Paying full price really depends what you spend on calls etc. If you are a heavy user then subsidised contracts can be justified. However a lot of people don't consider just what they are paying in total for their cheap phone with a new contract.
New contracts are massively more expensive than they used to be. I remained on my old contract with is about £12 a month now and just buy SIM free phones instead. The total price I pay over a couple of years is the same as if I was on a £40 contract and got the phone "free" or cheap, but because I make hardly any calls, just receive them mostly and use the Internet capabilities via WiFi now, it makes more sense. Especially as the phones come unlocked and unbranded (not counting the iPhone of course).
However £600+ for a top end Nokia is still way OTT. I'd normally be looking at the £300 mark for a new sim free smartphone phone.
If that is the real retail price, you can guarantee that it will be a fraction of that price within a year. Maybe that's what they realise, i.e. rapid depreciation.
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Full price
Paying full price really depends what you spend on calls etc. If you are a heavy user then subsidised contracts can be justified. However a lot of people don't consider just what they are paying in total for their cheap phone with a new contract.
New contracts are massively more expensive than they used to be. I remained on my old contract with is about £12 a month now and just buy SIM free phones instead. The total price I pay over a couple of years is the same as if I was on a £40 contract and got the phone "free" or cheap, but because I make hardly any calls, just receive them mostly and use the Internet capabilities via WiFi now, it makes more sense. Especially as the phones come unlocked and unbranded (not counting the iPhone of course).
However £600+ for a top end Nokia is still way OTT. I'd normally be looking at the £300 mark for a new sim free smartphone phone.
If that is the real retail price, you can guarantee that it will be a fraction of that price within a year. Maybe that's what they realise, i.e. rapid depreciation.