[gadget_uk]

Hi guys,

When buying a new phone, are there any reliable websites that you can recommend that are good to buy sim-free phones from?

Also, when signing up to a contract, which is the best route to take?

1.Use a website such Uswitch etc to compare deals and sign up via a third party on that site.
2.Sign-up directly with a network.
3.Sign-up through the Carphone Warehouse.

I am thinking about phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 or HTC One M9.

Thanks in advance.

[clewsy]

I have been thinking about this myself as looking at an Iphone and think that it is clear in the longer term you can get a better deal if you buy the phone yourself and then get a sim only deal. I did that with my Nexus 4 and think it has worked out at £17.50 a month and in fairness it is the google update that has annoyed me and made the phone crap.

I am thinking of this Honor 6 Plus as looking to upgrade, however what are peoples thoughts on this? I am not sure if its good that it isn't on Android 5 as who knows if people will stop supporting apps on 4.4 in the future?

http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/huawei-honor-6-plus/

[iTech]

Sim free every time. I use Giff Gaff, they are excellent. Order and get the phone next day. They say that if you go for the monthly payments then there is a 9 per cent interest charge but because they often have phones cheaper than retail (iPhone 30-40 cheaper) then the 9 per cent becomes irrelevant.

I then use my £15 Three One Plan sim. Total cost 28 plus 15 for a 64G iPhone 6 plus. That's £43 when through a network you would be looking at £55 plus for that kind of deal. Or you could go lower as the Vodafone sims through mobile direct or Vodafone direct (for both apply quidco), would bring down the monthly cost for my set up to about £36/7 a month.

[moox]

Carphone Warehouse (though not for iPhones if they still do that locking bollox), Amazon (not the third parties who sell on there though), Clove, Google (if you want a Nexus), Apple for iPhones, some phone manufacturers also run their own sales sites.

I wouldn't recommend Expansys

As for the best route, you'd want to look at the price of a SIM free phone + SIM only contract or PAYG deal and compare that to getting a contract for 24 months

Also look if the likes of Quidco are offering cashback

[finbaar]

I would advise waiting a wee bit for the price of the phones to drop and sites such as smartfonestore to get customer returns in. Although it's nice to be first it doesn't always make financial sense.
Try looking on HotUKDeals for people posting cheap deals.

[alan1302]

Quote:

Originally Posted by finbaar

I would advise waiting a wee bit for the price of the phones to drop and sites such as smartfonestore to get customer returns in. Although it's nice to be first it doesn't always make financial sense.
Try looking on HotUKDeals for people posting cheap deals.

Unless you really want the latest phone it's always a good idea to get the previous phone so the S5 or M8 would be much better buys and still very capable phones.

[St. Anthony]

There are some good contract deals about, I am with three, and there recent contract deals ain't that good, but I have found a third party offering some very tempting deals...

Examples...
http://www.buymobiles.net/basket

They seem legit, and also offering £40 quidco I think. Seem to be only 3rd party company doing decent Three deals (they also do EE).

Another such company is www.mobiles.co.uk they do the other networks, and are linked to CPW apparently.

[Theporter]

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/vodafone-vo...tid=MAOTMFEB15
Unl mins
Unl texts
10gb data
Free spotify or sky
£10 a month after redemption cashback
Unbeatable Imo
12 month contract

[moox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theporter

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/vodafone-vo...tid=MAOTMFEB15
Unl mins
Unl texts
10gb data
Free spotify or sky
£10 a month after redemption cashback
Unbeatable Imo
12 month contract

The problem with these deals is that if you don't follow the rules to the letter they'll easily and happily deny any cashback payments - I think that includes sending them copies of all your bills, which may be a privacy risk. I'm not sure how reputable the site is, although it is owned by Dixons Carphone so they probably aren't going to go bust any time soon

[Theporter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moox

The problem with these deals is that if you don't follow the rules to the letter they'll easily and happily deny any cashback payments - I think that includes sending them copies of all your bills, which may be a privacy risk. I'm not sure how reputable the site is, although it is owned by Dixons Carphone so they probably aren't going to go bust any time soon

I have been doing these for years never had a problem touch wood, bills can be emailed instead of posted set a reminder job done like you said part of cpw so will be fine

[jonmorris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clewsy

I have been thinking about this myself as looking at an Iphone and think that it is clear in the longer term you can get a better deal if you buy the phone yourself and then get a sim only deal. I did that with my Nexus 4 and think it has worked out at £17.50 a month and in fairness it is the google update that has annoyed me and made the phone crap.

I am thinking of this Honor 6 Plus as looking to upgrade, however what are peoples thoughts on this? I am not sure if its good that it isn't on Android 5 as who knows if people will stop supporting apps on 4.4 in the future?

http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/huawei-honor-6-plus/

The Honor 6 Plus is quite an impressive phone. I had a look at it more recently (March and in fact yesterday). Should be on sale within two weeks.

http://jmcomms.com/2015/03/05/hands-...g-to-three-uk/

http://jmcomms.com/2015/03/05/honor-...image-samples/

Another good example of buying SIM free (or PAYG, but unlocked from Three) and then paying around £18-20 a month instead of £30-40, and £50 or more for a flagship phone that STILL has an upfront cost on top. Oh, and a 24 month lock in.

SIM Free FTW!

[d'@ve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gadget_uk

Hi guys,

When buying a new phone, are there any reliable websites that you can recommend that are good to buy sim-free phones from?

Also, when signing up to a contract, which is the best route to take?

1.Use a website such Uswitch etc to compare deals and sign up via a third party on that site.
2.Sign-up directly with a network.
3.Sign-up through the Carphone Warehouse.

I am thinking about phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 or HTC One M9.

Thanks in advance.

If you are on BT broadband, don't ignore BT Mobile (sim only) - you get a £5pm discount, 12 month contract, and £50 off a handful of list-price phones. That means, in the case of the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini and low-end BT 12 month contract that I am looking at (net £5/month), my savings will pay for the phone in 13 months compared to a similar 'value' £17 a month contract with free S4 mini that lasts 24 months. Effectively not too far off half price - though other comparisons will vary. Even without the BT broadband discount, I'd pay for the phone in 22 months with the monthly savings, so still a bit cheaper.

[jonmorris]

Yes, if you've got a BT line and aren't worried about being capped at 30Mbps (that's hardly slow!) and being unable to tether (officially, as it seems to work) then it seems like a very good option.

EE's network is solid, and the 20GB tariff is really cheap and very generous.

[clewsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

The Honor 6 Plus is quite an impressive phone. I had a look at it more recently (March and in fact yesterday). Should be on sale within two weeks.

http://jmcomms.com/2015/03/05/hands-...g-to-three-uk/

http://jmcomms.com/2015/03/05/honor-...image-samples/

Another good example of buying SIM free (or PAYG, but unlocked from Three) and then paying around £18-20 a month instead of £30-40, and £50 or more for a flagship phone that STILL has an upfront cost on top. Oh, and a 24 month lock in.

SIM Free FTW!

It looks like it could be the new nexus for some customers like myself who are not taken by the nexus 6 but the 5.5 screen is the maximum at what seems to appeal.

[grumpyoldbat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theporter

I have been doing these for years never had a problem touch wood, bills can be emailed instead of posted set a reminder job done like you said part of cpw so will be fine

These cashback arrangements work on the premise that several months down the line people forget to send in their bills and so don't claim the cashback. They're great for people who are organised and remember to send things in on time. They're a bad idea for disorganised people.

[Mike_1101]

I read somewhere that
SIM only = "soft" credit agency search (not visible to other lenders)
contract = "hard" search visible to anyone searching the files for 12 months. Best kept to the absolute minimum.

Does that still apply?

[clewsy]

Has anyone on here seen the Honor 6 Plus up close and personal? Just wondering if it looks as well built in person as it looks from the pictures online.

[d123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clewsy

Has anyone on here seen the Honor 6 Plus up close and personal? Just wondering if it looks as well built in person as it looks from the pictures online.

In the post 6 places up ^^^ Jon Morris has a link to his hands on inspection of one.

http://jmcomms.com/2015/03/05/hands-...g-to-three-uk/

http://jmcomms.com/2015/04/16/honor-...hree-uk-debut/

[JulesandSand]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alan1302

Unless you really want the latest phone it's always a good idea to get the previous phone so the S5 or M8 would be much better buys and still very capable phones.

This is my approach - I bought a Note 3 soon after the Note 4 came out at a reasonable discount and have my sim-only plan sim in it.

I save about £300 - £400 over 2 years doing it this way rather than getting a network-supplied handset.

I generally buy them from Amazon (not 3rd party sellers many of whom sell grey imports) and get a better price for them when I sell them on as they are unlocked and unbranded.

[shaggy_x]

I like having the latest and greatest mobile phones but I'm not tupid and won't fork out silly sim free money unless it's really justified. I usually wait 6 months or so after release and wait for second hand ones to appear on forums like this and buy then and have been using a sim only contract for the past 8 or so years.

Currently have a note 4 and when i get tired of it I'll sell for an iPhone.

sim only is not always the cheapest way to go though. Mobiles.Co.UK are doing EE 24 months contract for 23.49 and 120 up front for an iphone 6. Works out cheaper than sim free plus sim only combo over 2 years and even better with quidco.

[onephat]

I'd hardly call sim free silly.

I purchased my iPhone 6 sim free from apple, yeh it was a hefty initial outlay at very nearly £700 but i now have total flexibility over my monthly usage. I can chop and change networks and change tariffs as my needs change. It does work out cheaper but maybe not as much as people would initially think (although it really does depend on your usage).

Work out your usage and what that would cost you sim free vs what you would pay monthly to an operator for a phone and contract and i bet you save money over the 2 years.

[shaggy_x]

Quote:

Originally Posted by onephat

I'd hardly call sim free silly.

I purchased my iPhone 6 sim free from apple, yeh it was a hefty initial outlay at very nearly £700 but i now have total flexibility over my monthly usage. I can chop and change networks and change tariffs as my needs change. It does work out cheaper but maybe not as much as people would initially think (although it really does depend on your usage).

Work out your usage and what that would cost you sim free vs what you would pay monthly to an operator for a phone and contract and i bet you save money over the 2 years.

I agree it works out cheaper but not all the time. See my example of the iPhone 6 contract above. got one for the family already lol