Money: that's what I want. I certainly wouldn't say no to £300 just for buying a phone, and Carphone Warehouse is offering varying amounts of cash up to £300 on a range of phones including the Samsung Galaxy Ace and Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini.
Buying the Galaxy Ace on a monthly contract from O2 though Carphone Warehouse earns you a respectable £250 cashback. The Ace is a bit long in the tooth in phone years, having arrived two years ago, but we gave the 3.5-inch budget blower a highly respectable four stars for its compact and stylish looks and decent battery life.
The cashback deal costs £26 per month and comes with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data for connecting to the Web.
The Ace's Android software is far from up-to-date -- it's version 2.2 Froyo -- but at this price who's complaining? If you do want a newer phone but without breaking the bank, you can opt for the more recent Samsung Galaxy Ace 2. The Ace 2 is a dual-core phone that's less than a year old and packs Android Gingerbread -- and earns you £75 cashback.
The Galaxy Mini on Orange nabs you £125 cashback, while the Samsung Galaxy Y on O2 nets you £150.
Cashback comes in the form of a cheque, sent to you within a month after you purchase your phone. To get the maximum £300 cashback, you need to buy an LG Optimus L3, an HTC Desire C, BlackBerry Curve 9320 or Sony Xperia Tipo, all on an O2 contract. I'd stay away from the L3, which earned an atrocious 1 1/2 stars in our review, but the Tipo and BlackBerry 9320 are decent little phones.
Are these worthwhile deals? Have you bagged a bargain with the Ace or another affordable Android phone? Heck, with Android so cheap, is it even worth forking out for a high-end phone? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 9
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Damien2501 1 February, 2013 17:52
What a rip off. CPW is a scam, if you brought something because the man at CPW or Phones4U or a commentor on this page recommended it, your the reason why the economy is such a mess...
http://mobiledeals.cnet.co.uk/
flyingacedude 1 February, 2013 19:10
I used to have the Galaxy Ace, it was a good phone two years ago. However it got slower and slower, eventually I have to delete all Apps from it because it became so slow. When I got the S3 in may it was worlds apart.
I can't really see that the Ace is a suitable phone to be selling nowadays based on the performance of the one I had. Lots of Apps won't work on it now, let alone potentially in 2 years time if its on a standard 24 month contract.
So in essence you're paying (26*24)-250 = 374 in total, so that's £15.58pm. I don't know how many minutes this comes with, but I've seen the Ace advertised at £12.5pm on a decent enough contract.
Its a take money now pay for it later scheme aimed at people who are hard up under the guise of a phone contract.
anonymous 2 February, 2013 10:12
Taking out a contract purely for the cashback is never going to make sense, but if you're getting a phone anyway (and i can tell you that A LOT of people still buy the Ace on contract) why not pocket something as well as a bonus?
Hardly a scam. Hardly the ruin of the economy.
anonymous 2 February, 2013 13:40
I worked at CPW for 7 years and the cash back deals are difficult to claim on, they will do anything to avoid paying out, usually to do with dates or they say they did not receive the claim paperwork, even when you send it by Recorded Delivery. They are total scam artists who should not be on business.
Damien2501 2 February, 2013 15:29
@ anonymous 10.12
My point is there are better deals out there, Samsung Galaxy S2 for £15.5, iPhone 4S for £22, most people don't need unlimited minutes or texts, spending £26 on something that you won't use to the full extent and a phone that won't last 2 years is a rip off.
anonymous 2 February, 2013 20:33
I think this was very good I'm getting the samsung ace 2
anonymous 2 February, 2013 20:37
RUBBISH NO ONE WOULD WANTTHIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anonymous 2 February, 2013 21:03
With 65% of all smartphone sales in the budget sector, the Galaxy Ace is still a big seller.
This is the phone CW give away with their top promoted budget deal, £7.50 pm.
Most of the users of these Android running phones, don't really care much about apps, or heavy internet use and are generally tech averse.
By the way, the article is incorrect. The Ace runs Gingerbread and always has AFAIA.
anonymous 2 February, 2013 21:20
At £7.50 a month the Ace might be worth it, but at £26 pm you can have a free Galaxy S3 with a reasonable calls/text/data allowance.
Even a Nexus 4 can be had for free on a reasonable £23.50 contract and with a £75 up-front automatic cashback (no claim required), if you have access to it via certain arrangements.