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Buying a phone - London

Posted by (Boston/Mumbai :)) on

Hi All,
I'll be traveling to the UK with my parents in a week :). All accomodation, travel etc has been booked and I'm now only tweaking what I want to see and when. So everything is on track.

I wanted to get a phone that I could use Google Maps on though while in London and in Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy). Ideally I'd like to land in London and buy a phone and a SIM and a plan and then start sightseeing. My flight lands in London Heathrow.

Are there places near Heathrow that I can buy a phone? I just need one for 23 days - I'm happy to sell it off after that in Italy (my last hop). Calls and Text messages are not that important - but I would love to have Google Maps while roaming around. What is the cheapest way to achieve this objective?

Thanks
Arvind

Posted by
32747 posts

Do you want the google maps when out and about or do you want to look at the app while you have wifi in your hotel or other hotspot and then not use 3G data?

If you want 3G data that's not too expensive in one country but gets expensive and difficult when roaming, which is what you will be doing as soon as you leave the UK. You can get a SIM with a phone, and a monthly SIM on one provider you will pay between £10 and £30 depending on how much data you think you will eat, from 500 Mb to 3 Gb each month, or with the company Three all you can eat.

BUT

none of that data can be used in Europe.

You will then go onto a roaming plan which may include some or all of the other countries, and will be much more expensive. You will need to shop around carefully. My O2 plan, for example, allows me for £2 a day to use a small amount of data - but not specifically limited but definitely shaped in ever decreasing speed shapes. Usually if I get a few emails and some train schedules I'm happy. It would take an age to try to download as much data as google maps needs in real time.

Don't be drawn in by ads you might see that say that you can take all your data plan from the UK to certain European countries - Three and Vodafone are currently pushing this one - because you have to have been on their plan for over 30 days before you can roam.

You may find that roaming from your US account may be more reliable and possibly cheaper. And you then won't be tied to just one UK provider.

Whichever country you buy a phone and SIM in you will have similar issues.

Posted by
137 posts

Thanks Nigel. The thing is - my US phone is a CDMA phone that will not work abroad. So if I need Google Maps I will need to buy a phone.

I thought of buying SIM cards in each country and not roaming though. I did however want to buy the phone itself in London. How easy is this and How much do you think it will cost?

Arvind

Posted by
32747 posts

Easy? As easy as walking into a supermarket or phone store saying what you want, paying your money, waiting a minute or two while they set it up, waiting for the text from the provider, and walking out.

How hard is it to buy a phone at home? Worse than that?

Have a look at what Carphone Warehouse is selling at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/pay-as-you-go and remeber that the 99 pence once are dumb phones. To get a smartphone that will have a good display you need to scroll through the list.

Also look at what Tesco supermarket are offering at http://phone-shop.tesco.com/pay-as-you-go-phones/

Posted by
137 posts

Thanks Nigel. I will look at trying to buy a phone here itself then. If I can't, for whatever reason, I'll look at those options once I get there.

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