Skip The Smartphone Upgrade And Save Over £2k
- Consumer Expert Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, says Brits could save up to £2,189.64 each by switching to a SIM-only deal when their mobile contract expires
- Analysed the cost of getting your hands on the latest Apple iPhone or Samsung handset by taking out a new contract compared to sticking with your current device and opting for a SIM-only deal instead
- Shares his pick of 12 best SIM-only deals on the market to consider shifting to
Skip a smartphone upgrade and switch to SIM-only to save up to £2,189.64, urges Consumer Expert Tom Church.
“Due to lockdown, many Brits are saving more money than usual and it will be tempting to spend that on a new smartphone upgrade. I want to urge people to skip an upgrade, switch to SIM-only and keep saving,” says Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk.
“I have a smartphone that is now three years old and I'm always tempted to upgrade for a better camera, 5G internet and battery life. But, if you take a moment to see how much you can save by sticking with it and switching to SIM-only, you’ll see that it can be a huge amount – over £2,000.
“We analysed all the contracts available from leading mobile operators offering the latest iPhones and Samsung mobiles. We wanted to see how much you could save by unlocking your phone and switching to a SIM-only deal instead of upgrading.
“For example, if you sign up for the new iPhone 12 Pro Max with O2 on a 36-month contract with unlimited data, calls and texts and 5G it’ll cost you £2,409.59 in total. When you compare this to the cheapest SIM-only contract from Smarty or Plusnet costing £8 (both will buy you 10GB of data) you’ll save an impressive £2,121.59 over the course of 36 months.
“Even if you look at the cheapest 36-month contract available for an iPhone – with O2 for an iPhone 12 Mini with 3GB of data, unlimited calls and texts and 5G costing £1,307.99 – you would still save £1,019.99, albeit by opting for a different handset.
“The cheapest iPhone deal we found overall is a 24-month contract with Three for the iPhone 12 Mini with 1GB of data, unlimited calls and texts on 5G for £557,” reveals Tom. “The cheapest iPhone 12 Pro Max deal available is with Three for a 24-month contract, unlimited data, calls and texts on 5G for £1,011.”
Looking at Samsung, the most expensive deal the research unearthed is for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with O2 on a 36-month contract with unlimited data, calls and texts with 5G for £2,477.64.
The cheapest 36-month contract is with Tesco Mobile, for a Samsung Galaxy S20 for 3GB data with 5,000 calls and 5,000 texts on 5G for £863.64.
“Skip the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra upgrade and switch to a SIM-only contract and you could save £2,189.64 over the course of the 36 months,” says Tom.
“The cheapest Samsung deal we found is for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus with Three for 24 months with 1GB of data, unlimited calls and texts and 5G for £583,” he adds. “The cheapest Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra deal available is with Three for a 24-month contract, 1GB data, unlimited calls and texts on 5G for £787.”
To help you decide what's right for you, check out the LatestDeals.co.uk guide to the Top 12 Best SIM only deals.
“These are the best value deals from all the providers,” says Tom. “All of them feature 1-month rolling contracts, with a minimum of 9GB data, unlimited calls, unlimited texts, and sorted by the cheapest monthly price.”
If you are keen to switch, you may need to tae some steps to free-up your phone. If you bought your device through a contract it’ll be locked to the original provider’s network that you bought it from. You'll need to get it unlocked in order to switch to another network on a new SIM.
If your contract has expired, your network provider must unlock it for free, although you may have to pay a fee of £15.
Information correct as of 16/02/21. Deals by mobile operators subject to change.
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Never understood people who upgrade phones yearly, but those folks are all about having the newest tech than anything else. Yet, all they use it for is Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify.
Shmucks.