Get Great Tech For Less: How To Save Money On Your Next Smartphone
Smartphones have become the most essential tech gadget for the modern person. You can’t go anywhere or do anything without a smartphone in your pocket. It provides endless functions and has evolved to the point where it’s basically your mini personal assistant. Newer phones come with all the latest AI software and features, so you want the most advanced smartphone possible.
That brings us to the big problem: smartphones are not cheap, especially when you want a flagship device.
Flagship phones are the best devices offered by manufacturers. As a result, they normally sell for between £/$700 to £/$1,000+ whenever they come out. You’re also highly unlikely to see discounts until the next flagship phone comes out and takes over. Most people don’t have this much money lying around, so how can you get the best smartphone tech without breaking the bank?
Mobile phone companies try their best to make this difficult, but here are some excellent tips to get the top smartphones for less money:
Sell or Trade-In Your Old Phone
Let’s face it; old phones start playing up after a few years. It’s almost impossible to have a device for more than four years before the battery starts wearing down or your storage fills up. Rather than getting annoyed by this, you can use it as a unique opportunity to save money on your next smartphone purchase.
How? Well, you can recycle your old smartphone by either selling it or trading it in. Both offer pros and cons, yet they’ll help you generate extra cash to put towards your new mobile phone. You get a nice chunk of money from out of nowhere, which can save a few hundred pounds or dollars on your next purchase.
Pros & Cons of Selling Your Phone
If you go down the selling route, then you get the benefit of choosing where to sell. You can put your device up for sale on Vinted or eBay to get other people to submit bids. As a result, this tactic may help you get more money. Even if you go through a classic reselling or mobile phone recycling website to sell your phone, it’ll give you more than you get when trading it in with the old manufacturer.
There’s honestly no true downside to doing this other than needing to wait for the money to reach your account. Also, if you sell independently, then you need to figure out how to package your smartphone safely. Avoid this by choosing reseller or recycling sites, as they’ll often send secure packaging for you to use.
Pros & Cons of Trading In Your Phone
On the other side of things, trading in your phone only poses one or two small benefits. Going directly to the manufacturer means they send a package for you to wrap your phone in and send back. They’re also likely to offer special deals that discount your new phone purchase when you trade-in. So, you enjoy the discounted price without needing to wait for your old phone to sell.
Unfortunately, trading in will always give you less value for money. It’s genuinely only a good option for convenience. If you can afford to wait for your old device to sell independently - or find a good price from a reseller/recycling company - then you should choose that.
Always Buy The Phone Outright & Pick Up a SIM Deal
Back in the day, before pay monthly contracts, everyone would buy their phones outright and get pay-as-you-go SIM cards. Okay, we’ve grown beyond the PAYG system, but why does everyone purchase their phones and SIM cards together in a monthly deal?
It always looks so attractive - you can get the latest phone with x amount of data for just £/€40-60 a month. Sometimes, you don’t even need to pay any money upfront. Mobile phone networks do this because they almost con you into thinking you’re saving money when actually the opposite is possible.
Here’s a really good example using the iPhone 16 Pro on the O2 network. You can buy the phone for £30 upfront with 25GB of data and a £51.53 monthly cost. It’s a 36-month contract, which means your monthly expenditure amounts to £1,855.08 by the end - add the initial £30 upfront cost, and that’s £1,885.08.
A crazy amount of money for a smartphone, and it gets worse when you look at the SIM-only deals on the market plus the cost of buying the iPhone 16 Pro outright.
Buy the iPhone 16 Pro from Apple for £999 and then pick up a SIM-only deal with 50GB of data for £8.99 a month. Over the same 36-month period, that SIM-only deal costs £323.64. Add the two together, and you’ve paid £1,322.64 for the same phone. Here’s the kicker: that 50GB deal gives you twice the amount of data, and O2 also provides it! You’ll save over £500 from this example alone, so never go for the packaged phone + SIM deals.
Save up to buy the phone outright, and then you can get a cheap SIM to last forever. It genuinely saves a fortune and makes your smartphone more affordable.
Keep An Eye Out For The Latest SIM-Only Deals
The other benefit of buying the phone and then getting a SIM deal is that you’re not locked into fixed contracts. Most SIM-only deals are on rolling monthly contracts, which means you’re free to cancel it and buy another SIM whenever you want. This has the potential to save even more money, as you’re constantly looking for the cheapest options.
It’s especially useful if you travel for work and are always dipping in and out of different countries. You can find new SIM deals that let you use mobile data outside of your home country without paying fees. Little things like this add up to massive savings over time, especially if you’re abroad for weeks on end.
Get into the habit of checking SIM deals once every few months, just in case a new offer drops. You might see something that gives you the same benefits you’re already receiving but at a couple of quid less per month. It might not seem like much, but you’re potentially saving hundreds over the years of owning your phone by switching.
Don’t Pay For Too Much Data
These days, almost every smartphone SIM comes with unlimited calls and texts. Nobody cares about that anymore, and most people send messages through services like WhatsApp anyway. Therefore, data is the only thing users care about, which is reflected in the various SIM deals on the market.
You’ll notice the earlier examples talk about deals with 25GB and 50GB of monthly data. It’s so easy to get drawn into offers like these because of the big numbers - but do you know how much data you actually need? The Ofcom Communications Market Report 2024 found that the average person uses 9.9GB of mobile data per month.
In other words, you probably use a lot less than you think. Most of the time, you’re connected to WiFi networks, so you only use your data when you’re out and about. Being aware of your data usage helps you find more suitable contacts to avoid wasting money on data you’ll never need.
Try Refurbished Smartphones
Refurbished phones are all the rage because they provide serious price savings. For those that don’t know, many companies you sell your phone to will refurbish them to sell for a discounted price. You could pick up a refurbished iPhone for almost £/$200 under the RRP, and that’s before you also sell your current device to get more money off.
Some people worry about refurbished devices because they think they’re getting a broken phone. This can happen, but only if you choose a dodgy dealer. Make sure you buy from someone who refurbishes their devices to the highest industry standards and provides guarantees and warranties.
For example, some sites will guarantee a certain battery health percentage when you buy a phone. If yours shows up below it, then you can return it for a full refund. 12-month warranties are always good to see because they also mean you can send the phone back if something goes wrong within a year.
Shop For Your New Smartphone During Big Deal Periods
The final tip is to be patient when buying a new phone and wait until the big deal periods, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is the only time mobile phone manufacturers actually sell phones at discounted prices.
If you can pick up a deal where you save just a hundred quid, then it’s immediately worth it - particularly if you also sell your phone and get a few more hundred quid back. Doing this can genuinely make a flagship device half as costly, though it relies on finding good deals.
Combine a few of these tips to save an absolute fortune on your next smartphone. You will definitely be able to bag an amazing piece of tech for a fraction of the price if you sell your old device and buy the new one outright with a SIM-only deal. The savings increase if you shop during special deal seasons or go down the refurbished route.
