Getting a new Pay as you go phone

cacti

My husband is in hospital and his old Samsung Pay as you go phone has stopped working. I don't know much about mobile phones. Is it possible to take the sim card from his old phone and put it in a new one? Would that mean that all his contacts list etc will be transferred to the new phone? Does a new phone come with a sim card in it or can I buy a phone with no sim card in it? His phone is on the EE network. Any help would be gratefully received

J_B

My few random comments in bold ...

cacti wrote: »

My husband is in hospital and his old Samsung Pay as you go phone has stopped working. I don't know much about mobile phones.

Is it possible to take the sim card from his old phone and put it in a new one? Yes, as long as the new phone is either locked to EE or unlocked

Would that mean that all his contacts list etc will be transferred to the new phone? Depends if the contacts are on the sim or phone

Does a new phone come with a sim card in it or can I buy a phone with no sim card in it? Both are available

His phone is on the EE network. Any help would be gratefully received

cranford

If its an older Samsung the sim card may not fit a new phone as sim cards now come in 3 sizes.
Standard SIM (15 x 25mm), Micro SIM (12 x 15mm) ands Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)
The newer phones use Nano.
The contents of a phone can be transferred to a new phone if the details are not on the sim but if its broken this may not be possible.
if you need a new phone today and nobody can help you with the phone it may be better to go to a phone shop such as the EE phone shop. If the sim cannot be physically be transferred to the new phone then they should be able to transfer the phone number.
if you opt for a new pay and go then most shops require that you buy a new sim with £10 airtime but you don't have to use it if the old one fits. Argos (open today) have quite a few EE phones.

eDicky

Ask friends and family for an old handset they tossed in a drawer long ago, rather than paying for a new one. If his SIM is not recent it may not fit in a modern phone without being cut to size. (I'm guessing that it's not a smartphone he's using..?)

If his contact list is only on the handset and it hasn't failed completely, they can be copied to the SIM using the contacts menu before taking it out. If the phone is completely kaput the contacts are lost if they are not already stored on the SIM.

cacti

I don't understand the difference between contacts being on a sim card or on the handset. How do I know which it is on?

mobilejunkie

Most are for airtime with a "free" phone - which you can sell straight away as I usually do if you want to; the sim is just the medium and can go into another phone (subject to sim card as mentioned it will work in most unlocked phones). Some phones are locked to a particular network so only sims on that network will work on it (unless you get it unlocked).

Whether the contract includes the phone as a separate entity (most don't) won't affect you use of the sim in a different phone.

cacti

Thanks for all the advice.

eDicky

cacti wrote: »

I don't understand the difference between contacts being on a sim card or on the handset. How do I know which it is on?

if you say what kind of phone it is, or even the exact model, it might help us in giving a pointer. Anyway, if it's an oldish 2G phone, when you look at the individual contacts in the list there's often a 'SIM card' or 'phone' icon displayed to indicate where each one is stored.

J_B

cacti wrote: »

I don't understand the difference between contacts being on a sim card or on the handset. How do I know which it is on?

You said it was 'pay as you go', so there is no contract per se, but the hub of it all is the sim card which can be moved to any unlocked phone.

Farway

As husband is in hospital I'd suggest a cheap phone just in case light fingers are around while he's asleep


As on EE network there are cheap PAYG in Asda, and Asda phones are EE so not problem there. Just insert his SIM card