Help! O2 vs. Orange vs. ??

grimboj

Hi! Happy new year to you!

I'm really angsting over whether to move from O2 to orange/another supplier and was looking for honest opinions, here is my problem:

O2 only have 2 phones I would consider:
Samsung Galaxy (not rated well in reviews)
iPhone (I like the android app store more)

All I really want is an android phone with GPS/bluetooth/wifi etc. without paying through the nose initially or paying over £35 per month.

I'm having massive troubles getting a good deal out of them, after all I dont want either of the two next gen phones they offer and they are asking £100/£90 + contract cancellation fees (Contract expires 26/03, free upgrade 26/02 onwards).

I'm happy to pay £35/month for 600minutes/1000texts/unlimited web because I will use all of those close to the limits.

I've been with O2 for 8 years and I love:
Fast customer service (no wait most of the time).
Free voicemail
Unlimited internet is truly unlimited (some say 8gb but never had problems)
Can get cheap deals - Im on 18mo 1k text 400 mins for £14/month with a cheapo phone for free too.

Am I jumping straight into a loaded gun by leaving them? Will I lose the things I love? I'm sick of having an inferior phone, one option is to buy a good phone outright but the maths dont add up. Like £250-£300 for a phone off ebay and £30 sim free for the package I want.

I was looking at Dolphin 30 - 24 months, 600 texts, 1000 minutes, insured, 5GB web with motorola dext. QWERTY keyboard is a big plus too. T-mobile has some good deals but their web limit of 1GB seems too easy to max out, a few big apps from the app store or a few hours of spotify and I'm at the limit. I've heard too many customer service nightmares about vodafone to consider them but am open to opinions. Won't consider 3.

All help appreciated.

littlemissfrugal

why dont you buy the phone u like unlocked then stick your existing sim into it

grimboj

Hmm, then I'm paying £35/month+£300 for something I could have got for free!?

littlemissfrugal

wot can't you keep you existing talktime deal? I was thinking still pay £14 saving £20 pm which over 12 months is £240 to put towards new handset , sorry if this not the case

jclegs

If you want to stay with O2, move to the cheaper sim-only tariff. How did you get 5GB web on Orange, most Orange packages have a fair use policy of 500mb.

Guys_Dad

Before doing ANYTHING. always test out the reception in your favourite places. A great phone that you can't use on an 18 month contract is no good at all!!

arzosahr

why not check the o2 website, upgrade online section...
it mentions "you can choose to take up to £150 credit to your bill and keep your existing handset."

might be worth seeing how much they'd give you to keep your tariff/have a sim only upgrade and then putting the money credit to your bill against the cost of buying the phone you want??!! (or am I reading these things totally wrong?)