My orange contract is up in later in the year, if I can get a deal on one I'd probably get an iphone, if I can't I'll get something decent beforehand.

Currently I get £10 a month off a £25 contract for loyalty and free internet – am I likely to get this carried over if I threaten to leave, or are there really no deals?

I tried this with O2 a couple of times over the phone. There weren't having any of it.

I got a £150 credit to my account on an 18 month contract with Orange when I traded in a 10 year old phone – that was on a nokia 5800, though.

problem with iphones is they're too popular but might be worth threatening orange with leaving them and see what they can do.

no, no one will move on the pricing of the iPhone. demand is such that they can shift what they need to, and fairly regular updates keeps demand high.

great devices, mine's excellent.

(I got the phone for free instead of £100 on o2 as it was a 'refurb' – they offer these to current o2 customers as and when they are available, which is very very rarely).

I asked orange when I was after a new phone – they wre very much in a "no deals" mode then but it was when they'd just started doing them. Got a Hero for free instead.

I would think there may be deals to be had but you'd need to be a bigger spender than a £25 contract. Also worth knowing that you'll also need to renegotiate your discount when the contract is up as its tied to contract length (or was in my case)

Thanks all, looks like I'll stick to lemonade phones for now then…tried a Pulse, and while android is good, I don't need apps for everything, and the camera is soo sh*te, I'm going back to something conventional like a nokia or sony.

Any comments on N86 vs W995? Can I get basic apps like sportstracker and maps for the latter?

What about the new Google Nexus?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8442205.stm

edit: hmm vodafone only by the look of it.

Wait for the 'Nexus 6' and that true 'blade runner' feel…

i got a decent enough deal on uprading to an i-phone on t-mobile (either free or £80 depending on 18-24month contract £30 per month) but didn't bother asking for a discount on the monthly cost, there is no need for them to discount as the phones are flying off the shelves.

The networks generally don't care much about retention if you're a low spender on contract (under £30 or so per month) and only get really interested if you're a heavy spender, even better if you're exceeding your inclusive minutes and getting billed on top.

It used to be about building market share so they were keen to get and retain anyone to keep the numbers up. These days it's about profitability so unless they're making plenty of money out of you they don't really care if you go to someone else.

As for the iPhone, they're selling well without discounting. Plus the network has to pay Apple for the privilege of carrying them so they don't have anywhere near as much room to move on price as with everything else.

Once the Nexus One is released there might be some more competition in the "smartphone" market.

I think the Nexus will be sold unlokced anyway..But yeah you wont get a deal out of any of the mobile companies right now, Im trying to get a deal with Vodafone but they wont budge & Ive been with them for over 10 years! (Both as a high value Business customer & for personal use).. 👿

I think the Nexus will be sold unlokced anyway

Yup.

https://www.google.com/phone/choose?locale=en_US&s7e=

Speaking as a user I wouldn't rush to get an iphone. The only reasons I'm sticking with mine are that my employer pays for it and it syncs with the apple laptops.

i got a decent enough deal on uprading to an i-phone on t-mobile (either free or £80 depending on 18-24month contract £30 per month) but didn't bother asking for a discount on the monthly cost, there is no need for them to discount as the phones are flying off the shelves.

I thought TMobile did't do iPhones??????????

they do if you ask nicely.

Speaking as a user I wouldn't rush to get an iphone. The only reasons I'm sticking with mine are that my employer pays for it and it syncs with the apple laptops.

I'm starting to think that way, especially if my spend would have to increase, I'd miss a decent camera and radio, though the UI is ace.

after reading this post on friday i called o2 and with some very gentle persuasion managed to get them to do a 3gS 16g for free on the £35 tarif (should be £90) so the ARE doing deals. i'm not a big spender either – current tariff is £25 and save for the occasional 50p worth of roaming, i never go over. happy days.

i was all set to get a 16gb 3GS on tesco PAYG ( I'd done the maths).
rang o2 for the PAC code and they offered me a referb for free @ 31/month, pushed it and got the 32Gb for 35/month.
the phone is mint, it's just brilliant.

£60 cashback via quidco

I would imagine o2 are more open to deals not Voda/Orange and Tesco are doing the iPhone.

I was able to upgrade with Vodafone 7 months before the end of my contract, but further discounts.

t-mobile phones will not tether the internet to a laptop as the phones are not officially supplied by apple in the u.k (t-mobile source unlocked phones from elsewhere, mine is from saudi arabia) i paid t-mobile for the phone but it was supplied through a 3rd party (chitter chatter)
i guess when orange and t-mobile officially merge then the phone will be fully supported. one of their engineers unofficially told me to jailbreak it 🙂 was going to but decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

I was able to upgrade with Vodafone 7 months before the end of my contract, but further discounts.

How you manage that, I'm with Vodafone and my N96 has a cracked screen I've got about 4 months left?

(I got the phone for free instead of £100 on o2 as it was a 'refurb' – they offer these to current o2 customers as and when they are available, which is very very rarely).

I got one of these back in September….. basically a new phone. Good deal.

It's worth pointing out that anyone who's got a contract ending in the next six or seven months to hold on for the next gen iPhone, which will be announced at WWDC in June. This will almost certainly have 64Gb in the top model, with a 5Mp camera. There may well be a significant speed bump to the processor, and probably double the RAM as well. My contract happily runs out at the end of May…