There are now more smartphones than ever!
Guest post by John Webb
By the end of the year 2020, there will be an estimated 6.1 billion active smartphone users across the globe. On a fundamental level, this hints at the proliferation of mobile technology, which has become increasingly affordable, accessible and sophisticated since the emergence of the first iPhone 10 years ago in 2007.
This statistic extends far beyond the improvements in technology, however, as it also offers an insight into the increased diversity of handsets that exist in the current market. From contemporary feature phones to the ground-breaking Apple and Samsung handsets, these devices offer a variety of benefits and price points to users, empowering customers on one hand but making it increasingly difficult to make an informed choice on the other.
In this post, we will address the challenges facing smartphone consumers in the modern age, and ask how you can locate the best deals on the market?
#1 | Prioritise Value Over Cost
When we talk about the best smartphone deals, it makes sense that your mind should be drawn to cheaper handsets and minimal tariffs. After all, feature phones and basic, pay-as-you-go bundles can be accessed for next to nothing, helping you to make significant, short-term savings.
If your features phone proves to be unfit for purpose, however, or the contract that you secure does not offer enough air-time or mobile Internet usage, you could find yourself paying considerably more over time. Not only this, but the handset will also fail to deliver any kind of value, so it is important to prioritise your individual usage needs over the bottom line price point.
Prioritise Value Over Cost
By identifying the features that you need in your smartphone, you can create an actionable shortlist of the best and most relevant real-time deals. You can then focus on determining which of these is the most cost-effective, helping you to strike the ideal balance between value and cost.
So, whether you are a casual user with basic needs or a professional who uses their smartphone to send and share documents, you can secure the ideal handset at the best possible price at any given time.
#2 | Compare the Market Aggressively
Once you have a shortlist of potential handsets and affiliated deals, you need to complete a more aggressive and detailed market comparison. This may mean contacting operators directly, as you look to add meat to the bare bones of any advertised contract or promotional deal.
Not only does this ensure that you have all the necessary information to make a decision, but it also puts you in direct contact with contract providers. This creates dialogue and an opportunity to discuss your needs in person, which may afford you access to tailored contracts and improved deals (particularly if you are a new customer or threatening to switch your allegiance to a competing brand).
This may enable you to make incremental savings, while also improving the quality and relevance of the deal on the table.
#3 | Consider Using Your Old Handset as Leverage
On a final note, it is worth remembering that getting the best deal anywhere often relies on your ability to leverage any assets or advantages that you may have. In this instance, there are independent news and technology resources that constantly list the best smartphone deals on the market providing you with reliable information that can be instantly acted upon.
Beyond this, using your existing smartphone as down payment may allow you to achieve better deals on a new handset. Online tools like mobilephonesdirect.co.uk trade-in highlight how you can trade-in your existing handset against the cost of a new contract. Becoming more popular amongst the high street retailers, this approach can make a significant difference to your monthly contract and ensures that your old technology is being recycled or repurposed accordingly.
mobilephonesdirect.co.uk trade-in tool
Similarly, you may also decide to recycle or sell your phone independently. Recycling may even entitle you to a nominal cash sum, which again could be used towards the cost of your new contract. That said, it is usually more effective to locate direct trade-in programs as this simplifies the process of getting a progressive deal and instantly reduces the long-term cost of your new contract.
