The cheapest deals on the Samsung Galaxy S4

Don't pay more than you have to for the latest smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4.

The latest Samsung model is now here but is it cheaper to pay upfront or through a contract?

If you were to buy the phone upfront it would set you back around £600 – a hefty amount for a smartphone. That's almost £100 more than one of its closest rivals, the iPhone 5.

But there are contracts available, which start from £22 a month, which include a free phone but require an upfront payment.

The Samsung Galaxy S4

Samsung says the new phone will "get you closer to what matters in life" because it "understands the value of relationships, enabling true connections with friends and family". While this seems a little far fetched, the phone does look impressive.

It has lots of new design features, as you can see in detail on the Samsung website, but the main points are that it’s 7.9mm thick, has a 1.9GHz quad processor and the world’s first HD Super AMOLED display, which is protected by Gorilla Glass so it’s unlikely to break.

It also has some fancy new tools such as Smart Stay, which tracks your eyes to see if you’re looking at the screen, and Smart Scroll – allowing you to use the scroll function without actually touching the screen.

The 13 megapixel camera has also been improved and has a dual function so both rear and front cameras can take simultaneous photos and videos.

Buying the phone up front

It's pretty hard to avoid paying the full amount if you buy the phone upfront. Prices vary slightly between retailers and Argos, for example, is selling it for £599.95 while at Asda it's £577. To use it you’ll have to buy a SIM card and these start from £10 a month with GiffGaff for 250 minutes, 1GB of data and unlimited texts.

You can also get a phone with a pay as you go contract with 3. It will cost £549.99 and you'll need to buy an add-on for £10 or £15, depending on the size of your 30-day allowance.

One way to offset the price of the new handset is selling your current mobile, depending on the make and model. If you have an iPhone 5, for example, you could get back around £300 through a re-selling website. But this still leaves you with a bill of £329 for the new phone.

The benefit of buying upfront is that you have the freedom to move to a new phone whenever you want and you’re not locked into a long contract.

Samsung S4 on contract

For those people not willing to pay full price, a contract will be the only option. A number of providers have released details of how much they’re charging, but if you’re prepared to wait, prices will come down.

When looking at prices, the most important thing is to look at how many minutes, calls and data you’ll be allowed each month. If you’re unsure how much you use, ask your current provider and it should give you an monthly estimate.

Vodafone

The prices from Vodafone are pretty similar to the other providers, although if you trade in your existing touchscreen phone it will knock £5 off the monthly cost on a 24-month plan.

The cheapest deal is £58.50 more expensive than an almost identical contract from 3 and you’ll have to pay out £69 for the phone, but it does provide more minutes and texts.

If you want a free phone,the cheapest deal is £37 a month but you'll need to trade in your old touchscreen phone to get this. Otherwise the lowest price is £42 a month, or £504 for the first year. This is cheaper than O2's free phone option, which is £47 a month but has a higher data allowance of 2GB. But these are also both beaten again by 3 which offers a contract with no upfront costs for £420 for the first year.

One selling point with Vodafone is that it offers 12-month contracts. Therefore if you sign up for 12 months and pay £647 in a year, you could then sell the handset and hopefully raise at least £300 which would greatly offset the first year's costs.

O2

With O2 you only have the option of a 24-month contract, but there are quite a few different prices to go for. 

There is more flexibility with the price you pay as you have the choice to pay a higher upfront cost and a lower monthly fee. For example, if you pay £399.99 upfront, the monthly fee will only be £22.

It offers the second cheapest tariff, when looking at first year costs, although for £18 more you’ll get a higher internet allowance of 1GB and unlimited calls from Orange.

There are 12 different tariffs to choose from so here I've listed a selection. 

EE

EE is also offering both 12- and 24-month plans and the cheapest starts at £31 a month, with an upfront fee of £269.99. The most expensive offers a hefty data allowance of 20GB, but comes with a £76 monthly fee and £19.99 upfront cost.

The selling point with these contracts is because they’re with EE, they include the super-fast 4G internet. Right now EE is the only provider offering this although the others will soon follow.

Orange

As with all phones bought through Orange, there are various plans available all with different costs and allowances. These are pretty confusing to work through and so I’ve just highlighted the prices of Orange’s recommended contract ‘The Works’.

Orange is one of the most expensive providers to offer the new Samsung phone. The cheapest deal on The Works is £481.99 but for the same price you can get unlimited data from T-Mobile, as opposed to the 1GB on offer here.

A recent Ofcom report naming Orange as the most complained about mobile phone provider may also put people off signing up. Read more in The UK's worst mobile phone provider

T-Mobile

There are fewer options available with T-Mobile, making the process more straightforward - the Full Monty is the only contract you can buy with the new phone.

The main benefit with T-Mobile, as with 3, is you get unlimited internet data with any package so if that’s what you’re after it’s a good provider to go for.

Three

There are only two contracts available with 3 and they both last 24 months. This makes choosing one easier and they also both offer unlimited data and include a free phone.  

It's a clear winner for those getting the new phone as it offers the cheapest tariffs. The one downside is you won’t get as many minutes or texts. However, you’ll still get a substantial amount so if you don’t regularly exceed 2,000 minutes or 5,000 texts then it’s the best option to go for.

How to save even more money

When it comes to phone providers, especially those advertising 24-month contracts, it’s always worth questioning if you can get anything extra with your package. If you’re a new customer, always ask what the provider can offer compared to your existing supplier and chances are it’ll be able to throw in some tempting extras.

You’ll have a cooling-off period of two weeks when you sign up so if you notice in this time you’re using far more than your stated allowance – cancel or change the contract – otherwise you’ll end up paying a lot more in extra charges in the future.

How much would you spend on a smartphone? Is £600 too much? Let me know in the comment box below.

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