The economy is tough all over the world and everyone is looking to save money. Whether you are buying food, filling your car up with fuel or grabbing clothes everyone is looking for bargains, discounts, and deals. The same is true for your mobile phone, with handset manufacturers and network providers all loving the word “free”. Somehow nearly everyone falls for it. The big question though, “is free really free”? At some point, we invariably know there will be a catch and at some stage, our wallet or bank account will be opened, touched and money will leave. So, when it comes to mobile phones just how free is free?
The latest in free
People fall for free all the time and the saying go “there is no such thing as a free lunch” and with mobile phones and technology this is quite true. One of the latest “free” things from mobile phone companies in the free cellphone service. Free calls, free use of data and free just about everything sounds amazing and while some of the plans may not be entirely free, they do offer a lot of value and plenty of free extras that make the contracts very worthwhile. For these services to work you really should have a good understanding of how much you really use your mobile phone and what you use it for. To extract the value of free you just need to match your needs with what the free deals are offering. These deals really do work but you need to understand exactly what you are getting for free.
Free Phone
This is the biggest “free” in the mobile technology world. Mobile phones equal to the quality of a Samsung or an iPhone can be manufactured in China for less than a couple of dollars, in fact, a Big Mac burger can cost more to make. This gives you an idea as to what handsets really cost, however, mobile phone manufactures spend a small fortune on research and development and while it is easy and cheap to copy a phone producing a new model is not. So, it makes sense than a phone could be given away for almost free but this is not how the free phone works. A free phone is generally given as part of a package or having purchased something else. Essentially the free phone is a lure to get you into a contract or buy something else. At some point, in the profit margin of the contract or another item you are effectively paying for the phone, so, while you are given it for free you are sort of paying for it.
Free games and apps
Free games and apps are not always free. Often there are plenty of adverts than fill your screen but you need to remember while these ads are a pain, they are also using your data and data costs money.
Free is a wonderful word but generally, you end up paying. As they say what you save on swings to lose on the carousel!