The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is set to be announced alongside its smaller sibling later this month at Samsung's highly anticipated event on March 29. Retail insiders have hinted to us that you'll be able to pre-order the phone on the same day.
April 21 is the expected Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus release date, so we imagine you'll be wanting to know what sort of price you'll be looking at and what pre-order deals may be available?
Predicting the best Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus deals
Seeing as we're still waiting for the official details, the best way to predict what the S8 Plus deals might be like would be to take a look at the launch deals for last year's premium Samsung flagship, the S7 Edge. Here's what TechRadar assessed to be the best S7 Edge pre-order deals one year ago:
FREE Gear VR | O2 4G | £129.99 upfront | Unlimited calls and texts | 3GB data | £36pm
This was the best Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge pre-order deal and even with just 3GB of data, it weighed in with a total cost only just under a grand. We're hoping to see the new phone also come with some tempting bundles, possibly the latest version of the Gear VR headset too. We were surprised to see this deal was only £50 more expensive than the same deal on the smaller S7 - something to consider if you're trying to choose which S8 to buy. Total cost over 24 months is £993.99.
This was the best Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge pre-order deal and even with just 3GB of data, it weighed in with a total cost only just under a grand. We're hoping to see the new phone also come with some tempting bundles, possibly the latest version of the Gear VR headset too. We were surprised to see this deal was only £50 more expensive than the same deal on the smaller S7 - something to consider if you're trying to choose which S8 to buy. Total cost over 24 months is £993.99.
FREE Gear VR | EE 4G | £129.99 upfront | Unlimited calls and texts | 5GB data | £37.49pm
This was the best Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge deal on EE during the pre-order phase. If you needed extra data it's even better than the above deal, costing an extra £1.49 per month for 5GB data instead of 3GB. As above, it was also just £50 more upfront than the same S7 deal. Total cost over 24 months is £1029.75.
This was the best Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge deal on EE during the pre-order phase. If you needed extra data it's even better than the above deal, costing an extra £1.49 per month for 5GB data instead of 3GB. As above, it was also just £50 more upfront than the same S7 deal. Total cost over 24 months is £1029.75.
FREE Gear VR | Vodafone 4G | £149.99 upfront | Unlimited calls and texts | 11GB data | £36pm
Vodafone didn't have the best of reputations last year, but things have improved since then. For just £20 more than O2's 3GB you could get 11GB data if you didn't mind Vodafone. Vodafone could be a network to look out for as it'll want to undermine the other networks, possibly by offering more data for the same price.Total cost over 24 months is £1013.99.
Vodafone didn't have the best of reputations last year, but things have improved since then. For just £20 more than O2's 3GB you could get 11GB data if you didn't mind Vodafone. Vodafone could be a network to look out for as it'll want to undermine the other networks, possibly by offering more data for the same price.Total cost over 24 months is £1013.99.
Three 4G | £49 upfront | Unlimited calls | Unlimited texts | Unlimited data | £62pm
We'd urge you to seriously consider if you actually need unlimited data on your new phone. If you do, Three is usually the network to go for, but you're probably going to pay through the nose for it. Compared to some of the other deals we've mentioned above, last year you'd pay at least an extra £500 on the total cost of the contract. Total cost over 24 months is £1537.
We'd urge you to seriously consider if you actually need unlimited data on your new phone. If you do, Three is usually the network to go for, but you're probably going to pay through the nose for it. Compared to some of the other deals we've mentioned above, last year you'd pay at least an extra £500 on the total cost of the contract. Total cost over 24 months is £1537.
So it's a safe bet that the new Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus won't be cheap at launch. We're hoping the price won't be even more expensive than the S7 Edge was at launch, but given the pound is weaker than the South Korean Won at the moment and we've already seen the likes of Sonos and Apple use Brexit as an excuse to increase prices, it might be time to brace for even more expensive deals.
TechRadar's predicted Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus pre-order deal:
£149.99 upfront | EE 4G | Unlimited calls and texts | 5GB data | £39.99 per month There will be cheaper deals than EE, but we'll use the network as an example seeing as it's the most popular in the UK. We're putting the upfront cost at £50 more than our predicted deal for the regular S8 and the monthly fee will probably be north of the £35 mark for a medium sized 5GB of data. Seeing as Samsung will be looking after its margins, we'd be surprised to seeing the Gear VR headset being thrown in for free again.
Time to go SIM only?
SIM only deals are increasingly popular nowadays as people choose to keep their phone once a contract expires. You can also save a lot of money overall by buying a phone upfront, then pairing it with a cheap SIM only deal. You can choose 30-day or 12-month SIM only deals , so there's lots of room for flexibility, ideal if you're not 100% sure how much data you're going to need. These deals start at just £5 a month too.
The S7 Edge cost £640 / $769 at launch. But we wouldn't be surprised to see that price increase given Brexit and the weaker pound. Not to mention Samsung need to rake in the cash after the Note 7 disaster. Could we see the upfront cost of the handset without a contract rise to £700? Don't rule it out.
That said, we still think it will be cheaper over the course of two years (the same amount of time as most contracts) to dig out the perfect SIM only deal after buying the phone upfront, if you're willing to pay the hefty cost of the phone all at once first.
0 comments:
Post a Comment