…techblogs, newspaper websites missing the point with the Tesco Mobile iPhone deals.

Various sites I’m reading are virtually ignoring what is probably the best iPhone 4 deal around on the market at the moment. The 12 month contract with Tesco Mobile at £35 a month. They’re virtually dismissing the network because the dirt cheap £20 a month contract makes the phones rather expensive, but the more expensive (and to be honest, average price plan at £35), gets ignored.

Let me do some comparisons, just incase someone reads this, and agrees that guardian.co.uk, theregister.co.uk and moneysavingexpert.com are all missing a trick here… (32gb iPhone 4 comparisons)

O2       £35/18Month 300 mins, U/L Texts, 500mb Data. Handset £279. TCO = £909
Vodafone £35/18Month 300 mins, U/L Texts, 1GB   Data. Handset £269. TCO = £899
Tesco    £35/12Month 750 mins, U/L Texts, 1GB   Data. Handset £299. TCO = £719

So yes, you’re paying £20-£30 more for a handset, have to pay £210 less on your contract overall, and you’re getting over double the minutes, and double the data, however you do lose the Visual Voicemail when comparing Tesco to O2. (Personally, I hate all kinds of voicemail. I’ve got a missed call from someone, I’ll call them back. I don’t need someone saying “Hi, it’s me, call me back” I find it very pointless).

OK. Next comparison

Three,   £30/24 Month 500 mins, 5000 texts, 1GB  Data. Handset £189. TCO = £909

So, with Three the handset is considerably cheaper, but it’s a 2 year contract. The TCO on this contract is the same as the O2 one. Great if you think you can keep a phone for 2 years.

Now, I’d say that this post is really only aimed at people who will probably want to replace their iPhone 4, with an iPhone 5 this time next year. Seriously, they’ve released 4 phones every year. So, why are the tech blogs, and the websites not even mentioning this tariff? How about buying the phone outright and getting a sim only deal.

Three    £15/1 Month 300 mins, 3000 Texts, 1GB Data. Handset £599. TCO = £779 /12Mths
O2       £20/1 Month 300 mins, U/L  Texts, 1GB Data. Handset £599. TCO = £839 /12Mths

So both these sim only deals, when keeping the phone for 12 months is still more expensive than the 12 Month Contract. I doubt anyone is going to get a sim only deal, and then suddenly not bother, until the next latest greatest handset is out. It’s nice to own a handset outright, yes, and also it would be unlocked too, but the only thing I use an unlocked phone for is when on Holiday. I’ll still have an iPhone 3GS which is unlocked for the 1 week that I’ll go abroad, and Tesco will unlock at the end of the contract.

I personally wouldn’t have thought the best plans would be with Tesco, and I’ve been talking for months how I wish 12 month contracts would exist, and they’ve gone and done what I want. Unless, Tesco have made a mistake, and this deal will suddenly disappear.

Roll on White iPhone 4. I’ll be snapping one of you up with Tesco.

Oh, and I shop at Asda normally…

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