Buy outright (cash, flex) + SIM or EE Monthly Contract ???

[Obsydian]

So I have always been against buying Outright and then purchasing a separate SIM deal, but took the plunge with the ZFOLD3, ZFOLD4 (Samsung Flex), but the ZFLIP4 I paid cash.

In summary I feel the Samsung Flex is a rip off, the trade in sucks, a higher upfront payment and high monthly payments mean you end up worse off and allot less benefits than with a mobile provider, most mobile providers all.offer a upgrade at 12 mths also.

MY ACTUAL PURCHASES

ZFOLD3 - Paid £2,000 1TB, traded in an S20 Ultra, some pointless Adidas vouchers + £15 for an EE SIM plan = £2180 / 12 mths = £182 a month !!!

NOTE: EE deal I saw at the time was for 24 mths was £80, nothing upfront

ZFOLD4 - Paid £1900 with Flex, traded in the ZFOLD3 £1049 Flex,.paying £33 a month (£456 paid, £592 to pay), plus £20 for an EE SIM plan = £2140 / 12 mths = £178 a month

NOTE: EE deal then was £80 a month and I think £50 upfront

ZFLIP4 - Paid £1099, traded in a broken S8 Edge, plus EE SIM £25 = £1699 / 24 mths = £70 a month

NOTE PAYG SIM DEALS CAN BE FOUND CHEAPER, BUT AS THE SAYING GOES YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. I want 5G enough data, good UK coverage and the Xbox Extra

WHAT ABOUT THE ZFOLD5

ZFOLD5 EE Deal is £150 upfront and £93 a month = less £30 a month if I trade in my ZFold4 = £1662 / 24 mths = £70 a month.

If I went went the ZFOLD5 on Samsung Flex, it is return ZFOLD4,.paying £60 a month Flex + £170 upfront + £20 EE SIM = £2070 / 24 mths = £86 a month

[Obsydian]

Include the £650 trade in as it is still part of the payment.

[GoanGeek]

I guess. That's the thing with electronics like mobiles.
Either you can use them for ages or you get a dud and then you had it.

[PaulC59]

PS I decided to keep my S22U as the trade in price was rubbish, around £350 so I sold it on eBay for £900

[RXM]

I've always bought my phones outright apart from my S21 Ultra which I paid up through Samsungs upgrade programme. That was a 10% upfront payment with a final 20% payment with the rest spread over 23/24 months. That was 0% APR through Klarna. So I've really no experience with contracts and such. So is the £60 figure because you are upgrading mid contract? I'm confused as to why the trade in is still part of the payment and where £60 a month is coming from. I know for my use case its rarely worth going contract since my SIM costs are so low. Also i'm able to take advantage of several cashback schemes paying in full upfront. I have a £1 a week EE SIM which has been that price now for god knows how many years now. I also have a 5p a month Lebara SIM but that is running out or has ran out im not sure yet. EE gives the best speeds outdoors where I live in the middle of nowhere and good overall coverage whilst the other provides good indoor signal, a SIM utilising Vodafone or o2 are best. I live rurally in a signal blackspot so needed the non EE sim to provide me with at least 1 bar of signal. But a few years back EE started to provide wifi calling on my sim so I technically only need the £1 SIM now but good to have a data backup.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hello @Obsydian 

I purchase all my phone's directly from Samsung.com via full purchase.

The only recent difference this recent time to buy my Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra was to trade in a Samsung Z Fold³ 

I usuakky keep or pass on my phone's to famiky but akways retain one as a back up phone.

My current back up phone is the Samsung Galaxy s²² Ultra. 

I thhen use an o2 and ee payg sim card as I prefer not to be locked into a contractual term.

I typically keep my phone's for approximately a year.