How are Raylo iPhones so cheap?
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Here at Raylo, we’re on a mission to deliver lower monthly prices for iPhones. You might find yourself wondering just how Raylo iPhones are so cheap?
Our story is a simple but important one: freedom from high prices and poor service. Too many times we have heard the story of difficulties with long phone contracts, high costs and depleted value of devices, all of which tend to leave us feeling rather deflated.
So what’s the solution? We believe that the mobile phone industry can do better and can be smarter if it really wants to. That’s why we started Raylo; to solve the biggest problem facing thousands of customers in the industry: expense, trust and reliability.
We think that mobile networks are stuck in the past, with dated high street stores, inflexible contracts and little lifetime value for loyal customers. That’s where we come in – we give our customers a way to access the latest mobile technology independent from a network, with a subscription rather than a purchase. But more on that later.
Why are phones so expensive?
Firstly, let’s get into the issue of cost. It’s no secret that phone contract prices keep rising. Last year there were several announcements of networks hiking their prices – notably EE and BT, with some of the biggest increases seeing texts double in price and calls to landlines increase by 150%.
Let’s be real – inflation is something that can’t be avoided, but it’s the by-product of this - mid-contract price increases - that can sometimes hit customers the hardest. An article by Which? found that many of the price hikes tend to be in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI), therefore cannot be disputed, and happen only once per year.
Nonetheless, this doesn’t make for happy customers. We found someone sharing their disappointment at a price increase taking place twice in one year – “EE being jokers and putting my tariff up for the 2nd time in the same 24 month contract.” Inflation-related or not, we don’t see this as a pleasurable experience or something that creates trust between the customer and the company.
What to watch out for when getting a cheap phone.
Price increases aside, tricky marketing words can also lure customers into expensive deals. We looked into this on our 0% APR contracts blog which debunks these deceptive ‘offers’.
In terms of coverage, going with one of the big four networks may seem appealing but it certainly doesn’t mean you get the best coverage. We’re aware of yet another EE outage which was probed by Ofcom – and we know this won’t be the last. And whilst it’s often the big four networks that promise the best deals, we know this isn’t true.
Not only should your network be considered, but we encourage taking a second look at the actual phone you’re signing up for. When it comes to the end of your 24 or 36 month contract, your mobile may already be working a lot less efficiently than it did originally and to resell it may not give you the cash you were quite hoping for. It’s a bit like driving a brand new car off a forecourt – the value is only going to decrease.
How to get a cheap phone – Raylo it.
An article by Uswitch claims that “Unfortunately, price rises are an unfortunate fact of life when it comes to mobile contracts”, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The fact that we’re land mammals never stopped us from building aeroplanes – so we don’t always have to go with the status quo.
We say it’s time to step away from surging prices and confusing contracts, and get smarter about your mobile phone. To us, the mobile phone industry is tired and needs a fresh approach.
With Raylo, you can get a brand new or a great refurbished phone SIM-free. A Raylo lease means that you get a phone at a great monthly cost and thanks to our circular model, it's greener too. We also charge £0 upfront and offer free upgrades and accessories. Read more about SIM-free phones here.
A Raylo lease is simple; sign up for 12 or 24 months. When you're done upgrade to a new phone, keep the old phone by paying a non-return fee or cancel altogether. Unlike a typical phone contract that charges you more so you own the phone at the end, our lease model means you never own the phone, it's better value and it's greener too.
Go SIM-free to get a cheap phone
The value of your iPhone is only ever decreasing. Luckily, if you return your phone to us at the end of your contract, you can sign up for another 24 months and get another brand new iPhone whilst we receive your previous phone for use elsewhere. This model is known as circularity and we think it’s a great choice for both your pocket and the planet – read more on this here.
By decoupling the SIM card and the device, we have found that customers are left with a wide variety of SIM only deals – and this is often a huge cost saver. The power is in your hands to seek out a provider that has excellent prices, such as new kid on the block VOXI which has been providing ‘Endless Social Media’ to data-hungry customers since 2017. If you pair a SIM only deal with a Raylo iPhone, you’re onto a winner.
It also means that you only use the data you need. Our recent blog discovered that an average of 2GB of our data per month is wasted because we accept set bundles that we don’t need – such as the 5GB, 10GB and 20GB tiered contract plans. To us, this clearly points to SIM only deals and Uswitch backs this up as a smarter way to save – “one month SIM only deals, while susceptible to price rises, are a better bet. 30-day deals mean easily switching if you’re unhappy, with the added bonus of knowing your exact allowance each month.”
The cheapest iPhones
We don’t mean to blow our own trumpet, but there’s not just a cost element to what we do here at Raylo. Other awesome benefits include no paperwork, seamless online sign up and the choice of the recent iPhones. Our customer reviews speak for themselves and we take their feedback incredibly seriously.
There’s also a huge sustainability background to what we do. Aside from your choice to upgrade, keep or cancel your phone at the end of your contract, our phone cases are made from plants rather than plastic and we work with partners that share our mission of sustainability and a circular economy. We also don’t have a legacy business causing us to cut corners to save costs. Thank us later.
Our promise to you as a Raylo customer is complete transparency on what we do and how we do it. Whilst inflation is something that can’t be avoided, we can guarantee no mid-contract price hikes and we won’t lure you in with any tricky marketing ploys.
We hope we have answered all of your questions on why Raylo iPhones are so cheap, but if you have any more questions then get in touch to ask us directly.