Does anyone still do them? For various reasons, I don't want to sign up for the obligatory 24 months and it seems no one does 12 months any more.
I realise I will need to pay more for the handset up front and am fine with that, but surely someone must do something for 12 months? Surely?
It's cheaper to buy a 2nd hand handset and get PAYG sim in some cases. depends on your usage mind but it's what I've done and I'm saving each month on not loosing unused minutes etc.
Just gone down the giffgaff route as a matter of principle.
You can get some very good deals on 1 month rolling contracts (without a phone). I think Virgin were doing unlimited calls and texts and a gig of data for £12 / month.
I've got 5 x sims on 12 month contracts with Tesco (o2). 250 mins/2000 text/500mb for £7.00/month each
It should be cheaper overall to buy the handset outright at the start and then get a much cheaper monthly contract (giffgaff or rolling 1 month). E.g. £7 a month for me 😀
most of your contract cost is the upfront price of the phone spread over the contract period. phones have got more expensive so the contracts have lengthened to keep the monthly cost palatable for most.
buy a phone outright and then get a monthly sim only contract.
I was in the same position last year - ended up just buying a handset and getting onto a 1 month rolling contract.
High up front cost but now my monthly bills are comically small, and I'm free to chop and change onto new deals whenever. Definitely not up for 18-24 month minimum contract length, it's a massive pain compared to how things used to be :rosetinted:
Just taken out two o2 30 day sim only deals £16pm for me, £11pm for the daughter.
We both have phones but if we didnt you can buy new from handtec etc new or fleabay s/h.
You can have similar deals on 12 month contracts for roughly 25% less per month.
Switched to OVIVO a couple of months back, £15 one off charge for the SIM, then you get a monthly allowance at no further monthly cost on the 'Freedom' plan. Subsidised by short ad when loading a web session, but doesn't affect any other apps that use data (also no ads when using WiFi). Seems too good to be true, but working for me at the mo...
Giffgaff for good, no way will I sign up for another lengthy phone contract.
My post recommending Giff Gaff got deleted because apparently you're not allowed affiliate links 🙄 but it really is excellent value.
I still have 10 months of a 2 year O2 contract left to run, I kept using my 2gb data allowance by the 3rd week of the month. The SIM card is sitting in a draw. £15 for 400mins and unlimited data with giffgaff. Nothing more needs to be said.
I got a 12 month contract from vodafone. As soon as its up i'll be ditching it, unlocking the phone and going GiffGaff. Was the cheapest way of getting an iPhone 5 though, even though the upfront cost was alot more than a 24 month contract. I would never buy a 2nd hand phone. It would be like wearing someone elses underpants. Yuk.
The phone companies a have a legal obligation to offer a 12 month contract but do not have to advertise them overtly so you have to ask them for one.
However the handset itself will cost more as there is less time to subsidise it.
Cheers
Danny B
12 month SIM only from T mobile:
Unlimited everything.
£16.00 a month. Very happy.
I can't see why anyone wouldn't get a Nexus 4 for £170 and Giffgaff tenner a month sim. That's plenty of phone for anyone.
(Unless they require a specific OS, or more data of course).
EDIT:
^^^ R_S, that's a pretty good deal, did they offer you that as an existing customer?
I was on Orange PAYG.
It's a limited offer they put on occaisionally, according to Sam at the Bury TMobile shop (a very helpful bloke).
They don't really advertise it though!?!