Virgin Media – Mobile Phones: Are they really a good deal?

logo for virgin media

So virgin media is offering its customers cheap mobile phone deals via the EE network.  A lot of people might be tempted to go with these deals – especially if you are in need of a new mobile phone.  The glossy brochures that they are sending out look attractive and the phones in the pictures look so realist that you could almost reach out and lift it off the page.

This is no doubt what Virgin Media has been going for but are things really as they seem?  I personally don’t think so!

Take a look at our pay monthly phones, starting from just £10 a month with no upfront costs on any tariff. We’ve got the latest models from Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, LG and Sony, all available on our flexible Freestyle Contracts that let you move up and tariffs whenever you like or upgrade your phone early by paying off just the handset part of your contract.

First of all, take a look at the quote above.  That comes directly from the mobile phone section of the Virgin Media website; Virgin claims it has all the latest phones from the latest brands – and indeed it does – but not at the prices offered in their glossy brochure.  In reality when you go to their website and look at the latest model phones from the top brands, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6!

Samsung Galaxy s6

We see that actually, they are not any cheaper than any other mobile operator and this is probably because they operate their contacts through EE and so are forced to charge the standard prices of EE contract phones.

It gets worse though!  When we look at the offerings from Three Mobile for the same device, we see not only do they offer the same device as Virgin Media but they offer with a cheaper starter contract and the ability to trade in your new phone

Samsung S6 and S6 Edge from 3 Mobile

Furthermore, Three also offers better contract deals with 500 mb of monthly data included in their starter plan instead of the measly 250 mb offered by Virgin Media

Even taking into account that you have to pay an up front cost of £29 with Three, the increased data limit and cheaper price plan all adds up to a better deal and this isn’t just a one time offer or for a limited time only either – that is the normal price of a Samsung Galaxy S6 from Three Mobile.

So it all adds up to this: Despite Virgin Media sending out glossy brochures and their emphasis on cheap and cheerful contracts, you can still get a better contract at a cheaper price else where on the market