The cost of mobile phones.

[PassingStranger]

Why are phones so bloody expensive?

My ideal phone would be a Google pixel 10 or 10 pro plus.
These are about 1,500 pounds to buy outright, more if you pay monthly.
Does anyone know anyone who affords this type of phone for themselves?

Are we being ripped off?
I expect its about the same with the new I phone too?

Because people like the latest nice new shiny thing? Some people will spend thousands on cars, others houses and some on phones.

Me I spent £100 all in last year on a smartphone to include case and screen protectors. I pay £20 a month for a sim only contract. My phones last until they physically die or don't work after a factory reset. The only thing I don't seem to have on it that irks me is a QR scanner and I can't for the life of me sort Google Pay out on it.

I got a an A16 samsung for £98 temu.
It work perfectly fine i can do all the same things on it.
Im also pay as you go.

Dh is a sucker for always wanting the latest iPhone. He just loves gadgets. He has a deal with o2 where he can upgrade for no extra cost as soon as the latest phone comes out. He pays £75 a month 😳

I have an old iPhone 11 Pro Max which I’ve had for about 6 years now. Originally it was on contract but I’ve paid it off now and just have a monthly rolling sim thing with o2 for £18 a month, which includes European roaming and lots of data which is handy for holidays.

I am thinking of buying an iPhone 14 which would do everything I need with a better camera than I currently have for around £25 a month with giffgaff. They have some really good deals. I’d never buy a phone outright.

I think it just depends how important it is to you. Dh and I don’t really go out socially or spend money on much really, so having a nice phone matters to us. Ds aged 13 has an iPhone 12. We are a very gadget driven family. 🙈😬😂

I mean I felt like I had gone pretty fancy, I got myself a Google Pixel 8. I honestly can't imagine I could possibly need anything fancier.

It was £400 a year ago.

Obviously I could have bought a cheaper phone but I wanted a better camera.

I also think you have to shift your mindset from thinking 3 years is too long to have a phone probably? I would expect to get 3-4 years out a phone, so if I pay £400 that's about £10 a month. Then I pay £10 a month for data and calls etc.

Whereas if you spend £1500 on a phone and it lasts 2 years, that's then £60 a month instead of £10.

But isn’t this the case with most things? You can buy new cars for a wide range of price but you buy what you can afford and what works best for you?

Just go on Uswitch

My pixel 9 pro is amazing, wish I'd got the XL but im really really happy with it. You should look at the 9 pro because it's a bit cheaper now due to the newest model being out

Im hoping to get a black Friday deal on a phone, my current one is got on a black Friday deal 3 or 4 years ago, a mid range samsung, but its a bit slow, and my camera is not as good as DS (Google pixel 8) or DD (iphone 13) or DH (Samsung, no idea what but was about £300 ish a few months ago)
DD has been insistent she has to have an iphone but weve always bought refurbished, 2nd hand ones, her latest one she bought from a friend for 200, and we all have sim only contracts, DS is £6/month, DDs is £8/month, mine is the cheapest 02 one.
Agree with a pp that the fact we use our phone for loads of stuff - camera, sat nav, online banking and Google or Apple pay, emails etc means we are asking a lot more of a phone than say 20 years ago.....so it makes sense theyre more expensive.
However I would say that any phone, even a modest one, is at risk of being stolen because in most cases, the data and info is way more valuable than the handset itself

I like iPhone. We have mac books and iPad so everything is apple in our household so it works seemlessly between all devices.

We don’t however buy newest constantly. Dh and I just upgraded oit MacBooks this year, and mine was 12 years and dh 10 years old. They are used daily for work, so I think 10+ years out of a daily used laptop is great.

My phone is an iPhone. Bought beginning of 2020 as I needed new phone and wanted a decent camera for when Ds was born and for travel.
I would have bought a decent separate camera in the past. I also prefer FaceTime over WhatsApp etc for video calls as far better connection

Im still using same phone so nearly 6 years. I buy direct from apple on 12 months 0%. My current monthly contract for data/ minutes is €6. I usually then still manage to sell devices after 5+ year and get back a decent %

I’ve had an iPhone since 2012 and prior to that a few different brands. I found the iPhone just works for me, reliable and security strong. I certainty don’t have it as a status symbol as some PP have mentioned. I only buy the basic model sim free, add the cheapest service package and then basically keep them until they are made obsolete. So for example my last phone was the iPhone 8 and I kept it for 8 years. I only upgraded to the new 17 this year because the security patches ending this summer for the 8. I imagine I’ll keep my new for almost 10 years again.

However, if I wasn’t lucky enough to be in FTW to pay for this then I’d definitely be looking at refurbished slightly older iPhones instead.

I mean, it might be depending on the person's needs. For most people though they won't even notice any difference between a high end and a mid range phone. The total low end of the budget ones might be different as they tend to have cheaper/older components.

But for example if I was going to buy a £1000 camera I'd research which aspects of a camera I wanted and also expect it to last me 10+ years. I wouldn't be going ugh I have to keep it for 3 years as though that's a long time. I feel like OP is probably on the wind up though because complaining something is expensive and then saying 3 years is a long time to have to keep something - well yeah you're going to run out of money very fast if you insist on buying the top spec phone for spurious reasons and then change it every year or two!

I bought my iphone for £1100, in December I will have had it for 5 years, so works out less than £20 a month for the time I've had it. I'll keep it till it dies, then buy a new one outright.

I have a second SIM with Talk Home on the EE network.

https://mobile.talk-home.com/

They currently have 50GB for £7.50.

I'm paying £4.49 for 10GB via Money Saving Expert.

I've not had any problems. They sent a SIM in the post. It worked. I pay the monthly bill and it's not increased in price since it started.

I'd go for one of the other android brands oppo/OnePlus/Honor/Nothing/Xiaomi as can get better specs for your money and can outperform in cameras reviews against iPhone/Pixel/Samsung models . Most have increased the number of android releases & years of security patches recently for longer use.
Annoyingly Chinese companies often don't release their ultra models globally and no longer gets get Vivo so only able to import these and so it doesn't highlight that the main players aren't actually improving much on their past models.

The short answer is that no one really needs them - it's a luxury purchase. It's like cars - a second hand Fiat will get you from A-B but some people would rather get from A-B in a Porsche.

Oh I do! That’s why I have find my phone turned on along with a tracker linked to a separate device

My mate has a new iphone as soon as the next model is available. No idea why. Her photos are rubbish and I'm not sure why she needs it other than she's very labels orientated.
I've got a fairly high spec Motorola with a great camera. It was less the £250. I have Giff Gaff at £6 per month. Very happy.

OP take a look at hot UK deals site. Or money saving expert. Currently deals for a pixel 10 pro for £9 upfront and £29.99 / month for a 2yr contract with 500gb data (total cost over 2 years £767). And free pixel buds pro 2

TL;DR is someone has to pay for "AI".

A Pixel 10 is £786 on Amazon.

There are plenty of cheaper phones, you probably dont need a flagship phone if they are too expensive.

If you wanted proof that the market is not the best arbiter, 90% of folk have no need of 100% of the "AI" cruft that will drain their battery, tell them lies and shovel their private data back to a mothership.

The Pixel 10 is £799 direct from the Google store and you get cash back if you trade in your old phone too (I got £198 back for my Pixel 7a, but there was an offer on). I pay about £9 per month for my SIM only Tesco contract.

We're not being ripped off because there are plenty of affordable phones, both new or refurbished. Those are luxury phones which people will buy because they are high earners, or save elsewhere if they prioritise having them.

YABU There are plenty of affordable phones. You don’t have to buy top of the range.

Paid £370 for a Motorola Edge 50 Pro. Was brand new. Non contract. Does everything I need to.

It's fine. My biggest gripe is that I can't see the screen very well in very bright sunlight but living in the uk, it's only an issue 95% of the time lol