Mobile phone contracts... sim only vs sim and mobile

[carphotographer]

My contract with 02 as expired and now have the option to have a "free upgrade with new contract", continue as normal or go for a sim only deal.
I've currently got the iPhone 11, I use it on a daily basis to surf the internet, catch up on social media, take photos and video.
The new phone is iPhone 14 and I will be basically paying the same £50 / month.

The 11 has served me well and am happy with what it can offer . So my thoughts are to keep the iPhone 11 ( I may spend £80 for a new battery in the next year ) go for the Sim only for £25 or perhaps upgrade to the 14 .

Thoughts and suggestions and do people only go for sim only ?

[mcflurry]

Or sim only elsewhere for a lot less than £25 ?

[boyse7en]

I've been Sim-only for years (on a much cheaper contract than you are looking at though). If you are happy to keep a phone for about three years before you upgrade then it is a money saver. If you like to have the latest and greatest every six months then probably not so advantageous.

The other advantage is if you lose/damage your phone you just buy a new one. Guy at work had an iPhone 14 on contract, left it on his car roof and drove off. Result is he has had to buy a secondhand iPhone and still carry on paying off the iphone 14 for the next two years. double whammy.

[boyse7en]

mcflurry said:

Or sim only elsewhere for a lot less than £25 ?

I pay £10 per month for all calls, texts and 15GB data, but for an extra £5 per month I could have 60GB data.

£15 for a month should cover most usage unless you are using to stream video every day, or some other very heavy use.

[SpudLink]

I moved to a SIM only deal many years ago. I pay £22 a month to THREE for unlimited calls/text/data. And tethering included, so I can use my phone as a wifi hotspot if needed. (I don't know if the full all-you-can-eat package is still available to new customners.)

I haven't felt the need to upgrade my phone since the iPhone 7 Plus, as there haven't been any new features that I would really use. However this year I do fancy a new phone, even though the existing one does everything I want or need. (Battery capacity is 68%, which isn't terrible, but isn't great.)

I figure I've saved well over £2k, which is more than enough to treat myself to a shiny new iPhone 15 Plus when they are released.

I would defiantly recommend SIM only. But maybe not if you want a new phone every year.

[mcflurry]

ID are doing 60gb for a tenner at the moment, or smarty have unlimited everything for £16 (if your 3 network coverage is suitable)
GiffGaff are an MVNO on the o2 network and do 20gb for £10 if you prefer that coverage..

https://www.idmobile.co.uk/sim-only-deals
https://smarty.co.uk/plans/unlimited
https://www.giffgaff.com/freesim-goodybag

[cobra kid]

Sim only every time. 30 day rolling contract so you chop and change as you like and can swap phones without hassle as well.

[Masiv]

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/o2-100gb-200gb-wi...

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sim-only-5g-20gb-...

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/id-mobile-12-mont...

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/vodafone-100gb-5g...

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lebara-21gb-data-...



I've been sim free for a decade and would never go back to a contract.

[lufbramatt]

Been through all this recently and did all the sums. Ended up on a sim only for about £8 a month, and bought an apple refurbed Iphone 13 for about £25/month interest free credit. Saved hundreds over the same phone on contract.

[paulrockliffe]

I pay £8 a month for unlimited text, data and 30gb of data. Then I either buy a new older phone for about £400 on eBay, or use Samsung Finance to pay monthly for a new new phone, upgrading every couple of years. Which option is best is a balance between cost and whether the latest phones are a good improvement on what I have already.

Either approach is a good bit cheaper than having the network sell you the phone, plus you stop paying for the phone when you've paid for it, so you're not left paying extra for months while you wait for an upgrade tobe released. If you want to pay more and upgrade earlier, you can trade-in or buy a new phone earlier, if you want it cheaper just keep the phone longer.

For me the balance tends to fall on how good the Samsung trade -in offer is as that tends to get the monthly down enough to tip the balance.

[croyde]

I bought a Pixel 3a, which I still have so it's what, 4 years old, for £399 with a Chromebook thrown in.

SIM only started at £10 a month for unlimited calls/texts and 4gig, later ramped up to 40gig and cost of living has the monthly at £17. EE.

Could get it cheaper but as it's an old contract, European roaming is included.

I talk to people with the latest iPhones and going for a new one as soon as they come out and at their monthly spend. Madness.

[Glosphil]

boyse7en said:

mcflurry said:

Or sim only elsewhere for a lot less than £25 ?

I pay £10 per month for all calls, texts and 15GB data, but for an extra £5 per month I could have 60GB data.

£15 for a month should cover most usage unless you are using to stream video every day, or some other very heavy use.

I pay £16 a month for the same usage deal as you but it covers both my phone & the wife's - with BT/EE. I actually pay less (£11) as BT gave me £5 off my broadband when they changed our SIMs to EE to counter the increase in total cost.

There are even better deals out there.

Edited by Glosphil on Tuesday 15th August 12:56

[Cybertronian]

You'll be able to get a much better SIM-only deal from O2 if you call to ask for your Porting Authorisation Code to move to a rival network.

The code will give you 30 days to use it, and if you do nothing it will expire. You can simply ask for another one.

The agent on the phone will try and convince you to stay with a small discount. In my experience, the best discount is available if you decline and then within a couple of days, you'll receive a call from the retentions team with a much keener offer to stay.

Alternatively, take a look at USwitch's SIM-only deals for O2. Once you've selected one you like, simply go through the process and login when O2 prompts to you and you should see the option to 'upgrade' and move your account over to the new price plan. No fussing with call centres etc.

[mikey_b]

I pay £7.95 a month to TalkMobile. 20GB of data, unlimited texts and minutes. Because i joined in early March I get European roaming included as well.

I bought an iPhone 13 from Backmarket, second-hand (sorry, 'refurbed') but it was immaculate and still had 3 weeks of it's oiginal 12m AppleCare warranty left on it. Battery was showing 100% capacity too. That cost about £200 less than a new one. I'll keep it 2-3 years and probably do similar again. A much cheaper way of having a high end phone than paying £50 a month for a contract.

[SteBrown91]

I'm on talkmobile and pay £9.95 a month for 70GB of data and EU roaming.

There are good deals out there

[JiggyJaggy]

Im planning to go down the sim only route also and simply buy and own my own handset to chop and change as I please.

The one good thing about having a contract was my network provider (Voda UK) used to offer fantastic insurance including same day 4 hour replacement. So the question beckon's how is everyone Insuring their independent handsets?

I assume for Apple users it is through Apple Care, but what about Android owners and older iPhones?

[JiggyJaggy]

Also just spoke to Smarty online and they have a promo on for 60gb (instead of 30gb) for £10 pcm and I believe that is with Unlimited Calls / Texts. Fantastic deal imo.

[LeeM135i]

I have a Vodafone sim only contract which is unlimited calls and texts then 100GB of data for £17 a month. I usually upgrade my iPhone every 4 years (ish) often with a new battery at 3 years. Apple offer interest free finance on iPhones, my 12 Pro Max 256gb was £44 a month for 2 years (it's now paid for). When I got the iPhone Vodafone wanted £82 a month for the same phone and plan on a 2 year contract.

Our company do the same thing but buy the handsets from the Apple refurb store then have the sim only deal from the provider, unlimited everything including international calls costs £25/£28 a month which is a pretty good deal.

[Jamescrs]

You can get O2 Sim only deals £8 per month for 30GB data with free calls and Texts even as an existing O2 Customer, go onto the website USwitch and its on there, follow the link from the deal to the O2 website and press you are an existing customer and they will give you the deal, it's what I did and still available I believe

[Griffith4ever]

Break free! Phone contracts are simply finance for phones. You end up financing unecessary phone upgrades. If you can't afford £800 for the latest iPhone, sure, put it on tick (phone contract), otherwise, sim only costs a fraction.