Three/3, contracts, and upgrades

DeusXM

My iPhone 4 contract is currently up for renewal and so I've a pick of phones.

I am quite happy with my phone, to be honest. However, my mother has indicated she would like an iPhone, so I was considering getting a new iPhone 4S out of Three as an upgrade and giving it to her as a present.

I've never had a mobile contract up for renewal before, so hopefully someone with more experience can answer the following questions:

1. I know that the upgraded phone will be locked to the Three network. Is it also locked to a specific contract, or could I use the upgrade phone with a Three PAYG sim card?
2. What happens to my existing phone - will this become locked and unusable?

As you can see, what I'm getting at is if I can continue to use my old phone on the 'new' contract and give the new handset to my mother to use on a 3 PAYG sim (she wouldn't want a contract). Is this possible?

grumbler

1. No. Can be used with any '3' sim (micro sim for 4s)
2. Nothing. It remains the same as it was and can be unlocked if you want to use it on other networks.

DeusXM

Awesome - so if I understand correctly, Mum gets a new phone and it only really costs me £50 instead of £500?

grumbler

DeusXM wrote: »

Awesome - so if I understand correctly, Mum gets a new phone and it only really costs me £50 instead of £500?

No, this is a delusion. Sim-only contracts with the same airtime are much cheaper. In fact you have taken the loan for a new handset and have been repaying it for many months (24 I guess) with the interest on the top. It is very likely that the total price you paid was considerably higher than the price of a sim-free phone.

Now you have an opportunity to switch to a much cheaper tariff with similar airtime if you don't 'upgrade'. If you do upgrade you will keep paying for the new handset for many month via higher monthly charge. Only by knowing the real figures (airtime and the monthly cost) it is possible to say whether a new contract is really a better option than buying a phone outright.