Phone expert reveals clever hack to avoid getting sucked into ‘cheap’ phone deals

Getting a good deal on your mobile phone isn’t as easy as walking into the shop and snapping up the latest deal. Even with a bit of online research, it can be tough to know if a brand new iPhone with unlimited data and free texts is really the best deal for you.

Dan Melia, mobile phone expert from Mobile Phones Direct is warning shoppers to tread carefully when shopping for a new phone contract, and he's got some advice to stop us getting 'sucked in' and ending up with a rubbish deal that costs more than it should and keeps us locked into deals for longer than we should be.

“Often you’ll find that mobile phone deals are reported on from a handset-only pricing perspective. This means you’ll likely see a host of deals promoted that have seemingly low monthly costs," he explains.

Pexels/ Tracy Le Blanc

“However, many vendors only promote their monthly handset costs, leaving the additional airtime or usage costs in the small print. This can lure shoppers in with cheap-looking deals that actually stack up to be considerably more than was advertised once you add your minutes, texts and data plan in there. Always check if the advertised cost is just the handset, or whether this includes any airtime."

Another thing Dan warns us about is to look at how long a contract is being offered for, as sometimes it can stretch to 36 months and even 48 in some cases, which means you'd be locking yourself into a plan for up to four years.

Dan explained: "Another thing to keep an eye out for is contract duration; many suppliers will promote 36-month-long contract times as standard. This often means that consumers will miss out on upgrading to the latest tech sooner and therefore miss out on maximising the future trade-in value of their phone."

Pexels/ ready made

Essentially, this means if you're keeping that iPhone 14 because you've got it for another 12 months as part of a three-year deal, by the time it comes to trade it in you might find it's not worth much because technology has moved on and it's considered 'outdated'.

Dan's top money-saving tip is to look closely at deals and at the fine print as he concludes: "I would advise everyone to shop around when it comes to looking for a new phone contract, and where possible, go for an “all in” deal, inclusive of handset rental fee and airtime costs, giving you better transparency on what your monthly repayments will look like."

MobilePhonesDirect.com typically offers contracts with a standard term of just 24 months, helping you retain the value of your handset and move on to the latest devices from brands such as Apple, Samsung and Google more quickly.

Pexels/ Pixabay

Here are five top deals available on the MobilePhonesDirect.com website right now*:

1. iPhone 15 for £39 a month, £29 upfront and 300GB Data

2. Galaxy S23 for £31 a month, £9 upfront and 300GB Data

3. Google Pixel 8a for £31 a month, £29 upfront and 300GB Data

4. iPhone 13 for £28 a month, £29 upfront and 300GB Data

5. iPhone 14 – As New for £33 a month, £9 upfront and 100GB Data

* Deals correct at the time of publishing on 23 May 2024.