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Old 18-11-2015, 20:44
hybridtheory
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland
Posts: 744

Hi

Is there a difference between buying a mobile fone direct from the Network Provider than buying from the likes of:

http://www.mobile.co.uk

or

http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk

Other than price difference, is there really any difference?

Thanks

Baz
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Old 18-11-2015, 21:36
david16
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Location: Central Belt
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I originally bought a network PAYG phone rather than sim free one, but I found it not really worth it because even if the network PAYG phone you bought is cheaper than the sim free one, unlocking to switch networks added an extra cost to the phone making it more expensive overall than the sim free one that was in sale at the time. You are also forced to pay a top up on a network PAYG phone in the shop when you buy it.

Sim free you just pop in any sim card from any network and you don't have to worry about unlocking costs if you want to switch networks.
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Old 20-11-2015, 11:23
Claire_Small
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Join Date: Feb 2015
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Personally I prefer to purchase the handset outright and stick the best value SIM only contract into it.

For instance, My Nexus 5 is 2 years old. I paid £300 for the handset and £7/month for the SIM (1,000 mins, unlim texts a 1GB data - this was a Tesco mobile deal at the time).

£300 + £168 = £468. If I had have taken out a pay monthly contract for the handset at the time, I would have faced paying c£27/month for what I have now, amounting to £648 over 2 years.

Always best to do the maths, saving £100 a year and having the exact same phone and tariff is not bad.
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Old 20-11-2015, 11:36
preecey
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Swansea, Wales
Posts: 145
Hi

Is there a difference between buying a mobile fone direct from the Network Provider than buying from the likes of:

http://www.mobile.co.uk

or

http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk

Other than price difference, is there really any difference?

Thanks

Baz
Don't you mean mobiles.co.uk?

Anyway, to answer your question - yes, there is.

Mobile phones purchased from Carphone Warehouse or their subsidiaries like mobiles.co.uk or most other third party sites are nearly always unlocked from day one. They're also in the most part completely unbranded with no network bloatware or start up images.
Mobiles purchased from the network operators directly are usually locked to their respective networks, with the exception of Three, who no longer lock their phones. Android and Windows Phones purchased from the network operators directly will most likely have network branding and/or preinstalled bloatware. This is more common in cheaper handsets though.

Be aware that iPhones purchased from Carphone Warehouse/mobiles.co.uk/e2save will lock to the network of the first SIM card inserted. This only applies to iPhones though, and not Android, Windows Phone or 'dumb' phones.
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