Phone Contracts

[Davkaus]

If up front cost is an issue for you, I'd probably go for the HTC One, but there's not a lot in it between that and the S4, depends on your views on Touchwiz vs Sense and whether you prefer the Aluminium body to the removable batter/SD card. I think the Galaxy gear is a worthless piece of shit, but you might be able to sell it for a few quid. I don't have much experience with LG but I've heard good things of the G2.

 

You can buy each of those phones for a few quid over £300, and then get a SIM only deal for £15 a month from Giffgaff for exactly the same Tariff. A few quid less if you don't want as many minutes or if you don't really need unlimited data. On those deals ou'll be paying £648 (+£48 for the S4), plus you're locked in for 2 years.

 

Might be an ok choice if you don't have the cash for the phone outright, but I wouldn't go for it. Contract phones are not good deals, a separate tariff and phone gives you much greater flexibility and matches, or often beats, the contract on price.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Davkaus

[Ingram85]

I'd love to afford a phone outright but I can't so for the sake of £50 split over 2 years I'm not too upset. Obviously I'd love to not be in a 24 month contract but such is life.

[Tegis]

More boring Ingram questions:

S4 + Galaxy gear for £27pm + £48 upfront.

LG G2 + case for £27pm free phone

Or

HTC One for £27pm + £25 upfront.

I'm edging towards the G2 but that Samsung deal is tempting...

(All on T-Mobile, 500 mins, unltd data & texts, only thing is they are all 24 month contracts.

 

The LG is a newer phone than the other two, faster GPU and CPU. It's more or less a Nexus 5 with a SD card slot. And as it's related to the nexus, it's easy to put a custom rom on it if LG gets iffy with updates.  And you don't have to pay anything upfront. It's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.

[Stevo985]

Ingy, do you know anyone on T Mobile and if so any chance you can test the signal in your house/work etc?

 

My current contract is T Mobile. Cheap as chip, which is great, but my signal is shocking. At work I get literally zero. And home isn't much better. Even a normal phonecall is tough.

 

So I'd say it's worth checking. If I could go back and opt to pay £5-10 extra a month to be on a decent network, I would.

[darrenm]

 

I'm going to Majorca in May and I'm hiring a car. To get around I'll be using the sat nav on my phone which obviously works better with 3G.

 

Can anyone recommend a good Spanish PAYG data sim I can pre-buy? 

 

What network are you on? I just used my regular EE sim, you can't rack up a big bill because your data is locked to whatever bundle limit you purchase. I can't remember the exact price but it wasn't too expensive.

 

Three. Their international roaming charges are crap. Pity as their domestic charges are brilliant.

[Ingram85]

Ingy, do you know anyone on T Mobile and if so any chance you can test the signal in your house/work etc?

My current contract is T Mobile. Cheap as chip, which is great, but my signal is shocking. At work I get literally zero. And home isn't much better. Even a normal phonecall is tough.

So I'd say it's worth checking. If I could go back and opt to pay £5-10 extra a month to be on a decent network, I would.

I dont know anyone with them so cant test and ive never been with T-Mobile but I just assumed it would be an EE signal right? Edited March 12, 2014 by Ingram85

[Stevo985]

Yeah I guess so.

Just a warning, like I said I've been with them for 2 years and I've found the signal to be shocking.

They could honestly offer me the contract for free from now on and I'd still leave them.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Stevo985

[Ingram85]

Stevo, this was released just today coincidentally. It may be utter tosh or you may be really unlucky

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/ee-comes-out-on-top-as-vodafone-flops-in-network-performance-1233489

[limpid]

 

 

I'm going to Majorca in May and I'm hiring a car. To get around I'll be using the sat nav on my phone which obviously works better with 3G.

 

Can anyone recommend a good Spanish PAYG data sim I can pre-buy? 

 

What network are you on? I just used my regular EE sim, you can't rack up a big bill because your data is locked to whatever bundle limit you purchase. I can't remember the exact price but it wasn't too expensive.

 

Three. Their international roaming charges are crap. Pity as their domestic charges are brilliant.

 

In certain countries, your data bundle still works with three. That means if I pick my roaming partner carefully (ie do a network search) then I have free data in those countries.

[Stevo985]

Stevo, this was released just today coincidentally. It may be utter tosh or you may be really unlucky

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/ee-comes-out-on-top-as-vodafone-flops-in-network-performance-1233489

Yeah they mentioned stuff like this when I tweeted them about never having any signal.

 

THey told me that they had 98% coverage in the UK.

 

Maybe I am unlucky. But I just never seem to have decent signal. Ever.

 

And it's not a problem with my phone. The sim has been in 3 different phones, all with the same result.

[darrenm]

 

 

 

I'm going to Majorca in May and I'm hiring a car. To get around I'll be using the sat nav on my phone which obviously works better with 3G.

 

Can anyone recommend a good Spanish PAYG data sim I can pre-buy? 

 

What network are you on? I just used my regular EE sim, you can't rack up a big bill because your data is locked to whatever bundle limit you purchase. I can't remember the exact price but it wasn't too expensive.

 

Three. Their international roaming charges are crap. Pity as their domestic charges are brilliant.

 

In certain countries, your data bundle still works with three. That means if I pick my roaming partner carefully (ie do a network search) then I have free data in those countries.

 

 

Unfortunately not Spain for Three it seems:

 

 

 

So what are the Feel At Home destinations and are you planning on adding any more?

You can currently enjoy Feel At Home in 11 destinations around the world: USA, Italy, the Republic of Ireland, Austria, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau.

 

Outside of Feel At Home it's 45.8p / MB. Loading one page from here could cost me a fiver. It's ridiculously high.

[PompeyVillan]

Get a cheap sat nav and enhance it? I find them next to useless on my phone due to patchy network coverage.

[darrenm]

I'm never without signal on my phone. I've never experienced any kind of issue with satnav from dodgy signal. And I've used phone satnav a _lot_. It'd be nice to be able to use my phone over there as well anyway as well as for the nav.

[blandy]

O2.

 

Switched to O2 a few years back when they were the only carriers of the iPhone. Got it on the standard £35 a month contract. After 18 months, when my commitment was up I downgraded to a sim only contract. I pay £16.50 a month now... I think I get 200 mins (average use is about 5 mins a month!), 1000 texts and 1gb of data.  I think. Whatever it is, its more than enough as I never go over the £16.50, apart from when I'm abroad. 

 

No real loyalty to O2. They have been ok over the 3 and a half years I have been with them. Probably had to call them 3 times maximum.

I'm curious. You'd get the same deal on the same network from giffgaff, but for £10 per month. Is the customer service worth two pints to you every month?

O2's customer service in my experience is appalling. They say the right things, then eff it up totally. I'm hoping for better from giffgaff (signed up via limpids link). it seems like it's simpleenough to deal with them, so far.

[Ingram85]

Against all better judgement and seeing as I can't afford anything outright, I am going for the s4 & gear combo. To buy outright with just the phone would cost £660 whereas this will cost £696 with the watch which I could sell for at least £100 which would put the deal at £596 which considering an s4 at the mo costs £300 meaning id get 24 months for £296 (500 mins, unltd data & texts) isn't bad I don't think. 24 months on a sim costing £15 would be £360, so I'd save £64, more if I sell the watch for £125-£150.

[darrenm]

Against all better judgement and seeing as I can't afford anything outright, I am going for the s4 & gear combo. To buy outright with just the phone would cost £660 whereas this will cost £696 with the watch which I could sell for at least £100 which would put the deal at £596 which considering an s4 at the mo costs £300 meaning id get 24 months for £296 (500 mins, unltd data & texts) isn't bad I don't think. 24 months on a sim costing £15 would be £360, so I'd save £64, more if I sell the watch for £125-£150.

I'd never buy a non nexus phone again. Certainly not spend anything like that amount of money either outright or over a contract.

[Ingram85]

But even a nexus 5 over 24 months with a £15 sim would cost £650 ish no?

[shaggy]

Have you got a link to that deal Ingram as I need still need a new phone after being scammed on Ebay? Would appreciate any help you can give me.

[limpid]

But even a nexus 5 over 24 months with a £15 sim would cost £650 ish no?

but why would you keep it for exactly 24 months? How much will it be worth when you do want to sell it? What happens when someone introduces a tariff which suits you better?

 

No having a go. I just think that committing yourself to 24 months in a market which changes so fast is a bad idea. If you can get a mobile company to give you credit, you can get a zero percent credit card to buy the phone.

[Ingram85]

Have you got a link to that deal Ingram as I need still need a new phone after being scammed on Ebay? Would appreciate any help you can give me.

All on the tesco mobile website chap.

http://phone-shop.tesco.com/pay-monthly-phones/pay-monthly-phones-listing.aspx?manufacturer=Samsung&model=Galaxy%20S4&networkProvider=T-Mobile&contractLength=0&price=30&colour=&group=&ratingScore=0