Sim Only Contracts

Sim Only Contract Advice

Sim only mobile contracts are often more flexible than contracts that come with a handset.

You get a new mobile phone sim card but no new mobile handset. A mobile sim card is a chip that you insert into your mobile phone that lets you make calls and send texts. It contains the unique identifier of the phone, including its mobile number. Every sim is therefore unique.

Sim-only mobile contracts, such as O2's Simplicity, usually only tie you in for a month at a time. Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone also offer Sim-only mobile contracts.

Sim only contract advantages

If you're happy with your current mobile handset, Sim-only mobile contracts are often more flexible than lengthy mobile contracts that come with a free or cheap mobile phone. In some cases it's possible for your 'upgrade' to be a worse phone than what you've already got - so it can make sense to keep your handset and instead change to a sim only contract. Most Sim only contract tariffs tie you in for only 30 days at a time.

Because with a sim only contract you're not getting a subsidised mobile phone handset, you'll get more mobile minutes/texts for your money than a mobile contract that does include a handset. You can save up to £15 a month compared with equivalent traditional pay-monthly mobile tariffs.

Even if you want a new mobile handset, you might still be better off with Sim-only. When we compared a range of Sim only mobile tariffs with equivalent pay monthly mobile tariffs that included a free handset, we found that the monthly savings you would make from choosing the Sim-only tariff over an 18-month period would often pay for the cost of a good mobile handset outright. Take a look at the latest handsets.

Sim only contract disadvantages

With a sim only contract, you don't get a free or subsidised new mobile phone (unlike with a traditional mobile contract). You only receive a mobile Sim card which you insert into an existing mobile handset.

Your existing mobile service provider may not like you switching from a traditional to Sim only contract - they want you to keep paying a lot every month!

You might have to unlock an existing mobile phone if you move to a new mobile network, although this is becoming less and less common, and if your existing handset is a contract (rather than pay-as-you-go) handset, there's a good chance it will be unlocked already.

If you want a top-of-the-range mobile handset, you might be better off with a traditional contract, as very high-spec mobile models can be expensive to buy standalone. We also have great deals on handsets, or view a full comparison of thousands of handset deals.