I have to admit, buying a top smartphone on contract does appeal financially. Thanks to Ewan for pointing out that 3 just added the Nokia N95 8GB to their online shop with no initial bulk outlay, £15 a month 'rental' (i.e. buy it bit by bit) and £15 voice plan. So the same £480 as you'd pay SIM-free up front, but with your calls, Skype, texts and (maybe) data effectively free for 18 months? Seems like a good deal to me. (via Ewan )
Read on in the full article.
You should be very very careful when buying a phone on a contract from Three. Despite having relaxed the drastic limitations they imposed on their phones and contracts at the beginning, Three is still the complete opposite of free. They do have great offers but some people might find themselves stuck with a 18 month contract and a mostly useless phone because of this.
Three contract phones come locked to Three. As opposed to other operators which usually allow you to request an unlock code straight away or after only 1 month, with Three if you want to unlock it, you'll have to wait until the end of your contract (a year and a half in this case) and pay a �15 fee to get the unlocked code. This means that you won't be able to use another SIM card (such as a foreign SIM card if you're traveling abroad) or sell it unlocked before the end of your contract.
You can request the unlock code before the end of your contract but you will have to pay the remainder of your line rental for your contract in addition of the �15 fee for the privilege.
Three SIM cards can only be used in Three phones (many people have reported that they'll harass you if you try to use a Three SIM in a non-Three phone). If your phone breaks, you're in trouble. You'll either have to get your phone repaired or buy another phone from Three. You won't be able to use a spare phone or buy a cheap sim-free phone. This might be a problem if you happen to be abroad when that happens.
Their X-series contracts with Three at home appears great at first as you can use your phone in any country covered by Three without paying roaming charges. What is a lot less clear is what happens when you are not in an area covered by Three. If you are abroad in an area with no Three coverage, you'll not only have to pay roaming charges for your calls and texts (which is normal) but won't be able to get an internet connection at all (or at least, this was the case the last time I checked 6 months ago). Given that this is when you're abroad that you need a mobile connection the most, you might be in for a cold shower with Three.
elp - a bit too harsh on Three I think. I've found them to be very good and I'm coming to the end of an eighteen month contract. Maybe you are spending a lot of time travelling abroad - I'm not and have been pleased with the service they've provided. They do tend to have the best offers around.
Yes, I was a bit harsh with Three. But with probably most of the regular readers of AAS being smartphone power users, I felt that mentioning Three's drastic limitations was needed.
Three does have a lot of great deals and one of the best data plan available in the UK. But signing up with them means being tied tight with Three phones and network for 18 months, which might not suit many power users, especially those often traveling or spending time abroad (and for those living in Northern Ireland, abroad can be just 5 minutes away from home).
Speaking as someone who has just used 542 minutes of calls and 237Mb of data whilst in Italy at an extra cost of �Nil, you'll understand why I don't agree with you about 3.
And for those people in Northern Ireland, 3 has a network in the south too, so the same would apply to them.
Now if you had been talking of the 3 of two years ago, I'd have agreed with every word, but to anyone who has preconceptions from those days, I'd say look again - you might be very pleased you did so
I was with O2 for 18 months but moved over to 3 after I was totally disapointed with their so called loyal customer bonus. They wanted �75.00 a month for an N95 8 gig plus an extra �7.50 a month for unlimited data compared to 3's �25.00 a month for the same handset and a monthly �5.00 charge for unlimited data. Hmmm...�82.50 vs �30.00...what to do. What to do.
I have found the service that I get with 3 easily as good as O2's. I have also used my 3 sim with my unlocked (was locked to Orange) Sony Ericcson 880i with no problems or hassle what so ever.
Some people complain about the fact that 3 use indian call centres for their customer support, a political hot potato over here in the UK. But personally I've found 3's customer service to be no more or less fustrating than any other service provider.
On the whole I've been very happy with 3 so far. Though any gripes are easily tempered by the fact that I have an N95 8gig.