iPhone - buy outright or contract?

[twosoups1972]

I need a new phone - I currently have an iPhone 5s which is on its way out. I don't need the latest model but it must be an iPhone.

I've always bought reconditioned phones for my dds from Ebay/Amazon etc. Not sure whether to do this again for me or get a contract with phone included.

Last year I bought a 2nd hand iPhone 7 Plus and it broke after 2 months so decided to go for a contract. I have the red iPhone 8 Plus and the 2018 iPad 6th gen WiFi and cellular. I only pay £48.50 a month and that's including both :). I get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 4gb of internet. I am with sky mobile. Never had any issues with them either.
Hope this helps :) xx

Thank you flying that sounds like a lot of money each month! I am used to SIM only contracts for me and the dds, around a tenner each month!

I buy my family's phones outright unlocked and use a sim only, it save around 10-15% over a typical 2 year contract. Giff gaff marketplace have been good for secondhand though last time we bought from amazon

We buy, either new or reconditioned iPhones with warranty, and use giffgaff. I pay £10/month at the moment for unlimited minutes and texts and 3GB data

We too used giffgaff marketplace, for a reconditioned iPhone 7. 18 months on, so far so good.

I always buy the handset and keep it for usually three-four years. Way cheaper that way, if you can manage the heavy one-off cost.

I've bought my last 2 handsets outright (from new and I have insurance through my work free of charge) it's saving a lot of money over 2 years, around £300 from memory.

My sim only contract is £15 for unlimited calls and texts and 30gig of data. The equivalent monthly contract is £55.

It's a big outlay initially but it does work out cheaper overall.

I don't have an IPhone, I have Samsung Galaxys but I always buy them outright.

@twosoups1972 - it would be £10 cheaper if I didn't have the iPad, You can get the 6s for £18 a month

What network is giffgaff chocolate?

Thank you all, will look around for a reconditioned one to buy outright

I have a spare iPhone 5S, bought by DD when I lost my iPhone but then found it. It's locked to EE though.

I’ve just replaced my DD’s drowned iPhone SE from musicmagpie for £80. Very happy with it- looks perfect!

But direct from Apple. You can pay monthly still. Think it's called their upgrade scheme. It included insurance too

I buy outright then use GiffGaff. I don’t like being tied into contracts and it works out cheaper.

Chester that’s a good deal - who is it with?!

Giffgaff is O2 I think?

Yep, Giffgaff is O2.

@IncrediblySadToo it's with three they have the best coverage for us. Think I've had it about 9months. Just been looking for DH to switch over and they're doing unlimited everything for £20.

I recently bought a 6s from a JL store. It was a ‘Grade A customer return’, ie a brand new unwanted gift. It was unmarked, and apparently unused. £219, with a two year warranty. Bargain.

I just upgraded from a5s to a 7 plus . £469 from Carphone warehouse with £10 cash back from toocashback . Do check the cash back websites if you’re buying online . My sim is £7.50 a month . Unlimited texts and calls and 4g data . If I keep the phone for three years it will cost me £20ish a month .

Have a look on the price comparison website as some new models aren’t they much more expensive than the reconditioned ones

Cheaper to get sim only. (I used to work in the phone industry).

I've bought outright this time, got an iPhone XS from the Argos outlet on eBay for about £750. It's a grade A customer return, in perfect condition, I wouldn't have known any different.

We looked to do this when I upgraded last year to the iphoneX.

It actually worked out that the cost was almost identical, assuming I didn't go over my extremely small allowance of minutes and data on PAYG.

Perhaps it depends how new the phone is, and if you're buying reconditioned I guess the savings are even greater.