Cheap mobile handsets from £9, or £15 with £10 credit

Former_MSE_Natasha

19 April 2008

What's the deal?

Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) mobile handset prices are still tumbling in price so if you're after a 'granny in the glove box' phone (one that's just kept and used for emergencies) it's now easy to get a basic phone for just £9, or a slightly more advanced model for £14.45 delivered, including £10 credit.

The cheapest handset-only available

Both phones are very basic models.

• £8.99 delivered at Play.com: Motorola F3. The Motorola F3 is a simple black phone but is dual band (you can use it overseas, except in the US and Canada) has a speaker phone, monophonic ringtones and vibration alert.

• £9 instore at Asda: Sagem my150X. The Sagem my150x (this link is for graphic purposes only) has all the simple functions of a handset but is a slick model for the price as it's only 10mm thick and weighs just 65g. Stock is nationwide but some stores have a large quantity, others hardly any so give your local Asda a call to confirm it has some left before making a special trip.

The cheapest handset including credit

• £14.45 delivered online at Carphone Warehouse: Sony Ericsson J110i Black INCLUDING £10 credit. The Sony Ericsson J110i is a dual band handset with polyphonic ringtones, speakerphone and colour screen. It comes with £10 free credit on the Virgin Mobile network so the phone effectively costs less than a fiver.

IF YOU SPOT A CHEAPER PAYG DEAL PLEASE POST IT BELOW TO LET OTHER MONEYSAVERS KNOW

Call & text charges

If you plan to us the mobile frequently, a PAYG tariff probably isn't the cheapest option for you so read the Cheapest Mobiles article to find the best deal before parting with any cash.

• Orange: On Orange's 'Speak Easy Bonus Top-Up' PAYG plan, calls to any network or landline are charged at 15p per minute and texts 10p each, plus you'll get some free bonus texts around 30 days later for topping up by £20. To keep the sim active you need to top it up by at least £10 every six months.
  
  Until the end of April you can order a free Orange sim card with 1,000 text messages. Read the full Forum note.

• Virgin Mobile: Calls cost 15p per minute and texts 10p (except to other Virgin Mobile customers, where it's 3p).

Can they be unlocked?

Many phones can be easily unlocked (see the Mobile Unlocking article), so you can just plonk any sim card in it and it works. Sadly these phones can't be unlocked for free.

P.S. This entry has been created so we can give an official, fully researched MoneySavingExpert.com explanation of the deal. Thanks to all posters who spotted some of the handsets listed and posted them in various threads in the Forum.

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trubster

Great find, order loads and cash em in at CEX for £7 Cash or £8 Exchange Value...

Bargain if you would use the credit... £10 top up for £8... (20% Off)

bernie822

I've seen a Nokia phone in my local Phones4U branch for £4.99. Don't know what the national scene is for them. Bernard

Little_miss_morrissey

I noticed that Orange are now selling recoditioned phones, some of them are half the normal selling price and they all come with charger, instructions and pay as you go sim card etc

http://www.orangeaccessories.co.uk/reconditioned_mobile_phone/all.html

oracle888

I got this phone to use in emergencies. It came as a Virgin PAYG and is already unlocked so I can use it on any network. It really is a simple phone that doesn't have any of the features that high end mobiles have now. So No camera, no picture messaging, and no mobile internet. Cheap and cheerful with long battery life.

bat999

@ MSE Natasha
It's a good report. Thanks.:T

You say about Orange PAYG "To keep the sim active you need to top it up by at least £10 every six months".
But in Orange's Terms and Conditions section 4.3 it says "We will disconnect your Device if during the previous six months, you have not Registered a new Top Up or you have not made chargeable calls from your Device or received incoming calls on your phone. For the avoidance of doubt calls shall include but not be limited to voice calls, data calls and text messaging..."

So it seems to me like it's not necessary to top up every six months, just so long as you make or receive calls or texts.

Do you agree?
:cool:

moneysavingkitten

Anyone seen any sub £40 mobile phones on the O2 network? Planning to try to get my family to change network, as at the moment you get free calls and texts to O2 numbers all the time when you top £15 a month.

Can't believe how much cheaper it is than Orange, have been paying £5 per week to use the internet through my Orange phone, and it's £7.50 for the whole month on O2! Gonna see how that works out.

So I get unlimited browsing, free calls and txts to phones on O2, and 200 minutes of calls to UK landlines for £15 a month. In theory anyway, I hope it works out!

I've been spending £60 a month on credit on Orange, because they don't warn you when your bundles run out (or so the billing integrity team tell me, seems more like they just don't apply the bundles so they actually work to me).

fl4nner

STOP PRESS..!!!!!

the Sagem my150X. mentioned by MSE Natasha is now down to £5 instore at Asda..!!!!!

I picked on up this morning

me_and_me_monkeys

I have just picked up a couple of SAGEM my220X on T-mbile network PAYG. - £5 each
Basic but slim-line and moden looking - Just what I was looking for as a 'call-out phone' for work.

tony98

fl4nner wrote: »

STOP PRESS..!!!!!

the Sagem my150X. mentioned by MSE Natasha is now down to £5 instore at Asda..!!!!!

I picked on up this morning

Anyone know a way of unlocking these phones on orange for free

jon_r_2

Understand they have the Nokia 1112 as well the BL5C battery would be worth more than the phone, but does anyone know whether this model can be unlocked? thanks