True cost of phone ownership

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D6Nutz
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True cost of phone ownership

Post by D6Nutz »

I know a couple of us are looking at a new phone. Amazingly I found something of interest on the express website. I'm going to be buying the OnePlus 6T, I know the phones are solid and will last as my OnePlus One is now nearly 4 years old and perfectly serviceable.

Anyways, the cost bit..
Buying the phone SIM-free costs £499 and adding a SIM-only plan with 4GB of data will cost around £11 per month.

Purchasing the 6T this way will cost a total of £763 over two years which is very good value.
This is how I will be purchasing, but..
Vodafone is offering the OnePlus 6T with 4GB of data for £36 per month plus a £129 upfront fee.

The total over two years for this bundle is £993.
And
EE has the 6T on sale for £43 per month with a £50 upfront fee.

Again this includes 4GB of data with the total over two years totalling £1082 - that's over £300 more than buying the phone from OnePlus and adding a SIM.
Just goes to show how much extra you post for the convenience of being locked into a single provider.

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/sc ... -deals/amp
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Kwacky »

Good info

Is the 6T really any good?
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Kwacky »

Another thing to flag up are the deals which occasionally pop up. While I was "negotiating" with my daughter over a new phone CarphoneWareouse dropped in a 20gb deal on Vodafone for the phone she wanted. There might be some last minute deals around Christmas
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by D6Nutz »

Kwacky wrote:Good info

Is the 6T really any good?
A guy who sits behind me in the office has got the 6, he's more than happy with it. Screen is good, performance is great, the battery easily lasts 14-16 hours with pretty heavy usage. The camera quality is excellent, with good slow-mo 4k video available.

The 6T is all the above with a slightly improved camera, bigger battery, smaller notch, and in-screen finger print reader. It also has rapid charging that will apparently give you a full days charge in 30 mins.

From the reviews it's up there with the best of them and still a good few hundred cheaper.
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by D6Nutz »

Kwacky wrote:Another thing to flag up are the deals which occasionally pop up. While I was "negotiating" with my daughter over a new phone CarphoneWareouse dropped in a 20gb deal on Vodafone for the phone she wanted. There might be some last minute deals around Christmas
Very true, my current deal came from a board outside an EE store. 10Gb sim only for £17 a month, as I have been a customer for a while they threw an extra GB in for free..
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Blade »

I think you have to look at this on a deal by deal base.

I pay a contract at £21.99 for 24 months so a total of £528

The phone I selected was available at the cheapest price of £499. Even with a very basic £5 sim, which tbh didn't have the same data or EE Wi-Fi calling enabled as my contract phone that would come to a total £619 .

The opposite was true and for my boy with a midrange phone the option of buying the phone outright and getting a cheap sim was more cost effective.

I don't think there is one method that suits all tbh. I would look on a deal by deal basis personally.
Last edited by Blade on 04 Nov 2018, 14:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Blade »

You probably know this Nutz but be careful what features are enabled on the SIM if it's not the network who you buy from and a reseller.

I looked at Plusnet SIM only. They use the EE network but the Wi-Fi calling was not enabled on Plusnet SIM. Obviously the networks are keeping some features to themselves as a selling point.
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by duke63 »

Best method is to keep the phone for more than two years. I am on my 4th year with my iPhone. I can’t see anything on the later versions that encourages me to change especially at the ludicrous prices they seem to want for a new phone these days.
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Blade »

That's true Duke, but rightly or wrongly I always think the performance drops off after 2 years.

I know Apple got caught for enabling a performance drop on their handsets after 2 years but the I think perhaps they all do it. I've always been Samsung and they seem to loose performance after 2 years also.

But I do wonder if it only effects contract phones and outright purchased phones don't have the same preinstalled bug (wasntme)
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by C00kiemonster »

I keep my phones for 4 years plus and don't do expensive contracts as i dont see why spending £500 plus on a phone is a good idea, even over 2 or 3 years. I always buy my phone outright.

Most phones really haven't moved on that much bar megapixels on cameras for many years now. They may have faster processors etc, but they also have bigger bloatier operating systems what slow them to much the same speed. Android and Ios are both good examples of that.

My only driver to change phone was 4G and the camera had broken. Otherwise i wouldnt have bothered. A factory reset every now and then speeds them up again usually too.

I changed my phone this year, picked up a Samsung J5 brand new for £120 from Amazon (so it's got good service if it breaks) which has everything and never feels slow. Two sim cards and i pay about £8 (total) a month for two low cost monthly contracts, one for my UK sim (giffgaff) and one for my French Sim with 20GB a month data with full europe roaming and unlimited calls etc.

New phones are not any value for money nowadays as they have run out of functions to add that make any difference to how you use the phones in my opinion.

Each to their own of course....
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by C00kiemonster »

Blade wrote:That's true Duke, but rightly or wrongly I always think the performance drops off after 2 years.

I know Apple got caught for enabling a performance drop on their handsets after 2 years but the I think perhaps they all do it. I've always been Samsung and they seem to loose performance after 2 years also.

But I do wonder if it only effects contract phones and outright purchased phones don't have the same preinstalled bug (wasntme)
Backup your pictures etc etc and then do a factory reset. Works for me.
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Blade »

Will do cheers Cookie
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by bb41 »

I've been with the same provider for 25 years , total Apple enthusiast , iPhones Macs ...I'm completely happy with the service with O2 . I possibly think I'm in a minority
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by kiwikrasher »

Since been offshore (and hence not needing/accessing phone coverage for 40% of my year) have bought my phones outright and do a prepaid recharge as I need it. Works out to over $400/yr savings. Same as a few of you I hold onto my phones for a lot longer than 2 yrs. my last phone was a iPhone 6 that I had for 4 years and currently on a iPhone X.

This method is still cheaper than going with the main national carrier and getting a friends and family discount through Jess, who is a salesperson for them.
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Cav »

I do the same math when looking to buy myself a new phone. However, it usually works out barely worth it to buy the phone separately to the SIM and I often don't have £700 spare to begin with.

I have the Samsung S8 (bought it when it was the flagship) and I pay £28/month with £60 upfront and with 6GB Data = £732, the phone itself was £689 when new.

My tip? Head to your local highstreet on Black Friday and haggle. The year before last (when the S7 was the flagship) I got them down to £21.80/month for 5GB Data and £30 upfront (£553). The phone was over £600 alone. Admittedly I was able to use corporate discount that year and they wouldn't allow me when I got the S8 because, in their words, "we cocked up".

FYI this is all for Vodafone... they seem to be the best for Black Friday deals
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by Rossgo »

This is an interesting topic. For years I have always renewed my phone contract with a new phone. 12 month/ 18 month now 24 month!

This year i was looking at the S9 but at 50quid per month (admittedly I was paying similar for my S7) I just had a issue with it. I suppose because of the wedding etc my priorities changed a fair bit. But also I didn't see how the S9 was any different to the S7.

So i changed to SIM ONLY on Vodafone with my S7 at £25 A month unlimited calls and texts BUT a massive 40GB of data. I'll be honest I do go through Data so tjis was prefect for me. I feel like it's actually made a difference I now save approx £40 A month on phone bills!

I may up date my phone next year BUT this has to be something special, Samsung X with the flexible screen if this really does come out and if the camera is of a high standard. I use my phone for all my photos and this is a massive selling point for me.

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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by D41 »

I have an LG-sommit. The iPhone just doesn't "work" for me....very counterintuitive. Had it maybe four years now & quite happy. The socket is holding up well....I usually seem to have a penchant for knackering them.
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Re: True cost of phone ownership

Post by D6Nutz »

Well I went for it and bought the OnePlus 6T yesterday. Went for the model with 8Gb ram and. 128Gb storage.

So far so good, it's fecking fast compared to my last phone and the signal strength is so much better as well. Today is the first test of the battery, normally I would leave the phone on charge overnight but didn't do that last night. It was charged at 10pm and off charge since, currently 78%.
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