Five crucial consumer tips that'll bag you cheapest phone this sale season
O2, EE, Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile are just a few of the retailers that are offering price drops for mobile fans this January sale season, giving shoppers a chance to lock into a much cheaper contract. As providers start to drop hundreds off their prices, shoppers must follow these five tips to ensure they save the most in the sales.
The January sales are proving a popular time for retailers to cut the cost of tech and a quick online scour will show you can currently find £600 off the Google Pixel Fold, £500 off the Pixel 7 handset, a £150 discount on the Samsung S23, or six months of half price data at Sky Mobile.
GiffGaff also features in the sales with a similar data price cut to Sky, where you'll find triple the amount of data for no extra cost, as it offers 500GB of data for just £20 a month, the same price you'd usually pay for 120GB of data. Handsets like the iPhone 14 are cheaper at Tesco Mobile thanks to its £11 off data each month, but the Clubcard-only deal may actually prove to be more expensive than rival providers.
It may sound like a steal but the supermarket provider contracts run on a fixed 36-month plan, meaning you are tied into the plan for a lot longer. It's T&Cs like this that make it essential for eager shoppers to keep five phone shopping tips in mind in order to get the cheapest rate across the full contract, not just compared to deals on sale day.
As a consumer tech writer who follows seasonal sales, these are my five recommended tips for all phone shoppers that'll help you mark the New Year with a worthwhile deal, no matter if you have an Apple, Samsung, Google, Nokia, or Huawei model in mind.
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1. Handset and data? Always pick a contract with roaming
Now that we've left the EU, travelling abroad and staying connected can become expensive very quickly. This is why, if you're going to want to use your phone abroad, you should always opt for a mobile contract with an EU roaming allowance, even if it's not the cheapest option in the sale.
O2 and EE are on our list for one of the best two options for inclusive roaming data, as you'll get to use your usual data allowance when you're on holiday, as long as you don't go over the set fair use limit. For example, O2's current sale on the Samsung Galaxy S23 with 25GB of monthly data includes an EU roaming allowance of up to 25GB too.
Uswitch currently has a list of current SIM-only mobile deals that come packed with inclusive roaming data.
2. Always opt for a data spending cap
The data amount you opt for during the January sales may end up not being enough for your phone use, but you'll want to cap it to avoid being charged over and beyond. Many contracts will offer a data cap, meaning you can allocate a set amount for your provider to cut you off if you overspend.
For instance, if you opt for a handset with 100GB of monthly data you can set your data cap, say up to 125GB a month, this way you'll reduce the risk of accidentally running your bill a lot higher than anticipated.
3. Look at the T&Cs to avoid price rises
The rising cost of living means that your mobile contract could go up in price even if you have signed a contract. This inflation rate laid out this January 2024 means a handful of UK providers will up their prices in April this year, so the deal you find in the current sales could end up being a lot more expensive.
This can be avoided as long as you check for this vital point in the T&Cs. If a provider mentions potential Consumer Price Index price hikes in the terms and conditions of your contract then you will be expected to pay the hiked rate, but you are free to leave penalty-free if your bill goes up during your plan and it's not stated.
You can head to consumer experts at Money Saving Expert for more guidance on this, as it highlights the right actions to take if you find yourself in this situation, here. We've also put together a list of the current mobile deals with advice on providers that have confirmed they won't up their prices; 'Warning for anyone who unboxed a new Apple, Samsung, Google or Nokia phone for Christmas'.
4. Contract versus outright price
The current deals at Sky Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and EE are pretty decent this year, but we'd always recommend shoppers to compare each and every penny before heading to the checkout. As sometimes the combined data and handset contracts aren't always the cheapest, especially if you're tied into multiple months.
It may work out cheaper to buy a phone outright from retailers like Amazon or Very and then take out a cheaper monthly rolling SIM for your data, which can be done online at places like Lebara, GiffGaff, and Lyca. For instance, this standard iPhone 15 is currently £26 a month at Sky Mobile on a 36-month contract (£936 in total) but Very are selling the handset for £749 - you'd save £187 before data.
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5. Storage size is key
This may sound self explanatory but it's a key tip for anyone catching on to an outright deal at the likes of Very, John Lewis, Amazon and Currys. Sometime the best phone price drops can catch you off guard but it's the assigned storage amount that'll tell you if the offer is too good to be true.
If you're unsure of the price drop always head to the official store of the brand, like Samsung or Apple, to compare their going rates for the different storage sizes.
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