Poor phone choice offerings [ Edited ]

[welshsteve76]

It's been a while since I looked at what phones are available on O2, but with my contract only having 4 months left to run I'm starting to look around and was thinking of paying off my refresh and getting a new phone.  My wife too, who is also lookign at new phones, but with a cheaper budget.

But I have to say I am shocked at how poor the choice of phones is these days.  Over half the phones available on O2 now are either Samsung or Apple, with a distinct lack of choice of other manufacturers.  No LG, HTC or OnePlus anymore.  You can't even go to Carphone Warehouse anymore as O2 no longer have a relationship with them.

O2 contract prices are higher than other networks too for the same phones, and over less time with comparable tariffs (data, mins, texts)

Seems that things like O2 Priority and the new Disney+ offers etc are havign an effect (in much the same way as why Boots is so much more expensive than places like Savers because Advantage Card perks have to be paid for).

O2 Refresh is a brilliant idea, but with the default contract length now 3 years I'm starting to think whether it is worth it or not anymore and maybe time to shop around.

What are everyone else's thoughts on this?

Cheers

Steve

[MI5 Level 94: Supreme]

We've all been saying the same for years tbh.
I for one, buy my phone of my choice outright and just have a simo tariff.

[jonsie Level 94: Supreme]

I totally agree @welshsteve76 , contracts are way overpriced and O2's business  is built on the offer of Refresh, the pathetic Priority and 'extras'. I did upgrade my sim only to get more for the same I was paying previously and Disney+ extra included.

Sim only deals aren't bad but my next phone when I do decide to get one will be from Amazon or possibly one of the other networks.

[welshsteve76]

So not just me then Glad to hear it.

I can't justify the costs of buying a phone outright.  And I want rid of my chinese phone LOL  Ok so that means OnePlus is out anyway even if they were available.  And HTC are not available in the UK at the mo due to their court case.

I really do feel that shopping around networks may need to be the way I go

[gmarkj]

You can still get deals on o2 via buymobiles.net, affordablemobiles.co.uk and mobilephonesdirect.co.uk.
Might be worth looking on there as they do have some deals for other manufacturers...

[Cleoriff Level 94: Supreme]

I bought my last phone (Note 8) from Amazon. Luckily the sim only deals on O2 are pretty good so I stick with those.

[welshsteve76]

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@gmarkj wrote:
You can still get deals on o2 via buymobiles.net, affordablemobiles.co.uk and mobilephonesdirect.co.uk.
Might be worth looking on there as they do have some deals for other manufacturers...

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I've never heard of any of those @gmarkj  Are they safe?

[gmarkj]

I have used buymobiles.net before (a while ago) and no issues.
Not sure on the others.
Looking on trust pilot, affordable have 80% excellent (out of 12,601 reviews) and MPD have 78% excellent (out of 48,154).

[welshsteve76]

I have also noticed there are more manufacturers available in the Pay As You Go offerings

[welshsteve76]

OK so I've just done a like for like comparison for the SAMSUNG GALAXY A71

24 Months

1GB Data

£50 up front for the phone

O2 price is £33.80

EE price is £35

So O2 is cheaper.

Then you try the SAMSUNG GALAXY A51

24 Months

1GB Data

£50 up front for the phone

O2 price is 8p more expensive so pretty much the same.

Overall though EE have FOUR TIMES as many phones available on Pay Monthly contracts.  That's a staggering difference, and the real reason for the issues.

The flexible plans, and refresh are what O2 has going for it, at the expense of a real choice of devices.  Stick to the Samsungs of this world and the prices are not too different across the networks