The 15 best unlocked SIM-free phones and deals in 2018
If you’re looking to buy an unlocked SIM-free phone you’ve come to the right place! On this page we’re listing the best SIM-free mobile phone deals on 15 of our favourite handsets. As well as telling you the most affordable way to get the likes of the iPhone X and Galaxy Note 8, we’ve also got the best prices for some of the budget favourites like the cheap Moto G5 and nostalgic Nokia 3310.
SIM-free phones have become increasingly popular in the last few years. When flagship phones go on sale, it's usually very expensive to get them on contract. Take the iPhone X as a case in point - it cost more than £1,300 over the two year term when pre-orders opened! It can be cheaper to buy the phones SIM-free and unlocked and pair them with a bargain SIM only deal.
But the RRPs of phones direct from the manufacturer are very rarely the cheapest way to get hold of your shiny new smartphone. And that's where TechRadar comes in...
We get started by giving you the skinny on the top 15 SIM-free handsets, with an excerpt from our full reviews in case you're still umm-ing anad ah-ing. If the phone you were hoping for doesn't feature, you can scroll to the bottom of this page and use our bespoke price comparison chart - the tool checks the prices for pretty much every single phone on the market and lists them all cheapest-first so you can be sure we’re always linking you to the best prices!
Check out today's best Amazon Prime Day deals on smartphones: UK
We're kicking off with the big kahuna! We think that the iPhone X is the most important iPhone ever launched. After years of incremental upgrades, Apple has pulled out all the stops for its 10th anniversary smartphone. Face ID lets you unlock your phone just by looking at it, the stunning 5.8-inch Super Retina HD display does away with the bezel almost entirely, there's wireless charging, and that's before we even get to Animojis!
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a superb phone and it's currently available to pre-order from various places. If you want it SIM-free you're going to have to pay around £689 which is a lot of money. Don't worry though, if that's way too much there are some great cheaper options further down the page. We'll be publishing our full Samsung Galaxy S8 review soon so keep checking in for our full verdict.
If you want a cheap iPhone then the iPhone SE is the best SIM-free phone to go for at the moment. It is not as powerful compared to the iPhone 7 or iPhone 8 but it is a step up from the iPhone 5S and crucially retains the 5S' size and shape which is ideal for anyone who wants an iPhone but doesn't want a phone with a massive screen.
The Moto G series has been the leader in the budget Android smartphone market for years now. The latest phone - the Moto G5 - is always a lot better than similarly priced phones and almost as good as phones that cost more than twice the price. If you're after a really good phone but don't want to spend too much money it's always a great option. The 2017 model we have here is a tad smaller than last year's G4 (5.0-inch versus 5.5-inch) but if you want a slightly bigger screen you could always go for the Moto G5 Plus.
The Galaxy Note 8 has garnered a lot of hype for good reason. The huge 6.3-inch ‘Infinity Display,’ is gorgeous to look at, the 6GB RAM innards go like a train and there are two best-in-class rear cameras. It's expensive, but we think the Note 8 is worth it.
There's no doubt about it, the OnePlus 5T is one of the very best Android phones on the market. If you choose your mobiles based on the quality of the camera, then the incredible dual-lens snapper will float your boat. The design and performance is in the same echelons as iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S9, and yet the price is far lower.
Don't expect a revolution with the iPhone 8. It's essentially a tweaked iPhone 7 with a few enhancements and one or two upgrades. For that reason we wouldn't particularly recommend this phone to anyone with an iPhone 7 - but for those with older phones this could make a timely upgrade if the price of the iPhone X makes you want to weep.
Welcome back, old friend! Pure nostalgia may be the primary jet-fuel that makes this revamped classic fly off the shelves, but for such a low price the Nokia 3310 may genuinely suit you as a second device to take to festivals or keep in your bag for emergencies. It's some way off the capabilities of actual smartphones, but...well, did we mention Snake?
Make no mistake, the G6 is a great phone from LG. Its recent predecessors haven't really taken the fight to Samsung and Apple, but the LG G6 is a flagship phone to be proud of. The dazzling 1440 x 2880 screen is a particular strength and you immediately feel on first use that your handling an Android device no less premium than the Samsung Galaxy S8.
It didn't take us long playing with the Honor 9 to come to the conclusion that this is a well-built Android smartphone. It doesn't boast much in the way of headline-grabbing features, but it does have a great design and lots of nice touches to make the Honor 9 an impressive all-rounder. Ok, so it's never going to outperform the Samsung Galaxy S8 or LG G6, but the 20MP main camera and splendid design mean that it isn't far off and for a much lower price.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge went straight to the top of the class when it was released in 2016 - we gave it 5 stars out of 5! It somehow managed to better the accomplished Galaxy S6 Edge, by adding a brilliant camera and gorgeous design tweaks. And the price just keeps falling, making it a genuine bargain these days.
The iPhone 7 is still one of the most popular SIM-free phones out there, so it was always going to make our list of the best SIM-free phone deals. Is it the best SIM-free iPhone to buy though? Only you can decide that - there are better and worse iPhones on the market. But we like the balance here between quality and affordability
There's no doubt that the Pixel 2 is one of the very finest Android phones out there, but the Pixel's successor is a familiar story of incremental improvements rather than whole-scale change. The feature that might just get you buying are the top-of the-line cameras for photos and video. While the delightful screen, great-sounding speakers and slick Android operating system will all appeal to a range of smartphone users.
Solid specs. Full HD display. Premium metal casing. And all for a very affordable price. There isn't much not to like about the Nokia 6. And possibly its best feature is the way it runs from the stock Android 7 interface, making it an absolute doddle to use. It's never going to match the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8 for pure processing power, but you can always pay a little more for the Arte version if you think you'll need more RAM.
The KEYone is a sophisticated smartphone made for business - sound familiar?
Yep, this is classic BlackBerry territory and it resurrects a physical keyboard for a modern Android audience. The QWERTY keyboard offers more than just nostalgia, while the smart and secure software will give businesses some peace of mind. Just know that the mid-range specs will only get you so far, as will the so-so entertainment capabilities
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Reviewed by mimisabreena
on
Monday, July 16, 2018
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