Buying a cheap but smart phone for my wife's birthday!

Beatlefan

I'd like to get my wife a new mobile for her birthday - her old one is getting rather old at the moment!

I can't afford to pay huge sums like a new i-phone or anything, but want something that has some nice smart features - like a camera, video recording facility, FB access, limited web access. She texts a lot, so that's a must! All the calls she makes are within the UK.

She currently has a PAYG phone, which is great cos she can top it up when she needs to and isn't tied into a contract. Can you buy any decent PAYG phones with the kind of smart features I've mentioned above that aren't too pricey? Maybe an older model i-phone or something similar but less expensive from another brand?

I was looking at some free handsets that come with 12 or 24 month contracts. While I don't want to get tied into a contract, I wondered if you could get cashback on any of these contracts from topcashback that might offset some of the cost of the contract?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to get her a nice with some nice and fairly smart features that doesn't cost the earth like the new i-phone 4!

Many thanks.

mrcamp

The Nokia E63 will do all that and it can be had quite cheaply.

Wh05apk

How about the HTC wildfire, does all she wants and more, a great phone, screen not as good as the likes of the desire or iphone, but a fraction of the price, availiable from £10 pm with Tmobile, £99 cost, but £80 back from quidco.

bubblesmoney

What sort of monthly rental are you looking for with the free phone included?

Once you specify that, then look for the best phone on the market for that price range and one that suits your requirements.

parallax_20

Buying a cheap but smart phone for my wife's birthday!

The "Cheap" bit initially made me smile. I would have went with the "Best value smart phone for my wife"

O2 - LG Optimus GT540 Android phone for £130 + £15pm "simplicity for smartphones" for 12mths (300mins, unlimited text, 500MB data + Wifi), will give you good value and a £100 cashback to boot. Can't really beat that for a combo without a long contract. But don't tell your wife she wasn't worth the long term commitment! You'll earn both brownie points, plus a saving in your pocket.

tstodart

I second Wh05apk's proposal for the HTC Wildfire. I just picked one up and it is pretty impressive for the price.

petermgates

T-Mobile give you 6 month's internet access for free on new PAYG phones, after that it's £20 for another 6 months. I can see a few reasonably priced touch screen phones on their site or maybe splash out on a blackberry if she's a text fan.

Andycat

Just moved from a 3gs to a Wildfire (due to contract cost) and I'm well impressed with it!

si1965

Another vote for the HTC Wildfire. A cracking little phone that does exactly what it says on the tin.

Beatlefan

Thanks everyone for your really helpful posts. :T The HTC Wildfire as a PAYG it is!

I can get it £9 cheaper at 02 for £90, but not much cashback - £3.50 - as it's not a contract.

Neither of us have had a mobile with internet access before. How does it work? Do you get so much internet access, depending on how much you top up, along with your texts and call minutes? Presumably if you use the internet function a lot, does it eat into your call time and texts?

I can see two options:

- Pay As You Go Tarriff - http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/Pay_and_Go
- Smart phone Tarriff - http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/smartphone/24_months

Does anyone know which one I want? Basically something that includes phone calls, texts and internet access. I'm really not sure which one covers that, sorry.

@Parrallax - lol. I'm certainly not skimping on a present for her! She knows I'd buy her a new i-phone if I could afford it. She's absolutely worth it, but we're having to cut back at the moment and save, so she would be really cross if I splashed out on something expensive. But the HTC looks like a nice phone with some cool features and won't break the bank.

The PAYG option's good too, because if things get really tight, it's something we can cut back on and not worry about breaking a contract.

Thanks again everyone! :T

Oscar_The_Grouch

Your second link is to the Contract phones, so you get the phone for free, but have to pay O2 for 24 months.

What you want to look at is the Simplicity tariff (clicky) as this shows the cost of them just providing the service, not the phone, as well as confirming exactly what you get for your money. You either opt for the pay as you go method or the monthly DD, but as smartphones connect to the web and can use e-mail, you need a tariff that includes "internet browsing".

Before you buy the phone and pick your contract, you need to make sure you have mobile internet available in your area. Each provider has different strengths of signal in different post codes, so its best to check. Here's a list of the links to the different internet sites to check each of the major providers:

O2
T-Mobile
Orange
Vodafone
Three

Three don't have a dedicated page to their mobile broadband checker; the postcode section is on the right hand side of the page I've linked to.

Finally, make sure you check the post codes of home and office (as well as town centres where your wife shops) to make sure you go with the network that has the best coverage. I've not checked to see if the phone you want is available from all these providers and they all have different plans/terms for internet use.