With the range of smartphones now available it can be difficult for students to pick the perfect deal for their lifestyle. It’s not just a case of picking the handset that has all the latest features. There is also choosing the contract that meets your needs without charging you for lots of extras that you are never going to use.
Decide how you want to use your phone
Thinking about how you use your phone is key when it comes to choosing a phone contract. Are you someone who will only ever use the phone for emergencies? Are you the type of person who is rarely seen without their phone out texting or surfing the mobile web? How you plan to use your phone will make a big difference to the type of contract you should opt for.
If you just want your phone for one or two texts a day then you will probably find that a pay-as-you-go mobile works best for you. There is no point in paying for a monthly contract where you have no intention of taking full advantage of everything that is on offer. If you just want to use your phone to connect to the Internet while you are at home you can take advantage of your home Wi-Fi network. If, in contrast, you want to connect while you are away from home you will need a contract with a mobile data allowance.
What is a mobile data allowance?
Every time your smartphone connects to the Internet you send or receive data from the web. This applies whether you are using the browser on your phone to access the web, or using one of the mobile apps you have downloaded. Different actions use different amounts of data. Sending or receiving a basic text email may only be a few KB, but downloading video, or watching the latest episode of your favourite show could run into hundreds of MB. Take some time to think about how you normally use your phone. If you are not sure how much data you are using each month then take a look at this helpful data calculator.
O2, Vodafone, and EE are all competing to promote their networks, but to get the best value packages you will need to look at some of the less known mobile phone operators. If you thought that supermarkets only sold food and household essentials then you would be wrong. In recent years many of them have branched out to offer a range of additional services including mobile phone networks. Sainsbury’s phone shop and Tesco, both give you better value than the more established phone networks. They both offer pay-as-you-go service and monthly contracts.
Choose your package carefully
There are some great value deals available for students but you must take the time to compare what is on offer. Don’t make the mistake of picking the cheapest tariff you find and then discovering that it doesn’t cover half of the things you want to do with your phone. If you get yourself tied into a contract where you regularly exceed your allocated data limit then you will probably end up paying hefty charges on top of the price of your monthly contract, which could eat into your student budget.
If you decide that a monthly contract is the best option for you then make sure you check out the length of the contract, and any other stipulations involved. By investigating all of your options carefully before you sign the contract you can be sure that the deal you pick will be the one that is best suited to your lifestyle and the way you use your phone.