Shame MSE is misleading

DavidP24

It is a shame that MSE is misleading people trying to save money on buying a mobile phone.

The menu options for the main site and the forum say Mobile Phones but only mention Mobile Contracts.

I am looking for the best PHONE under £100, I want to buy the phone and use whatever SIM I am on.

Sadly it seems that this site is only interested in the commission it gets for the contracts.

If anyone in the community can recommend a decent phone with a good camera, music player and decent screen, I would be grateful.

I looked at Sony Experia Miro but screen res is low.

There seems to be a huge jump from £100 to £250 for smartphones.

goonarmy

Id trawl the usual suspects and ebay unless you dont want second hand. Electric items dont really have much varianc in price in my experience.

Mazzarati2000

Hi, I'm afraid I can't help, but just wanted to say that I don't think anyone is intentionally misleading you, and would be very surprised if any commission at all is involved, as it goes against the fundamental aims of the site. I think the most likely reason for the situation you are finding is that, provided you have a regular usage threshold, and are eligible, a contract is often the most cost-effective (not necessarily cheapest) way of getting a new handset, by the time you have taken he usage spend into consideration.

Having said all that, I appreciate that not everyone wants, or qualifies for a contract, and so agree that a comparison tool for handset only prices would be useful, if one does not already exist ( I haven't checked). If one does not exist, I would imagine it is because there is likely to be far less variation on price for handset only purchases, as the network cannot offset any discount against guaranteed future income on PAYG, or sim-only deals negotiated separately. Furthermore, all technology markets are very fast moving & pricing on such items also varies often, so perhaps such a facility would be a nightmare to maintain. Let's face it, unless properly maintained to ensure accuracy, it would essentially be useless.

Valli

DavidP24 wrote: »

It is a shame that MSE is misleading people trying to save money on buying a mobile phone.

The menu options for the main site and the forum say Mobile Phones but only mention Mobile Contracts.

I am looking for the best PHONE under £100, I want to buy the phone and use whatever SIM I am on.

Sadly it seems that this site is only interested in the commission it gets for the contracts.

If anyone in the community can recommend a decent phone with a good camera, music player and decent screen, I would be grateful.

I looked at Sony Experia Miro but screen res is low.

There seems to be a huge jump from £100 to £250 for smartphones.

Then you haven't looked properly. There is a link here and on this page PAYG phones are compared with mobile contracts. Scroll down the page for more details.

The cheapest phone is a Samsung costing £5 which requires a £10 top up. there's also a feature on the cheapest PAYG rates.

There are also links to comparison sites; including which sites you can use is you want to keep your existing SIM.

But I've got a feeling you can't be bothered to do any research and just want to tap into the collective wisdom of MSE-ers. Hope I'm wrong!

System

there is a guide as to the cheapest contracts/payg phones etc on the main site - "best phone" is something quite subjective and individual users have differing needs from a phone, google is a great tool to find reviews of handsets, there is no point in the MSE site trying to compete with sites which have expert knowledge and produce reviews of most phones already - if you want some suggestions, make a post in the forum stating how you want to use a handset and ask for recommendations in your budget, or alternatively, search for the information and read/watch reviews and make a decision yourself

starting a thread ranting about something you have clearly misunderstood is not the best way to go about getting advice

Orrin

Huawei Y300 or Nokia Lumia 520.

If you can go up to £110 consider Nokia Lumia 620 refurb (Virgin).

If you can go up to £150 then HTC Windows 8X (ebay) or Motorola RAZR i (Three) are great value.

Coopdivi

Back in January, the OP wanted to get a dual fuel discount for his electricity only flat so I'm not surprised at the rubbish he's posted on this thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4370373

Valli

Coopdivi wrote: »

Back in January, the OP wanted to get a dual fuel discount for his electricity only flat so I'm not surprised at the rubbish he's posted on this thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4370373

LOL

now I understand how OP missed the PAYG information!