iPhone with o2

lookoutapiano! · 30-09-2009, 22:18

I'm currently on an o2 contract with a contract which has unlimited texts and a bolt on for unlimited web.
If I was to buy an iPhone unlocked and sim free and put my o2 sim in there would it work okay with my current contract? Or do you need to have a specific iPhone contract?

Cheers

ThePhenom · 30-09-2009, 22:36

I think you should be OK to put your current contract SIM into an iPhone, though it may need some sort of activation.

I have a friend who has done this and its all fine for him. No special iPhone contract.

kosmos5457 · 30-09-2009, 22:49

I have an O2 Simplicity SIM in an O2 PAYG iPhone and it works fine. Only thing I don't get is Visual Voicemail and there doesn't seem to be any button available for internet tethering in networks. There has been a suggestion made that it is because I don't have an iPhone tariff.

Anyway, everything else is fine and for what it is worth, you get a much better deal not having an iPhone tariff and then buying the phone outright. Whether you use the PAYG SIM or contract SIM in the phone, that is up to you.

sla_steve · 01-10-2009, 10:31

i did the same thing.

had one slight problem - my SIM card was old it wasnt 3G enabled. Easy enough to sort out though just by popping into an o2 store and getting them to do a SIM tranfer.

why would you buy it unlocked and SIM free though? Would it not be cheaper to buy a PAYG one?

lookoutapiano! · 01-10-2009, 20:27

I had a gander on play.com and could only see an unlocked one. Do o2 sell them PAYG then?
Thanks for the replies, I do think it would be cheaper overall to buy the phone outright and stick with my current contract.

Tenacious Pee · 01-10-2009, 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by lookoutapiano!

I had a gander on play.com and could only see an unlocked one. Do o2 sell them PAYG then?
Thanks for the replies, I do think it would be cheaper overall to buy the phone outright and stick with my current contract.

o2 do offer the iphone on PAYG both versions but they seem to out of stock the 3Gs in black and white at the moment.

I was working out this for myself, i am on a simplicity contract, and was going to buy a PAYG iphone 3Gs and put my sim into it here's the price comparison

PAYG iphone 3Gs £440.40
Simplicity Tariff
300mins - 600 txt
unlimited 02 to 02 £14.69/mth
Wifi and Data bolt on £14.68/mth

Based on 18 months usage total cost £969.06

18mth 600 min - 500 txt £34.26/mth (closest tariff to my simplicity tariff)
Unlimited data
and wifi
Handset Price £184.98

Total £801.66

You would be £167.40 better off, which is £9.30 a mth better off buying the phone on a 18mth contract

simon69c · 02-10-2009, 08:53

Well first off you haven't picked the best options for Simplicity for the comparison there. If you are wanting both unlimited web and wifi then you are better off getting the next highest Simplicity tariff (£19.58/month for 600 mins / 1200 texts) as you can choose unlimited web or wifi as an inclusive bolt on, and then you just need to pay for a single extra bolt on. Overall the monthly cost will be just £26.92 rather than the £29.37 in your example - and you will get far more inclusive minutes and texts as well.

In your example you also didn't take into account that part of the whole appeal of Simplicity is that you aren't locked in to 18 months and can leave at any time - so comparing an 18 month iPhone contract with 18 months of Simplicity perhaps isn't an ideal comparison (especially as the iPhone is tending towards an annual refresh and so an 18 month contract isn't ideal). If you really are wanting to compare 18 months with 18 months then it is fairer to do the first 12 months of Simplicity as the fixed 12 months contract version, which increases the bundled minutes to 800 and texts to 1600 (for the same monthly cost). On that basis the overall 18 month cost for Simplicity is £924.96, but includes far more minutes and texts than the equivalent iPhone tariff - which may suit someone more.

Also I think it is arguable whether you would actually need the unlimited wifi bundle anyway - for most people I think the unlimited web would be more than sufficient. All the wifi bundle does is give you access to the cloud and bt openzone hotspots - and I could count the number times I've personally used those over the past 3 years on one hand. You don't need the wifi bundle to use wifi access points in general. If you don't bother with the unlimited wifi bolt on and just stick with Unlimited web then Simplicity becomes just £792.84 over the 18 months, which is less than the iPhone contract overall cost - and still includes all those extra minutes and texts.

If you are a big texter (e.g. >500 texts per month) then you are almost certainly better off going with Simplicity anyway, because the iPhone tariffs can't get an unlimited texts bolt on. The most you can increase the inclusive 500 texts by is an additional 500 texts for £7.34 / month. Simplicity will already be offering more texts than that anyway without any extra cost (1200 or 1600 depending on 1 month rolling or 12 month fixed contract) and for the same additional £7.34 per month it would boost it up to unlimited.

Oh and you can get the PAYG iPhone from the Apple website (or its stores). Might be worth waiting to see what happens once Orange start selling the iPhone though, as Apple may start selling unlocked iPhones from their stores and website - and these will be worth more 2nd hand than locked handsets if you want to get the new iPhone when it launches next year.

myromeo · 02-10-2009, 08:57

if you do that you need to change a few settings in the iphone because by default (on O2) it is set up to use the iphone tariff.

you need to change the data accounts to the normal O2 data account, i think the details are on the O2 site or you could just ask O2 to do it in store.

FWIW I got the 16gb 3G on the £35 a month tarif, paid £57 for the handset and because ive been with O2 so long get a £10 a month discount... works out at about £500 for the 18 month deal and handset

simon69c · 02-10-2009, 09:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by myromeo

FWIW I got the 16gb 3G on the £35 a month tarif, paid £57 for the handset and because ive been with O2 so long get a £10 a month discount... works out at about £500 for the 18 month deal and handset

Nice deal on the line rental - not heard of anyone managing to get anything like that on iPhone contracts before. That's the old 3G rather than the new 3GS though isn't it? The 3GS unfortunately costs a fair bit more than the 3G did - so the comparison isn't directly applicable to the above examples.

myromeo · 02-10-2009, 09:11

aye its the 3G... i didnt see the point in waiting for the 3GS when the additional features were of no interest to me

the £10 a month discount has been on my account for about 4, maybe 5 years. they have always just left it on

Tenacious Pee · 02-10-2009, 14:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by simon69c

Well first off you haven't picked the best options for Simplicity for the comparison there. If you are wanting both unlimited web and wifi then you are better off getting the next highest Simplicity tariff (£19.58/month for 600 mins / 1200 texts) as you can choose unlimited web or wifi as an inclusive bolt on, and then you just need to pay for a single extra bolt on. Overall the monthly cost will be just £26.92 rather than the £29.37 in your example - and you will get far more inclusive minutes and texts as well.

good call!!!

I didn't realise there was unlimited web or wifi option on the higher simplicity tariff.

Iphone, is back on the list of phones that i'm looking at, my list was quite short as it was

Blackberry Bold or HTC Hero

Cheers Simon69c

30-09-2009, 22:18	#1
lookoutapiano! Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 3,559	iPhone with o2 I'm currently on an o2 contract with a contract which has unlimited texts and a bolt on for unlimited web. If I was to buy an iPhone unlocked and sim free and put my o2 sim in there would it work okay with my current contract? Or do you need to have a specific iPhone contract? Cheers

30-09-2009, 22:36	#2
ThePhenom Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 1,262	I think you should be OK to put your current contract SIM into an iPhone, though it may need some sort of activation. I have a friend who has done this and its all fine for him. No special iPhone contract.

30-09-2009, 22:49	#3
kosmos5457 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anglesey Posts: 1,262	I have an O2 Simplicity SIM in an O2 PAYG iPhone and it works fine. Only thing I don't get is Visual Voicemail and there doesn't seem to be any button available for internet tethering in networks. There has been a suggestion made that it is because I don't have an iPhone tariff. Anyway, everything else is fine and for what it is worth, you get a much better deal not having an iPhone tariff and then buying the phone outright. Whether you use the PAYG SIM or contract SIM in the phone, that is up to you.

01-10-2009, 10:31	#4
sla_steve Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Belfast, N.Ireland Posts: 1,457	i did the same thing. had one slight problem - my SIM card was old it wasnt 3G enabled. Easy enough to sort out though just by popping into an o2 store and getting them to do a SIM tranfer. why would you buy it unlocked and SIM free though? Would it not be cheaper to buy a PAYG one?

01-10-2009, 20:27	#5
lookoutapiano! Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 3,559	I had a gander on play.com and could only see an unlocked one. Do o2 sell them PAYG then? Thanks for the replies, I do think it would be cheaper overall to buy the phone outright and stick with my current contract.

01-10-2009, 21:00	#6
Tenacious Pee Guest Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 1,088	Quote: Originally Posted by lookoutapiano! I had a gander on play.com and could only see an unlocked one. Do o2 sell them PAYG then? Thanks for the replies, I do think it would be cheaper overall to buy the phone outright and stick with my current contract. o2 do offer the iphone on PAYG both versions but they seem to out of stock the 3Gs in black and white at the moment. I was working out this for myself, i am on a simplicity contract, and was going to buy a PAYG iphone 3Gs and put my sim into it here's the price comparison PAYG iphone 3Gs £440.40 Simplicity Tariff 300mins - 600 txt unlimited 02 to 02 £14.69/mth Wifi and Data bolt on £14.68/mth Based on 18 months usage total cost £969.06 18mth 600 min - 500 txt £34.26/mth (closest tariff to my simplicity tariff) Unlimited data and wifi Handset Price £184.98 Total £801.66 You would be £167.40 better off, which is £9.30 a mth better off buying the phone on a 18mth contract

02-10-2009, 08:53	#7
simon69c Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Glasgow Posts: 1,415	Well first off you haven't picked the best options for Simplicity for the comparison there. If you are wanting both unlimited web and wifi then you are better off getting the next highest Simplicity tariff (£19.58/month for 600 mins / 1200 texts) as you can choose unlimited web or wifi as an inclusive bolt on, and then you just need to pay for a single extra bolt on. Overall the monthly cost will be just £26.92 rather than the £29.37 in your example - and you will get far more inclusive minutes and texts as well. In your example you also didn't take into account that part of the whole appeal of Simplicity is that you aren't locked in to 18 months and can leave at any time - so comparing an 18 month iPhone contract with 18 months of Simplicity perhaps isn't an ideal comparison (especially as the iPhone is tending towards an annual refresh and so an 18 month contract isn't ideal). If you really are wanting to compare 18 months with 18 months then it is fairer to do the first 12 months of Simplicity as the fixed 12 months contract version, which increases the bundled minutes to 800 and texts to 1600 (for the same monthly cost). On that basis the overall 18 month cost for Simplicity is £924.96, but includes far more minutes and texts than the equivalent iPhone tariff - which may suit someone more. Also I think it is arguable whether you would actually need the unlimited wifi bundle anyway - for most people I think the unlimited web would be more than sufficient. All the wifi bundle does is give you access to the cloud and bt openzone hotspots - and I could count the number times I've personally used those over the past 3 years on one hand. You don't need the wifi bundle to use wifi access points in general. If you don't bother with the unlimited wifi bolt on and just stick with Unlimited web then Simplicity becomes just £792.84 over the 18 months, which is less than the iPhone contract overall cost - and still includes all those extra minutes and texts. If you are a big texter (e.g. >500 texts per month) then you are almost certainly better off going with Simplicity anyway, because the iPhone tariffs can't get an unlimited texts bolt on. The most you can increase the inclusive 500 texts by is an additional 500 texts for £7.34 / month. Simplicity will already be offering more texts than that anyway without any extra cost (1200 or 1600 depending on 1 month rolling or 12 month fixed contract) and for the same additional £7.34 per month it would boost it up to unlimited. Oh and you can get the PAYG iPhone from the Apple website (or its stores). Might be worth waiting to see what happens once Orange start selling the iPhone though, as Apple may start selling unlocked iPhones from their stores and website - and these will be worth more 2nd hand than locked handsets if you want to get the new iPhone when it launches next year.

02-10-2009, 08:57	#8
myromeo Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Tyne & Wear Posts: 1,326	if you do that you need to change a few settings in the iphone because by default (on O2) it is set up to use the iphone tariff. you need to change the data accounts to the normal O2 data account, i think the details are on the O2 site or you could just ask O2 to do it in store. FWIW I got the 16gb 3G on the £35 a month tarif, paid £57 for the handset and because ive been with O2 so long get a £10 a month discount... works out at about £500 for the 18 month deal and handset

02-10-2009, 09:08	#9
simon69c Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Glasgow Posts: 1,415	Quote: Originally Posted by myromeo FWIW I got the 16gb 3G on the £35 a month tarif, paid £57 for the handset and because ive been with O2 so long get a £10 a month discount... works out at about £500 for the 18 month deal and handset Nice deal on the line rental - not heard of anyone managing to get anything like that on iPhone contracts before. That's the old 3G rather than the new 3GS though isn't it? The 3GS unfortunately costs a fair bit more than the 3G did - so the comparison isn't directly applicable to the above examples.

02-10-2009, 09:11	#10
myromeo Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Tyne & Wear Posts: 1,326	aye its the 3G... i didnt see the point in waiting for the 3GS when the additional features were of no interest to me the £10 a month discount has been on my account for about 4, maybe 5 years. they have always just left it on

02-10-2009, 14:53	#11
Tenacious Pee Guest Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 1,088	Quote: Originally Posted by simon69c Well first off you haven't picked the best options for Simplicity for the comparison there. If you are wanting both unlimited web and wifi then you are better off getting the next highest Simplicity tariff (£19.58/month for 600 mins / 1200 texts) as you can choose unlimited web or wifi as an inclusive bolt on, and then you just need to pay for a single extra bolt on. Overall the monthly cost will be just £26.92 rather than the £29.37 in your example - and you will get far more inclusive minutes and texts as well. good call!!! I didn't realise there was unlimited web or wifi option on the higher simplicity tariff. Iphone, is back on the list of phones that i'm looking at, my list was quite short as it was Blackberry Bold or HTC Hero Cheers Simon69c

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iPhone with o2