Cheapest way to get HTC One?

jd87

Today I've started looking into getting an HTC One (preferably black but silver is ok) and there just don't seem to be any good deals out there. About 17 months ago as a retention deal with Vodafone I got a Galaxy S2 (best android phone going at the time) for £26 pm with 1 GB data, 300 mins and unlim texts on an 18 month contract, free handset.

Looking at the current deals available for an HTC One I just don't think I'm going to be able to negotiate anything near as good this time around. Has anyone spotted any good deals or got any suggestions? I want 4G to be an option so I'm not going to go with T-Mob or Orange and I refuse to sign up to a contract any longer than 18 months. The most important requirement is a usable amount of data - 750 MB is absolute minimum.

Jon_01

There don't tend to be good deal in a handsets first month (unless you're a really high spend customer). They fly off the shelve without.

Leave a few weeks and then after the rush the network will drop them a few levels and they'll be better deals around...

jd87

It's been out since March hasn't it?

ZhugeEX

Go with Three. They're giving 4G to customers for free.

im-lost

It's just the way things are now, high end phones, with the handset price spread over 24 months.

You won't get any decent deals on an 18 month contract, and if you don't want to go for a longer contract, then to be quite blunt, you're !!!! outta luck, without paying £35 - £40 a month for it.

Just curious why 4g is essential for you, it's really not all that, and with a small data allowance like you're suggesting it's next to useless really.

If I were you, I'd be seriously contemplating one if this years flagship devices, there's some great ones out there, they may not be the HTC one, but they are still great phones, and more readily available on 18 month contracts for a lower cost.

I've got a fairly mid range phone currently, albeit an excellent phone imo, with a HTC one s, and I just can't justify paying the extra for a HTC one at the moment, yes it's faster, yes it has the latest software, yes it has 4g and a few other features, but in everyday use, it's not going to be that different.

anotheruser

Buy it from Amazon and get a sim only deal.

+) You'll have lower monthly spend.
+) You can sell the phone whenever and usually get at least half of the value back (keep everything, keep it nice, don't use the headphones to increase this).
+) Your phone won't have any carrier branding meaning you'll get (Android) updates much quicker.
+) If you get a 30 day rolling contract from Tesco, then you can change pretty much whenever. Their 12 month contracts aren't to be missed either.

-) Large up front cost.

More positives than negatives. Plus as most sim only contracts are only 12 months meaning you can get a better deal after that instead of being locked in for two years.

I have been doing this for years now. I keep the phone box nice with all the booklets. For the past two years my charger has kept the peel off bit on it, which even I am surprised at. All protecting stickers which came with the phone are still in the box. No scratches or chips. Headphones never used either so will sell for quite a high value. This means the next phone I get will be a recent one but I would pay much less as the sale of the old phone will help pay for the new one.

Some new Smartphones (Nexus 4 for instance) are priced in the £200 bracket. Couple this with paying £15 a month and to be fair, have the contract for two years (£560 in total).
Then compare that with paying £45 a month (which you would be paying for the same mins/texts/data and the phone), for two years which works out at £1080 over the course of the two years.

Until tariffs are giving away unlimited data as standard and 4G is available as much as 3G then there's no point in basing your choice around that.