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Original poster

Anyone recently upgraded their phone? A moan!

88 replies

Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 18:06

I’m on EE since 2000 ( One2One, T-Mobile and all that)
Im at the end of my two yr contact and I was looking forward to a new upgrade and to get a new shiny phone Samsung however I’m bit confused as all the new upgrades seemed to be containing two contracts, one is the price of the handset and the second one is the monthly fee of the airtime.
So if the phone I’d like is £38 per month and then on the top of it it’s the airtime contract of another £28.
Before it used to be just one payment.
Anyone had this?
The prices are shocking anyway.
I pay now £42 per month ( the price was originally £31 but increased)
Even if I choose the Sim only it’s still £33 and no new phone.
Again before for that £33 I had a new flagship phone.
not sure what to do.

OP posts:
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Original poster
Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 18:59

@phlegm where we live only EE is good. So I would like EE only.
plus sometimes not even Ee works so WiFi calling is essential.
We had no EE for last two weeks working as maintenance.

OP posts:
pecanpie101 · 04/10/2023 19:00

You can buy an iPhone and pay monthly through Apple interest free. Then get a cheap sim only deal.

I pay £10 a month for my sim only deal with EE. Paid my iPhone off in the summer after 2 years.

nebulae · 04/10/2023 19:00

Unless your current phone is no longer working, keep it and just get a sim only deal. A new phone won't do anything different to your current phone. I pay £6.82 a month for my sim deal.

ShellySarah · 04/10/2023 19:00

I've noticed carphone warehouse don't do 2 charges

PieonaBarm · 04/10/2023 19:01

Have a look at Sky, I was looking last month and they were by far the cheapest. Although they piggy back off O2 which is fine for me as that's the only network I consistently get a signal for (live in the arse end of nowhere)

You can do comparison on Money Saving Expert website too for other networks.

AvengedQuince · 04/10/2023 19:02

Can you afford to buy outright? I just had to replace my Samsung and paid £150 for an a14, there was the a04s for £110 too. My sim only contract is £7 a month.

AvengedQuince · 04/10/2023 19:04

Or yes, like a pp said, if it's only been two years then you could just go sim only and keep the phone for another year or so if it's working fine.

RichardMarxisinnocent · 04/10/2023 19:04

The £33 sim only contract with EE is for 125gb, if you only use 5gb a month surely there's something available with fewer gb? You mentioned it starting at 25gb, that's what I'm on and it's £21 a month

Original poster
Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 19:07

@modgepodge i had a shock actually today when looking on my EE page.
I’m for upgrade since yesterday so I found a phone : Samsung S23 and it looked like £36 monthly so I thought yep that’s cool, I will have it.
And then I realised I have to add another account to it for the airtime!
That definitely was not in place two years ago when I upgraded last time.
And there is an another cheaper Samsung - not the S series but the price is only like £4 cheaper, so I may as well pay the extra £4 and have the top phone.

OP posts:
Original poster
Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 19:10

I will go into EE shop to see what they say.
I was thinking to stay on my current contract when it ends next month just rolling from month to month and then if I really need it to upgrade later.. maybe the prices will be more acceptable..

OP posts:
Original poster
Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 19:13

@RichardMarxisinnocent I just checked. 125 gb is the minimum, than unlimited.
I would be happy with 10gb. It doesn’t exist!

OP posts:
Cookerhood · 04/10/2023 19:13

Don't stay on the same contract, that's waste of money, just switch to a SIM only deal with a carrier that uses the EE network. Just because it's not called EE doesn't mean it not, you just need to check.

RichardMarxisinnocent · 04/10/2023 19:20

Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 19:13

@RichardMarxisinnocent I just checked. 125 gb is the minimum, than unlimited.
I would be happy with 10gb. It doesn’t exist!

Are EE doing something weird and only offering you the most expensive options? They definitely do lower gb, these are the lowest I can see, then there's 5gb, 25gb before it gets to 125gb. If I were you I'd either phone them or go into a shop.

Anyone recently upgraded their phone? A moan!
User174085934 · 04/10/2023 19:25

Is your phone not working, I have just bought a new iPhone after 4 years, surely a phone should last longer than 2 years, even DHs cheap Motorola is still going and that is 4 years old.

Original poster
Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 19:30

@RichardMarxisinnocent
I can’t see any of those on my account.
I will go to the shop and see.
I don’t want to sign up to Sim only plan just in case my phone goes and I will need a new phone.
I can’t afford to buy it cash, it needs to be on the contract.
As I mentioned DH had SIM only contract once and needed a new phone and had to wait for the sim contract to finish as could not upgrade earlier.

OP posts:
Original poster
Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 19:31

@User174085934 my phone is working, I like my phone but the battery is really bad, needs to be charged twice per day now, also dies when it still has 10% battery left.

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AvengedQuince · 04/10/2023 19:34

There are month to month sim only contracts available, you don't need to sign it for 12 months. Just go with a carrier that uses the ee network. Can you just save what you would be spending on a contract for a few months and buy a phone then? Samsung phones start at about £110.

Girlintheframe · 04/10/2023 19:50

If you phone and speak to them you often get better deals. I got sim only on my current phone which includes 20G data for £22. This includes there discount which I asked for as I've been with them for a while.

If it's a new phone your after you often get better deals on line taking out a new contract then moving your number

Girlintheframe · 04/10/2023 19:55

Youngmumss · 04/10/2023 19:31

@User174085934 my phone is working, I like my phone but the battery is really bad, needs to be charged twice per day now, also dies when it still has 10% battery left.

Why don't you just get the battery replaced? I've done this with Apple phones in the past as they do degrade over time

slopsan · 04/10/2023 19:59

I bought my phone 6.5 years ago and have a sim from giffgaff. Currently pay £6 per month except when I go on holiday when i up it to £8! Buy a phone you can afford and move over to giffgaff

Hurrylater · 04/10/2023 20:17

I just bought a Samsung A54 outright for £290 from a website called Deal Monday. Brand new genuine phone but a grey import. Then I pay £10 a month for a sim only contract with O2. Try USwitch for price comparisons on sim deals.

This was the cheapest option as far as I could see.

Scoleah · 04/10/2023 21:28

Speak to them on chat or over the phone, they still offer standard upgrades there, where there is one price for the phone & sim.

The price you're seeing online is device finance & then the sim seperate,
Which means you can pay off the phone at any time, if you want to, & just keep the sim.

It's all a bit of a faff, but I know they still do normal uogrades online help (message us) / over the phone :)

AlltheFs · 06/10/2023 13:31

Oakbeam · 04/10/2023 18:56

I agree that EE is extortionate at the moment and there is no piggyback available

There are several.

@Oakbeam All the ones I have tried are closed to new customers. Can you show me which you have seen that are available please? Has to have wifi calling as there’s no signal in most parts of the house and we don’t have a landline. But in the village and surrounding area it is only EE that works.

BarbaraofSeville · 06/10/2023 15:03

^I don’t want to sign up to Sim only plan just in case my phone goes and I will need a new phone.
I can’t afford to buy it cash, it needs to be on the contract.
As I mentioned DH had SIM only contract once and needed a new phone and had to wait for the sim contract to finish as could not upgrade earlier^

So get a 1 month SIM only contract and start saving for a new phone.

Deals that use the EE network don't seem to be as good as the others, but have a look at:

Best Sim Only Deals - Compare Cheap Contracts - MSE (moneysavingexpert.com)

But first I'd look at the coverage maps on the ofcom website, to see if there's been any upgrade to the other networks in your area, because unless you live somewhere very remote, I find it surprising that you can only use EE.

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