Guides

Phone buying guides

Written for people buying a phone outright in the UK. No affiliate pressure, no spec-sheet waffle.

Buying advice

SIM-free vs contract: which actually costs less?

A monthly price tells you almost nothing on its own. To compare fairly, work out the total you will pay over the same period for both routes.

Work out the total cost, not the monthly cost

Add the handset price to the monthly SIM-only cost multiplied by the number of months you intend to keep the phone. Compare that with the contract's monthly cost multiplied by its term, plus any upfront fee.

If the contract total is higher and you still don't own the phone outright at the end, that difference is what the finance is costing you.

Why SIM-free gives you more control

You can switch network whenever a better SIM-only deal appears, and you can sell the handset at any point because it is yours.

SIM-only plans are also where most of the aggressive UK price competition happens, so the savings tend to compound over time.

When a contract can still make sense

If you cannot pay for the handset up front, spreading the cost has real value — just check the APR or the total payable and treat it as the price of borrowing.

Cameras

How to read phone camera specs without getting fooled

Camera quality comes from sensor size, lens selection and processing far more than from the megapixel count printed on the box.

Lens selection matters more than resolution

A phone with a genuine telephoto lens gives you usable zoom. A phone that crops from the main sensor does not, whatever its megapixel figure.

On our phone pages you can see which lenses each phone actually has: main, ultrawide, telephoto and front.

Consistency across lenses

Many phones have an excellent main camera and a weak ultrawide. If you shoot wide often, check that both are strong rather than looking only at the headline camera.

Use the camera score as a shortcut

Our camera score is one of eight categories we record for every phone, so you can compare like-for-like rather than reading marketing copy.

Price intelligence

When to buy a phone in the UK to pay less

SIM-free prices rarely stay flat. Understanding the usual rhythm helps you decide whether to buy now or wait.

Launch prices are the worst prices

New flagships tend to hold their launch price for the first few weeks, then start to drift as retailers compete.

Look at last year's flagship

When a new generation lands, the previous model usually drops while remaining supported for years. That is often where the best value sits.

Compare across retailers every time

The same SIM-free handset frequently differs by a noticeable amount between UK retailers on the same day, which is exactly what our retailer list is for.