Buying guide: Best phone deals of the week

Best phone deals of the week

There's never been a better time to be on the hunt for a new phone. There are loads of amazing handsets out there, filled to the brim with the latest tech. Even better, there's plenty of fantastic deals that ensure you don't have to break the bank to get a great phone.

All these handsets and deals does mean it can be a bit of a chore searching shops in the hunt for the best offers. The good news is that we've teamed up with uSwitch to bring you the best prices for top of the range smartphones like the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Sony Xperia Z3 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

We don't just have deals for the latest and greatest handsets, with slightly older devices like the HTC One (M8), LG G3, Samsung Galaxy Alpha and the iPhone 5S also getting a look in.

Our deals have two elements for each phone we're featuring: the first is one of the most popular of the week, with the most interest from consumers all over the UK.

The second is the lowest total cost of ownership, where we work out how much the combined total of handset plus monthly cost will hit the wallet over the duration of the deal.

Apple iPhone 6

The Apple iPhone 6 has been out for a little while but it continues to be one of the most sought after phones on the market.

One of the most popular iPhone 6 deals this week gets you a 16GB version in grey on Vodafone through mobilephonesdirect. You'll get 1GB of 4G data (following three months of unlimited data) as well as unlimited minutes and texts every month.

The deal costs £34.50 per month for two years and there's no upfront cost, so all in all it will set you back £828 over the course of the two year contract, which for almost any other phone would be fairly expensive but it's not a bad price at all for an iPhone 6.

Cheapest Apple iPhone 6 deal

The iPhone 6 is still relatively new, not to mention the fact that it's, well, an iPhone, so we're not expecting any impressively cheap deals just yet but that doesn't mean there aren't savings to be had.

Right now for example you can get a 16GB gold iPhone 6 on Vodafone. The contract comes with 100MB of data (following three months of unlimited data), 100 minutes and unlimited texts for just £26.50 per month. You will need to spend £66.99 upfront, however.

The deal is through mobilephonesdirect and although you'll need to pay a little upfront, over two years the deal comes to just £702.99, which isn't bad.

• Read all about it in our Apple iPhone 6 review

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

Apple's first 'phablet' is big, bold and really rather good. It's also got quite a high price tag to boot. One of the most popular deals right now is for a 16GB version of the handset in gold with Vodafone, through mobilephonesdirect.

It will cost you £38.50 per month and comes with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data (following three months of unlimited data). There's a tiny £6.99 upfront charge, so the overall cost of this deal is £930.99 over 24 months, which is pricey, but this is Apple's most expensive phone we're talking about.

Cheapest Apple iPhone 6 Plus deal

The cheapest iPhone 6 Plus deal is still pricey, but considering what you get for your money it's pretty good value. At the moment the lowest cost deal you can get for Apple's phablet is for a gold 16GB handset on Vodafone through mobilephonesdirect.

This deal comes with 100MB of data (following unlimited data for three months), 100 minutes and unlimited texts. It'll cost £26.50 per month for two years and comes with an upfront cost of £144.99. Over the course of the contract this deal will add up to £780.99, so it's fairly expensive given the allowances, but it sets you up with one of the biggest and best phones around.

• See what we made of Apple's first phablet in our Apple iPhone 6 Plus review

Samsung Galaxy S5

One of the most popular deals this week for the Samsung Galaxy S5 gets you the phone in black on EE with 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of 4G data.

That's through affordablemobiles.co.uk and it's just £28.49 per month with no upfront cost on a 24 month contract, so overall it's £683.76, which is good value for a flagship even if it is getting on a bit. Though bear in mind that the Galaxy S6 will probably be arriving very soon.

Cheapest Samsung Galaxy S5 deal

While the deal above is good you can get the Galaxy S5 even cheaper. This week's lowest cost deal is for it on Vodafone and comes courtesy of mobilephonesdirect. This nets you a gold version of the handset with 100MB of data (following three months of unlimited data), 100 minutes and unlimited texts.

The deal costs £14.50 per month for two years and will set you back £153.99 upfront, for a total of just £501.99, which is pretty great value, but considering the limited allowances the deal above is a better bet if you can afford the extra.

• Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S5 review

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

While the Galaxy S5 will remain Samsung's flagship until the Galaxy S6 arrives, the company has since released a metal-clad marvel that's clearly aimed at the iPhone crowd.

A particularly popular deal at the moment is for it in silver on Three through phones.co.uk, with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of 4G data. That costs £26 per month with no upfront cost and comes with £30 cashback, giving it a total price of £594 over 24 months, which really is great value.

Cheapest Samsung Galaxy Alpha deal

Looking for something a little cheaper? We've got you covered, because you can also get a refurbished blue Samsung Galaxy Alpha on O2 from mobiles.co.uk for just £18 per month with £49 upfront, coming to £481 over two years.

That comes with 500 minutes, 500MB of data and unlimited texts, which are better allowances than many of the cheapest deals around, but remember it's a refurbished handset.

• See how it stacks up in our Samsung Galaxy Alpha review

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Samsung's latest high-end handset is a phone of monstrous proportions and the price tag is pretty hefty too, but it's probably worth the money as our glowing review attests and if you shop around it needn't be extortionate.

One of the more popular ways to get it right now is in gold from mobiles.co.uk on an O2 contract with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of 4G data. That will set you back £33 per month with no upfront cost.

So in total it will cost £792 over 24 months, which is quite a lot of money, but then the Galaxy Note 4 always costs a lot money and at least this way you get some solid allowances with it.

Cheapest Samsung Galaxy Note 4 deal

If the above deal is too pricey the Note 4 can be had for a little bit cheaper. Right now the most affordable deal gets you a white Galaxy Note 4 for just £22.50 per month plus £103.99 upfront on a Vodafone contract. In all that will cost you just £643.99.

That's through mobilephonesdirect and the allowances are a little lacking, as it comes with just 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 100MB of data (following three months of unlimited).

Considering the Note 4 has a SIM free RRP of £599 that's still reasonable value, but you can get it cheaper if you shop around and you might be better off stretching to the deal above if you can afford to.

• See how it sizes up in our Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review

HTC One (M8)

One of the most popular HTC One (M8) deals of the week is for the handset in grey on EE. The deal works out at £31.99 per month with no upfront cost, for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of 4G data.

It's available from mobilephonesdirect and it even comes with £55 cashback, so once you factor that in the overall cost comes out at £712.76 over 24 months. The HTC One (M8) is getting on a bit and is about to be replaced by the HTC One M9, but it's still one of the best phones around, so that's not a bad deal at all.

• The one for you? Find out in our HTC One (M8) review

Xperia Z3, LG G3, Lumia 930 and more

Sony Xperia Z3

The Sony Xperia Z3 hit the shelves quite recently, but you can still grab a good deal. One of the most popular ways to get it this week is in white through affordablemobiles.co.uk.

It's a Three contract and comes with 600 minutes, 2GB of 4G data and unlimited texts for just £30 per month with no upfront cost. That comes out at £720 over 24 months, which really is rather tempting.

• Find out how it performs in our Sony Xperia Z3 review

LG G3

The LG G3 was a mid-2014 marvel and though newer flagships have come since from the likes of Apple and Sony it still impresses. This week you can get it for £26.99 per month from mobilephonesdirect. That's on EE and it includes unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of 4G data.

That's for the phone in white and not only is there no upfront charge but you also get £10 cashback, so factoring that in it will cost you just £637.76 over 24 months, making for a good value deal if you need loads of minutes.

Cheapest LG G3 deal

The LG G3 is getting on a little bit now (although we're only talking months, not years) and as such you can often get it for a good price if you hunt around, as this week's cheapest deal proves.

If you go through mobiles.co.uk you can get a black LG G3 with 500MB of 4G data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts on EE, all for £16.99 per month plus £59.99 upfront. In all the deal comes to £467.75 over 24 months, which is a steal for such a powerful handset.

• See how it stacks up in our LG G3 review

Nokia Lumia 930

If you fancy a new Windows Phone handset then the Nokia Lumia 930 could be the phone for you.

The latest Lumia flagship is getting on a teeny bit but it's still a top tier device and we've dug up some top tier deals for it. One of the most popular deals currently is for the phone in black on EE through buymobiles.net.

This deal costs £26.99 a month with no upfront cost, so in total you'll pay just £647.76 over 24 months. For that you get 2GB of 4G data, unlimited texts and unlimited minutes. Not bad.

Cheapest Nokia Lumia 930 deal

Want to go even cheaper? No problem! This week's lowest price deal will net you an orange Nokia Lumia 930 from mobiles.co.uk for £18.50 per month plus £39.99 upfront, adding up to £483.99 over the 24 months of the contract.

That gets you 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 100MB of data on a Vodafone contract. Those aren't the best allowances but they're not terrible for the money and it even comes with a free Fitbit Flex.

• See what we thought of it in our Nokia Lumia 930 review

Apple iPhone 5S

Apple's 2013 flagship might be getting on a bit - in fact it's been replaced by the iPhone 6 - but it's still good enough to go toe-to-toe with some Android phones.

Like most of Apple's products the iPhone 5S hasn't gone down in price much, even though it's over a year old. One of the most popular deals this week comes from mobiles.co.uk. It's for a 16GB handset in gold on EE, with 2GB of 4G data, 1000 minutes and unlimited texts, all for £23.49 a month.

There's also a £39.99 upfront cost, so in total its £603.75 over the course of 24 months. That's a pretty good price, in fact right now it's both one of the most popular deals and the cheapest.

• Find out more in our iPhone 5S review

Apple iPhone 5C 8GB

The iPhone 5C might be affordable by iPhone standards but that doesn't mean it's cheap. This week one of the most popular deals is from mobiles.co.uk and gets you a blue handset for £18 per month.

There's a £19.99 upfront charge, giving it an overall cost of £451.99 over 24 months. That's not cheap but it's pretty good value, as you get 500MB of data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts on an O2 contract.

Cheapest iPhone 5C 8GB deal

We've got a cheaper deal for the 8GB version of Apple's colourful handset. Mobiles.co.uk is offering a white iPhone 5C with 100MB of data, 100 minutes and unlimited texts.

It's £14.50 per month on a Vodafone contract and there's a £59 upfront cost. This brings the total overall cost to £407 over two years, which isn't too bad at all for an Apple handset, though the deal above is probably better value if you can afford it.

• Check it out in our iPhone 5C review

SIM only

If you want to keep your old phone, or just buy a new one outright, then you'll want to check out this great SIM-only deal from mobile by Sainsbury's.

You get 1GB of data, unlimited texts and 500 minutes for just £10 per month. Better yet there's no contract, so you're not tied in to anything, though don't forget you'll still need to source a phone to use it.

• In the market for a cheap tablet too? Check out our list of the best budget options.

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Fighting Talk: Kickstarter isn't a store, so Pebble shouldn't treat it like one

The maker of the Pebble smartwatch took to Kickstarter again this week, successfully pulling in enough money to fund a new version of its wearable hardware (The Pebble Time), with enough spare cash left over to pay for a fun mission to Mars for the original team members.

Problem is, it's done all this before. Pebble was one of the first wave of super successful Kickstarter fundees, with its first big win helping to launch the smartwatch boom while also going some way toward establishing the crowdfunding model as a valid way for the masses to back risky and artistic ventures.

But should previous winners be allowed to return to the trough for seconds?

There's nothing risky for Pebble in making a new version of its amazingly popular watch. The only risks it faces now are not being able to convince its factory in China to make them fast enough to meet rabid demand from tech nerds, or any negative publicity caused by people getting trampled underfoot in the stampedes to buy the updated model.

It shouldn't really be back on Kickstarter, ironic knitted hipster cap in hand, pretending it has no idea if its latest iteration will be a success or not, begging, please, for money to fabricate products, money that it promises it won't just immediately spend on alcohol for the launch party.

Kickstarter itself said, back in 2012, that the site shouldn't be used as a shop window, but that's surely exactly what Pebble's doing with its latest seven-figure global currency raid.

"Here, we've done a new version, you can order it if you want one" is what it's saying, turning the Kickstarter portal into one massive pre-ordering service for a hugely successful existing company.

Pebble is being given a free safety net by its chums at Kickstarter, which is letting it guarantee a number of sales, have the money in advance, then swan off without worrying about the dangers of capitalism and the whims of consumers that affect other tech manufacturers. Pebble wins, Kickstarter bags an almighty commission, and we get a new thing to play with.

This doesn't seem particularly fair on the the likes of Sony, LG, Samsung and the others, that, although enormous and minted, can't use a global pre-ordering basket to accurately gauge demand for their next-gen products.

It entirely removes the risk. It's not, like any other company out in the real world, taking a gamble on making 200,000 of a thing, only to discover that only 4,800 people want them, like Microsoft did with those crappy tablets, or like Microsoft did with those crappy Kin phones, or like Microsoft did with those crappy MP3 players.

Please empower us to be as rich as Mark Zuckerberg

Pebble explains the need for its latest cash-grab as if it's doing it for the benefit of the world, saying: "We're back on Kickstarter to give you - the community who cares the most - an opportunity to support our vision for wearables and get exclusive access to our newest product."

Which makes it sound like a charity, bringing the gift of being able to tell the time and dismiss some useless notifications about the weather and cinema times to the world.

But it's not a charity, it's a business that's selling a small screen for $179, with reward tiers designed to make sure people bought the early limited edition colours for a bargain price to guarantee it'd hit the funding limit in quick, newsworthy time. Like it did last time.

As for the "Risks and challenges" section, a compulsory element Kickstarter demands is added to make things sound like they're not already a shoe-in for getting made, Pebble says: "Pebble Time is nearly complete. All watches shown on this page and in the video were built on our production line."

So it's done. It's being made. What's the money needed for, then? Surely Pebble should be brave enough to go it alone, leaving the amateur venture capitalists to fund things a bit more innovative than the redesign of a popular existing product?

What's to stop Unilever and Procter & Gamble popping up on Kickstarter and Indiegogo next year, claiming they need public funds to take the risk out of road-testing new fabric conditioner scents?

"We need your help to see if the world is ready for the lemony freshness of new Funky Fruit Daz liquitabs," said A.G. Lafley, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Procter & Gamble, ahead of the launch of this week's crowdfunding campaign.

"We only took $84.17 billion in revenue in 2013," Lafley added. "Your $150,000 could help pay for one social media viral marketing campaign to ensure Funky Fruit Daz liquitabs get to the people who need them."

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Industry voice: In the digital age, is data the heart and soul of who we are?

National security and the right to privacy have not always been the most comfortable of bedfellows – and never has this been made more apparent than in the wake of the recent North Korea Sony hack and the US Central Command's Twitter feed being taken over.

The last few months have highlighted the importance of cyber-security as 'hacktivism' has become less the preserve of online geeks and is now regularly making front page news. It seems utterly feasible to us now that warfare of the future will take place on the digital battleground… and without showing my age too much it brings to mind the 80s cult film WarGames.

In the cyber-age data is king, and the recent news that David Cameron pressed Barack Obama to force US internet giants such as Facebook and Twitter to help surveillance agencies prevent acts of physical and cyber-terrorism only serves to highlight the importance of understanding data.

Data knows us better than we know ourselves

Taking a step back from national security, recent events have made it clear to the man in the street that we live in a world exploding with data. As individuals we're waking up to the fact that our online data trails say more about us than we know ourselves. In ancient Greece the question of 'who we are' would have been one for Aristotle or Socrates to answer. Today it is to be understood by data scientists.

Our data profiles reveal a huge amount about ourselves as individuals, but also as groups, as societies, and ultimately, as nations. If you were to compare the typical Briton twenty years ago to today's modern Brit the difference would be staggering. Change is a gradual process, and it's commonly held that it can only be really understood with the gift of hindsight. This is wrong. Our changing personal preferences for things such as shopping, entertainment and, on a wider level, our own cultural identities are shaped, and understood, through data.

Ultimately it's increasingly important that companies understand how to analyse, and truly understand, the mass of data created each day. It is only through structured analysis that organisations can build accurate, real-time views of the world. Data is the key to unlocking true insight, and that key is about to be turned.

• Richard Law is CEO of Chester-based GBGroup

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Review: Asus STRIX GTX 960 OC Edition

As there are no reference versions of the new GTX 960, it's all up to the manufacturers just how far they go with their cards. Nvidia has put out its own guidelines for base and boost clocks, but that's all they are.

Because of that, the GTX 960 has spawned a glut of factory-overclocked cards being first out of the gate. But is that really where the sweet-spot lies for Nvidia's mid-range Maxwell?

As is its wont, Asus has released an owly version of the GTX 960 under its STRIX branding, replete with the always-impressive DirectCU II cooler.

The stock 1,126MHz base and 1,178MHz boost clock laid out for the GTX 960 has been torn open once more, with the STRIX sitting at 1,291MHz and 1,317MHz respectively.

Again though we didn't see the card at those frequency points once during testing. Our sample was instead intent on rock-solid gaming at 1,354MHz.

That shows just how much overclocking headroom there is in the GTX 960.

Though the fact that the EVGA GTX 960 SuperSC version is clocked even higher, yet still posts incredibly close gaming frame rates, does mean there's not really any great advantage to running at these speeds.

But there's almost no reason not to.

Temperature isn't really an issue, especially with the formidable cooling that Asus has layered on top of its GPU. The DirectCU II cooler on the STRIX kept our review sample running at its top overclock at only 58ºC, considerably cooler than the ACX 2.0+ cooler on the EVGA SuperSC version.

Likewise noise isn't a problem either.

The STRIX's fans only spin up once the GPU reaches 55ºC, which means that on your Windows desktop the card is running entirely on passive cooling. And again those fans are incredibly quiet when they do get going.

Too cool for school

So, why wouldn't Nvidia set its recommended clocks higher?

Mostly for reasons of marketing and allowing its partners to charge that little bit more for overclocked iterations of its cards. After all, having huge overclocking figures on the packaging is a good sell for both Nvidia and the card makers.

Thankfully prices on Asus' GTX STRIX 960 have dropped quite considerably since launch. At the beginning the fact it was so much more expensive than the competition, and yet no faster, was a bit of an issue.

Now it costs less than EVGA's GTX 960 SuperSC card which makes the fact it's a tiny bit slower in our gaming benchmarks less of a problem too.

It's not able to match the EVGA card's heady overclocking performance - even with the excellent Asus cooling - but when the extra MHz don't translate into extra FPS we can forgive that slight mismatch.

Our card tapped out at 1,478MHz, even though it was still only whispering away at some 58ºC.

But this is the real triumph of the GTX 960. No matter how relatively underwhelmed we've been with the mid-range Maxwell's overall performance, Nvidia has made a card where 1080p performance has been utterly nailed in a relatively small form factor and where noise, power and temperatures have all been rendered complete non-issues.

When such overclocked cards as the STRIX GTX 960 had hefty price-premiums attached to them it they didn't look so appealing. The GM 206 GPU doesn't really need the might of the DirectCU II cooler to achieve cool and quiet performance.

But now the prices aren't nearly so high the super-cooled, super-quiet Asus cooling array makes for an excellent choice of GTX 960.

We liked

The biggest strength of the Asus STRIX GTX 960 OC Edition is that powerful cooling array attached to it. It stays silent until the GPU hits 55ºC and even then you'll be straining to hear it.

We're also mighty impressed that prices of this premium card have dropped so much since launch, making it a much more tantalising a prospect for the mid-range upgrader.

There's also the fact the Asus card is really quite tiny. For a small form factor machine it really is worth a look.

We disliked

We're still not massively excited by the GM 206 GPU. It does essentially all it needs to do to perform at this level, but nothing more. The 2GB frame buffer isn't going to provide any sort of future proofing so it really is just a 1080p card for today.

Verdict

The Asus STRIX GTX 960 is a seriously quiet, incredibly cool little mid-range graphics card. Now that the prices have dropped this card is really vying for top GM 206 honours.

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Taken from PC Format magazine
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Opinion: MWC 2014 was a nightmare... but I can't wait to go back

MWC 2014 was the first major press conference I went to as a phone journalist, and despite being consistently over caffeinated and under pressure every second, I couldn't get enough.

I don't know why. It could, and should, have been a disaster. I made the rookie mistake of going to the conference severely over prepared, thinking I had to trek through every square centimetre to uncover the 'true' story.

I had a full schedule of meetings with everybody you've never heard of (for a reason), knew exactly where I had to be at each moment of the day and, most importantly, had a bucket full of energy to throw all over the conference floor.

In less than half an hour after the start, every plan had gone out the window.

By 12PM on Day One I'd decided to wing the entire event, crumbling amid the cacophony of shouting journalists and desperate press conference presenters.

When the Spanish sun started to set, I worked out I had done a 16-hour stint - most of it is spent in a conference hall resembling an airport terminal - but with a far worse Wi-Fi connection - and queues for food much like that video footage of Black Friday.

The strangest thing, though? I can't wait to do it all over again.

Mobile World Con-stress

Speaking to some other technology journalists I've noticed a lot of apathy toward MWC, with most associating it with the stress of the big announcements and hating the event as a whole. I even overheard a fellow journalist recently referring to the whole event as the "airport of hell".

And in a way they're right. The main elements in Barcelona during this event are stress, sweat, a little blood and even more tears. But it is also one of the great perks of working in this ever-changing industry.

Maybe it's the fact I've recently joined TechRadar and won't be covering the event all on my lonesome this year, or maybe it's the fact I have a much clearer idea of what I'm doing and what I'm covering this year, but I can't actually wait for March 1 to kick it all off.

We get to spend the best part of a week trying out the latest gadgets, seeing all the next mobile developments early and speaking to the people who've been working on them.

By the time those Fira Gran Via doors open the biggest events of Samsung and HTC will have already taken place – but that's only the beginning. The more unique, interesting takes on the world of mobile technology will be scattered about the conference hall's gigantic nine rooms.

That's where the interesting stuff is really happening, even though I'll likely be weighted down with a mass of tech and running on more caffeine than you'd find in a typical branch of Starbucks.

MWC may nearly kill every journalist trying to cover the mass of events every year – but it brings with it some of the best technology stories we get to share with you guys all year. That has to be worth it.

• Are you up to date with all the latest MWC 2015 details?

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