Ways in Minimizing the Budget When Buying a Smartphone for Phone Enthusiasts

by Team Qwikfone Digital Marketing Head

Are you looking to buy a new mobile phone to upgrade yourself? Everyone knows that getting a new phone can be very expensive, especially if your desired smartphones are the latest models of Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices.

There are low cost smartphones that you can purchase if you are searching for a mobile device to make phone calls, play games, watch movies and browse the internet.

How can you save money when buying a smartphone?

There are several things that make purchasing a new smartphone challenging. Apart from your budget, other things you should consider when buying a smartphone are:

Choosing between iOS and Android
Getting the right size screen
Color quality vs resolution
Specs of the phone's camera
Battery life and processor
Storage

However, what we will be focusing on in this article is to determine you can save money on your mobile phone and what you can do to lower the cost of owning a phone.

The following are ways on how to save money for buying a phone.

Before you go ahead and buy whatever smartphone is available in the market, you should first do your research. (Photo credit: norsecorp.com)

Do your research. Before you go ahead and buy whatever smartphone is available in the market, you should first do your research. Do you think it is cheaper to buy the phone you want outright or as part of a contract? Use a mobile phone deal finder or comparison sites to shop around and help you find the best deal suitable for you.

Pay for what you need. Do you think you need that much data? If not, then don't sign up on an expensive unlimited data plan. You should match your deal to your needs.

Haggle with your current supplier. If your contract is ending, they will be desperate to keep you and might offer you some cheap deals. Think about whether the offer is worth it and will suit your needs.

Check that you are on the right deal. To make sure that you are on the best mobile phone deal, what you need to do is to check that you are not paying for calls, texts and data you are not using. You should make sure that you are not regularly going over your allowance and getting hit with expensive bills.

You should also shop around using different comparison sites or mobile phone deal finder. It is always a good idea to use more than one comparison site to make sure you are getting the best deal.

Buy a refurbished smartphone. If you want to purchase a branded mobile phone but you are on a really tight budget, your best bet is to opt for a refurbished one. There is no need to worry, especially if you are buying from a reputable retailer or seller. Most likely the refurbished smartphones you will get are devices that are as good as those you would find in a shop but without the hefty price tag.

For example, if you are getting your refurbished mobile phone from QwikFone, you can be assured that what you will receive is a smartphone that is in pristine condition with a one-year warranty and a money back guarantee.

Once you already have your smartphone, you will realize how owning such a device can be expensive. If you want to lower the cost of owning a mobile phone, here are some of the things you need to do.

Avoid unexpected phone charges. Keep in mind that calling numbers that start with 09, 0871, 0872, 0873, and 118 will be more expensive that regular phone calls. Texting mobile short codes costs more as well.

Turn off in-app purchases. If you have kids who love to play with your phone, make sure they don't run up your bills. Remember, for children, your smartphone is a total entertainment device, with games, movies, and books.

Keep in mind that there are several apps that allow you to buy coins and bonuses directly within the app. Apps and games that are free-to-play but contain in-app purchases mean that you can download the game or app without paying a single coin, however, you might be asked to pay for features once you start using it.

To avoid being hit by a huge bill, what you can do is to keep an eye on what your children are playing. You should read the small print around in-game purchases as well. You can also switch off the ability to make in-app purchases.

Download free versions. As mentioned above, there are apps and games that are free-to-pay. If you don't want the purchase of little games to add up on your credit card, you should always check to see if free versions of the games you want are available.

More often than not, you will find that a version with fewer features or supplemental advertisements is available. While you may find tapping out of ads in the middle of a game annoying, it will be worth it to not spend on a game that you will probably be bored of or stop playing in a few weeks.

Reduce your plan. If you think you will not need the unlimited data option, you should downgrade your data plan. Before that, you should check first your usage statistics on your phone. You might find that you are only using a fraction of the data that you are actually paying for.

As such, in order to lower your expenses, you should downgrade your data plan and then work to stay within your limit. This way, you will shave a ton of money off of your bill each month as well as stop paying for data that you don't use.

Grab text and voice apps. Don't eat up both minutes and incur long distance costs. The same could be said for texting. Sending international and out-of-network messages can add up, especially if you don't have unlimited texting.

What you should do is to utilize apps like Viber, Whatsapp, and Skype. These apps will allow you to use your phone's WiFi capabilities to send free texts and make free calls without worrying about added fees.

Use WiFi more. When you connect to a free WiFi, you unburden your mobile phone network, enjoy faster speeds, and you can surf all you want for free. Make sure that you sign into a public WiFi when it is available. Just remember not to do anything private, like checking your online banking, until you have a secure connection elsewhere.

When you use WiFi, that means you are not paying for data. Being connected to a WiFi is perfect when you want to stream a video or download a couple of new songs on your mobile phone.

Skip purchasing insurance. If you are using a mobile phone with an insurance policy, you could be paying for a service that you don't actually need. Instead of opting for insurance, what you should do is to save some extra money to pay for repairs. Keep in mind that a broken screen or speaker issue is completely repairable. Additionally, most mobile phones on the market, be it brand new or refurbished smartphones, come with a one-year warranty that covers both hardware and software malfunctions.

After you save up money in lieu of insurance, you will have enough to pay for any needed repairs after warranty. It might even be enough for a new phone.

If you want to purchase a branded mobile phone but you are on a really tight budget, your best bet is to opt for a refurbished one. (Photo credit: fscl01.fonpit.de)

What are the best low cost mobile phones you can buy in the market today?

The trick in buying the best low cost smartphone is to know what matters and what doesn't. For example, if you are the type of person who uses your phone all day long, you should look for a smartphone with a bigger battery.

The following are the best cheap mobile phones you can buy today that offer impressive hardware and useful features without leaving your wallet empty.

Apple iPhone SE. If you are an iPhone user and you wanted to purchase the cheapest iPhone, the Apple iPhone SE is the one for you. This smartphone delivers a near-flagship iPhone experience but does do for a fraction of the cost.

This phone has the A13 Bionic-levels of speed and energy efficiency, which combined with the butter smooth and super intuitive and feature packed iOS 13 operating system.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. The best premium cheap phone your money can buy. This mobile phone delivers the best core S20 functionality along with 5G but for a more affordable price point.

This smartphone features a 6.5-inch HDR10+ rated screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The camera system on the Galaxy S20 FE is a good all-rounder, with a trio of rear facing cameras joined by a high-definition 32MP selfie camera.

Google Pixel 4A. This is the best cheap phone if you are looking for a pure Android experience. The Google Pixel 4A combines a great camera with a decent design and pure Android software.

This phone is capable of taking some fantastic photos, especially in low light, and it has enough performance to handle the majority of smartphone tasks. It is not as polished or as powerful as the flagship phones, however it costs an awful lot less.