The Google Nexus 4 hits O2 from 13 November -- but with its shockingly low price tag, we struggle to see why you'd buy it on a contract from any network -- and we're not the only ones, as the oxygenated operator struggled to defend its pricing to discerning punters.
The Nexus 4 is shaping up to be an awesome phone: quad-core power, high-definition screen and cutting-edge Android 4.2 Jelly bean software, starting at just £240 from Google Play.
Or to bag yourself a free Nexus 4 from O2, sign up for a £36 per month contract, which comes with unlimited texts and calls and 1GB of data each month. Except, as several O2 customers point out on O2's news post, why would you do that? "Considering this phone is less than £300 to buy off-contract from Google Play," says Jordan Khoviteri-Zadeh, "I don't actually understand why you'd bother doing this."
"This is a shocking 'deal'," adds Russ Underhill. "The phone costs £280 (for the 16GB model), anyone with any sense will buy it SIM-free and run it on GiffGaff, not this crazy contact."
For many people, signing a lengthy contract is the only way to get hold of a high-end phone if you really, really can't scrape together the up-front cost of five or six hundred quid. With the Nexus 4 starting at £240 for the 8GB model though, you don't need to commit to a lengthy contract to nab one at a decent price.
Buy the phone SIM-free then get a separate SIM-only deal and over the course of a year, 18 months or two years, the monthly savings of the cheaper tariff will more than pay for the phone. Plus, if you're SIM-free you can swap phones or hop onto a better deal with a different network at the drop of a hat. Handsome!
To prove it, let's bust out the calculator for a second. Once we've finished typing out 58,008, let's do some quick and dirty sums. Say you sign up to a £36 O2 contract and bag a free Nexus 4, over two years that's a total of £864 laid out.
Buy the phone from Google Play and bung in a GiffGaff SIM costing just £12 per month, and you'll get unlimited data too -- for a total cost of £492 over the same period!
Network extras
O2 and the other networks all have extras such as gig ticket offers to tempt you. But Serge Hautefort retorts, "Keep up with the times, fuddy duddies; your 'Priority Moments' and other gimmicks aren't worth a 24-month (!) contract that ends up being more expensive in the end!"
Speaking of gimmicks, the first 20 people in the queue for the Nexus 4 at the O2 Arena in East London get to climb the top of the dome to use their new phone taking pictures of the city. And the first 50 in the queue get a new 32-inch LG telly, as do selected people who tweet fun pictures to O2 in coming weeks.
Is the Nexus 4 the best value smart phone ever? How much is a reasonable amount to pay for the Nexus 4? Or do you prefer the security of being on a network contract, even if it costs you money? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 35
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anonymous 31 October, 2012 18:00
Absolutely incredible. Phone companies seem so out of touch. Amazingly these carriers seem to be holding the industry back with their reluctance to expand and invest in infrastructure, the pettiness over 4G, the crazy unrealistic data limits and creative uses of the word unlimited, terrible customer service (you can't even get support in stores any more which is utterly infuriating). It's a joke.
anonymous 31 October, 2012 18:03
That is indeed a shocker from O2.
Get the 16GB phone from Google for £279, and you could actually get an O2 Simplicity Sim for £20/mth which has unlimited data calls and texts and 1gb of data. Over 2 years that works out to £100 cheaper than O2's suggested "deal".
That is of course if you wanted to go with O2....others are probably even cheaper.
anonymous 31 October, 2012 18:04
Agree entirely, and I'll be buying this - my first smartphone - unlocked and off contract.
But note that giffgaff's £10 unlimited bag is going to cost £12/month from 6 Nov 2012[1], not that it makes much difference to the overall cost; but does bring it closer to 3's all you can eat data at £12.90...
[1] http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/Upcoming-goodybag-and-tariff-changes/ba-p/6203900
Eric Manktelow 31 October, 2012 18:16
I'll be buying this phone for Christmas then when my contract runs out in Febuary I'll be going with giffgaff.
See ya big networks.
More hardware like this at "fair" prices please Google.
The networks must be spitting teeth wondering how the hell they are going to get people to buy the latest must have device on overpriced contracts.
anonymous 31 October, 2012 18:24
Basically they will charge this contract..and hope others networks follow suit.
If they don't they will drop the price...after a month they might be planning to drop their price anyway after some marketing struck customers are ripped off.
There will be some more competitive deals...people that post comments here are the kind that will look for online deals. No need to worry...there will be some.
CaptainPicard 31 October, 2012 18:36
Buying it sim free and putting in a GiffGaff sim card is clearly the best option for anyone wanting to buy this phone, phones like this are nothing without unlimited data.
But these are O2 prices, there are websites that have better deals than O2 on higher end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S3, check out its prices on 'Buymobilephones.net' and then check the price of the S3 on the networks websites and Carphone Wharehouse and Phones4U, and you'll be Buymobilephones has deals that are better than the networks.
CaptainPicard 31 October, 2012 18:37
*You'll see
anonymous 31 October, 2012 18:47
02 are a terrible company. They overcharge customers for these contract deals and their pay and go tariff is awful also. Even their app for android is a disaster as you can't use it over 3g. How childish have they been over 4g. Why does EE have 4g before us? That's just not fair. Where is my mammy! waaa waaa.
Craig Barratt 31 October, 2012 20:37
As soon as I saw the price of the nexus 4 (and waited to see if it was a mistake) i thought 'game changer' and this is just the start. Thanks Google, you're freakin' awesome.
O2, 'fail' doesn't even cover it.
anonymous 31 October, 2012 21:00
Giffgaff unlimited data plans to change in November. Maybe worth reviewing the article against the new prices. Having said that, anyone buying this phone on contract may regret it.
Google just changed the game big style.
anonymous 31 October, 2012 21:32
it's ironic because o2 is owns Giff Gaff
anonymous 31 October, 2012 21:38
No, Telefonica own O2 and Giffgaff. O2 support Giffgaff, but do not own it. Giffgaff run on the O2 network.
anonymous 31 October, 2012 21:44
So will o2 actually sell this phone sim free? I can't see them doing that, people in store will evidently see the £240 price tag and realise that its pointless getting such a phone on a stupid £35 contract..... and would anyone advise whether to buy straight from Google online or from o2 in store. I would imagine brick and mortar wold give more of a back up in the case of a faulty product as you could just deal with 02 directly.
AkumaJack 31 October, 2012 22:35
O2 you are jokers! The phone is £279 off google (8g £239) £36 x 24months = £864 - £279 =£585 / 24months= £24.38 just for the contract but your currently selling the same contract in this deal for £20 a month sim only on a 12 month contract. So £4.38 more! £4.38 x 24months = £105.12 , are you mad? Also that is taking into consideration that this deal is with the 16G nexus 4 which you haven't made clear.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 00:08
@anonymous 31 October, 2012 21:38 - "No, Telefonica own O2 and Giffgaff. O2 support Giffgaff, but do not own it. Giffgaff run on the O2 network".
Isn't it more a case of parent company Telefonica own UK subsidiary "Telefonica UK" ?
Telefonica UK trade as O2 (i.e. O2 and Telefonica UK are one and the same) and GiffGaff is a subsidiary of that company.
AkumaJack 1 November, 2012 08:05
Lol I posted the same comment I made here onto the O2 website press release for the nexus4 but they have deleted it.
"O2 you are jokers! The phone is £279 off google (8g £239) £36 x 24months = £864 - £279 =£585 / 24months= £24.38 just for the contract but your currently selling the same contract in this deal for £20 a month sim only on a 12 month contract. So £4.38 more! £4.38 x 24months = £105.12 , are you mad? Also that is taking into consideration that this deal is with the 16G nexus 4 which you haven't made clear."
anonymous 1 November, 2012 09:13
O2 PAYG and monthly contract rates are p*$$ poor.
They are currently the most expensive option out there, with the lowest level of allowances on contracts at the medium to lower end of the price range. Avoid.
jimmyjam 1 November, 2012 09:51
Only problem is I think they have this phone as an exclusive?
You won't be able to get it from other networks which is a shame.
But thanks for pointing ut the sim free option. It definitely is cheaper!
Meleagru 1 November, 2012 10:28
Am I the only one stunned by the amazingly low price of this phone? When you compare it to the fruit phone, it's less than half the price.
My opinion is that the networks raise the price to Apple standards, because if they were putting this out on contract for 17 or 18 quid a month, it would completely bury the iPhone. So because of their vested interest in Apple, they drive the price up. My only hope is that Google does a good job of marketing this phone because it's simply a best buy, without a shadow of a doubt.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 10:36
I think the Nexus 4 is really much better than the iPhone with the new Anndroid software. Checkt the detaisl: http://www.factitup.com/2012/11/01/lg-released-nexus-4/ of course it’s better!!!!!!!!!!!
Ryan Simmons 1 November, 2012 12:54
I expected this to happen, and frankly, it makes sense. The only reason the Nexus is so insanely cheap is that it has a very small profit margin, if any at all. It's the same as with the Nexus 7, and I imagine the same story for the 10 too. Selling it on contract at a price proportional to it's off-contract cost would be very anti-competition: why bother getting any other android phone when you can get the best one for the price of a crappy low-range? The sales of every phone would plummet catastrophically, and no OEM would be able to do anything about it, because no manufacturer can afford to sell at cost.
Tl;dr, it's to protect OEMS who'd have no hope in hell of competing
AkumaJack 1 November, 2012 14:12
@ryan , are you implying price fixing? I think if we see other networks with the same price questions will have to be asked. Why did google give them an exclusive when they were going to do this?
anonymous 1 November, 2012 15:51
o2 can suck both of my testicles I was on a contract with these toss pots and no matter what they could not sort out my 3g I could not get any internet signal at all, no matter what town or city even in there shop where the employees could get 3g
anonymous 1 November, 2012 22:41
that sounded good till i seen gigg gaff are on 02 network :-(
anonymous 2 November, 2012 09:06
Going with Giffgaff may well cost you even less. With Giffgaff you are in control, can't be charged for going over limits, so start with the £10 goodybag a month as you have 1GB Mobile Internet as well as unlimited texts and 250 minutes cross network, you can stop or amend this at any time £120 a year plus cost of the phone.
https://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/michaeljking
anonymous 2 November, 2012 10:16
i think o2 missed a trick. They could have kept the phone at this tariff, but instead of a 24 month term offered the phone at a twelve month contract.
anonymous 2 November, 2012 17:48
With reference to an earlier comment that "you can't get support in stores anymore", frankly that's long overdue. There is nothing more infuriating than waiting in a queue to, say, but a phone only to be still stood there 20 minutes later because there is a queue of people asking trivial questions which they could get the answer to online or over the phone.
Stores such as O2 must have lost thousands of customers over the years who simply got fed up of waiting and walked away - although why people buy instore when you always get a better deal online these days (via cashback sites for example) is beyond me.
As for the contract deal, you either take it or leave it; can't blame the networks or retailers for selling them when people are willing to keep buying in to these deals. It really is that simple.
anonymous 3 November, 2012 01:46
Depending on your likely data useage (personally I use secure Wi-Fi for heavy downloads) you could consider TalkMobile's six month SIM only at £8.00 a month which has 300mins, 1000 texts and 500GB data. It uses the Voda net (recently voted best in UK) and the CS (CPW) is in the UK.
I travel world wide and use local SIMs for voice/text. Wi-Fi is available in many hotels/motels free of charge so a SIM free phone is a must have option.
anonymous 7 November, 2012 15:12
I shall be getting this and using my giff gaff goody bag at £10 a month!
anonymous 15 November, 2012 03:00
wish i'd known about the nexus 4's cheap price sooner! just got a lumia 800 a month ago for a budget price, feels like a waste if i change phone after only a month!
anonymous 15 November, 2012 03:05
three also have some decent deals. i have a pay monthly card (not tied to a contract) for 100 min, 3000 texts and 1gb data for only tenner a month!! with the option of adding unlimited internet for an extra £3.
anonymous 19 November, 2012 23:29
One small problem. You can't get a lg nexus 4 for less than £500. Google have sold out and who knows when they'll be back? What's available is on ebay being sold by ripoff boys.
anonymous 25 November, 2012 21:20
Not all the o2 deals are terrible. In carphone warehouse you can pay £60 for the handset and get a £26 a month, with unlimited minutes, texts and 1gb of interent. That works out at £684 over two years. Which isn't so bad if you don't want to fork out £300 for the handset.
If you buy the handset instead and pay £290 to make it cheaper than this deal over two years the contract would have to be less than £16.50 a month as £684-£290 is £394 which when divided by 24 months would be £16.40 a month. And while giff gaff might work out slightly less, you don't get unlimited minites.
anonymous 29 November, 2012 13:17
I dont ready comments much but that carphone warehouse comment is usefull. On my way down there now. Thanks
anonymous 23 January, 2013 19:43
Wish id known about this before i got my SGalaxy s3 from 3G. Biggest mistake of my life! Phone hasnt worked since i got it. Hubbys iphone is fine. No problems with that ut i have had multitude of problems since time of purchase which they are not willing to do anything about. have just written to Head office. so many problems its unreal.
Just sent off for my GiffGaff sim for my PAYG phone.. That will teach me to be in a hurry! Complaints department are not willing to do anything and i have had lots of empty promises. Have hreatened to send phone back if they dont sort something out a s a p. not only was i sold a faulty phone was given misleading false and innacurate info..To top it all the connection is horrendous!
Moral of the story. THINK THINK THINK and dont make any rash decisions!