Ok, so after having mobiles for about 20 years, I am finally in the position of my contract coming up for renewal at the same time as a brand new iPhone has come out.

So I’m looking at upgrading from my iPhone 4 which is very exciting. Its the first phone I have ever had that I am not desperate to replace, but some of the buttons are getting a bit dicky and it seems churlish not to.

BUT. Is the move from the 5 to the 5S worth the extra money ? And am I better off buying a 5S outright and getting a SIM only deal ? It doesn’t seem like there is much of a saving on a 4G tariff, is 4G that much better than 3g ??

Also, data, I work from a wifi location, I seem to use about 250-500mb a month and less than 1000 texts a month and probably only 300 or so minutes of calling, so not a massive user. Is it worth the aggro or should I just be looking for an uber cheap sim only deal and buy an iphone 5 ??

Thanks
Sean

The 5 is a very good phone (I have a 4S which is also good) and if you are not overly fussed about the improved speed and camera improvements then a 5 or 5C (if you can stand the colours) would be a good option.

4G is a big step up over 3G in terms of speed, whether you’d see a benefit depends how your use the phone (which may change of course), as you are at a wifi location mostly perhaps you don’t care and will take the cost savings.

I would check out three mobile and see how the coverage is in the areas you need. I have an EE phone and 3 mobile wifi device both 3G and the three is much faster due to less clogged network. So I’d personally be happy with three 3G (and they’ve co itted not to charge more for 4g when it rolls out) than pay premium to EE.

In summary if I were you I’d upgrade and buy the phone outright and take a rolling 1 month contract or max 12 months.

The main thing you need to consider is do you spend a lot of time in areas with 4G coverage?
Without the coverage what’s the point in paying for it?

4G is a big step up over 3G in terms of speed

On paper it is, in practice when simply surfing it makes a pretty small but still noticeable difference. Don’t pay any extra just for 4G

Another point to make, although O2 will be rolling out 4G, the 4G frequency they have been allocated will not work with the Iphone 5s
Obviously they are not broadcasting that fact but its holding me back from renewing 2 phones on a business tarrif with them until there is some resolution.

TBH we haven’t even got full 3G coverage in Norfolk on any network, but that’s another rant entirely

Another point to make, although O2 will be rolling out 4G, the 4G frequency they have been allocated will not work with the Iphone 5s

That’s not true. The 5c and 5s models that are on sale in the UK both work on O2’s / Vodafone’s 4G network.

The old iphone 5 that EE sold was limited to 4G 1800MHz which is the freqency that EE have rolled out 4G at. To be honest the most useful difference with the 5C and 5S is that they’ll work on all the UK networks.*

*Note that as a standard LTE (aka 4G) is somewhat disperate and has so many frequency bands that it’s not pratical to have one model that’ll work with them all (they need different physical antennas) so there are a lot of different 5C and 5S modesl. However the ones on sale in the UK should work on all 4g networks – just don’t buy a US one and expect it to work on this side of the pond.

I read somewhere that the 5S runs on something like eighteen different frequencies, so it can be used on China Mobile’s network, which is unique to them, as well as most other global systems.
If you’re moving from a 4, I’d say go for it, as it’ll be a big jump speed-wise, as well as the improvements in the camera.
However, if you can live with the 4, sticky buttons and all, (maybe a visit to an Apple Store about that might get you somewhere), this time next year the iPhone will get a full-scale upgrade, probably with changes to the form-factor, possibly screen technology, (IZGO), next-gen processor, (A8, 20Nm), and maybe, at last, new materials.
My upgrades have gone 3G/4/5, so I’ll be upgrading next year, and TBH I prefer to skip the intermediate upgrades, get the full-fat whizzy re-design. 😀
I still use my 4, I love it’s solid feel, and I use it for navigation and as an iPod. It has a 3 SIM in it, and it gets used for browsing the net as well, ‘cos of the unlimited broadband, although the signal is rather patchy around North Wilts.

Pretty sure there are multiple 5s versions for each continent.
Aus, Euro, US and china

edit: yupp

http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

double post so deleted

I currently use the bog standard iphone 4 64gb which i’ve had for 3+ years, the screen is cracked, the glass back is held together with gorilla tape and the home button is somewhat unpredictable, i thought about upgrading to a 5s with it’s smart camera and all singing all dancing processor but to be honest we don’t get get a 3g network where i live never mind a 4g network ,i’ve never even used a 3g network yet!. Don’t get me wrong i am as much an apple fanboy as anyone, been using macs since 1999 and i despise having to use the PC at work but pay £700+ for the privilege of having a slightly better camera and faster processor for the stuff i don’t use – no thanks.

Why not fix the screen?

ps theres no such thing as a 4 64gb

wysiwyg, you’re quite right, my iphone 4 is 32gb, my borked iphone4s sitting in the drawer is 64gb but alas it did not like a water bath.

I’ve replaced the screen in the iphone 4 twice and the back once, i’ve also replaced the headphone socket, i was going to replace the cracked glass back last weekend but on attempting to remove the gorillia tape i managed to get a slim sliver of glass embedded in my thumb with nae chance of removal so i rapidly took the huff wi it and wrapped it up with more tape, and a sticker on top -childish huh?.

The screen works ok, i’ll replace it if the crack gets worse or it affects the use but until that point i’ll leave it be – a genuine screen costs a fortune and the crap plastic backs are useless for use with the camera as the plastic lens distorts the pics.

The crack ain’t that bad, as long as the glass will stay in i’ll leave it alone,

The back has a KS lev sticker on top of the gorillia tape so it’s obviously more reliable than a Rockshox equipped iphone 😉

Custom!
Wanna sell the junked 4s? I need a screen

Im buying a 5s outright.

Costs £549 from apple. Spread that over 2 years like a contract and it’s £22 a month. Add a sim only contract at £10 and you have a 5s for £32 a month. Better than the £40+ mobile comps are wanting for it.

I would buy one too if I could find an apple store with stock.

32 Gb min.