back to article Vodafone will rent you an iPhone 5 for 69p* a day

Vodafone has tweaked its Sim-only tariffs and introduced a fresh handset rental scheme which lets customers swap their old phone for a newer model when their 12-month contract is up. Users who fork out £47 a month for Vodafone's "Red Hot" deal will get the choice of either an Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III or Samsung …

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  1. Ye Gads

    Lets do some maths

    So if I'm currently forking out £47 a month I can change to £26 a month + 69p a day.

    That means £251.85 a year for the handset (or 20.99 a month). That means a very generous saving of 1p a month.

    So the "deal" has nothing to do with saving any money. It's a case of being tied to a shorter contract in return for giving up control of the hardware to the operator.

    I'd be interested in knowing what "rights" I had on the phone? When can Vodafone claim the phone back, and for what reasons? If I annoy them can they cancel my contract and leave me phoneless with no warning/comback?

    1. Richard 81

      Re: Lets do some maths

      Yeah I don't see how this is a good deal at all.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Gio Ciampa
      FAIL

      Re: Lets do some maths

      RTFA... "which essentially puts the hardware rental at just 69p a day"

      They've calculated what the difference is - they're not saying that's what the deal is

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lets do some maths

      If the included insurance is any good it could be quite a decent deal. That's another £6-8 per month usually

  2. Thomas 4

    oO

    I can't even imagine the amount of crapware there would be on a rented phone...

  3. Pen-y-gors

    Upgrade treadmill

    Who is so sad that they feel the need to have a new phone every twelve months? It's a phone, dammit, they carry on working (and still doing all the things you might reasonably want) for years,

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      jedi knight 2

      Unfortunately most people are only too happy to sustain the capitalist ideal of continual growth...

    2. Chicken Marengo
      Facepalm

      Re: Upgrade treadmill

      I generally need a new phone about every 12 months, but that's because I have a dismal track record of dropping them down toilets, into canals, or into the path of heavy vehicles.

      I wonder if the insurance covers being a clumsy oaf.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    £47 a month? wtf?

    I spend £5 a month on Three PAYG for a 2GB data allowance which I barely manage to use...

  5. Sp0ck

    The iphone is more......

    From what I have read elsewhere the Sgs3 and the note 2 are £47 per month, the iPhone is £59 per month!

  6. vic 4

    2GB?

    For how much! I've got a one plan from three including (really) unlimited data usage for well over half that price (no phone, I get HTC ones for free ;-) but my wife has the same usage plan with a Galaxy S III (doesn't like htc!) for £28 a month and that was a few weeks after it came out.

    People really need to shop around. Unless you are apple/micorsoft and think you can dictate prices or sue you can get a better price if you look around on that there internet (or could if you didn't have a capped data allowance). True, my wifes contract is for 24 years but that works out at the same price as a years contract with this. Ok, for some pople may three ma be no good, but their coverage in some areas is actually better tahn others nowadays.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If they offered daily/weekly rentals I could see this being a good deal for tourists

    Coming from the US many will have phones that aren't unlocked, or that aren't compatible with UK networks. If I was visiting for a week and could rent one for 10 or 20 pounds + a SIM with a decent data allowance, I'd bite. I'm going to have to rent a phone anyway, or borrow something old from a friend because my is SIM locked. Might as well have something I'm used to, and is from this decade.

    Just update it to all your own stuff using iCloud and you're good to go. When the week's up just do a factory reset before handing back and all your stuff is removed. I'm sure they'd want a credit card and to buy some extra insurance in case of damage, but that's pretty much how it is when you rent a car already.

    No reason to restrict this to iPhone, of course, they could offer a few popular Android phones like a GS3 as well.

    Be a good way for a carrier to deal with phones that are bought and get returned, rather than selling them at a discount as open box or refurbished or whatever they do.

  8. zedthegreat
    Unhappy

    I can't say I am convinced. You can get a 12month deal from Vodafone already, and at a similar line rental (£46 vs £47). The cost of ownership over 12 months is then different by £137, of which £149 is the upfront cost in the traditional contract model. Surely whichever of these high-end phones you choose will be worth at least £150 on eBay in 12 months, no?

    And you remove the option of once 12 months is over of stopping the contract and putting in a cheap sim only deal. You know, circumstances can change where paying c£50 a month doesn't make sense any more.....

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