A contract like that doesn’t make the phone free.
You just pay for it over time and pay more in the end.
They just incorporate the price into your subscription and lock you in it, making it overpriced.
Comment on Touchscreen smartphones aren't even fun or novel anymore, they're just necessities for daily life
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 7 months ago
You can get a decent smart phone for $0 on a contract here in the US. Same as it was back in days of dumb candy bar and RAZR flip phones.
And like the old days, there are phones you can spend a lot of money on. But these are also a fast portable computer and a killer camera.
IMHO, the pricing makes total sense to me. Hell, before cell phone cameras got good, people commonly spent $400+ on nice point and shoot camera.
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
Sephtis-6@kbin.social 7 months ago
Here in Europe you can also get pretty good phones with such contracts. But the contracts are insanely overpriced for sometime 30€/month for 2gb. Where you pay 10€ for 2gb without a phone.
I know phones cost money but when they lock you in a shitty contract for 2 or even 4 years, is it even worth it.
Tvkan@feddit.de 7 months ago
Prices for mobile contracts vary wildly across Europe. Even in Germany, known for it’s high telecom prices, I haven’t seen such a bad offer in years.
In the EU, mobile phone contracts have been limited to 24 months since 2011.
Sephtis-6@kbin.social 7 months ago
Ok didn't know that. But that is a good explanation why i haven't seen 4y contracts since some years