I know buying a new flagship phone isnt necessity “frugal”… but, My trusty iphone XS is on its way out. Charging port is cooked, my Face ID slowly started giving out and completely failed early this year, and it won’t be getting the new iOS update, been charging via Magsafe case, but she still runs fine.
Got quoted ~$175 from a handful of places for port & battery replacement but I’m missing my Face ID for password management and wallet.
Aaand a recently announced phone did catch my eye.
I was shopping around and every “free” to sub $200 phone, with activation of plan, is no less than a 2yr contract on a ~$70+ plan.
I’ve been out of the new phone scene for a while, is buying a new unlocked phone for ~$850usd and using a prepaid plan the way to go?
Or am I missing a $ saving method via major carrier? My phone is currently only worth ~$70 via trade in.
I currently am using a prepaid phone service on an unlocked phone.
Is buying an unlocked phone the best way to go vs 2yr contracts with a “free phone”
byu/BassheadGamer inFrugal
Posted by BassheadGamer
8 Comments
I never buy phones locked to a carrier. I’ve found it cheaper to buy unlocked from Apple and then use a prepaid carrier. I have the iPhone 16 with a USMobile yearly plan @ $96 plus a $78 yearly plan for my Apple Watch. I’ve done it this way for years. Good luck!
if u’re draw to a newly announced flagship, check refurbished or slightly older models first
I actually faced this same dilemma last year and opted for buying a phone that I knew was getting technical support and had spare parts available for as long as possible. Cost me £650, but over the course of the 8 years I expect to have it, it will have saved me nearly £3k in monthly payments.
I paid off my phone. Bought mint mobile for like $260 for the entire year compared to paying $1320 a year or $110 a month. Very Very worth it. Phones and cars have kept my finances in a headlock.
For about the last 15 years I’ve been buying my own phone and using the cheapest possible prepaid plan (Mint, US Cel, Visible, etc.) I usually find a phone that is just under flagship quality and half the price of a regular flagship, checking for last year’s model and refurb options. They usually last for 2.5-3 years and I like to learn about new phones and technology so it’s fun for me to do the research.
It’s always best to buy an unlocked phone outright and then shop the service separately. I tend to pay $300-$400 for a new iPhone every three years or so when the battery is weakening (price includes money recouped from selling the old phone myself, not trading). My current service is $40/mo contract-free on true Verizon (not a reseller carrier) for unlimited everything. You can definitely get service for less than that but not with unlimited data, which I need.
Very, very, quickly you will recover the money spent to buy the phone yourself as compared to paying over $100/mo forever financing new phones through the carrier. There is a reason the carriers commercials always talk about “free” phones “on us.” Those are the most lucrative plans for the carrier and the most expensive plans for you.
You can either pay for the phone up front or pay over the life of the contract in the form of increased monthly costs. Either way you are paying for the phone. With the contract options/“free” phone promotions they are banking on the fact that most people will just continue with the more expensive contract after the phone promotion period (usually 2-3 years) has ended.
An $850 phone equates to about $35 a month spread out over two years. If the plan you’re currently using + $35 is less than what you’ll be paying going for a 2-year contract with a “free” phone, then I would 100% stick with your prepaid plan and buy the phone outright.
You’ll save even more money if you get a clearance or refurbished phone. I bought an outdated Pixel (2 models behind) on clearance shortly after a new model was released for half the price of the new model, which didn’t have any significant advantages over the older model, at least none that mattered to me. For brand new models, “refurbished” often means “buyer’s remorse return, just needed to be wiped and repackaged” or “something failed out of the box and now it’s fixed” so that’s also a good option as long as you’re buying from a reputable vendor.
I have a very minimal prepaid plan on top of that because I rarely use data: $15/month for 250mb data, unlimited texting, and 100 minutes. Even if I went for an expensive phone, there’s no free-phone-with-a-2-year-contract deal that can beat that.