@Axtremus re the sim lock... the last time we were in Japan when the phones were still locked, we got a local rental phone, which was inexpensive and worked fine. I imagine those options are different now though.
@steve-miller
Have you looked in to having the batteries in your current phones replaced?
I don't know a lot about the options, but I think it's do-able and isn't super expensive. I'm not sure I would do that though, for a 6 year old phone. Eventually (probably soon??) the phone will be out of date enough that other problems will arise.
@AndyD said:
If you're happy to keep and look after your mobile why buy into an expensive rolling contract just for a new phone every year?
I absolutely won't buy a new phone under the leasing system (as I understand it). I would either (grit my teeth and) pay for the phone outright, or maybe, depending on the options, do the lease but with the understanding that I'd pay that lump sum at the end of the lease term and then own the phone outright.
With the old installment plan, there was no interest. You paid the same total amount whether you bought it through installment or paid upfront.
As I understand it, the difference now is that the total price will be higher, and the lease idea is that you have those lower monthly payments, and at the end of the term, you get a new phone and have the same or similar monthly payments or you have some left over balance to pay off.
If the price was the same whether you paid up front, or lease+ final payment, then I might consider that. But if lease+final payment ended up being more than the total price of paying up front, then I definitely wouldn't do the lease.
Actually, I might not do the lease anyway, partly for what @axtremus said (to avoid sim lock) and also because that article says the lease may impact your credit score, and I would prefer to avoid that.
Anyway, the whole thing is a racket!
