SatNav, photo messaging and unlimited email. TMobile have it at £30 a month with 600 minutes, 500texts and unlimited internet and their "flexible booster". This seems like probably one of the best deals. Vodafone have it at £30 600 mins, unlimited texts and 500mb of data. This seems like one of the not so good deals.
Krikkit, you are quite a genius! TMobile, £25 a month, 600 mins, 500 texts and unlimited data, from Mobiles.co.uk It also has 99p line rental for 8 months by redemption. I can't help feeling there's a catch though!
Watch out for redemption deals. If they are that good, they are basically pyramid schemes - they rely on new joiners generating commission to fund the refunds to those who signed up first (that, and people forgetting to claim within the strict timeframes). Been stung before.
Yup, no discount if you don't claim it. That's exactly what they rely on for these deals. Cashback by redemption is brilliant for those who remember, terrible for the forgetful.
haha, well, I'm pretty tempted to order it and, when it's time, get my arse in gear for the cash back malarky. I think it's the cheapest I'm going to find for what I need/want. Cheers for the help guys! Any other words of wisdom are greatly appreciated but, for now, I've made up my mind but I probably wont order it until the end of the weekend.
I'm currently coming towards the end of my O2 contract and looking for the best deal available in a typically slightly obsessive manner (you should see my spreadsheet ). moneysupermarket.com/mobile-phones/ is what I primarily use for comparisons. Also, some smaller websites that may offer slightly dodgy looking cashback deals have the security of being owned by a larger independant retailer: (afaik) Carphone Warehouse own e2save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk and OneStopPhoneShop Phones 4U own Dial-a-Phone. But, as mentioned above, only take advantage of cash back deals if you don't mind jumping through some hoops over the course of your contract and are confident you will remember. It may be worth setting up your own email reminders.
If you join either T-Mobile or Orange, you will actually be joining the "EverythingEverywhere' brand. Since Orange bought T-Mobile some months ago, things have been rolling into place. Now, Orange Customers who loose Orange Reception will be able to use T-Mobile towers, and vice versa. Sam
Sweet, if I was organised enough to remember to cashback, free HTC Desire Z, 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB data for £21.83 a month (24m contract)... Ooh yeah, it's upgrade time for me soon, yep.
I ordered it Cheers for the help and info guys, I'll let you all know when it gets here as I'm sure you'll be eager to know!