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Carphone Warehouse iPohone 5S deal - any use?

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  • 08-04-2016 8:55pm
    #1
    Vinny123456789
    Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭


    Hey!

    Saw today that the Carphone Warehouse are giving away iPhone 5S 16GB for "free" when you sign up to a 24 month contract at €25.41 per month with 3 Mobile. On paper, this seems like a great deal, but I was wondering if anyone could clear up a few questions.

    - I was initially looking at getting the Motorola Moto G (3rd Gen) with Meteor (or possibly the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 on Vodafone). How would the iPhone compare in terms of usability? I've used Android for the past few years, but am used to iOS from a previous iPhone (3GS), so any transition between OS wouldn't be an issue. I know the basic differences in specs between the three phones, so my main concern is any differences in ease of use. My current phone, a dilapidated Moto E (1st Gen), had a number of usability issues (randomly shutting down, poor battery performance, very small internal memory, even with a microSD card), and my Samsung Galaxy Fame, the blower I rocked before that, was even worse, so the dependability of the phone is very important to me. Is the 5S stable and dependable? Any danger of randomly shutting down?

    - Is this deal actually good value? The Moto G and Smart Ultra both cost €180, with around €20 top up per month on Pay As You Go. So over two years, these would cost a total of €660 (€20*24 months=€480+€180=€660) versus the iPhone's €610 (€25.41*24 months=609.84). Is the 5s really worth 600 quid?

    - What's the coverage like for 3 Mobile? I'm coming from Meteor, who recently lost nearly all coverage in my area (South Dublin). Is 3 pretty dependable? Also, with the bill pay plan I would be relying pretty heavily on the "all you can data" part of the deal, do 3 throttle your data if you reach a limit? If so, what's the limit?

    - Finally, I've heard that the 16GB 5S is just too small to be functional, however the 32GB model is not included in the deal. I won't be storing any music on the phone and am not into mobile games, so (theoretically...) it'll just be apps, photos and any other miscellaneous data it needs. Would I still find myself running out of space? My Moto E seems like it has been at 90% capacity since I bought it, so don't want to have the same situation with my new phone!

    Any other downsides of the 5S versus the Moto G/Smart Ultra 6? The battery life of my 3GS was an absolute nightmare, I'd be lucky to get 8 hours out of it. I presume Apple have improved on this, but what is the average daily battery life for the 5S?

    Thanks for all the help!


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    #2
    stoksyXL
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭stoksyXL


    Three, for me, is a terrible network. Data speeds are not consistent and there's practically no data coverage when you're in a building, say a shopping centre or hospital for example.

    Somebody else will come on here now and say it's the best network ever, but that's the thing, it either works or its awful. I'm almost in Dublin city centre and having loads of trouble.
    Meteor wasn't supposed to be as bad as three. So if you're having issues with meteor then it won't be any better with three.
    The only network that is totally reliable for me around the city and indoors is Vodafone. Always fast 4g anywhere and can use my phone indoors.

    Don't sign up to three for any 24 month contracts, if you are going to go to three then get a pay as you go sim first and test it out for a week or so, the €20 deal will do you, the all you can eat data, which is just been increased recently from 15gb a month to 60gb a month.
    But all you can eat data is useless if the network is crap and you can barely use your phone anywhere.


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    #3
    Vinny123456789
    Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭Vinny123456789


    stoksyXL wrote: »
    Three, for me, is a terrible network. Data speeds are not consistent and there's practically no data coverage when you're in a building, say a shopping centre or hospital for example.

    Really? That's a shame. Need to move from Meteor though, might just have to head to Vodafone.
    stoksyXL wrote: »
    Don't sign up to three for any 24 month contracts, if you are going to go to three then get a pay as you go sim first and test it out for a week or so, the €20 deal will do you, the all you can eat data, which is just been increased recently from 15gb a month to 60gb a month.
    But all you can eat data is useless if the network is crap and you can barely use your phone anywhere.

    Unfortunately the deal only applies to the 24 month contract, so if I were to go with the deal, it would have to be with the contract. Not too enthused about signing up to a contract, I've been PAYG forever, but the price seems to be great.

    Do you have a 5S yourself? Thoughts?


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    #4
    guil
    Registered Users Posts: 10,495 ✭✭✭✭guil


    Vinny123456789 wrote: »
    Really? That's a shame. Need to move from Meteor though, might just have to head to Vodafone.



    Unfortunately the deal only applies to the 24 month contract, so if I were to go with the deal, it would have to be with the contract. Not too enthused about signing up to a contract, I've been PAYG forever, but the price seems to be great.

    Do you have a 5S yourself? Thoughts?

    He meant get a payg sim and test it for a week or two before signing upto a contract.


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    #5
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Its a good deal, if you need to be on three, need unlimited data, and need a free iPhone. Ticked the boxes from someone here. But I would doubt its a good deal for most people.


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    #6
    Vinny123456789
    Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭Vinny123456789


    Trying out PAYG...seems to be ok, no better or worse than Meteor, but I'll keep it up.

    Was in with Carphone Warehouse, and they said if I have any issues with coverage I have two weeks to back out with no hassle. Must be the native cynic streak in me, but I'm having a hard time believing that. Anyone have any experiencing with this? As easy as they made it seem?

    Thanks


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    #7
    whiterebel
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 14,931 Mod ✭✭✭✭whiterebel


    Vinny123456789 wrote: »
    Trying out PAYG...seems to be ok, no better or worse than Meteor, but I'll keep it up.

    Was in with Carphone Warehouse, and they said if I have any issues with coverage I have two weeks to back out with no hassle. Must be the native cynic streak in me, but I'm having a hard time believing that. Anyone have any experiencing with this? As easy as they made it seem?

    Thanks

    3 are well known to be very difficult to get out of contract on coverage. Have a look at the Talk to Three page:Three


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    #8
    stoksyXL
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭stoksyXL


    As far as I know there no back out clause if you buy in store, only if you order online.
    I'd stick with that payg sim for a while and get yourself a second hand iPhone on adverts.ie rather than signing your life away for an out of date phone that'll be redundant soon.
    If you're going to sign up for a contract, might as well get one of the current iPhones seeing as you're going to be in that contract for a while.


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