Does anybody remember when...

[::Stev0::] · 11 Sep 2019 at 13:48

...phone contracts didn't cost an absolute arm and a leg :mad:

I remember a time when a new flagship model phone, with unlimited minutes and texts and a generous data allowance (3g/4g) would set you back about £30 monthly as an average.

I recently ran down a deal with EE and changed to a SIM only deal which costs me £12 a month for unlimited texts and minutes and 5Gb of data. I don't really need a lot as I use WiFi in all of the places I spend most of my time.

Now, any reasonable phone with a similar sort of data allowance is easily £50+.
When challenging the ridiculous prices both online, in store and on the phone, all I get from EE is 'Well, we are the best...' - which is nonsense looking around in various places on the net, such as https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/ee.co.uk and https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/ee

I also found it interesting that Ofcom takes action against companies that break regulatory rules and in January 2017, it fined EE £2.7m for overcharging more than 30,000 customers.

Now, I'm not averse to paying for something if I can see the value in it, but I can't justify spending upwards of £50 monthly for a phone and contract. Am I just being a penny pincher?

I should say my phone is slowly on the demise. I'm even considering just buying a new handset outright and keeping my SIM only deal :cool:

What sorts of deals / costs do you guys have?

Cleisthenes · 11 Sep 2019 at 13:54

[::Stev0::] said:
I'm even considering just buying a new handset outright and keeping my SIM only deal

Do this and spend <£400 on it and you'll no doubt be very happy. Phones for £700+ are if you reeeally want the latest and greatest.

Try looking at the Pixel 3a if you fancy something cheaper.

[::Stev0::] · 11 Sep 2019 at 13:55

Spoken like Martin Lewis himself

Sound advice though.

I believe some of the Huawei's are pretty decent these days too.

screaming.dead · 11 Sep 2019 at 13:58

I'm with EE on a sim only deal with unlimited calls and texts with 6gb data for £10.38 a month. I do tend to buy the latest Samsung plus phone each year so in real terms phone ownership is still expensive.

warren_1979 · 11 Sep 2019 at 13:58

Just keep your sim only deal like you said and get a Xiaomi Note 7 for £170. TBH does anyone really need more than that?

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 11 Sep 2019 at 14:02

Its the price gouging on the phones thats the issue.

The network cost isnt the issue, its the cost of the phone they are allowing you to pay for via installments.

FishLicker · 11 Sep 2019 at 14:20

The above post is correct. We live in a world of £1000+ phones. £1000 over 24 months is over £40 a month and that's without the service!

I'm paying 30 quid a month for my 2xl (it was 29) because I got it on a black Friday deal and that's what I'm hoping to do again this year probably with the pixel 4. I'll concede though that I can't see it being less than 35 quid this time around but there's no way I'm paying over 50 quid a month for a phone. If it comes to it I'll just buy a phone once they've been out a few months and they start chucking discounts at it!

Squink · 11 Sep 2019 at 15:03

Someone linked an EE tariff on the Apple forum which was £115 per month for an iPhone XS Max, with cheeky little £50 upfront to sweeten the deal. Madness!

[::Stev0::] · 11 Sep 2019 at 15:45

mulpsmebeauty said:
Someone linked an EE tariff on the Apple forum which was £115 per month for an iPhone XS Max, with cheeky little £50 upfront to sweeten the deal. Madness!

More mad that some people will pay it :/

Donnie Fisher · 12 Sep 2019 at 20:53

In days gone by, phone tech advanced quickly enough that it was worth getting the latest models ... But now, most phones will do just about all you need from a mobile very happily.

I stopped and got off the 2year upgrade bus last year as like the op I couldnt see where the value is for a top end phone, and renewing the contract at the existing price point wasn't going to get me a phone which was much better than what I had.

I'm now been running a Nokia 7 plus for a while which was bought outright and it has never left me thinking that it couldn't do what I asked of it (such as phone calls, web, messaging, photos etc etc ).

My contract is dropped to a basic calls and data only one. I feel I saved a lot of money.

SDK^ · 13 Sep 2019 at 06:26

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Its the price gouging on the phones thats the issue.

The network cost isnt the issue, its the cost of the phone they are allowing you to pay for via installments.

Exactly this - top end iPhone prices have more than doubled recently.
I remember buying an iPhone 4 on launch day (June 2010) for about £500, now an iPhone 11 costs nearly £1k with the Pro model over that.

‘This graph demonstrates this point

With sales now declining the only way to increase profit is to increase the margins on each one sold.

Phone sales

However, even though Apple have increased the price of their phones, profit margin has gone down due to increased costs from other elements.

Profit Margin

AndyCr15 · 13 Sep 2019 at 06:43

[::Stev0::] said:
When challenging the ridiculous prices both online, in store and on the phone, all I get from EE is 'Well, we are the best...' - which is nonsense looking around in various places on the net, such as https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/ee.co.uk and https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/ee

Tbf, I think they are the best. I did some testing a few years back and they easily were the best in the areas I used my phone. That could be different now, but not from what I see. Also, are you saying EE are more expensive than the other providers? I've not really looked being SIM only contract myself, I thought they all did these huge silly contracts these days.

antran · 13 Sep 2019 at 13:14

Currently, I'm in Vietnam. I've been paying £3.11 per month for 60gb data a month, 4g.

Sp00n · 13 Sep 2019 at 20:34

Happy with my deal tbh.

s10e, 100gb data, unlimited text/voice, £28 a month, £30 upfront, £65 cashback and some free wireless headphones.

iamtheoneneo · 14 Sep 2019 at 08:23

Just buy outright. I cant remember the last time I was on a contract, just seems like hassle to me.

If you look around and go the refurb or pristine secondhand route you can get some great phones for the money.

I personally still use an s7 edge - my second one actually after I destroyed my last one and decided the phone does all I need that I just got a refurbed unit for like 250 or something.

What's a modern phone get you nowadays anyway? The improvements are so small or unnecessary its laughable.

Kenai · 14 Sep 2019 at 08:51

I'm not paying £50+pm for an S10 512GB with EE on a 60GBpm data contract.

They're crap directly, so use a third party and the deals are better.

That was a straight no haggle upgrade contract too, so is what I would expect to be on the more expensive side of things. If I'd wanted to change networks or speak to retentions I could probably have got it cheaper than that but I was lazy.

If you're looking at over £50 for 5GB data and a 'reasonable phone', you're doing it very wrong

Terminal_Boy · 14 Sep 2019 at 09:23

SDK^ said:
However, even though Apple have increased the price of their phones, profit margin has gone down due to increased costs from other elements.

Profit Margin

That graph shows markup, not profit margin. Profit margin has to account for R&D and Operational costs. Apple profit margin on iPhones has remained around the 35% mark.

Hades · 14 Sep 2019 at 12:19

I buy outright now and get a separate phone/data contract. I do prefer an all-you-can-eat data contract because I use it a huge amount while out and about. But I don't need a phone with the latest features. In fact my last phone was a used one. I look to spend around £200 to £300 every few years on a phone, and no more.

spaceman · 14 Sep 2019 at 12:49

I've got no need for a flagship phone, I'm perfectly happy with my current Pixel 3a (£340 with a Google home hub when I bought it).

I buy a phone every few years and get a SIM only contract.

My EE SIM is £15 a month for 25gb data, unlimited calls & texts.

SDK^ · 14 Sep 2019 at 13:09

Terminal_Boy said:
That graph shows markup, not profit margin. Profit margin has to account for R&D and Operational costs. Apple profit margin on iPhones has remained around the 35% mark.

Did you miss the red line using the right axis