mobile phones for under £80

superstar_2

I would like buy a new mobile phone. Budget, ideally less than £80. I quite like Nokia 6300 myself though its been on the market for 2/3 years now. I have seen some other phones like samsung C300, SE J120i which are cheaper like less than 30 quid. Any reviews for those phones?

Can you suggest me a good phone for my budget?

Checking on the websites - it says eg. £69.95 with Vodafone when bought with £10 airtime credit. That means the total would be £79.95. Can i buy that and use my own O2 Sim on the phone provided its unlocked. I am wondering because they say the price for handset only is £139!!? That means, surely you can buy with a tenner airtime credit and its way cheaper. Is that right?

superstar_2

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need to get one asap. Thank you. :beer:

mikegahan

(1) There are many review sites, one of the most popular is GSM Arena, or a good UK one is Revoo which gives customer feedback.
(2) if you buy a phone say with Vodafone it will be locked to their network and you would not be able to use an O2 sim in it. You could buy a phone on the O2 network or one that is unlocked to all networks. It is best to check this carefully, especially if you are buying online

Cavey

superstar wrote: »

Checking on the websites - it says eg. £69.95 with Vodafone when bought with £10 airtime credit. That means the total would be £79.95. Can i buy that and use my own O2 Sim on the phone provided its unlocked. I am wondering because they say the price for handset only is £139!!? That means, surely you can buy with a tenner airtime credit and its way cheaper. Is that right?

Housemate has a J700 (although theirs is Gold, this one is Pink) and they seem to quite like it. Still, not too badly priced either...

http://shop.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/

Don't bank on a phone being supplied unlocked. The reason why it is cheaper is because the network is subsidising the cost as they believe you will be tied to their network. Some times they are unlocked (common on contract phones at CPW and XDA's on O2), but it is more the exception than the norm.

For reviews, have you tried O2's review pages -

http://mobilereviews.o2.co.uk

?

superstar_2

Thank you. Where can i buy unlocked mobile phones then?

Cavey

Errrm.... generally, most phones are locked to a network, it is unusual if they are not. You would actually have to shop around and/or ask the person from whom you are buying the phone whether it is locked, but if they are provided with a SIM card, assume they are locked.

As I said, CPW supply most of their contract phones unlocked, but then you're in a contract so they don't need to lock them.

The alternative is to buy a phone that is locked and have it unlocked by someone with the required tools (if it is not freely unlockable). There is usually a shop capable of doing this in the nearest major town/city and there are typically quite a few in markets. It typically costs from £5 to £25 to unlock a phone depending on the phone.

If you need more information, read the stickies at the top of this forum.

ioscorpio

I have bought a PAYG online from CPW and it was unlocked, don´t forget Quidco as well, I also had a contract phone from Phones4u that also was unlocked as well.

superstar_2

Thank you for thr replies.

I have purchased a new Nokia 6300 from Carphone Warehouse PAYG. I rang them up and then went to see a sales consultant at a local CPW shop - They said, ALL of their PAYG phones are unlocked unless they are clearance, in which they do not know if it would be unlocked or not.

Hope that helps someone here on MSE.