Upgrade Time, Sky Mobile?

Uncle_Gravy · 11 Oct 2018 at 11:11

So currently i'm on BT and ive been notified i'm due for an upgrade, checking their stocklist and vomiting at how expensive is compared to how much my iPhone 7 was two years ago.

So shopping around and i've stumbled across Sky after hearing ads on the radio, Can someone explain to me how Sky Mobile can offer me an iPhone XS Max with 8gb data for £56 and no upfront cost while everywhere else it's going for £70+ and £100 upfront.

The household already has Sky TV so we get the calls and texts included, but is there anything else i'm missing? If not i'll jump on that straight away.

https://www.sky.com/shop/mobile/bun...14210&data=14997&handset=15014&swap=30MSWAP24

fadetoblack · 11 Oct 2018 at 11:35

I would be looking at mobile direct not checked the iPhone but there doing note 9 no upfront cost and 100 gig per month for £49

Ianb901 · 11 Oct 2018 at 11:42

It's because of I'm reading payment break down correctly, it's a 30 month contract.

james.miller · 11 Oct 2018 at 11:42

30 month loan on the handset, so lower monthly payments overall. Assuming you keep that 8gb plan for the full 30 months, that's £1,230 for the handset and 30*15 = £450 for the plan, totalling £1,680. of course, you do have the option to trade in at 24 months, in which case you'd get £246 off the total handset cost for this contract to put towards your next (sky ) contract, assuming the handset is in A1 condition.

Uncle_Gravy · 11 Oct 2018 at 11:50

All my phones stay in a case and screen protector so condition wise should be fine, i'd say my 2 year old iphone 7 is in excellent condition.

Thing is I'm not the type of person who thinks "Ah i need the next best thing NOW!" So i would happily keep a phone especially a flagship like the XS max for 30 months, but even then it still works cheaper than most other companies i've seen asking £70 a month plus 100 on top on a 24 month contract.

Also it says 20gb data included? I can only assume that's for the first month of the contract?

james.miller · 11 Oct 2018 at 13:29

Uncle_Gravy said:
even then it still works cheaper than most other companies i've seen asking £70 a month plus 100 on top on a 24 month contract.

Well, it doesnt really if your's spending £1680 on that sky contract.

if you trade in at 24 months then the total cost would be around £1350 with £246 to go towards a new deal, so you have to weight that up against the cost of a contract such as the one above with the (very high) possibility of getting more for your phone if you sold it on after 24 months instead.

From what i can see it looks like the deal is priced about the same as everywhere else with the plan data allowance etc, but the 30 month loan for the handset makes the monthly payments more attractive. I don't think you'd save anything substantial with that sky deal and either way, it's a LOT of money for a phone with an 8gb data allowance.

Uncle_Gravy · 11 Oct 2018 at 14:14

It's a lot of money where ever you look really at the end of the day, just the £56 seemed appealing, yes it's over 30 months but I couldn't stomach paying £66 a month, i'd be spewing, £56 is my limit really since that's what i'm paying now with BT for this iPhone 7.

Downside with Sky there's no Wifi calling (For now) for iPhone, seems there in a testing phase which is quite a deal breaker since I have no signal where i live so I depend on that feature quite a bit.

Alternatively I was looking going for a lesser phone just to keep costs down like the Huawei P20 Pro.

Squink · 12 Oct 2018 at 09:24

Uncle_Gravy said:
Downside with Sky there's no Wifi calling (For now) for iPhone, seems there in a testing phase which is quite a deal breaker since I have no signal where i live so I depend on that feature quite a bit.

If you need to make wifi calling and Sky doesn't offer wifi calling (and who knows when they will), haven't you effectively ruled out Sky as your provider?

The P20 Pro is a very good phone and is available with loads of data for £33/month or much less data and commensurately lower monthly.

MissChief · 12 Oct 2018 at 09:32

james.miller said:
30 month loan on the handset, so lower monthly payments overall. Assuming you keep that 8gb plan for the full 30 months, that's £1,230 for the handset and 30*15 = £450 for the plan, totalling £1,680. of course, you do have the option to trade in at 24 months, in which case you'd get £246 off the total handset cost for this contract to put towards your next (sky ) contract, assuming the handset is in A1 condition.

After either the 12 or 24 month plan has finished the price you pay monthly drops and you can then either decide to keep the phone and pay the lower price or trade the phone in for a new phone. As you'd expect I'm on Sky mobile, haven't really had any issues and decided earlier this year to keep my phone and the price dropped. There's usually some offer on as well and you get to keep your unused data and can roll it back. I've changed my plan up and down depending on how much data I have saved.

james.miller · 12 Oct 2018 at 09:41

MissChief said:
After either the 12 or 24 month plan has finished the price you pay monthly drops and you can then either decide to keep the phone and pay the lower price or trade the phone in for a new phone. As you'd expect I'm on Sky mobile, haven't really had any issues and decided earlier this year to keep my phone and the price dropped. There's usually some offer on as well and you get to keep your unused data and can roll it back. I've changed my plan up and down depending on how much data I have saved.

Yeah oddly it doesn't on that particular deal. I don't know why but the last 6 payments are the same as the rest

Uncle_Gravy said:
It's a lot of money where ever you look really at the end of the day, just the £56 seemed appealing, yes it's over 30 months but I couldn't stomach paying £66 a month, i'd be spewing, £56 is my limit really since that's what i'm paying now with BT for this iPhone 7.

for comparison, i've been paying £36 a month (for 24 months) for an s8 with 30gb of data, total cost £864.

Uncle_Gracy said:
Alternatively I was looking going for a lesser phone just to keep costs down like the Huawei P20 Pro.

mulpsmebeauty said:
The P20 Pro is a very good phone and is available with loads of data for £33/month or much less data and commensurately lower monthly.

For me personally, having been bitten by faulty usb c ports more than once now, I wouldnt buy a phone with one unless it also had wireless charging which is a shame as i was also looking at the P20 pro. The only reason i'm still using my s8 is because of the wireless charging - the port is knackered and not through any fault of mine either - one of the pins broke :rolleyes:

mark43 · 12 Oct 2018 at 13:04

You're not 'due an upgrade', I wish they wouldn't use such terminology. You're simply out of contract and they want to tie you into a new contract.

Obviously if you want a shiny new phone then sure, but don't feel you have to because they tell you it's that time. Consider a cheap SIM only deal if you're happy with your current handset.

Uncle_Gravy · 12 Oct 2018 at 19:33

Yeah I know i'd be savings a lot if i went sim only and i am considering it, I do like my 7 it's a good phone, do kinda wish I went with the plus, on the flipside I would like a new phone haha, Why does this have to be so hard :'(

mark43 · 12 Oct 2018 at 19:41

The thing is, as long as you pick a monthly sim only deal you're not stuck with it, you can still change your mind in a month, three months, six months, a year whatever. Gives you more time to decide what you want and maybe something else will come along that you really really want. And of course the other option then (depending on your financial situation) could be to just buy a SIM free handset.

MagicBoy · 12 Oct 2018 at 19:43

The deal is a tad misleading at first glance. Took me a few minutes of checking the small print to work out it was a 24 month contract with 30 months of payments when they sent me the flyer. My first reaction is that it's devious...