# Where is the best place to buy a mobile outright?



## Brendan Burgess (7 Sep 2015)

I want to keep my phone service separate from ownership of my phone.

Where is the best place to buy a new phone?

My existing one has gone dead, and it's a few years old, so I presume  it's not worth fixing - unless I want to get at some photos and mobile numbers. 

My old Nokia is standing in at the moment. 

Brendan


----------



## Páid (7 Sep 2015)

The last few phones I bought were unlocked from China. I have bought from Merimobiles, Focalprice and Etotalk and I have never had a problem. Factor customs into the overall price.

This is a bit more expensive but it's top of the range - https://oneplus.net

Monitor this thread on boards.ie for deals on the latest Chinese phones - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057438440


----------



## tallpaul (7 Sep 2015)

First question is whether you use/want to use Apple/Android or Windows? Argos have 87 sim-free phones on their site.


----------



## theoneill (7 Sep 2015)

Why not buy a One Plus One / Two?

https://oneplus.net/uk

They are a fantastic phone and great value, haven't looked back since I got one earlier in the year. Essentially you are buying a high end phone for half the price of the equivalent HTC / Samsung / iPhone


----------



## Sue Ellen (7 Sep 2015)

I've found Carphone Warehouse good for advice.  Best to call into one of their shops and don't be talked into buying something immediately.  Try the phones on display for weight etc. and take details of prices and their catalogue and think it over at home before purchasing.  I would have a preference for not buying over the net.  Daughter bought on e-bay some years ago and it was
a disaster even though she thought she did her homework correctly.

The stand alone package (my own phone) that I have with Vodafone for €25.00 a month is good value.  Their shops can't offer it, just Call Centre.  Not sure if you have to be a long time customer with them.


----------



## moneybox (7 Sep 2015)

Ebay - buy from trusted sellers, recently got a sony Z1 for £60


----------



## Brendan Burgess (7 Sep 2015)

Thanks guys

I will start with Carphone Warehouse to find out what I need.  I had a problem with them some time ago, and they gave me some sort of credit note in compensation. I will see if I can find that and use it. 

Never thought of Argos. Sounds like a good option. 

Brendan


----------



## Brendan Burgess (7 Sep 2015)

I had a look at Which and it has made me think about what I want. I would really need to see the different phones. 

I only use it for phone calls and occasional texting, so I want a small phone.  Yet, I find that I make a lot of typos when I text, so I might want a small phone with a big keyboard if that's possible.  I am using my old Nokia phone as an interim measure and it's so much more simpler and convenient that my Samsung smartphone. 

Brendan


----------



## mathepac (7 Sep 2015)

I could sell you a perfectly good, unlocked Nokia 6310i, probably the pinnacle of simple phones, made by Nokia Germany. If you don't think German quality is different to Chinese quality, have a look at this phone! Batteries are still available, if it ever needs replacing and i have the cable that links the phone's proprietary connector back to a PC serial port for backup or syncing. This phone has the old-fashioned hard-wired key-pad. 

 http://www.mobilmania.cz/Files/Obrazky/art2/Nokia6310/6310_02.jpg


----------



## moneybox (8 Sep 2015)

Brendan Burgess said:


> I  Yet, I find that I make a lot of typos when I text, so I might want a small phone with a big keyboard if that's possible.
> Brendan


 
Here you are Brenden, a big button phone, ideal  for the older person and it comes with a build in alarm at the back!


http://www.amazon.co.uk/TTfone-TT45...ie=UTF8&qid=1441671800&sr=8-1&keywords=TTfone


----------



## Brendan Burgess (8 Sep 2015)

Thanks lads. I am not quite the Luddite that my post might have suggested. 

I do want a smart phone. It's just that I am trying to balance a small phone with a decent sized keypad.  Probably trying to reconcile the impossible. 

Brendan


----------



## Páid (8 Sep 2015)

Brendan Burgess said:


> I do want a smart phone. It's just that I am trying to balance a small phone with a decent sized keypad.  Probably trying to reconcile the impossible.



There are lots of keyboard apps available for android to replace the stock one. If you use gesture typing you don't need to be as accurate with the letters.


----------



## eamo15 (8 Sep 2015)

Hi Breandan

You can buy sim card free mobile phones in argos and put in your sim card


----------



## mathepac (8 Sep 2015)

Brendan Burgess said:


> ... Never thought of Argos.


The majority of the iPhones (all iPhone 5cs?) are out of stock, I think pending tomorrow's new product announcements by Apple. Their new phone software will include a facility to get contact data, photos, text messages, music etc from Android phones into an iPhone for switchers.

I know you said you wanted to keep phone ownership and service supply separate, but TescoMobile's tele-sales people have a pretty good deal at the moment. Don't ask me why it isn't advertised more widely

An iPhone 5C 16GB for €259 on a 24-month contract (monthly allowance of 500 mins, 500 texts, 15GB data plus 200 web-texts) at €30/month.

Total Cost of Phone & Services over 2 years = (259 + 720) €979 or €41/month and you own the phone at that point which will still have significant residual value at that point, maybe €200 / 250 based on current 2nd hand prices.


----------



## Páid (8 Sep 2015)

mathepac said:


> Total Cost of Phone & Services over 2 years = (259 + 720) €979 or €41/month and you own the phone at that point which will still have significant residual value at that point, maybe €200 / 250 based on current 2nd hand prices.



I don't know why anyone would pay almost €1000 for a phone. You could get a Oneplus One (equivalent to a top of the range iPhone or Samsung) for €299 along with a 30 day sim only plan with most providers for about €30 per month. That's €659 for the year with a 30 day contract.


----------



## stephnyc (8 Sep 2015)

mathepac said:


> ..but TescoMobile's tele-sales people ...An iPhone 5C 16GB for €259 on a 24-month contract (monthly allowance of 500 mins, 500 texts, 15GB data plus 200 web-texts) at €30/month..



@mathepac I cant see any iphones on tescomobiles website - do I need to ring them? http://www.tescomobile.ie/shop.aspx


----------



## thedaddyman (8 Sep 2015)

Can you not just get a pay as you go phone from An Post and swap the SIM card out?. Not sure of it will work but I saw in my local post office today that they had Samsung Galaxy Trend phones for €79 including €20 free credit


----------



## mathepac (8 Sep 2015)

stephnyc said:


> @mathepac I cant see any iphones on tescomobiles website - do I need to ring them? http://www.tescomobile.ie/shop.aspx



"_TescoMobile's tele-sales_"  http://www.tescomobile.ie/switch-for-value.aspx#switch 1800 800 089


----------



## mathepac (8 Sep 2015)

Páid said:


> I don't know why anyone would pay almost €1000 for a phone. ..


I don't know either but my proposal is to pay "_€979 or €41/month_" for an iPhone *and* a 2-year service contract.



Páid said:


> ...You could get a Oneplus One (equivalent to a top of the range iPhone or Samsung) for €299 along with a 30 day sim only plan with most providers for about €30 per month. *That's €659 for the year* with a 30 day contract.



For a *2-year contract*, which is what I proposed,  that's €1,019 (659 +360) or €40 more than my proposal.  The difference is actually €60+ as TescoMobile ship free, but Oneplus charge €20 shipping to Ireland, and they'll charge you extra if you opt for their UK mains charger unit when checking out of their online store. 

TescoMobile have a 30-day SIM-only deal for €25/month 10,000 minutes, 10,000 texts, 15GB data + web-texts, plus if you shop in Tescos and have a ClubCard, you can convert your vouchers for 3 times face-value to pay your phone bill. And you earn points when you pay your phone bill or buy your phone from them.


----------



## Páid (8 Sep 2015)

Brendan is looking to "keep his phone service separate from ownership of his phone". That means the phone must not be locked to a particular provider. What you are proposing is locking him into a 2 year contract where he cannot move to another provider and even if he could, the phone is locked to Tesco.

If you buy any of the sim unlocked phones you are free to sign up to any of the 30 day sim only plans that range in price from €15 to €35 per month and you can switch whenever you want.

Personally, I'm using a Xiaomi Redmi 1S that I got for €140 including customs and delivery (I bought 2 together). I moved from Meteor (€30 p/m billpay out of contract) to eMobile unlimited (€32 p/m sim only unlimited plan) and then to Three (€25 p/m 350 flexi unit unlimited internet plan). I also have a free Tesco mobile prepay sim in it. 

I have the freedom to move provider when I want and the only restriction is the 30 days notice for the sim only plan.


----------



## losttheplot (8 Sep 2015)

€99 for a Ready to Go Lumia 635. You could get it unlocked if you're not with vodafone. This includes the mobile version of MSOffice (Excel / Word / Powerpoint). Not the same quantity of Apps available compared with  Android and iPhone.


----------



## mathepac (8 Sep 2015)

I have MS Office for Mobile, including OneNote, on the iPad and iPhone for free, legally. If you use these applications on your PC or Mac, their availability on iOS and Windows phones and tablets is a powerful incentive not to use Android. If space is at a premium, you can install the applications individually, you don't have to install everything everywhere. And you can sync documents via the cloud service of your choice, DropBox, iCloud, iDrive, etc


----------



## demoivre (9 Sep 2015)

mathepac said:


> I have MS Office for Mobile, including OneNote, on the iPad and iPhone for free, legally. If you use these applications on your PC or Mac, their availability on iOS and Windows phones and tablets is a powerful incentive not to use Android.



MS Office and OneNote are available free on Android, as are several of Androids own office suites.


----------



## mathepac (9 Sep 2015)

I didn't know Microsoft had ventured into Google territory. Thanks.


----------



## mathepac (15 Jun 2016)

If you use Android, then this phone http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/oneplus-3-review/ advertised on their site for €399 seems to have premium offerings from other makers beaten into a cocked hat. CNET reviews are usually pretty in-depth and reliable IME.


----------



## Frank (20 Jun 2016)

As mentioned argos sell unlocked phones as do [broken link removed] 

I have been looking at one of last years high end phones carphonewarehouse are quoting 560 sim free from vodafone whereas komplett have the same phone for 449 

Some difference and the second option phone is unlocked allowing switching around of sim only plans.


----------



## trasneoir (20 Jun 2016)

Moto X for £218 - they have a history of producing good phones for half the cost of flagship models.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-M...47&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3&transaction=device_only


----------

