With the stunning Nokia N8 still holding its title as the world’s best camera-phone more than a year after its launch, we decided to take a look at the best pay-monthly deals currently available in the UK, to see just how easy it is bag yourself this market-leading Symbian smartphone. And with the Apple iPhone 4S announced last week, we thought we’d also compare the numbers to see just how much more you could get for your money by avoiding the iPhone and opting for the N8.
Nokia N8 vs. Apple iPhone 4S: All you need to know
O2
O2 has some great deals available for the Nokia N8, starting at just £13.50 per month on a 24-month contract, with the handset costing a mere £79.99. This tariff gives you 100MB of data per month, 50 minutes of calls and 250 texts and will cost you £403.99 in total over the lifetime of the contract.
If you want to get the Nokia N8 for free, then O2 provides a range of six tariffs to choose from, with the cheapest costing £18.50 per month. This also gives you 100MB of data per month, but you get 200 minutes of calls and unlimited texts and the tariff will cost you £444 over the life of the contract.
In contrast, the cheapest deal O2 offers for the Apple iPhone 4S costs £15.50 per month, with the phone costing £299.99 for the 16GB model, and £399.99 and £519.99, respectively, for the 32GB and 64GB handsets. This tariff gives you 100 minutes of calls and 500 texts and will cost you between £671.99 and £891.99 over the duration of the contract. And data costs extra, starting at £3 per month for 100MB
If you want to get the iPhones 4S for free, then you’ll need to step up to O2’s £41 per month tariff. This gets you the 16GB handset, along with 1200 minutes of calls and unlimited texts. Over the course of the 24-month contract, this will cost you £984. Again data costs extra, starting at £3 per month for 100MB, pushing the price to an eye-watering minimum of £1056 over the length of the contract.
Vodafone
Vodafone is currently offering the Nokia N8 for just £20.50 per month on a 24-month contract, with the handset costing a mere £99. On this tariff you get 100 minutes of calls, 500 texts and 250MB of data per month, costing you £591 over the life of the contract.
And if you want to get the Nokia N8 for free from Vodafone, then you can choose to step up to the £26 per month contract. This gets you 300 minutes of calls, unlimited texts and 500MB of data per month, and will cost you £624 over the life of the 24-month contract.
The iPhone 4S starts at £26 per month through Vodafone, with the handset costing £239 for the 16GB model, £359 for the 32GB model and £449 for the 64GB model. On this tariff you get 100 minutes of calls, 500 texts and 250MB of data per month. In total this tariff will cost between £863 and £1073, depending which model of the iPhone 4S you choose, meaning opting for the Nokia N8 would save you at least £272.
Orange
All of Orange’s Nokia N8 tariffs provide the handset free on a 24-month contract. Prices start at £31 per month, and you can choose between Orange’s Panther or Dolphin tariffs depending on your needs. Panther gives you 400 minutes of calls, unlimited texts and 750MB of data per month, while Dolphin includes 600 minutes of calls, unlimited texts and 250MB of data per month. Over the life of the contract, each of these tariffs will cost £744.
In comparison, Orange’s iPhone 4S tariffs start at £20 per month, with the phone costing you £309.99 for the 16GB model, £449.99 for the 32GB model and £519.99 for the 64GB handset. You get 50 minutes of calls, 50 texts and 100MB of data per month, and the full price over lifetime of the 24-month contract will be £789.99, £929.99 or £999.99, depending which model you choose.
Virgin
Virgin offers the Nokia N8 from as little as £7.50 per month on a 24-month contract, with the handset costing £199.99. This gives you 50 minutes of calls and 25 texts, and will cost you £379.99 over the life of the contract, but no data downloads are included in this tariff.
To add data downloads, you’ll need to step up to Virgin’s £10.99 a month tariff. This gets you 250MB of data per month, along with the 50 minutes of calls and 25 texts. The Nokia N8 handset also falls a little in price and will cost you just £149.99, resulting in a cost of £413.75 over the course of the 24-month contract.
Virgin UK currently does not offer the Apple iPhone 4S.
We also checked out prices for the Nokia N8 at T-Mobile and 3, but it was out of stock with both providers when we looked, proving just how successful the Nokia N8 continues to be, more than a year after its release.
Nokia N8 vs. Apple iPhone 4S: Which has the best camera?
When the numbers are added up and you consider that the Nokia N8 is still by far the world’s best camera-phone, the fact that it’s considerably cheaper than the Apple iPhone 4S, no matter where you shop, means it is a truly essential purchase. Not only do you get a feature-packed handset and the world’s market-leading smartphone camera, but you can also save bundles of money in the process. If that’s not a winning formula, then we don’t know what is.
Has our research convinced you to join the ranks of satisfied Nokia N8 users up and down the country, or are you already one of the tens of millions of people already enjoying everything that the Nokia N8 has to offer? Why not let us know in the Comments below.