First Smartphone

[Prudie]

Finally decided my retro Razr has lost its appeal and want a smartphone. Apart from thinking Android I'm totally lost and overwhelmed by the choice - PAYG, SIM free, contract. Where the hell do I go from here? Carphonewarehouse and Phones4U website have left me more and more lost the more I look. Who'd be the best to guide me through buying a new phone, what did you do?

[thumper93]

carphone wharehouse

[thumper93]

warehouse even

[ELVIS68]

I've got an iPhone with Orange on contract, are you on a contract or PAYG?

Go in and speak to someone and tell them what you use most, ie texts or calls and they should find you the best tariff

[VHG]

Note that on a monthly contract they often give you a "free phone" but the contract can be £25 or £30 a month.

However all these companies have contracts that cost less than £25 or £30 a month, but don't always "push" them.

For example I am on one with TMobile for £10.75 a month with free calls, free texts and some data download, and my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S3, only cost me £90. Of course I don't get as many free calls or texts as a person paying £25 a month, but it is fine for me.

Over the two year life of the contract this will cost me far less than if I was paying £25 or £30 a month. Remember a £25 a month contract is going to cost you £600 over 2 years. Mine only costs £348 over the two years.

Whoever you go with, ask them what their costs per month are for a lower contact (less calls, less data etc).

[VHG]

Some basics.

I think if you want a smartphone then don't bother with PAYG as the companies make little money out of them so the only phones on offer are poor phones.

SIM free is no good as all that is is a phone without a SIM card in it (to put your existing SIM in it I suppose), but you pay a LOT up front for the phone.

Best to go for a monthly contract.

These are normally for two years, and depending how much you pay per month they may give you a decent free phone.

Samsung phones are generally very good, in fact Which magazine this month said the Samsung Galaxy S4 was the best smartphone they had ever tested (beating the iPhone !).

Samsung's "top of the range" phones are the Samsung Galaxy S4 (newest model) and the Samsung Galaxy S3 (year or so old). They also make "mini" versions of the same model (Galaxy S4 mini and Galaxy S3 mini).

Any of these are excellent phone with great screens and great features.

Samsung do make some "cheaper" phones like the Samsung Galaxy Ace (and other models) but these are normally not that good compared with the Galaxy S4 and S3. They have worse screens, less memory etc.

As the Galaxy S3 is now an "old" model you should be able to get a good deal on it.

Note that many Tescos have a phone shop and that often offer really good deals.

DONT get talked into having a £25 or £30 a month contract, there are plenty of contracts at less than that (see my append above). As I said, I only pay £10.75 a month with TMobile and got a Samsung Galaxy 3.

[gingejbee]

Very good guidance from Which? - always worth looking at their website first:

http://www.which.co.uk/technology/phones/guides/how-to-buy-the-best-mobile-phone/buying-the-best-smartphone/

[RATTER15]

I have a Galaxy Note, its a great all round phone, its one of the largest phones as we use it as much for taking photos and using it as a mobile photo album, far better than the iphone range but quite a bit bigger. It doesnt suit everyone but we swear by them, my good lady also has one.

[VHG]

Just has a quick look on the Tesco mobile web site.

There is one deal at £17.50 a month that includes a free Samsung Galaxy S3 mini.

It gives 250 minutes of calls, 5000 texts, and 500mb data download per month.

That will costs you £420 over the 2 year contract.

I am not saying it is the best deal you can get, but it is a starting point.

[Prudie]

Thank you for the impressive answers so far, especially you VHG. If it helps I think I am veering towards contract but don't want to pay more than £15 a month, don't mind a small outlay for the phone, not interested in iphones (too expensive anyway) but would like that kind of large screen display so a mini doesn't sound right. Music capacity/functionality irrelevant! Prefer to stick with vodafone for no good reason except I know the coverage is good.

[Quoi]

It depends on how much you are going to use it - I wanted a cheap contract low user one & now pay £5 per month for a samsung galaxy. I cant remember the minutes & texts I get but i never use them anyway so its enough for me.
My contract is with Talk Talk.

[VHG]

>>>Prefer to stick with vodafone for no good reason except I know the coverage is good.

Remember that TMobile have merged with Orange so the share their coverage so that is good.

And Tesco piggy back on one of the main suppliers as well so their coverage is good.

But if you are already with Vodafone then see what "upgrade" deals they can offer you.

All companies are now fighting for the same customers and want people on their 2 year contacts so may offer good deals to keep you.

Note even though they are called the Galaxy S3 mini and S4 mini the screens are not that small, though obviously smaller than the normal S3 and S4.

[VHG]

Just been on the Carphone Warehouse web site.

Choose Price Plans, then in the Pay Monthly column select Vodafone

In the "monthly cost" area put £0 to £15 and press Apply

You see the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini is listed at £13 a month.

Click on View Deals under the phone

You see the second deal (for Vodafone) is for 24 months, 100 minutes of calls, unlimited texts, and 100mb of data at £13 a month, with a free Samsung Galaxy S3 mini.

Seems a good deal to me.

And you can always up the amount of data from 100mb if you find you are using more.

p.s. I also notice that for £17 a month you can get the full size Samsung Galaxy S3 for free.

[whiskeryron]

I disagree with all who say go for a monthly contract, it will appear to you that you are paying out forever. I started out with a payg phone & thought it would be easier to have a monthly contract to save me constantly topping up, big mistake. It of course depends on how much you use a mobile, I rarely use mine for outgoing calls preferring BT land line on a contract that allows me to talk for 59 minutes without charge then ring off & re dial for another 59 minutes etc. I bought an unlocked Blackberry Curve & put my Sim card in it, payg with Orange who were charging me £5 per month for Blackberry services & then were also charging me for using the internet ( which I was of course also paying Blackberry services for). I now have a Tesco Sim which I paid .99 pence for & am using the Blackberry as a simple payg phone with O2. ( I can still use Blackberry Services again if I wish to but am just on payg for the time being).

WR.

WR.

[Prudie]

Thanks again. I'm now the proud owner of a galaxy S3 @ £17. I deliberated over the cheaper mini but was swayed by the screen size of the full version. Will spend hours now trying to get to know it!.