Some people think I am a gadget whore and will buy every iteration of iPad and iPhone that is released. That is true to some extent but I actually did not get the iPhone 4S, I felt it was so similar to the 4, I wanted to wait and see what the iPhone 5 offered.
Now the iPhone 5 has been announced I wanted to dive in and get one, not because it has amazing features because it has not but I felt it had enough to justify missing out on the 4S model.
The next decision would be do I buy the phone sim free (£529) and stay out of contract or do I pay a lot for the phone still but sign a contract. I expected the contract price to be a couple of hundred pounds at least.
My current phone plan is £17 a month which is non contract – over the life of a 24 month contract that would be 17*24+529 which is £937
Woke up to an email this morning from my current provider Three. They are offering the iPhone 5 on a 24 month contract – 500 mins, 5000 texts and all I could eat data for £35 a month with an upfront cost of £79 which by my calculations is 35*24+79 = £919
So really the contract price does work out a smidgen cheaper over two years than buying outright but the downside is being tied to 24 months. The plus side is I do not have to find £500 straight away to fund my geekiness.
Product ordered: 16Gb black iphone 5, should be here next week 
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Lufferov says:
You don’t appear to have looked at all the options before committing
The phone sim free at £529 with a sim only deal from GiffGaff (no contract) gives you 250mins, unlimited texts and unlimited data for £10 a month. Over the equivalent 24 month contract you get (10*24)+529= £769. That’s a saving of £150 on your cheaper contract option, with the added bonus of not being locked in for 24 months!
If the fewer minutes is an issue, you can step up to their next tariff of £15 for 400mins, unlimited texts & data. That still works out to be £30 cheaper. Again the bonus is unlocked handset and no contract!
It’s 100 minutes less, but I bet you’ve never used that many a month… do you even ever go above 250? You get unlimited texts too (although 5,000 is essentially the same).
Whichever way you look at it though, the sim only deal and buying the handset is always cheaper! The ability to sell your phone at any time means you will save more money and allow you to upgrade on your own terms.
beck says:
GiffGaff uses O2 network and around here the signal is rubbish and lucky to get 2 bars. I really wanted to stay with Three as it has excellent coverage.
I thought about it and see no reason to leave Three at this time so it was really a case of weighing up sim free and contract.