What to check when buying a contract phone

A contract phone is no longer a small part of your life, most flagship handsets are now above £650 with most consumers choosing a pay monthly contract phone deal that spans over 24 months.

What is a contract phone?

Buying a contract phone means you are paying for the handset, minutes, texts and data over the duration of the contract. These mobile phone deals include connection with a network and can often come with addons including extra’s like NOW TV, Sky Mobile and Spotify.

Many deals come with no upfront cost but it’s often better to pay a little up front as this can reduce the amount of money spent over the duration of the contract. This is known as total phone cost and effectively reduces the monthly tariff but keeps the same level of minutes, texts and data.

Some consumers opt for a sim free phone and choose their own sim-only deal. This is an effective way to reduce the total phone cost over the duration of the contract but not everyone can afford to spend upwards of £650 to buy the phone separately.

When you take out a pay monthly plan you will sign into a 24-month contract with a network like EE, Vodafone or Three. When you sign your contract plan you will agree to your minutes, texts and data and the phone cost is built into your plan.

Pros and cons of pay monthly contract phones

The Pros

• You spread the cost of the handset over the duration of the contract
• You often get great addons like Sky Mobile, Spotify and Now TV
• You can trade-in your old handset and keep your plan when your favourite manufacture releases their next device.
• Lots of choice on mobile phones with no upfront cost
• Reduce your monthly tariff by paying a small contribution upfront to get a low monthly tariff

The Cons

• Buying the handset sim free and pairing it with your own sim only plan is always cheaper
• You are singing up for a two-year period
• Most sim-only plans are only 12-month contracts
• You can upgrade or downgrade your tariff easier

Some checks to do before you buy your contract phone plan

Network coverage

Always check your local mobile phone coverage before signing any mobile phone contract plan. Download Ofcom’s mobile phone coverage checker here.

How do you use your phone?

• If you make a lot of texts and calls, then you are best going for a contract plan with unlimited minutes and texts.
• If you use Facebook and Apps all day on the move, then you need a larger data plan.

Most of the cost attributed to contract plans is the data allowance. There aren’t many unlimited data plans anymore and the more GB of data you want the higher the cost will be. To save your data ensure you switch off your mobile data whilst you are on the move if you can.

Looking for a contract phone that won’t break the bank?

Fonehouse stock the largest range of mobile phones in the UK. We also partner with several of the leading networks including Vodafone and EE. Check out our best-selling deals below.

• Fonehouse’s best online mobile phone deals
• Contract phones on pay monthly plans
• Our best sim free deals
• Our best sim only plans
• Our best iPhone deals
• Our best Samsung Galaxy deals

If you would like advice or guidance on which pay monthly plan would work for you contact our customer service team on 0333 900 1133.