Why do people buy mobile phones?

[droningtraffic]

When they come free with a contract?

Wondered this for awhile.

A contract is a much more expensive way of buying a phone.
I bought my android phone 3 years ago and have a sim only deal for £6.50 pm. I worked out that the contract would have been roughly twice as expensive. The phone is fine and I won't replace it until I absolutely have to.

Mine is a dual sim so I can get a payg sim when abroad, which is very handy.

I bought a mobile as I rarely use it for calls or paying texts. Any contract is far more expensive than the cost of the data I actually use and the handset I wanted combined.

Most often actually more expensive than if you just bought the phone outright and got a sim only contract

Yes, this ^^

My current phone cost me £50.
I pay £13 for unlimited everything a month. If I had got a phone on contact this would have been a minimum of £22 per month for a similar phone, over 2 years.
My other phone I got with contract, I cancelled the contract and use a £13 a month deal.
Both sims are month by month so works great for me.

@toomanycats99 Over two years the contract is nearly £90 more!

@Tomtontom it is but I decided that much more for a phone that was new versus one that was several years old and I had no idea if how much it was used was worth the extra. ....meant contract not much more and I got a new not second hand.

Biggest faff is the phonecalls from Vodafone trying to get you to go on a contract. Although it is amusing sometimes to see how long I can keep the sales person on the line before they realise I'm not going to change.

Of course, if they are cold calling to try and get me on a contract that tells you exactly where they make their money.

I get mine on contract because I use my phone as a notebook/gaming platform/multimedia device. Biggest screen possible, full size Bluetooth keyboard at home using the TV as a monitor, portable speaker for the HGV, and my Netflix account is tied to it.

Not all phones are 'free' on contract. Some you have to pay a portion upfront anyway especially popular and/or new phones.

The phones aren't really free at all. It's built into the contract price. Pay more up front and the contract cost comes down.

For DD's new phone last month we worked it out over two years. Over two years we worked out it saved around £250 if we just bought the phone upfront in total and then had a sim only contract (still had tons of data, infact more than the contract) so it made sense to do so as we could afford the cost in one go.

I did similar for my phone in February last year though that time it was a good deal to pay about 75% of the phone cost and then a really good contract price at a much lower price.

I buy mine then pay £7.50 a month for a Tesco mobile sim.

I bought my current phone because I have always used this brand and really like it, but it is not longer possible to get it on a contract with any provider. I will say the same over two years, including cost of phone, as I used to on contract, but how I get unlimited calls and texts and a massive data allowance that to all intents and purposes, might as well be unlimited. If I include the cost of insuring it, the cost is actually cheaper. I'm also not locked to just one provider and, there is far less pte installed rubbish than on my previous contract phones.

DW has just bought a refurbished Galaxy S7, so fairly recent, for about £150. Seems happy with it.

I have a refurbed iphone4 that cost about £40, it's fine for me.

You also need a good credit score for a contract. I have a contract phone as it’s easier for me and I can change it every year if I want

My husband overall saved £500 by being his phone instead of a contract.
They are most certainly not free - ever noticed the plan price goes up according to the phone?

Surely hetting a contract which involves a credit check etc more of a faff and more expensive than going oh i have the money i'll buy my phone out right.

And i have a contract and insurance because its the best way for me personally but its a choice i make knowimg its more oc a faff and more expensive altjough i'd love to have the money to buy a phone out right i just dont

I don't have a contract. Not financially worth it for me.

Cheaper. More choice of the phone you want. Not tied to a specific contract. I don't understand why anyone who can afford to buy the phone up front would ever sign up for a contract they can't easily get out of.

A quick question...Once your contract us up can you not renew your contract and upgrade etc but keep your phone and buy a SIM? In which case would you be able to keep your number? Sorry, not v techy , but I'd be reluctant to change my number as use it for work.

Yes you can keep the number, you just ring your provider and ask for the pac code.

Yes you can yerro many people swap to a sim only contract once their contract is up which is much cheaper contract in which case the number goes to that contract. Or you can trasfer your number to any sim on any network.

Its quite easy to trasfer numbets these days

Yes, you can get a PAC code to transfer your number between providers. There are rules about timing , you need to get it before the contract or sim only deal expires, then you have 30 days to use it. The phone is yours once the contract is finished. Just be careful, if you are not upgrading, to make sure that after 24 months ( or whatever the contract period is) that you only pay for the SIM cost.

Thanks, folks. That's really good to know.

I have a great sim deal with bt, 3gb data, unlimited bt WiFi, texts and calls for £6 a month. So I just buy a cheap second hand smart phone for £50. I can't believe how much some people pay for contracts and phones

Nobody has mentioned the fact that on a contract if you lose or break the phone you still have to pay the contract that you can't use as no phone, doesn't make any sense to me. I use pay as you go lots cheaper