You can lease an iPhone from £14.99 a month
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The cost of high-end smartphones has increased significantly over recent years. So much so, more of us are becoming reluctant to part with our cash come upgrade time, hanging on to older models longer than we once would have, partially also down to the fact that phones are that much more powerful these days. The latest models might look tempting and do include some impressive features, but we wonder if we can justify the upfront outlay?
Savvy mobile bargain hunters have long argued that the best way to get a new phone is to buy a SIM Free phone, and then purchase the SIM Only deal of your choice. Which is a great idea if you have the cash available and are willing to pay for the phone all upfront. A new iPhone 11 will set you back at least £700. This is what makes pay monthly mobile contracts such a popular choice as you can spread that cost. However, a new UK company thinks they might have found a better way.
Raylo want everyone to go SIM Free
Raylo is a UK start-up that’s promising to revolutionise the phone market. They believe that every user should lease their phone and be on a SIM Only contract, with the networks providing the minutes, texts and data.
Raylo believes they’ve hit on a new business model, that could bring down the cost of owning the very latest, high-end mobile phone and improve the overall customer experience.
Is phone leasing the answer?
Leasing is a well-established way of acquiring new goods. It’s a system that’s been applied to TVs, cars, white goods and computer equipment for years. Over 1.6 million people in the UK now lease their car and the trend is growing. It makes sense for goods which are constantly developing, with new models being brought out regularly for which the initial outlay can be costly. That’s a description that perfectly fits the mobile phone market. Raylo is adapting this model for the modern mobile phone market, promising to make the latest high-end mobile phone models available on a leasing basis. The aim is to liberate users from mobile phone contracts where the handset and the SIM are linked. They want to make using a phone more of a subscription model, like using Netflix.
Sounds good, but how exactly does it work?
You might like the sound of iPhone leasing as a concept, but wonder how exactly it works. Do the savings make it worth considering?
Raylo is offering a fully insured new smartphone with an accessories bundle all for a monthly cost much lower than you might pay on a traditional contract. Take the iPhone 11 for example. From Raylo you can lease it for £25.99 a month, which leaves you some cash to find a competitive SIM Only deal (or use your existing SIM). With SIM Only deals available from as little as £4 a month, the overall savings are potentially substantial, depending on how much data you need. At the end of two years, you hand the phone back to Raylo, who refurbish it. Using this method, they believe they can save the average consumer over £800 a year.
Refurbished phone deals
As well as offering brand new, box-fresh phones, Raylo makes their refurbished phones also available to price-savvy customers. They can offer a refurbished iPhone X for just £14.99 a month. Too good to be true?
No refurbished phone from Raylo lands in anyone’s hands without it undergoing the most rigorous of tests. Their iPhone Xs go through a 51 point test, that establishes they are reliable. They should work as well as a new phone, and be in overall excellent condition. For added peace of mind, a refurbished iPhone from Raylo comes with a 24-month warranty and a 30 days no quibble return policy.
Keeping it green
There is global concern about the unsustainable nature of the mobile phone industry. While great strides are being made to recycle more phones and the pre-owned market is booming, large numbers still end up in the landfill. Raylo is committed to a more sustainable approach, making refurbished phones more attractive to more users and helping to grow the recycled phone market. Their circular economy models mean that when you’re finished with the phone you return it to be refurbished, meaning each phone can have several users over its lifetime, and the overall length of that lifetime can be extended.
To help keep your phone safe and to help extend its life, every Raylo subscription comes with a free, completely compostable, eco-friendly case.
Accidents happen
Even the most careful phone user sometimes drops their phone, has their phone stolen, or loses their phone during a house move. To give you extra peace of mind Raylo offer an optional insurance option that can be added to your plan. For the iPhone 11, it’s £6.99 a month. This guarantees you a speedy replacement should the worse happen.
A better experience?
As a small UK company, Raylo know that what will help set them apart is customer service. It’s committed to giving customers a personal and tailored experience and it’s not going unnoticed. Their TrustPilot rating is currently ‘Excellent’, and 96% of its customer reviews are awarding them 5 stars. It’s an enviable record when compared to some of their big-name competitors.
Raylo is continually innovating and trying to find new ways to reduce the cost and expand the options available to consumers.
Is it worth it?
The advantages of the Raylo approach will be clear for some, and in a competitive market, they offer a real alternative. As with cars, we expect leasing a phone will be attractive to some people whilst others will prefer to own their phones outright and pay everything upfront or take it on a pay monthly mobile contract or personal finance.
As always, we recommend you compare mobile phone deals to pick the right type of deal for you, depending on things like how much data you need and what you can afford to pay each month. Raylo is a welcome addition to that choice and it’s great to see companies coming up with new innovative services like these.
You can take a look at the iPhone models available from Raylo here.
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