Best Samsung S5 Deal

[Blade]

Best deal I can find for a Samsung S5 that is around the £20ish per month mark with 1gb of data and a brand new phone not a refurbed one is as follows:

Vodafone 1000 minutes / Unlimited texts / 1000mb Data for £21 a month on a 24 month contract and the handset has an upfront cost of £13.99 which works out at a total of £517.99 over the 24 month contract.

Anybody seen better ???

[Monty]

I wouldn't touch Vodafone with a barge pole. My work phone is Voda 3G and the data coverage is abysmal, I get Edge and GPRS for nearly the entire length of the M1.

Try doing a search for "Samsung 5s deal three" The Three network is fantastic and you can use your allowance in 19 countries.

[Blade]

I will be going 4g Monty so hopefully it's OK and the coverage is better.

Thanks for the suggestion. Did a search and three netweork is coming out at £25 compared to £21 on Vodafone.

[D6Nutz]

I've just switched away from Vodafone as well because of poor data coverage.

I went to ee as their network seems pretty solid, plus they have a repeater mast about 100 yards from or house. Full signal on 4g is great.

Had you considered buying a handset outright from somewhere like eBay or Amazon and then going go a Sim only contract? Both myself and the wife now do this and both our contracts are about £15 a month. mine is 2gb data with unlimited calls and texts, 12 month contract.

[Blade]

Yes I considered that Jon and very good suggestion but tbh none were working out any cheaper than a packaged deal at £21. I can't find an s5 cheaper than £280.

Who have you got that tariff with as I can't find it and sounds very good.

[Monty]

I will be going 4g Monty so hopefully it's OK and the coverage is better.

Thanks for the suggestion. Did a search and three netweork is coming out at £25 compared to £21 on Vodafone.

4G is only in the major cities at the moment.

We are about to go legal with them the problems have been that bad and not just coverage we've had a lot of call drop outs to. A lot of us in the company have resorted to using our personal phones for work.

I travel around the country with two phones one Three and one Voda so get to see a good comparison of the two

[Blade]

Cheers Monty appreciate the good info.

I have o2 at the moment and there coverage is also sh1t. If I want to use my mobile in the house and I live in a major city I have to stand by the window which is p1$$ poor imo.

[Monty]

I've had to install a Voda 3G network in my house connected to my broadband so I can make work calls from home. Admittedly the reception for O2, T-mobile, Orange and Three isn't great in my house but Voda can't even get one bar on the top floor.

Plus Three give you a free app to make and receive calls over WIFI.

[DaytonAndy]

I've read a few horror stories about Vodafone and especially their customer services. I think you have 14 days from start of contract to return the pnone if you find you have no signal where you are going to use it.

[Blade]

Cheers Monty after your advice I'm going to go with ee.

Are all their data contracts 4g ?

I have found 2 deals as shown below. I want to go with the £21.99 deal which is 1gb of data but doesn't say its 4g. The more expensive 2gb £24.99 contract says double speed 4g but I'm happy with standard 4g.

Can I take it that the 1gb ee contract is 4g ? Am I right in thinking all ee network is 4g ready ?

[Monty]

Never heard of double speed 4G, suspect they mean it's twice as fast as 3G and the first option is just 3G.

For everything I do on my phone 3G is enough, fine for youtube and the likes and the 4G coverage is so limited I rarely get to use it. Pretty much just in city centres.

EE is pretty good though, you'll hear some complains no doubt, but Sarah has been with them since they bought T-Mobile and never had a problem. Plus she's got the best reception in our house.

[Monty]

By the way Three has 4G included as standard on all contracts and international roaming in 19 countries included in your allowance for text, data and calls. Saved me a fortune when I drove to France last year and when I'm working away in Italy.

I've got a 600 minutes, unlimited text and 1G data sim in my iPhone for 12 quid a month and a 5G data only sim in my iPad for 7 quid a month. All on 1 month contracts that I can stop up or upgrade at any time. So if I need more data when I'm going on holiday I can upgrade for a month and they drop it back when I get home.

[Monty]

And if the Three signal isn't that great in you house you can use the WIFI calling app, which I think EE also do now.

[D6Nutz]

If your worried about signal strength in your area, have a look round the sites and you can normally get a free PAYG sim.

I know ee do this. I never bothered looking at three because of their historic reputation. It may be better now, but I wasn't prepared to take the risk.

[Blade]

Cheers Monty.

just googled it and EE double speed 4g is exactly that apparently they do stock 4g at 30 mbps and double speed 4g at 60 mbps in certain areas of which Manchester is covered.

I just need to know if ee standard data is 4g or 3g. The other option at £25.99 is double speed but it doesn't say if the £21.99 deal is standard speed (30 mbps) 4g or lower spec 3g.

[Monty]

60mbps! That's enough for four 4k streams, why would anyone need that on a phone? My fibre broadband is only 73mbps.

[Blade]

Apparently in London there claiming 4g is 90 mbps

4GEE GETS EVEN FASTER
With 4G+, we're doubling the capacity of our 4GEE network in central London and increasing 4GEE speeds to hit up to 90Mb/second. So now more people can stay online and stream and download a whole lot faster.

To experience 4G+, you'll need to be in central London, have a 4G+ compatible device and buy a 4GEE Extra plan.

CHOOSE A 4G+ PHONE

[kiwikrasher]

Like Monty said earlier Blade, I wouldn't worry if it's 3G or 4G if it's just for your phone, 3G is fast enough on a ph. Plus you'll find faster speed just means you are more likely to chew out your data faster. If the rest of the plan suits you I'd go for it, the data speed wouldn't be a decider for me.

[Blade]

Cheers Kiwi

Apparently its standard anyway as can be found on the EE website so its a bit of a marketing con by some e-tailers to lead you to believe your getting a better deal.

Found this on the EE website

Will I have to pay more?
No. Double speed 4GEE will be available free of charge to existing 4GEE customers. The service is compatible with all existing 4G smartphones, tablets and dongles.

More info here

http://ee.co.uk/articles/double-speed-faqs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Blade]

On Montys advice pretty much decided I want to go for the ee 4g contract however an 11th curve ball has come into play.

I was pretty sure on going for a s5 but found a fantastic deal on its main competitor the LG G3.

No experience of the LG range so think I will pop in a store and compare the two handsets and then make a decision.

Anyone on here use an LG G3 ?

The online reviews have plus's and minus's for both handsets so its a pretty close run thing it would seem.