Renting a smartphone in London

Posted by Sarah (San Jose) on 09/29/14 03:26 PM

I'll be in London for approx. 7 days in mid-October, and want to rent a smartphone with a UK telephone number. I'll be looking at flats in unfamiliar parts of the city, and want to be able to easily use Google Maps and communicate with lettings agents. My U.S. smartphone is locked and won't work with a SIM card.

Are there any options for renting a smartphone beforehand (I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area), or from Heathrow or somewhere in the London city center? Thank you in advance for any advice!

Posted by Lee

Dallas

09/30/14 02:34 AM

1021 posts

Right now you can get an unlocked iPhone 3gs on Amazon for $70-120 with free shipping. That's a better deal than paying rent on a phone if you can even do that. Put in a cheap prepaid UK sim, like from Three, and you're good to go.

Posted by Nancy

Bloomington, IL, USA

09/30/14 03:53 AM

9363 posts

Why rent?
If you are looking for flats, am I assuming correctly that you ultimately intend to be there for a longer period of time? You would be better off to step into a phone store like Carphone Warehouse and see what they have. A regular dumbphone can be had for as little as $30 with some minutes included. They also have smartphones at a comparable savings. Buying a local SIM is the cheapest way to go, but you can also pick up a phone there.

Posted by richard

Yorkshire

09/30/14 09:21 AM

1198 posts

Looks like there are places that rent phones, but..
One charges 2/3 of the cost of buying a phone for 7 days.
They also want $80 and upwards in deposit,who needs the hassle.
Often they have a UK Sim but the rates while not american carrier bad are much worse than other UK rates,like 3,Tesco or giffgaff.
Argos,Tesco or carphone should get you a unlocked android smartphone for $70/80.
The prices online in US are about par, " unlocked and quadband" are the magic words
$15 will get you 1GB data, 500mins UK call time,unlimited txt.

Posted by gone

10/08/14 03:42 PM

2081 posts

Sarah,

if you have time, look at your local used cell phone shops for unlocked quadband smart phones.

if not, then as mentioned check out once you get there carphonewarehouse or any other places that sell phones.

i just looked at CPW and they have some PAYG smartphones starting around 30 BPS and some less expensive than that depending on the features you want.

you can go to CPW and do a search for their stores in your area.

one comment about what Richard stated about Tesco. Tesco is their version of WallMart. I didnt see anyone close in to London. there maybe one there, but using Tescos web site and using it to search for stores, it didnt come up with any of them. My former boss is from the UK and mentioned Tesco also.

good luck and happy trails.