Sim only + Handset OR Pay monthly with Free Phone?

Theresonly1

Advice needed!

My current contract is due to end in a months time. I want a new phone as i'm sick of my current one.

Have decided IPhone 5 is probably the phone i am most likely to go for as i don't like all the other android phones (not a massive fan of Android afraid) maybe apart from Samsung S3/4 as that looks ok but it just doesn't do it for me.

Should i opt for a sim only deal for about £10 - £20 max - paying for the handset in full as well (probably £500~)?

Or

upgrade my existing pay monthly deal paying an extra bit more (£33+) but getting the phone as "free"*

*I know free is not actually free as the extra monthly cost would contribute to the cost of handset but its free for now...

My Head tells me sim only deal is better as i would be paying a total of around £600~ for the duration of what my contract would be i.e. 24months.
BUT, my heart tells me to upgrade to another contract as i don't need to spend a lot of money for handset right now! Although over the course of 24 months i would be paying in total around £900~ which is a lot more..

I'm stuck between two options really. Or is there a third option for me?

So is it short term or long term for me.. i dont know. Opinions needed.

Thanks

mije1983

Theresonly1 wrote: »

Should i opt for a sim only deal for about £10 - £20 max - paying for the handset in full as well (probably £500~)?

Or

upgrade my existing pay monthly deal paying an extra bit more (£33+) but getting the phone as "free"*

If you can afford the phone up front and go SIM only, then do that. It gives you more flexibility and you aren't tied into a long and expensive contract if the network put up prices (which they will) or if your personal circumstances change (job loss etc).

If you can't afford the upfront cost and you really MUST have the phone now, then contract is the only way for you to go (unless you are very disciplined with your money and pay for the phone on a 0% purchase credit card)

Theresonly1 wrote: »

My Head tells me sim only deal is better as i would be paying a total of around £600~ for the duration of what my contract would be i.e. 24months.
BUT, my heart tells me to upgrade to another contract as i don't need to spend a lot of money for handset right now! Although over the course of 24 months i would be paying in total around £900~ which is a lot more..

Having said that, your maths is out a bit. If the phone will cost you £500, and you can get a SIM only deal for £10 a month that you will keep for 24 months (10x24 = £240), then the total cost would be £740, not £600

If the contract is £33 a month, that would be £792 over the 2 years so not that much difference.

gman955

100% buy phone sim free if you can afford

Harald

There is no such thing as free phone. Except some cases you always have to pay for it. Sometimes more than you would pay for SIM-free phone using credit card (with all fees and interest)

And answer whether certain deal is good or not is always very simple, in jus few steps:
1. find your cheapes SIM-only deal with suitable amount of minutes, texts and data. This is your base price.
2. Find all possible deals with phone and same or better allowance.

Just multiply sim-only monthly price by length of the contract (usually 24) and do the same with contract with phone (plus any upfront fee if applicable).
If difference is smaller than sim-free phone - go for contract with phone.
If greater - it's your choice, depending on your financial situation.
Simple.

jhe

i had a sim only contract that was up for renewal years ago. i always buy my own phones,
however this time i have just taken out an i phone contract with 02 from the carphone warehouse.
to buy the i-phone 5 outright would have been £499, sim only, unlimited txts, calls and 1gb data would have been £21 per month
the contract i have cost me £99 for the i phone, £27 month for 24 month contract
because i wanted to stay on 02 it worked out cheaper over 2 years to take the contract rather than pay outright for the i-phone 5

Theresonly1

Thanks for all your advice. Actually in my case sim only would always be cheaper in the long term as the price i quotes was a bit incorrect. £33 a month plus an additional £149 for the handset. Equates to £700~ vs. £900~

MillicentBystander

jhe wrote: »

i had a sim only contract that was up for renewal years ago. i always buy my own phones,
however this time i have just taken out an i phone contract with 02 from the carphone warehouse.
to buy the i-phone 5 outright would have been £499, sim only, unlimited txts, calls and 1gb data would have been £21 per month
the contract i have cost me £99 for the i phone, £27 month for 24 month contract
because i wanted to stay on 02 it worked out cheaper over 2 years to take the contract rather than pay outright for the i-phone 5

But do you actually NEED unlimited calls? My son currently pays £10/mth for 1200 mins, unlimited texts AND unlimited data (OK, he paid £17/mth for it for the first 2 months with Virgin but on my advice rang them in month three to tell them he was leaving and got a permanent £7/mth discount. This is totally because of the 30 day commitment as opposed to the 730 day one, of course. In other words, he isn't such a captive audience).

matttye

Work out which will cost you more in the long run. Bear in mind a lot of contracts let you drop to a lower tariff halfway through.

Here's mine:

£229 upfront. 64GB iPhone 5.
£36 per month for unlimited calls/texts, 1GB data.
24 month contract

Total = £1,093.00

If I bought the phone upfront, the same tariff would cost £31 per month for a SIM only plan.

The costs would therefore be:

£699 upfront. 64GB iPhone 5.
£21 per month for unlimited calls/texts, 1GB data. (locked in for twelve months)

Total = £1,203.00

£1,443.00 if you don't want to be locked in for twelve months as it's an extra £10 per month for the same tarriff but in a one month rolling contract.

Giffgaff however is very cheap and offers a £10 per month tariff with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data which suits me perfectly, that would only be £939.00 in total.

jhe

MillicentBystander wrote: »

But do you actually NEED unlimited calls? My son currently pays £10/mth for 1200 mins, unlimited texts AND unlimited data (OK, he paid £17/mth for it for the first 2 months with Virgin but on my advice rang them in month three to tell them he was leaving and got a permanent £7/mth discount. This is totally because of the 30 day commitment as opposed to the 730 day one, of course. In other words, he isn't such a captive audience).

no i dont need unlimited calls but i do need 1 gb data and i need to be on 02 network, so for me the contract suits, not for everyone but as i explained it was cheaper to take out the contract than pay in full for the phone and take a sim only contract

MikeWhite

matttye wrote: »

Giffgaff however is very cheap and offers a £10 per month tariff with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data which suits me perfectly, that would only be £939.00 in total.

Really?
I see 250 minutes and 1 gig data on the £10 bag.

Mike

matttye

MikeWhite wrote: »

Really?
I see 250 minutes and 1 gig data on the £10 bag.

Mike

Sorry, old customer, didn't realise they had changed the goodybags. Looks like the unlimited web one is now £12 and you only get 250 minutes. Still good though!