We use 3 and find their contracts are very good . You don't have to have a top of the range smart phone I pay £16 for my daughter and it does her well can't remember how many minutes but its unlimited data and 1000 ish texts ( it may be more I can't remember !!!!)
I think my advice would be to talk to lots of people about their phones and visit lots of phone shops to look at / play with / discuss the types of phone on offer. As mentioned above, no retailer is likely to give impartial advice!
Every network / brand / operating system will have their fans and there are a lot of people who make a virtue out of never using it or doing it as cheaply as possible!
All phones can make calls, send texts and take photos. It will be the other things that you may want to use it for that should influence your selection of phone.
A smart phone is like a pocket computer and if you only want to send / receive emails and do a little internet surfing then pretty much all of them would be capable of this. They can also do almost anything that your home computer can do. Using my smart phone when I am away means that I don't have to carry a music player, radio, TV, books, magazines, games machine, crosswords, travel guides, maps, satnav, foreign dictionaries, shopping lists and many many other things. I also ring people sometimes with it! At home I find that I no longer use my laptop as the phone is just more convenient. Of course, none of that may be important to everybody!
I also am with BT for my landline and o2 for my mobile. If BT also supply your broadband you will find that you will have free access to BT wifi hotspots as well as o2 hotspots when you are out and about. There will also be many other free or chargeable hotspots at home or abroad. A lot of campsites include free wifi in reception or bar area and sometimes on pitches as well. More and more cafes, pubs, shops are also supplying free wifi for customers If using wifi you will not be paying your network for data charges!
As a BT customer you can add the Smart Talk app to your phone to enable you to make phone calls on your mobile using your landline and paying landline rates. Useful for calls that may be free on landline but chargeable on mobile (0800/0845 and calls made to UK while abroad. Remember though that if not connected to wifi this facility will use mobile data!
I used to be with BT for my smartphone - and the price was very good at that time - however, I got frustrated by the very limited selection of phones that they do. Prices used to be excellent though! I currently have a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with o2 and I love it's useability!
It may be an idea to buy a 2nd hand handset and a PAYG sim card while you discover how you want to use it rather than find that your paying a lot of money for stuff that you don't want to use or getting frustrated that your phone can't do everything you want it to. A contract ties you in for 12 / 18 / 24 months.
For what it's worth ---
I just got an iPhone 5 via Carphonewarehouse, it's on O2 with unlimited minutes and texts, 1gig data for £27 a month, phone is £99 BUT if bought via QUIDCO you get £80 cashback, after extensive price research this was the cheapest I could get an iPhone. It compares well with other phones too.
have a look at the Sony Xperia phones, since their split form Ericsson, sony are putting out some VERY good phones for not alot of money, most outperform their similar priced rivals from Samsung etc.
Ive just got (well, arriving today) an Xperia T, its costing me £20 a month, it outperforms the galaxy S3 in alot of areas and the cheapest I could get that was £27 a month.
I have recently moved to a smartphone and bought a Samsung S3mini. It is a great phone and I have managed to work most of the features out quite easily. Those I couldn't were easily sorted by the good folks on here
I have mine on Contract with Tesco and it is more expensive and I have way too much data and minutes for what I actually use but when we went away recently it was nice not to have to lug my laptop around with me and I was able to use my phone to connect and I am just coming to the end of my first month and I've only used a quarter of the data provided. This will save me quite a bit on what I would have put on my dongle.
------------- If you see a family struggling to put up the tent then it must be us!
I have just recntly gone over to the other side - and got myself an iphone.
After a bit of research I chose an iphone 4 - did not think I needed the top of the range with my lack of techie skills. I checked with O2 who I wanted as the provider and they were offering the phone on a contract with unlimited calls and texts and 750mb? of data at £27 per month. I then checked with Car phone warehouse and got the same deal from them for £22 a month.
Very pleased with it so far and have also been able to get the geocaching app and a stargazing app both of which I can use a lot while camping. I dont really need the camera as I have a decent new camera which is far better.
The thing I really like about it is I can see the screen! dont need to invest in new glasses just yet!!!
------------- Sue
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
we got the kids a contract phone last year and O2 was doing an offer, free smartphone with 100mins of calls, 500 texts (unlimited to O2) and 100mb of data for £11 a month, it's been enough for the kids and they're more than happy with their phones
------------- -x- Diane -x-
May 13 - Cala Gogo, St Cyprien (didn't go, hubby too ill to travel)
May 14 Ranc Davaine
August 14 Les Sablons
August 13 - Camping Playa Brava, Pals
I have the Galaxy ace on virgin,12 quid with discounts,300mins,unlimited texts,unlimited vmob to vmob and 500mb of data.
It's a bloody rubbish phone,a terrible browser and an awful compass,spirit level,pulse taker,camera and flash light! Not a bad sat nav though!
------------- Silence is golden
Duct tape is silver
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Smart phones
