As a dinosaur from the Ice Age, I still have a basic Nokia phone - so basic that it cost me a tenner from Tesco on special offer!!
I am based at home quite a lot and even though it is a UK number, it costs me about £2 per month, if that to run, as I only use it for emergencies.
I appreciate that a French contract phone will cost me more, but would appreciate poeple's views on the best "smart phone" deals out there - all contributions gratefully received
Meanwhile, I shall count my centimes in my piggy bank to see what I can rustle up to pay for one!
Any views on "why a smart phone is a must" also appreciated - husband had his about 4 weeks ago and it remains in his hand from dawn til dusk - not a great advert but he says it is wonderful!
I'm late to the discussion Helen but my tuppence worth is that a smartphone isn't a must have. I love technology and generally buy the latest gadgets. I'm on my second iPad for example and wouldn't be without but I prefer devices that don't try to be all things to all users. I just don't like the compromises. I find smartphone screens too small for any really productive use whereas I have MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc. available on my iPad. I don't need email on the go so once again the iPad or Laptop (or even the desktop) is fine. What I do want is a dual sim phone that is robust and has a reasonable battery life. I've recently bought a Nokia 515 and it's perfect for me. Screen is bright and large enough, sound and volume is excellent. with a Free.fr 2 euro a month SIM in one slot and O2 in the other I'm contactable all the time at home and abroad and the phone hooks seamlessly to the car. Plus it has excellent battery life, weight nothing and if it's stolen or lost it was only 120 quid instead of 800 :-)
John, look back at the previous posts on this discussion to see what people have recommended! (free, virgin, symacom, prixtel.....)
Rick are you using FREE too? we had the problem but solved it by going to our MAIN mobile client home page and changing the setting for international calls. Each mobile needed to have a minimum of 10euro credit added first (but only once-).
we use the 2 euro a month option
my only criticism of FREE is the complicated nature of their online logging-in to client pages...you have to log in to MOBILE.FREE.FR rather than your fixed line FREE.FR,
plus, each mobile on your contract is assigned a separate log-in page, password and client name/reference number -which isn't the telephone number or email address and can't be changed!.
but you can log in to the one, principle main mobile contract page and change setting for all the mobiles from there.
they do respond to questions quite quickly though and do offer to speak english when you struggle with technical language.
I have an unlocked iPhone and I plan to buy a pay as you go SIM card when I go to France. Is there much difference in the amount of data / Sim card prices from the different French networks or can anybody advise which network I should go for ?
Hi
I still use my Tesco £10 phone here in France! I recently changed from SFR to www.symacom.fr. 99cts for a sim card, top up on line or at shops when you like and the credit does not expire! The rates are really good and it is only 7cts/min to call a UK landline (but 15cts for a french one)!
You can set it up to auto top up when you get down to 2euros and define how much to top up by.
They transferred my existing number without problems and were very helpful on the phone - there is one person there that speaks english.
I previously reported obtaining a SIM free Motorola Defy MINI smart phone. I looked around for some time to find the right SIM for this phone. I think I found it. GO-SIM – for $19.70 (including $10 credit) I purchased the SIM. This gives me a UK number, which is global, and a USA number. I have since recharged with a further $40, and currently have $14.23 credit. As we only really use the phone for urgent messages and holiday trips, our calls are fairly minimal, but it does mean that friends and relatives in the UK and Ireland can call us via the UK number. So in 7 months we have spent $49.70 (£29.58) on calls and texts. I think I’m happy with that.
Orange are trying to win back customers and are offering a deal if you already have a livebox. Unlimited sms and mobile calls within France plus the usual livebox unlimited international landline calls to 113 destinations including Australia, NZ, Japan etc. for €29.99 per month for a year then €34.99 afterwards. The main advantage of staying with Orange is they will repair the lines should there be a problem. They are not very speedy if you are with another operator. http://boutique.orange.fr/sosh-mobile-livebox
As far as the phone is concerned we got a Cubot phone from ebay for about a tenth of the price of one of the big brands for the same spec and are very happy with it.It also takes 2 phone lines so handy if you run a UK and a French line. having an unlocked phone means you can look at the contracts here with no phone which are much cheaper.
Hi, this makes interesting reading as I’ve been tied in for nearly 2 years now to my Bouygues contract, it’s ending soon and I’m looking around.
Husband and daughter are with sfr and it is cheaper but their coverage out here In the sticks is not much better than mine. Better coverage would be really useful as the house wifi is not the most reliable, sfr also. (Just as poor a service as orange but cheaper)
I don’t make a lot of calls but I do use a lot of data.
Does anyone know if Leclerc mobile do the really small sim needed for a iPhone 5S?
Leclerc pay as you go mobile costs €1.20 a month and credit lasts a year. Top up with €5 on the 364th day and all credit is carried forward for a year. Works in the UK - but I have a UK sim card for use there.
Does anyone know if either Free or Leclerc allows tethering with their prepaid plans?
Thank you Theo, that's an excellent tip about the Free SIM. I will bear it mind if I ever become 'glued' to my smartphone! However, I intend to use my mini Motorola as a backup only, except when travelling, and then I reckon something like a Leclerc SIM would do me. I bought Siemens Gigaset IP phones for home use some time ago, but only have them programmed to my FT fixed line for now. Under the OVH 1,18€ monthly charge I will be able to have unlimited free VoIP calls in France and 40 other countries, including UK and Ireland - plus - the use of a mobile by the second. In France the OVH cost is .096€ per minute as against the .19€ over the 120 min on the Free SIM. In the end it will all come down to the amount of use you want or need. I guess I'm in the 'dinosaur' category like Helen, 'cos I really find it hard to be bumped into by people of all ages in the supermarket discussing all manner of things on their expensive smartphones!
Have you looked at Virginmobile.fr
http://www.virginmobile.fr/index.htm
They offer €9.99 per month for unlimited calls and sms in France plus internet. Le Clerc is fine if you dont make many calls or dont want roaming but they charge a monthly fee of about €1 or so. I suppose it depends whether you want to make international or local calls.
Think tarifs are already taking a tumble thanks to Free breaking into the market. I have a deal with SFR RED (web based SFR) 11.99€/month sans engagement for me with my own phone - unlimited calls to european and North American landlines and free texts plus 50MB. (19.99€ for 3GB). The kids also got special offers of 12€/month unlimited texts, 2hours of calls 50MB plus a phone (at an extra cost) unfortunately theirs are 2yr SFR carré contracts as i found the offer before Free came up with their 2€ offer - but at least the kids got their long wanted phones ;)
I use prixtel, they use the SFR network, and I get unlimited calls to any french mobile, and any landline in any country I would care to call, Australia, Japan, the UK, Ireland, Canada, and so on. UNLIMITED. Thern there is unlimited text to French mobiles.
The forfait changes with your usage, so, basically, it you go over the internet limits for a certain forfait, they bump you to the next one. if I use no internet, it'll be 12 euro for that month, but then, if I call mobiles in other countries, send a lot of texts to foreign countries, and use a lot of bandwith, it'll go up to about thirty, but you pay anywhere in between, nd it is tailored every month to match what you have consumed.
www.prixtel.com
it is worth a look. I found out about it on here, I think it's Finn, who talked about them, and I have never looked back. I also advised a colleague, and she is also delighted, as she is Japanese, and it allows her to call her parents "free" (well, unlimited)
Roger, the Free option is based on a SIM, its free, working over G3 and cost for 120 min talking plus unlimited SMS for 2 Euro per month. You're not dependent on a Router / WIFI. check the Link I've posted.
So add this 2€ to your tooway and you are pretty much independent.
Thumbs up for Free! We also have the 2€/month subscriptions, 120 mins of talk and unlimited SMS is quite sufficient for us. And now it even works abroad as needed, with an option of "prepayment".
I agree Julia. We had payg French portables until I lost 150€ for not topping up, then reverted to our English 'phones until we went with Leclerc. As we only use them for emergencies, this system suits us.