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What Smartphone to Buy on What Network

David, Goliath and his dog – Giffgaff vs Vodafone vs Three

Perhaps it isn’t fair to call three a dog but they are pretty smelly when it comes to supporting customers, yet offer fantastic value for money. Vodafone is of course the daddy of mobile phone networks, so if you are concerned about size, than look no further.

So what the heck is Giffgaff and is it a scam of some sort? The easy answer is an unequivocal “no, it’s not a scam”. Although looking at their way of presenting tariffs, low prices and lack of contact telephone number may have you think otherwise.

Giffgaff means “mutual giving” acording to people who know their ancient Scottish! It’s a new way of providing mobile phoning to the masses and brought to you by Mike Fairman and is wholly owned by o2, yet operates independently from it. Despite it offering no phone number to ring and no call centers to wait on, it does have a very strong online community of users and active support staff.

It also rewards customers for helping others and marketing its services, by crediting them with airtime, paying out cold hard cash or donating it to charity. Three is doing something similar through its “Free Agent” scheme, where it pays you £5 into your PayPal account for everytime someone you recommend gets a SIM card and tops up £10. You don’t have to be a three customer to join this.

I digress. Giffgaff makes a nice alternative and since this review is all about showing you the best options, we will dive into the maths bit now.

Next -> Comparing mobile phone tariffs and phones

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 15th, 2010 at 18:31 and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Ben Baker

    This is a great summary of the two operating systems, its the same conclusion i came to myself, i will add that not all android systems are the same it depends on which phone you have, i myself have the new Samsung Galaxy S and the android system can be a little buggy at times.

    Ben Baker (B_Baker_Media)

  • Ben Baker

    This is a great summary of the two operating systems, its the same conclusion i came to myself, i will add that not all android systems are the same it depends on which phone you have, i myself have the new Samsung Galaxy S and the android system can be a little buggy at times.

    Ben Baker (B_Baker_Media)

  • Simonh

    I am looking at exactly these two phones and which network and plan to go with, so this review has been extremely useful. I had more or less come to the same conclusion on preferred smartphone, and am now highly aware of the benefits of Giff Gaff. It occurs to me that if you purchase their ‘Goody Bags’, then your service can be essentially the same as a long-term pay-monthly contract, however you are only committed to this for one month instead of 12, 18 or 24!! Think my decisions are made… Thanks for the post :)

  • Simonh

    I am looking at exactly these two phones and which network and plan to go with, so this review has been extremely useful. I had more or less come to the same conclusion on preferred smartphone, and am now highly aware of the benefits of Giff Gaff. It occurs to me that if you purchase their ‘Goody Bags’, then your service can be essentially the same as a long-term pay-monthly contract, however you are only committed to this for one month instead of 12, 18 or 24!! Think my decisions are made… Thanks for the post :)

  • http://www.axelsegebrecht.com/ Axel Segebrecht

    Thanks for the feedback guys. Happy to see you found my review useful :D

    @Ben: At least Android is evolving whereas iOS feels like its stuck and gets more buggy with every version! My old 3G still in use but dare I run the latest iOS on it :-/ The 3GS I use everyday is a right pain… .

  • http://www.axelsegebrecht.com/ Axel Segebrecht

    Thanks for the feedback guys. Happy to see you found my review useful :D

    @Ben: At least Android is evolving whereas iOS feels like its stuck and gets more buggy with every version! My old 3G still in use but dare I run the latest iOS on it :-/ The 3GS I use everyday is a right pain… .