How-to: figure out the best value iPhone 4 contracts in the UK (updated)
By Vlad Savov 
posted June 18th 2010 6:49AM
posted June 18th 2010 6:49AM
Update: And just as we publish this, Voda has gone official with its tariffs. We've now broken them down into a more digestible format as well. Just for you.
Update 2: Tesco Mobile has also outed its pricing and it's by far the best of the bunch. Check out the full chart inside the post.
Update 3: Three's iPhone 4 pricing has now also been made known.
On first sight, it'll kinda look like we've replaced the carriers' tables with our own more colorful ones, but hopefully these shed a slightly more informative light on the real cost of iPhone fan club membership. There are three rows you really want to concern yourself with. Firstly, the total cost of ownership number tells you how much you'd have to drop over the full length of the contract in the best possible scenario (i.e. you never incur charges beyond your allowances). Then there's the monthly cost of service, which isolates exactly how much you'd be paying purely for the services rendered to you under each contract by excluding handset costs. Think of it as the equivalent of a SIM-only contract where you've already bought the iPhone yourself. We like that stat as a useful barometer of worth, but we've also pulled together a quick value index of our own, which we based on free talktime provision. Its results represent what you'd be paying (in pence) per minute of free calls, but since Orange and O2's contracts differ in other ways, we prefer to call it an index rather than present it as a precise measurement. As with all indexes, the actual numerical values shouldn't be considered as important as the illustrative scale they provide. That's your third row of uber-importance.
We've ignored texts since carriers seem to be giving them away as freely as leaflets nowadays, and we've omitted data from the calculations for the sake of keeping things simple. Let's just use O2's excuse here: 97 percent of all users aren't going to go over 500MB a month (boy, do we hate that excuse, but that's a story for another time). What you need to know is that most of O2's deals are capped at that number, with only the top two stretching to 750MB, whereas Orange has a 750MB "fair usage policy" across the board. That's quite a pitiful offering from both, if we're honest. We've also thrown out the £60+ options for the sake of streamlining these tables, and also because if you're considering them, you probably don't need us to hold your hand through making that choice.
Orange |
|||||||
| Contract term (months) | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Monthly cost | £30 | £35 | £40 | £45 | £35 | £40 | £45 |
| Handset cost | |||||||
| 16GB | £169 | £119 | £89 | £29 | £229 | £169 | £129 |
| 32GB | £269 | £219 | £189 | £139 | £319 | £269 | £219 |
| Total cost of ownership* | |||||||
| 16GB | £889 | £959 | £1,049 | £1,109 | £859 | £889 | £939 |
| 32GB | £989 | £1,059 | £1,149 | £1,219 | £949 | £989 | £1,029 |
| Monthly cost of service only** | |||||||
| 16GB | £16.25 | £19.17 | £22.92 | £25.42 | £20.00 | £21.67 | £24.44 |
| 32GB | £16.25 | £19.17 | £22.92 | £25.83 | £19.44 | £21.67 | £23.89 |
| Minutes | 150 | 600 | 900 | 1200 | 600 | 900 | 1200 |
| Talktime value index (lower is better)*** | |||||||
| 16GB | 10.83 | 3.19 | 2.55 | 2.12 | 3.33 | 2.41 | 2.04 |
| 32GB | 10.83 | 3.19 | 2.55 | 2.15 | 3.24 | 2.41 | 1.99 |
* Monthly cost times number of months, plus handset cost.
** TCO minus price of iPhone (£499 for 16GB; £599 for 32GB), divided by number of months.
*** MCSO divided by number of bundled free minutes.
O2 |
||||||||||
| Contract term (months) | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Monthly cost | £25 | £30 | £35 | £40 | £45 | £30 | £35 | £40 | £45 | £50 |
| Handset cost | ||||||||||
| 16GB | £279 | £179 | £119 | £89 | £29 | £209 | £179 | £119 | £89 | £29 |
| 32GB | £323 | £279 | £209 | £179 | £129 | £299 | £279 | £209 | £179 | £129 |
| Total cost of ownership* | ||||||||||
| 16GB | £879 | £899 | £959 | £1,049 | £1,109 | £749 | £809 | £839 | £899 | £929 |
| 32GB | £923 | £999 | £1,049 | £1,139 | £1,209 | £839 | £909 | £929 | £989 | £1,029 |
| Monthly cost of service only** | ||||||||||
| 16GB | £15.83 | £16.67 | £19.17 | £22.92 | £25.42 | £13.89 | £17.22 | £18.89 | £22.22 | £23.89 |
| 32GB | £13.50 | £16.67 | £18.75 | £22.50 | £25.42 | £13.33 | £17.22 | £18.22 | £21.66 | £23.89 |
| Minutes | 100 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1200 | 100 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1200 |
| Talktime value index (lower is better)*** | ||||||||||
| 16GB | 15.83 | 5.56 | 3.19 | 2.55 | 2.12 | 13.89 | 5.74 | 3.15 | 2.47 | 1.99 |
| 32GB | 13.50 | 5.56 | 3.12 | 2.50 | 2.12 | 13.33 | 5.74 | 3.06 | 2.41 | 1.99 |
* Monthly cost times number of months, plus handset cost.
** TCO minus price of iPhone (£499 for 16GB; £599 for 32GB), divided by number of months.
*** MCSO divided by number of bundled free minutes.
So, what does the breakdown tell us? The first thing that strikes you is that there's an awful lot of price overlap on the two-year deals offered by O2 and Orange; this is evidenced both by nearly identical total cost of ownership on price plans between £35 and £45 and by very similar scores in our talktime index. Price differentiation is a bit more pronounced on the shorter-term agreements, where O2 has the beating of Orange when it comes to total cost, and also offers the cheapest possible iPhone 4 plus service deal with its 18-month contracts costing £30 per. We should, however, reiterate the disparity in 3G data allowance from the two networks, while noting that Orange will also let you buy an add-on 3GB tethering bundle for £5 extra -- something that O2 is unwilling to match.
Another O2 curiosity is that the company prices its iPhone 4s cheaper on its lowest 18-month tariffs than it does on its cheapest 24-month ones. That might be a mistake soon to be corrected, but it makes for an interesting subsidy and helps deliver that sub-£800 TCO number for the cheapest 16GB iPhone 4. Of course, it feels rather absurd to consider such lofty numbers as good value, but on the basis of the two networks who've announced pricing so far, we're inclined to go O2's way and just try to control our bandwidth gluttony. Orange really isn't doing enough to encourage defection from the longtime exclusive iPhone carrier in the UK, which is saddening but hardly unpredictable.
Update: Vodafone has now also gone live with its gambit to lure customers in and we've got the full list for you below.
Vodafone |
||||||||||
| Contract term (months) | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Monthly cost | £25 | £30 | £35 | £40 | £45 | £30 | £35 | £40 | £45 | £50 |
| Handset cost | ||||||||||
| 16GB | £219 | £169 | £119 | £89 | £29 | £219 | £169 | £119 | £89 | £29 |
| 32GB | £309 | £269 | £219 | £189 | £139 | £309 | £269 | £219 | £189 | £139 |
| Total cost of ownership* | ||||||||||
| 16GB | £819 | £889 | £959 | £1,049 | £1,109 | £759 | £799 | £839 | £899 | £929 |
| 32GB | £909 | £989 | £1,059 | £1,149 | £1,219 | £849 | £899 | £939 | £999 | £1,039 |
| Monthly cost of service only** | ||||||||||
| 16GB | £13.33 | £16.25 | £19.17 | £22.92 | £25.42 | £14.44 | £16.67 | £18.89 | £22.22 | £23.89 |
| 32GB | £12.92 | £16.25 | £19.17 | £22.92 | £25.83 | £13.89 | £16.67 | £18.89 | £22.22 | £24.44 |
| Minutes | 75 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1200 | 75 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1200 |
| Talktime value index (lower is better)*** | ||||||||||
| 16GB | 17.78 | 5.42 | 3.19 | 2.55 | 2.12 | 19.26 | 5.56 | 3.15 | 2.47 | 1.99 |
| 32GB | 17.22 | 5.42 | 3.19 | 2.55 | 2.15 | 18.52 | 5.56 | 3.15 | 2.47 | 2.04 |
* Monthly cost times number of months, plus handset cost.
** TCO minus price of iPhone (£499 for 16GB; £599 for 32GB), divided by number of months.
*** MCSO divided by number of bundled free minutes.
Vodafone is the only iPhone carrier so far to man up and give its users a full 1GB of 3G data. It also joins Orange in offering tethering options, but its prices are far less thrifty: the same £5 that stretches to 3GB with Orange will only get you 500MB with Vodafone. What emerges from these data is that actual pricing between the networks will be as narrow and boilerplate as we had (unhappily) expected. What's going to make the difference for you in the end will probably be a matter of whether or not you'd like to tether your laptop to your iPhone, whether you can fit in under O2's silly 500MB data cap, and indeed whether 75 minutes of free talktime is something you can deal with.
Of course, we haven't even dipped our toes into the opportunities presented by buying the handset outright and then hunting around for the best SIM-only deal. Our isolation of service costs herein should make those comparisons easier for you to do yourself, but don't forget to keep checking back on this post -- we'll likely be adding to it as and when T-Mobile and Three stake their claims for well heeled iPhone users. Tesco Mobile, though? Probably not.
Update 2: You knew we were joking about Tesco, right? The local MVNA that surfs O2's airwaves has unleashed its own tariffs, and by golly, they ain't half bad. 1GB of data and unlimited texts come with all contract options, and the lowest TCO on offer is a comparatively thrifty £589. See the superstore's pricing in the full below.
Tesco Mobile |
|||
| Contract term (months) | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| Monthly cost | £20 | £35 | £45 |
| Handset cost | |||
| 16GB | £349 | £229 | £19 |
| 32GB | £429 | £299 | £99 |
| Total cost of ownership* | |||
| 16GB | £589 | £649 | £1,099 |
| 32GB | £669 | £719 | £1,179 |
| Monthly cost of service only** | |||
| 16GB | £7.50 | £12.50 | £25.00 |
| 32GB | £5.83 | £10.00 | £24.17 |
| Minutes | 250 | 750 | Unlimited |
| Talktime value index (lower is better)*** | |||
| 16GB | 3.00 | 1.67 | ~ |
| 32GB | 2.33 | 1.33 | ~ |
* Monthly cost times number of months, plus handset cost.
** TCO minus price of iPhone (£499 for 16GB; £599 for 32GB), divided by number of months.
*** MCSO divided by number of bundled free minutes.
~ Unlimited talk time breaks our index.
We seriously couldn't be happier at this turn of events. Tesco has wiped the floor with the major carriers and established itself as the absolute value leader in terms of UK iPhone 4 contracts. It has higher upfront costs for the handset, but the limited 12-month minimum commitment really pays off and the subsidies are extremely generous in comparison with what we've seen so far. We doubt T-Mobile will be matching this kind of aggression, but maybe Three has something similarly alluring in the bag?
Update 3: Here we go, strapping ourselves in for another table of discovery with Three's iPhone 4 options.
Three |
|||||
| Contract term (months) | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Monthly cost | £30 | £35 | £35 | £40 | £45 |
| Handset cost | |||||
| 16GB | £99 | £99 | £169 | £59 | Free |
| 32GB | £189 | £189 | £259 | £149 | £89 |
| Total cost of ownership* | |||||
| 16GB | £819 | £939 | £1,009 | £1,019 | £1,080 |
| 32GB | £909 | £1,029 | £1,099 | £1,109 | £1,169 |
| Monthly cost of service only** | |||||
| 16GB | £13.33 | £18.33 | £21.25 | £21.67 | £24.81 |
| 32GB | £12.92 | £17.92 | £20.83 | £21.25 | £23.75 |
| Minutes | 500 | 900 | 2000 | 2000 | 2000 |
| Talktime value index (lower is better)*** | |||||
| 16GB | 2.67 | 2.04 | 1.06 | 1.08 | 1.21 |
| 32GB | 2.58 | 1.99 | 1.04 | 1.06 | 1.19 |
* Monthly cost times number of months, plus handset cost.
** TCO minus price of iPhone (£499 for 16GB; £599 for 32GB), divided by number of months.
*** MCSO divided by number of bundled free minutes.
Three is the first network to bite the bullet and offer you a completely free iPhone 4 (16GB), with its £45 a month tariff, though the company expects no smaller commitments from you with its range limited to only 24-month choices. Notable extras include a solid 1GB of data allowance per month and an effectively unlimited 5,000-minute talktime to other Three network users -- could be a boon if you and your best mates all ride on this particular bandwagon. While this is clearly not the most affordable set of options ever, the extremely generous minute bundles make a big difference in our talktime index -- which we're told is sworn to judicial impartiality and never overindulges with sugary snacks.
@summerboy18 iPhone has never been the most powerful.. wait... did you say smartphone?
On a serious note, iPhones have always been proof that mid-range hardware can still be awesome with a well designed OS.
@summerboy18
What's the difference between the 'eco' and the 'evo'?
Can you get either in the UK? ...or was that just an irrelevant and inaccurate statement?
@brrip oh great. the comment was removed. :C
@summerboy18 tell that to the 600,000 pre-orederers and me( I live outside the US and I want my Iphone 4 now)
Android is great and I currently have a nexus one but the problem is that the platform is not allowing high end developers to develop, games are too small and thus graphics suck...my iphone 3g was wayyy better in its applications than my current nexus so dont tell me the evo is better coz all its options and speed are not even worth having them with those shitty apps ( 30000 worthless apps)
@summerboy18
Eco :0
@brrip
Yeah.. just waiting for Apple to come up with a good OS now ;)
Maybe they can see if HP will lend them WebOS :P
Unlocked black 16gb !! oh wait I am not in the UK..
@Ahmadsan
If I get one it'll be a white 16GB unlocked one and it'll be a bit later in the year.
Also, has anyone started making SIM/mini-SIM adapters yet? Because, you know, they should.
@MarkAnderson
Dude... SIM Cutters and microSIM adapters went into high volume production after the iPad was announced in January, lol. eBay is your best bet to find that stuff and cheap.
@Ahmadsan
TESCO MOBILE £45PM UNLIMITED CALLS, TEXTS AND WEB AND FREE IPHONE.
TESCO PLANS TO KEEP THE DEAL ALIVE FOR IPHONE4
24 MONTH CONTRACT
WAY CHEAPER THAN THESE CROOKS
The O2 tariffs look backwards. Why is the phone more expensive on the 18 month contracts than the 24 month contracts. I've never seen that before!
@Blizzard
Woops mean more expensive on the 24 month contracts.
@Blizzard It's deceptive - as one is reporting the TCO over 18 months, and the other is reporting it over 24 months!
@Blizzard
Clearly a screw up at their end.
@Blizzard
It is not a screw up - O2 have confirmed that the price of iPhone 4 on that tariff is more expensive for 24 month than 18 month
its all to do with the minimum-TCO as in the end you will pay more for the 18 than the 24. See the Q&A thats gone on in O2's twitter feed
Excellent timing there engadget, this post goes up just as Vodafone release there pricing. Time to update methinks!
@Askgar Yep, working on it. :)
Really begging Three and Vodaphone to break the mould here. Sick of O2 now and Orange have poor coverage in my are.
@forx
Tesco Mobile offered some really good 12 month contract. You took a kicking upfront but £20/ month for Unlimited texts, 250 minutes and Internet was a really good deal.
@forx In your arse?
@Blizzard
Just don't have the cash for it :(
@RincewindWiz
yes...in my arse, it's pretty well shielded up there, but considering how shit O2's service is I'm quite surprised :P
@forx I was just wondering how you managed to check your reception. Did you put it on vibrate and phone yourself?
@forx Agreed. O2 drops quite a lot of calls and I'm considering switching to 3 since my friend on 3 has crystal clear calls via skype on 3G.
@RincewindWiz
you know he could have just lived with a mobile and checked coverage every so often...
no need for him to participate in your fetishes ;P
Funny, I thought I just read "best value" and "iphone 4 contracts" in the same sentence.
@slimjim316 What? Now haters are gonna bash the contracts?? Like it's Apple's fault as well?? Have you read your EVO's contract?? It's worst then any iPhone contract bitch at HTC or Google for that.
@Raytem
It was a joke. Chill.
@MarkAnderson Well, yes it was a joke, but seriously...
There is no Evo in the UK, but with 300 minutes and unlimited texts/internet my Desire will cost me much less than £500 by the end of my 2 year contract.
@slimjim316 £500? You're throwing it away. My 5800 will top out at £180 and I'm free as a bird after 12 months. A flappy bird with a clunky ui and a resistive screen, it's true but still, so long as I don't try an iphone, I should be fine..
I'm confused by these O2 contracts. I had the 3GS since it came out and when asked to renew my contract about 5 months back, I got the offer of a month-by-month contract at £20 including the unlimited data bolt-on. If I can just continue this contract (which it looks like I can), I've got a no-commitment, low-cost contract which has unlimited data so I don't have to adhere to O2's new 1gb bandwidth limit.
Isn't it possible for others to do the same? I tell ya, the unlimited web bolt-on is the way to go. Around £7/month or as a free bolt-on if your contract offers it! I really recommend O2. Although these graphs don't rate them as number one, you'll have access to "The Cloud" wi-fi hotspots of which there's loads.
@DaveF Of course, this means I'll have to buy the iPhone 4 outright which will be about £500 but still, look about at how much you'll pay for it via contracts...
@DaveF They won't let you keep the £20 tariff and give you a subsidised phone.
@PeteDemiSwede Buying the phone from Apple directly will mean that they don't know which handset I'm on! O2 are going to be kept in the dark about which handset I'm using. They took me off the iPhone tariff when they gave me that new deal. I was using Nexus One but recently I put my SIM back in my old iPhone and it still works even though it's not an iPhone contract. Should work the same for the new one.
@DaveF
As your renewing the contract on a month by onth basis it will not be unlimited data it will revert to the standard 500Mb or they will fall back on the "fair use policy" statement and call your usage as being outside that. If you don't use more than 500Mb a month then yes the £20 a month tarriff is pretty sweet but the sim free cost of the phone will be a pretty big sum to fork out at the start
@DaveF
I'm in the same boat. I think the SIM free iPhone is £20 more over 24 months but I think that's worth it for unlimited web and being able to use different sims when you are abroad. Also means you can sell your phone in a year to get the iPhone 5 :)
@t2af Haha, yeah that's true. Interesting point by @ck2000r about it renewing and them changing the limit but at the end of the day, I'm paying for the bolt-on which does advertise as unlimited internet (although capped at about 10gig I think). One thing is that when I took my SIM out of my N1 and put it in my iPhone, I got a text saying "you have an iPhone but you don't have an iPhone contract". That was a bit worrying but everything is still working fine. Think I'm going to chance it and buy iPhone 4 from the Apple store. Biggest worry is that I have to contact O2 to change from normal SIM to mini-SIM. I'm thinking they might check up on my contract and say "hey, we've realised you're on a non-iPhone contract, if you want the mini-SIM, you gotta upgrade"...
Vodafone appears to be slightly cheaper. TCO for a 32 gig phone on 18 months, £35/month, comes to £899 which is cheaper than Orange and O2, and on a better network with more data.
That said, the best deal is still Sim Free and then GiffGaff. 32 gig phone for £599. Then £10/month for 100 mins, unlim textx and unlim data. TCO there is £779. They roam on O2's network.
@PeteDemiSwede
I personally think the best way to pay the best bang for buck is:
Buy a Simfree iPhone, 16GB or 32GB, whatever floats you boat.
Then get a £15 a month contract with tesco mobile, this includes 500minutes, unlimited texts and data.
Poifict :)
But GiffGaff is also a suitable choice.
@PeteDemiSwede
I'd never heard of GiffGaff until you mentioned it - looks good and i'll probably end up switching to them (once O2 releases me from my contact in a years time)
Thanks for the heads up!
How to "format" an iPhone to clear your data completely
How-to: get music, videos, and photos off your iPod or iPhone
How-to: check your iPhone 4 upgrade eligibility
How to: pre-order the iPhone 4 (update: third-party retailers best avoided)
How-to: figure out the best value iPhone 4 contracts in the UK
i wonder why we never see anything like these for any other phone model
does it tell more about engadget or iphone users in general?
@mrqs It tells us that the iPhone is the most popular single phone in the world, I would imagine.
@mrqs everyone and their pet dog want's to know about the iPhone. I've always regarded myself as an 'anti Apple' person *looks at his 3rd generation iPod Touch* (What, it was an anniversary present!), but... I'm actually tempted to get the iPhone 4. I just need to find the right deal.
@RincewindWiz Just get over yourself and the OS wars already. It's so damn boring.
@LawA Aimed at mrqs not you, RincewindWiz.
What about for those of us who have bought the phone outright direct from apple? A comparison of these 30 day rolling contracts would be useful!
Thank you engadget, for the detailed table explaining precisely how we are all being ripped off.
I can't wait to find out what t-mobile are going to do on contract and handset pricing, but just basing my costs on estimates surrounding orange's tariffs, if i stick with my t-mob solo pay and go package at £15 a month, buy the handset from apple at £599 and then compare the cost to an 18 month package at £35 a month with a handset cost of £299, i'd come out around £60 better off over that time period - as long as i don't spend a penny more than the £15 cost of the monthly tariff. I do get free international minutes and web 'n walk which is what makes it worthwhile, but still interested to see what t-mobile are going to offer in terms of their 18 and 24 month options.
Dear UK citizens,
We feel sorry for you.
Signed America
@DefPoet But aren't these tariffs cheaper then in the US?