Need help in getting into the smartphone arena please! - monthly contract

thesimplethings_2

I have an archaic non-smartphone and my contract has expired so I am looking to get a new deal.
I was previously with Carphone Warehouse on a cashback deal which worked out at £4.50/month as long as I remembered to send in my bills! I am not a high call or text user but would like a smartphone to replace my decrepit motorola razr!

Would very much appreciate anyone's advice on getting into the current century!

mummyroysof3

Are you wanting a plan with a free phone or a sim only plan and to buy your own phone?

grumbler

Budget? The cheapest phones are under £100. The top ones cost £600 and more.

The cheapest sim-only option for smartphones is Ovivo with free 150m+250t+500Mb free every month for one-off £15.

zolablue25

I am on a light user tariff from T-Mobile that I am very pleased with. I don;t think they currently do the same tariff but they have a £10.50 tariff for light use which is quite good. As I understand it T-mobile don't stop your internet access if you go over your allowance but they stop you streaming stuff (please correct me if I have misunderstood this). They are also offering the Huawei Ascend P1 for free on this tariff (24 months) which I have found to be an excellent phone.

Whilst Ovivo may offer you a better deal all round you would have to stump up a fair sum up front to buy a decent phone and there is always the risk (no matter how small) that their business model won't stand up but hey, you pays your money and takes your choice. I have nothing against Ovivo as my daughter has a mobile "freedom" sim with them and I have their data sim for mobile wifi.

thesimplethings_2

Thank you for the replies so far. I'm hoping for a monthly cost of £10 or less inclding a free phone...unless that's too optimistic! I'm off to have a look at the T-mobile site, thanks zolablue25. Any further thoughts gratefully received.

balletshoes

thesimplethings wrote: »

Thank you for the replies so far. I'm hoping for a monthly cost of £10 or less inclding a free phone...unless that's too optimistic! I'm off to have a look at the T-mobile site, thanks zolablue25. Any further thoughts gratefully received.

honestly? as most contracts are 24 months long, and you can get a good enough smartphone to start you off for under £50, and you're a light user I guess - I'd just go look at the Carphone Warehouse site for a sim-free or payg handset, then get an Ovivo sim card to bung in it.

How many minutes/texts do you actually use typically in a month? You'll want around 500mb of data included in any new sim deal you get once you have a smartphone - maybe more if you want to use your smartphone for internet out and about.

mummyroysof3

I saw an offer for £7.50 with a free phone at car phone warehouse...don't remember anymore detail though sorry

balletshoes

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

I saw an offer for £7.50 with a free phone at car phone warehouse...don't remember anymore detail though sorry

there you go -

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/special-offers/categories/super-value-smartphones?intcmp=SO_SV

i've just compared those deals on CPW with mobiles.co.uk (cashback redemption site) - mobiles.co.uk can't beat CPW on like-for-like.

thesimplethings_2

Wowsers, thanks Balletshoes and Mummyroysof3 that looks amazing. Does 250mb data mean that I get internet/email use included as well? Sorry, for possibly stupid question, as I said, I am only used to a very basic phone!

balletshoes

thesimplethings wrote: »

Wowsers, thanks Balletshoes and Mummyroysof3 that looks amazing. Does 250mb data mean that I get internet/email use included as well? Sorry, for possibly stupid question, as I said, I am only used to a very basic phone!

yes it does - but 250mb isn't much per month - you'd be better looking at 500mb per month. As I say, it depends what you will use your smartphone for. I use mine for non-free wifi internet for no more than about an hour, 5 days per week-ish, and I need 500mb for that.

mummyroysof3

I don't use much data as I am at home most of the time so using our home wifi but think 500 is needed if you want to use while out and about.