Best iPhone 4 Contract / Tariff

Written on 8/01/2010 03:11:00 AM by poison_ivy

Since T-Mobile just joined the iPhone 4 game, that's almost all the major networks carrying the iPhone 4. That means more confusion and choices for those who are willing to lock themselves into a 24 months contract just to get the coveted iPhone 4. So I compiled the best iPhone 4 tariffs to suit texters, callers, or surfers alike.

Best iPhone 4 Tariff for Texters

Those who're looking to get the iPhone 4 and use it mainly to text friends and show off their latest gadget purchase, Tesco Mobile offers the sweetest deal with a  £20 a month tariff with unlimited text option, 250 minutes and 1GB of free data and the best thing about this contract is that, you're only locked in for a 12 month period. Of course, you have to spend more for the handset price, with the 16GB iPhone 4 costing  £349 while the 32GB costs  £429.

For those looking to spend less on the handset price, you have to strap yourself to a 24 month contract. 3 offers the cheapest handset price of £99 for the 16GB version if you go for the £30 a month tariff and £189 for the 32GB model. The bad news is text is capped at 5000. The network that offers the cheapest iPhone 4 price on the lowest monthly tariff with unlimited text is Vodafone, for £30 a month you get unlimited text and your cash out for the 16GB model is £169 while the 32GB is £269. For a similar tariff, Orange doesn't offer unlimited text while O2 and T-Mobile's handset price is £10 higher.

Best iPhone 4 Tariff with the most free minutes

Again, for similar monthly tariffs, Tesco offers the most minutes, plus it's the only network offering 12 month contract for the iPhone 4. For £35 a month you get 750 minutes, unlimited text and 1 GB of data plus your cash out for the iPhone 4 is £229 for the 16GB model and £299 for the 32GB model. For networks offering 24 months contract tie-in, the one offering the most minutes is 3, with a £35 monthly tariff you get 900 free minutes, 5000 text and 1GB of data and you only spend £99 for the 16GB model and £189 for the 32GB model. Similar tariff plans on O2, Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile only offers 600 minutes, plus the handset price is much higher on these networks.

Best iPhone 4 Tariff with the most data allocation

Again, there's no beating Tesco if you're looking only for a short term tie-in. Either £20 or £35 monthly tariff will get you 1GB of data usage but again, the handset cash out is much higher for short-term contracts so if you don't have that much money to spend on the handset, and you feel like a monthly phone plan is something you can fit on your household budget, then it's best to tie yourself to a 24 month contract.

Of the networks offering 24 month contracts, it's Vodafone and 3 who offers the most monthly data allocation, both offering 1GB of data usage on the iPhone 4 plans. However, it's 3 who offers the lowest handset price compared with Vodafone, like on the £30 monthly tariff, 3 has the 16GB model at only £99 while Vodafone has it at £169 while the 32GB model costs £189 with 3 and £269 with Vodafone.

Best iPhone 4 Tariff that offers best value for money

For those whose use of text, calls, and data usage is balanced, I think 3 offers the most competitive iPhone 4 plan, again for a 24 month contract tie-in. 3 has the lowest handset price, the most minutes, and the most data allocation but texting is capped at 5000 but again, if you're a balanced user then it's highly unlikely that you'll go over the 5000 text cap. For those looking for the shortest contract period, then it's definitely Tesco as they're the ones offering 12 month contract tie-in.

As for the 18 month contracts, it's only Vodafone, O2, and Orange who're currently offering the iPhone 4 under an 18 month contract and it would be hard to find the best plan that offers the best value for money unless you know specifically how much minutes and how many texts you're using. While Vodafone offers the lowest handset cost on the £35 monthly contract, you only get 300 free minutes with unlimited text while Orange, on a similar monthly tariff, offers 600 minutes but only 500 free text. O2 on the other hand offers the lowest handset price on the lowest monthly tariff (£209 for the 16GB and £299 for the 32GB on the £30 monthly tariff) on an 18 month contract but you will only get 100 free minutes, unlimited text and 500MB of data usage.

Wrap-up

So there you have it, the best iPhone 4 plans for those with different needs. But again, it would be very hard which plan best suits you unless you know exactly how much data, text, and minutes you're using so before you jump into any of these plans and tie yourself to a contract, I suggest that you determine your EXACT needs by buying a PAY and GO SIM and then keeping track of your usage from there. 

Posted in iPhone 4 plans, iPhone 4 tariffs, mobile phone guide |