Newly-released high-end phones are always going to be expensive, and the LG G5 is no exception. If you look on most online stores and want to get the SIM-free version it’s going to set you back around £529. However, there is a way to get it for £391.99 – albeit locked to O2.
First you need to head to the O2 website and choose a contract. This in itself probably isn’t what you want, but the people at HotUKDeals have found out that you can cancel O2 airtime contracts and then pay off the remainder on the phone.
So, head to the O2 site and choose a deal where you pay something upfront, like the 1GB deal for £31 per month. This has a £79.99 upfront fee and is a two year contract. Now, as you can see above, the £31 per month is split up as follows – £13 per month for the phone and £18 per month for the airtime plan. Now, you can either stick with that plan (which actually isn’t too bad) or you can call up O2 after the device arrives, cancel the airtime contract and then just pay off the cost of the device. Those 24 payments of £13 add up to £312, then add on the £79.99 upfront payment and the phone costs you £391.99. Even with a £5 unlock on eBay it’s still cheap.
Looking into this, on O2 Refresh you can pay off the device at any point, so you can maybe run the contracts for a few months if you can’t afford to pay the lot right now.
Thanks to Nigel Hoar for the tip on this one.