Just How Cheap Can Owning A Smartphone Be Today?

With so much focus on flagship handsets, you might think that owning a smartphone is an expensive habit for today’s youth. But the market share of those £700 handsets is actually quite small.

The truth is that the smartphone market today is fairly ubiquitous. And that means that it’s no longer something that’s super exclusive that only the wealthy can afford. Technology has given us all of the world’s information at our fingertips, for a reasonable price.

But is “reasonable” good enough? Or do you wish you could drive down the cost of owning a smartphone even more? Fortunately, where there is a will, there is a way. Here are X ways to get the cost of your phone down.

Buy The Handset Upfront

Recently, moneysavingexpert.com calculated whether it worked out cheaper to buy a handset outright. What they found was quite interesting. Even though phone contracts aren’t sold as loans, that’s effectively what they are. And, like any loan, they come with interest. But what was so surprising was that over the course of a lengthy contract, people ended up paying interest of up to 40 percent. That’s high. Higher, in fact, than a lot of secured loans.

Moneysavingexpert reasoned, therefore, that it works out cheaper to take out a loan to buy a handset than to go down the contract route. Surprising, huh?

Use A Comparison Website

Sites like https://mysmartplan.com/smartphones/index/1 exist for a reason. They direct you to the best deal in a market that is so complex that it is hard to fathom.

If you’ve ever tried to work out which deal is the best for you, you’ll know just how exhausting that can be. Not only are there many different mobile providers, but they also have many different tariffs and many different phones. On top of that, many providers will offer different deals to different customers. Comparing deals, therefore, gives you vital information to fight for the lowest possible price.

Keep Your Old Phone

You might not be the person that goes out and buys the newest flagship handset, but handsets aren’t exactly cheap. And when you think about it, how much has really changed in the smartphone space? Yes, you might be able to unlock your phone using your fingerprint. But is this something that’s all that game changing?

When it comes to phones, it’s really the software that’s exciting. And if you use Android or iOS, you get updates all the time. There are big savings to be had by going on a sim only deal. Most of them are well under £20 a month. And most of them come with all the data and call-time you could ever need.

Get A Data Allowance

Let’s say that you whittle your monthly phone bill down to a lean £16 per month. Sounds good, right? Well, it’s only good while you remain inside your monthly allowance. Step outside of that, and you’re in for a nasty surprise when the bill comes due at the end of the month. Spending more for more data now might sound like a bad idea. But in the long term, you could end up saving money.

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