By Shahrum Gilani
Posted: October 15, 2018
There are so many mobile phone deals available it can be difficult to know which is the best value for you. Should you go for Pay Monthly contract? Or buy the phone separately and opt for a SIM Only deal?
Most of us don't have the time, or energy, to sift through and compare all of the options, but once you see how much cash you could be wasting, you might want to shop more efficiently in future…
It's safe to say the choice can be daunting but don't worry, we're here to help. At HandsetExpert we're committed to making sure you get a deal that's just right for you. Click here and our handy Phone Contract Comparison Tool will do the hard work for you.
Notes on methodology
To perform the comparison, we considered 50 of the most popular smartphones currently available for purchase in the UK retail market. We defined the following categories, based on data allowance, and considered pay monthly and SIM only contracts that fell within these categories: 0-999MB, 1000MB-1999MB, 2000-2999MB, 3000MB-4999MB, 5000MB-9999MB, 10000-19999MB, 20000MB and more. The total cost over the course of the Pay Monthly contract was then compared with the cost of purchasing the phone without a contract ('SIM Free') and a comparable 'SIM Only' mobile phone contract separately.
For each phone and category combination, we found the contract with the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). For Pay Monthly contracts, we calculated the TCO by multiplying the monthly payment by the duration of the contract measured in months and adding any associated upfront costs. We did not include cashback, free gifts, vouchers or other incentives as part of the calculation.
In the case of SIM Only contracts where the contract length is less than that of the Pay Monthly contract, we multiplied the monthly payment by the duration of the Pay Monthly contract. In the case of SIM Only, we also included prepay 'bundles' offering an monthly allocation of minutes, data, and texts. We did not take into account:
Legacy tariffs no longer available to customers, or tariffs only available to existing/specific customers.
Additional charges for payment methods other than direct debit, and for receiving itemised or paper billing.
Potential increases in the cost of contracts which service providers may add in accordance with the rate of Retail Price Inflation.
