iPhone / Smartphone with or without contract?

[Wormius]

Thinking about getting an iPhone and wondering if there is any advantage to buying a used one and going monthly, or just getting it essentially subsidized on a 3 yr contract. The only place that seems to offer any good incentive for bringing your own phone is Mobilicity, but it is pretty limited to major cities. For the rest of the providers it is as if whether you own the phone or not you'll pay a similar price month to month. So, I guess to the people who bought phones outright, was there any savings after shelling out a lot of money to begin with? I mean, unless you exclusively use wifi and have a voice only plan, it seems like you'll be spending $50+ per month regardless of whether you bought the phone or are getting it subsidized.

Thanks.

[FlameOn]

Just a thing about mobilicity and wind, they run on AWS1700 so an iPhone is not compatible. If you are buying a phone out right you need to get one that is compatible with that band. So you'll have to buy a used T-Mobile phone from the US IIRC. Google's Nexus S, a bunch of Samsung phones or a bunch of HTC phones work.

I've bought phones outright before and depending on the contract it works out cheaper over the three years. If you're a person to use a lot of data, make lots of calls etc or you want a new phone every second year you are better off going that route. In any case, first thing I would do is complain to your current provider and threaten to quit, usually they'll put you through to retentions department and you'll get a much better deal. I pay ~$40/month with data now and it's worked out pretty good for me so far (but I'm stuck on another 3 year contract).

[Acey]

The advantage is that you can get 6 GB of data with Rogers right now. That's the only reason I'm locked in with them. I see no other reason to sign a 3 year contract.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

I just got the same 6 GB with Telus.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by fotze

With contract?

Yup.

To the OP, the whole piont of the contract is that you get a free/cheap phone. The phone company wants a guarantee you'll be paying them for a while and they're willing to pay for a phone to make that happen. There's no reason for them to give you a cheaper plan because you brougt your own phone.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

Just a thing about mobilicity and wind, they run on AWS1700 so an iPhone is not compatible. If you are buying a phone out right you need to get one that is compatible with that band. So you'll have to buy a used T-Mobile phone from the US IIRC. Google's Nexus S, a bunch of Samsung phones or a bunch of HTC phones work.

I've bought phones outright before and depending on the contract it works out cheaper over the three years. If you're a person to use a lot of data, make lots of calls etc or you want a new phone every second year you are better off going that route. In any case, first thing I would do is complain to your current provider and threaten to quit, usually they'll put you through to retentions department and you'll get a much better deal. I pay ~$40/month with data now and it's worked out pretty good for me so far (but I'm stuck on another 3 year contract).

I am just on a regular pay-as-you-go, voice-only phone with Telus and thinking about upgrading, since the number of minutes I go through is starting to border on being better off in a contract with a decent phone.

I am not a data hog, and would really only browse substantially at home over wi-fi or some wi-fi hot spot. Basic other use would be email / messenger / get directions of some type stuff. The standard 500mb/month might be overkill then, unless there is lots of overhead involved in any of those activities outside of email attachments.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Yup.

To the OP, the whole piont of the contract is that you get a free/cheap phone. The phone company wants a guarantee you'll be paying them for a while and they're willing to pay for a phone to make that happen. There's no reason for them to give you a cheaper plan because you brougt your own phone.

No, but there is a reason for them to give you a cheaper plan if their competitor is offering a deal that could save you $xx per month and switching over would be penalty free. That said, you can't just call in and get a better rate just on the basis of you not having a contract. You need to find a deal that is comparable to what you want but cheaper and go in armed with the Math.

One other thing to note, is that your plan needs to decrease by an minimum of $10 a month to make it worthwhile at all to buy a phone outright, if you disregard factors such as needing an unlocked phone for travel etc. 10 a month, which is between $240 and $360 over the life of your contract, factoring in for early HUP. At that price range, you are probably not looking at a brand new top of the line phone. The savings would need to be $20 or more to justify the purchase price of a brand new phone (iPhone4, Galaxy SII etc), which makes it unlikely.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Yup.

To the OP, the whole piont of the contract is that you get a free/cheap phone. The phone company wants a guarantee you'll be paying them for a while and they're willing to pay for a phone to make that happen. There's no reason for them to give you a cheaper plan because you brougt your own phone.

I know. My question is sort of why would somebody want to go that route, if there is little incentive to buy a phone without a contract. If you spend, say $450 on a second hand iPhone 4, over the course of a 3 year contract, you have spent essentially $12.50 / month on the phone, so if there are not reasonable voice / data plans that would bring you much under the typical $50 plan price it doesn't seem worth it. I just wanted to know if there was some cell phone plans that made this worthwhile.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I know. My question is sort of why would somebody want to go that route, if there is little incentive to buy a phone without a contract. If you spend, say $450 on a second hand iPhone 4, over the course of a 3 year contract, you have spent essentially $12.50 / month on the phone, so if there are not reasonable voice / data plans that would bring you much under the typical $50 plan price it doesn't seem worth it. I just wanted to know if there was some cell phone plans that made this worthwhile.

You can easily save $12.50 with some effort, and with luck more, but the other side of the coin is that without the initial cash outlay you can save the effort and end up a the same place.

One thing to remember is that some providers will allow you to get a hardware upgrade early by extending your contract, like with Rogers it is 24 months into the 3yr contract. Another is that a subsidized new model phone will still typically cost you $100-$150, so by spending $450 (in your used iPhone scenario), you really only save $300. Some models you can get for $1, but they are not the newest model and could almost certainly be purchased new for a drastically reduced price than a new iPhone.

IMHO, if you want the newest phone, trying to avoid a contract by buying your phone outright can't really save you enough money for the initial cash outlay to be worth the effort required to make sure your bill is as low as it can be. If you are happy with a previous gen phone (iPhone 3GS) then it can be very effective,.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I am just on a regular pay-as-you-go, voice-only phone with Telus and thinking about upgrading, since the number of minutes I go through is starting to border on being better off in a contract with a decent phone.

I am not a data hog, and would really only browse substantially at home over wi-fi or some wi-fi hot spot. Basic other use would be email / messenger / get directions of some type stuff. The standard 500mb/month might be overkill then, unless there is lots of overhead involved in any of those activities outside of email attachments.

If you're not a data hog you can probably get them to do a retentions contract with data for about $40 (200 daytime minutes, evenings and weekends starting 6, 500MB data and unlimited text). It might be worth it to do that instead. As for data, if you do anything like send pictures, view youtube or download apps outside of wifi, that chews things up really fast.

Originally Posted by Rathji

IMHO, if you want the newest phone, trying to avoid a contract by buying your phone outright can't really save you enough money for the initial cash outlay to be worth the effort required to make sure your bill is as low as it can be. If you are happy with a previous gen phone (iPhone 3GS) then it can be very effective,.

There's another option with Wind, you can do something like the wind tab, its not really a contract but they give you the phone for a low price and it's like a bar tab that's paid off with your monthly bills. If you cancel early, you pay the difference you owe on the phone. Difference is, you pay no cancellation fees for breaking the contract early, just the phone difference. So its like a no interest car payment for your phone. Might be something to consider instead of buying the phone outright.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I know. My question is sort of why would somebody want to go that route, if there is little incentive to buy a phone without a contract.

The incentive to buy a phone without a contract is to own a phone without a contract and not be stuck with some conniving weasels for three years.

A few months ago I bought a phone outright for $500 from Rogers and went month-to-month. I definitely paid more upfront (and pay about 12 bucks more a month) but if I hate them, I pay my month's bill and walk away. If I sign a deal and hate them, I pay them $500 (the price of the phone) to walk away.

That extra $12 bucks is worth the peace of mind. I've done the math and I make $12 bucks in two hours at work. It's worth it for sure.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

That extra $12 bucks is worth the peace of mind. I've done the math and I make $12 bucks in two hours at work. It's worth it for sure.

Those pretty lips are worth at least 7.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by Acey

The advantage is that you can get 6 GB of data with Rogers right now. That's the only reason I'm locked in with them. I see no other reason to sign a 3 year contract.

What is the name of this plan? I don't see any plans with more than 1 GB on their website.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

The incentive to buy a phone without a contract is to own a phone without a contract and not be stuck with some conniving weasels for three years.

A few months ago I bought a phone outright for $500 from Rogers and went month-to-month. I definitely paid more upfront (and pay about 12 bucks more a month) but if I hate them, I pay my month's bill and walk away. If I sign a deal and hate them, I pay them $500 (the price of the phone) to walk away.

That extra $12 bucks is worth the peace of mind. I've done the math and I make $12 bucks in two hours at work. It's worth it for sure.

I didn't think $6/hr was a salary anywhere in Canada.

I thought the contracts were so that you paid off the balance owing on the phone, so if you just signed a 3 yr contract you would be out $500 - whatever portion of you monthly bill is for the phone. So wouldn't you just be better off signing a contract and if you had no problems with the provider, the phone is essentially free after 3 yrs, if you hated them you just pay whats owing, which should still be less than the phone outright, unless yoi cancelled in the first month of a 3 yr deal?

Unless I am totally out to lunch here. I was king of thinking about Virgins' tab deal.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I didn't think $6/hr was a salary anywhere in Canada.

I thought the contracts were so that you paid off the balance owing on the phone, so if you just signed a 3 yr contract you would be out $500 - whatever portion of you monthly bill is for the phone. So wouldn't you just be better off signing a contract and if you had no problems with the provider, the phone is essentially free after 3 yrs, if you hated them you just pay whats owing, which should still be less than the phone outright, unless yoi cancelled in the first month of a 3 yr deal?

Unless I am totally out to lunch here. I was king of thinking about Virgins' tab deal.

I am pretty sure your phone will almost never be worth more than the cancellation fee for a typical contract, simply due to the depreciation of the phone. Especially factoring in you need to pay more on top of the contract for a higher end /newer phone ($50-$150)

[gottabekd]

So I have been using Wind Mobile, and it has been working pretty well for me. I have a "$40/month, unlimited everything (voice, data, text, long distance, etc.)". That was a one time special, but they might have something similar again.

Right now it looks like they offer an 'unlimited everything' plan for $29/month, but only for up to a year, and this does not include long distance. http://www2.windmobile.ca/en/Pages/voice-plans.aspx

Anyways, the WindTab option looks fairly similar to the 'free phones with 3 year contract' options. Wind will front you the cost of the phone (up to about $400 it looks like), and 10% of your monthly bill pays down the tab balance. If you stay with them for 3 years, then they clear your tab. If you decide to leave before 3 years, then you owe the difference. Sounds similar to canceling a contract, but I would guess the cost to you would be much less.

What this means is you could get a Google Nexus S (reg $495) on the WindTab for $99, if you stay with Wind for 3 years. If you leave early, you'll have some of that phone paid off, but will be on the hook for the remainder of your tab.

It should be noted that Wind (and from what I understand, Mobilicity) are only good options if you expect to use the phone within their Wind Zones (i.e. Calgary, and some other major Canadian cities). If you want to use the phone outside of this area, you will be paying $0.25/minute, and LOTS for data usage.

[OldDutch]

FYI, I bought my iPhone from Apple. I signed up with Virgin. They are Bell, but cheaper prices.

I have 350 mins, voicemail, free after 5PM, 6GB Data for $80 month. No contract.

No hoops, just walked up and signed up. I have looked around and this is the best no-contract smartphone deal I could find that supports iPhone.

[pylon]

If you call Rogers and ask for retention, you can get Unlimited anytime voice, 6 Gb, unlimited text, visual VM, call disp, and call waiting for 73/mth.

I just give the guys at work a copy of my bill when Rogers says that plan doesn't exist, and let them hash it out with the rep. Usually they end up getting the deal, but with only 1 gb data, which for most people is adequate. Now that 6 GB is back, a couple guys have been succesful getting it upgraded from 1 gb.