Upgrade time

moneymogul

Hey all,

Just a quickie. I am just coming to the end of a 24 month contract with O2. My contract expires 17th December, but I am allowed to upgrade from Friday onwards. That said, prices seem to have increased of late.

A few months back on the o2.co.uk website, the Samsung Galaxy SII and HTC Sensation were £27 a month with free phone and 300mins, unlimited texts and 500MB data, but that has increased to the point that a free phone cannot be obtained on either unless you are paying £42 a month or above. The HTC Sensation has been replaced by an even more expensive one on O2's site.

Anyone willing to suggest a handset which would be just behind these top two that I could afford? I want similar features to the Sensation and SII but want to factor in the £6 a month insurance O2 offer for their phones. In total I would really not want to spend more than £36 a month.

Any ideas of lesser phones or better deals?

The insurance I think is important as the idea of losing a brilliant phone 2 months in to a contract just scares me! I would rather keep my number too.

grumbler

Are you determined to stay with O2?
www.moneysupermarket.com/mobile-phones/brands/samsung/i9100-galaxy-s-ii/
Sort by: line rental
Handset price: Max £25

£19.99+24x£23 - Three
£4.99+24x£24 - Three
24x£25.54 - T-mobile
24x£26 - Orange
...
...

Porting your number is not a problem.

Gordon_Hose

The prices got ridiculous with O2, so I went to their Simplicity package for my iPhone 3GS - £16.50 a month on a 30 day rolling contract. Don't mind not having a new handset.

Wintermute

A word of warning, the insurance for the Galaxy S2 on O2 is £10, not £6 and you can no longer stay on the lower priced insurance when you upgrade.

I'm currently paying £10 insurance for my S2 with O2, when I get round to it I will change insurance providers, but I do feel the S2 is a phone that needs insurance (feels pretty breakable, but it's a great phone).

grumbler

Wintermute wrote: »

... I do feel the S2 is a phone that needs insurance (feels pretty breakable, but it's a great phone).

If really it is the breakability that is your main concern then you can consider SquareTrade 3-Year Warranty Plus Accident Protection (£450-500 Items) that costs just £49 in total.

moneymogul

Wintermute wrote: »

A word of warning, the insurance for the Galaxy S2 on O2 is £10, not £6 and you can no longer stay on the lower priced insurance when you upgrade.

I'm currently paying £10 insurance for my S2 with O2, when I get round to it I will change insurance providers, but I do feel the S2 is a phone that needs insurance (feels pretty breakable, but it's a great phone).

This is a biggie for me. What would make me stay with O2 is that they they have offered me brilliant service over the last few years and even when my handset was out of warranty and stopped functioning for the third time during this contract, they just sent me a brand new phone of a model higher than what I had previously.

However, I want my new phone to still be something I'd like to have in 18 months time. 18 month contracts are prohibitively-priced in my view. I also want to be sure I'm not paying stupid amounts of money for a phone I've lost or damaged. I have never damaged one and never lost one but I had a phone nicked about 6 years ago; so I'd rather be safe with a high-value handset. £10 is a lot for a phone's insurance but I realise it is an expensive handset. This may push me to something just under the Galaxy SII - any ideas?

Orange and T-Mobile look competitive and I would not be averse to moving if it were best!

A bit unsure what to do really - I am ready for a new phone though!

Wintermute

grumbler wrote: »

If really is the breakability that is your main concern then you can consider SquareTrade 3-Year Warranty Plus Accident Protection (£450-500 Items) that costs just £49 in total.

Thanks, will read up on that tomorrow

moneymogul wrote: »

This is a biggie for me. What would make me stay with O2 is that they they have offered me brilliant service over the last few years and even when my handset was out of warranty and stopped functioning for the third time during this contract, they just sent me a brand new phone of a model higher than what I had previously.

However, I want my new phone to still be something I'd like to have in 18 months time. 18 month contracts are prohibitively-priced in my view. I also want to be sure I'm not paying stupid amounts of money for a phone I've lost or damaged. I have never damaged one and never lost one but I had a phone nicked about 6 years ago; so I'd rather be safe with a high-value handset. £10 is a lot for a phone's insurance but I realise it is an expensive handset. This may push me to something just under the Galaxy SII - any ideas?

Orange and T-Mobile look competitive and I would not be averse to moving if it were best!

A bit unsure what to do really - I am ready for a new phone though!

To me service is a big priority to me, I very rarely have to call customer services for anything, but UK based and smarter than your average chimp (Mr/Mrs "Computer Says No" need not apply!) is a must for me these days so I'm with you there

In my opinion the Galaxy SII is the best phone O2 offer just now, I paid £150 for mine up front on a 12M contract (12M are priced the same as 18M, but you're paying something up front most of the time), they'll soon be launching the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which may be better, but I've not had a chance to play with it.

I do like HTC Android based handsets, but the original Sensation was withdrawn due to software issues, the Desire S suffered the same software issues, but they have since been resolved, the thing that made me go for Samsung over HTC was the internal storage capacity as that was a bit of an issue on my HTC Desire. You could always look at the Galaxy SI on a 12 month contract or the SE Xperia Neo or Arc.

If you're happy with O2 and would like to stick with them for their service it might be worth finding a good deal with Orange/T-Mobile or Vodafone and see if O2 retentions dept would match it or come anywhere close.

O2 will never win on price alone unfortunately.

moneymogul

Thanks wintermute; a really helpful post.

I'm thinking I might opt for the next best phone it would seem which is the new Samsung Galaxy W which is £7.50 insurance with O2 and free on the £27.00 a month 300 mins, unlimited texts and 500MB tariff.

I think that should suit - any thoughts?

T-Mobile are close with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet and £8.99 insurance (total £34.50) with the HTC Desire S

Wintermute

Sounds good to me, not come across any problems with the Galaxy W which is always a good sign (as I spend a lot of time dealing with faulty phones), I'd phone up O2, go for the thinking of leaving option and mention the T-Mobile deal, you're unlikely to get 600 minutes, but they might give you 500 for the price of 300

Unless you're heavily into streaming media I wouldn't worry about the 500MB, it's enough for most people and there's no charge for going over, it just gets slowed down.

moneymogul

OK, cool

I could try the thinking of leaving option although my contract actually expires on 17th December, although I can upgrade from now or give 30 days notice - is it too early to speak to retentions? If I were to try that route would I need to ring after 17th December or is now suitable?


Thanks for all the help!

jbainbridge

Any time in the last month would be a good time to speak to rentensions. Ask for your PAC ... you don't have to use it.