I’ve just moved from contract to SIM-only with O2 for just as good a deal re minutes/texts/data and dropped the cost from £38 to £16.

That seems like a steal to me. According to them, there’s no downside, although obviously I have to keep the same phone. But for me that’s no great hardship, I don’t feel the need for a new phone every year…

I guess when I do need a new phone, I’ll have to pay for it, or start up a new contract which comes with a phone, but will have saved a chunk of money in the meantime…

Have I missed anything?

nope i do a SIM only for same reason
you dont get a new phone is the only downside

Giffgaff is even cheaper, and carried on the same network.

That’s the deal I’m on. 30 day contracts too so I can change any time. Boo-yah!!

£8 here for the full works sim only….

under a tenner on 3

giffgaff are spawn of the devil stay clear! tesco tho, they’re good. If you want a new phone it is cheaper to buy the e.g,. iphone from apple and go on a sim only than buy the contract and phione from e.g. O2

Works for me…bought a Nexus 4 direct from Google, got a Virgin mobile sim at £7 a month and its far cheaper than if I’d got the same phone and allowances as a package from Virgin

The thing with ‘free’ phones is they’re not free, you pay for them on the drip over 18 months / two years or whatever and it gets hidden in your rental. “SIM only” is the same service fees, only without paying for the phone at the same time.

I looked at O2’s website the other day and it seems they’re up front about this now, and touting some middle ground as a “new” way to pay.

Sim only isn’t the downside, o2 might be though based on my experience…

I’m Sim Only on Virgin, and very happy with it so far.

giffgaff are spawn of the devil stay clear

Why?

Can’t be a***d to explain just google them! Tesco really have been good, plus they have retail shops.

Only drawbacks are you have to shell out for the phone all at once if you don’t have it already, you don’t get upgrades, and if you have a problem with your phone you can’t just palm it off to O2 or whoever.

Other than that it’s all good.

Tails, you’re the first person I can recall dissing Giffgaff on here, against many who’ve used them without any complaints. Care to enlighten us about your issues, I’m sure trying to google ‘tails problems with Giffgaff’ will result in zero pages being found.
FWIW, I’m on O2 and 3, so it’s of purely abstract interest as far as I’m concerned.

I’m still surprised the operators can sell 10 quid SIM only deals, and also sell 30+ quid a month for a two year contacts for the same service but with a “free” phone. Obfuscated pricing I reckon and I’m surprised it’s not been stopped.

FWIW I always do SIM only and buy the phone I want when I want.

giffgaff are spawn of the devil stay clear

I’d like some expansion too – just about to move to them….

simple maths Mr blobby, split the coat of a decent phone over 24 months, add on the coat of a sim only package, voila, the effective monthly price is about the same.

simple maths Mr blobby, split the coat of a decent phone over 24 months, add on the coat of a sim only package, voila, the effective monthly price is about the same.

Yes indeed, but I’m still amazed by the number of people who honestly believe they’ve gotten a “free” phone.

Oh and you need to factor in inflation too 😉

my son is on Giffgaff and had one issue when network dropped for 2 days but other than that no problems.

I’m on giff gaff. Its been good so far. Its easy to adjust your tariff online. They also the include lots of things for free that you pay for on other networks.

To the OP, nothing wrong with gong sim free but £16 a month seems a bit steep.

had my sim only on 02 for about 3-4 years now love the ability to hold the account with only 30days notice if u no the shits gonna hit the fan with work/family ect plus can bolt on if im getting low on data

I’m giffgaff. Over a yr. 2 outages in that time. One was O2 as well

Anyone wanting a sim can use my affiliate for a free fiver of credit

https://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/wysiwyg

I tend to shop around for a semi-decent phone with a usable tariff on a cashback deal. The key is remembering to claim, but overall costs are low, with a phone included. Change every two years and sell/recycle old phone for further effective cost reduction.

I’m on a £7 Virgin rolling SIM deal, use my old Sony Ericsson, which is actually better than a new Sony phone on £15 a month!

Surprised @ the giffgaff comment, partner & I have been with them for years, problem free. Other than 02 outages, mentioned above

Another happy giffgaff user. Community support is excellent.

another giffgaff user here, no issues.

Love giffgaff, so do all the people I referred that can also call each other for free! No problems and saving me lots of money over a contract.

Another happy giffgaff user here too. bought a 32gb iPhone 4S and went sim free as it worked out cheaper than going on a contract for a 16gb one??

I moved to giffgaff a couple of months ago from 02.

I haven’t noticed any difference, other than the extra £35 per month I have in my account 🙂

Tesco here – in fact 5 phones – all good. It’s so easy to buy a new or used phone now that getting a contract is a bit daft.

I was on Giffgaff but signed up to Virgin mobile after 1 month, £15/m for unlimited Data, Calls and texts. 😀

Downside with 3 is no international roaming for 3 months on sim only. I don’t know if anyone else operates a similar policy.