Orange V O2

[nightcrawler13]

i used to be with Orange for years and years, but left to o2 when the Iphone came out...

in the last two years I've had two iphones stolen, so minimized my contract down to the cheapest i could and have a Samsung Explorer (600 hour standby battery life, torch, waterproof) and i'm quite happy with a minimal phone in all honesty...

however my contract is now coming up, and i'm not quite sure which road to take

do i stick with my minimal phone and get a cheaper simcard?

so i continue paying the £30ish i pay at the moment and get the new iphone (or other smartphone)

or do i move back to Orange and get a smartphone?

not asking for anyone to make my decision for me, just wondering peoples opinions on Orange V o2 and the actual USE of a smartphone

[thegremlin_1999]

i was on orange for years (right from age 15 to about 18 months ago, 29 now..) and loved the levels of reception, service (for the most part) etc. I too left for 02 to get an iphone.

Put it this way, when my 02 contract expires in september i'll be jumping ship back to orange v quickly. reception is dire for the most part for me where i live (rural leicestershire) whereas orange was always full 3g goodness (and even when i get full 3g when i'm in town at the rugby nothing works cos the network cant cope with a 24,000 strong crowd!). 02 customer services are ok i suppose in the limited time i've had to deal with em, but not enough to keep me.

RE smartphone usage, i adore my iphone, its such a step up over my previous (decent spec) phones. It was definitely weird going back to an old phone for the few days of glasto last year for instance (although it was back onto orange, so at least i got *some* coverage/response!)

I'd say jump ship back to orange, get a new smartphone (not specifically an iphone unless you want one, lots of the android based ones are ace from what i can make out from quick fiddles with mates phones!) and be rid of the dreaded 02 reception levels (well thats in my experience anyway...)!

[Halcyon]

Don't be getting any sort of iPhone until the iPhone 5 comes out later on this year. It might only be an update to the 4 (in the same way the 3GS was an update of the 3G)... but it'll be much better suited to iOS5 which is well on it's way.

But £30 a month... that's hardly minimal. I was on a £30 a month contract, and once that ran out I ran as far as I could from O2. Their iPhone contracts are extremly expensive. I'm now on a £10 a month iPhone month-to-month deal with Tesco Mobile. Tesco actually use the O2 network, so coverage is the same, but they could give me more hours and more texts than O2 ever did. I got a very special deal a couple of months ago (as they knew a lot of 24month 3GS contracts were ending), but you can still get a deal for just £15 a month. To continue using your current phone though, you can get a £10 on Tesco.

[Katster]

I love orange.

Jase hates o2.

[lifelessfool]

I like orange, orange wednesdays is amazing. I couldn't live without it now. I used to have smartphones but kept losing them or beering them to death. So I just get a rubbish phone and a good contract now. I think o2 is pretty appalling mainly because of their customer service, but then I think all companies are when I come to think of it.

[Katster]

Nightcrawler13 pillages my orange Wednesday when I'm not using it. I bet he owes me a fair bit with all those 35p's over the years ;-)

[rexclark]

I've had an O2 contract for the last few years and never had any problems. The main reason I'm still with them though is they give me a decent contract because I've been with them a while. I don't really know if I was looking for a new contract who I would choose between Orange and O2.

[Paul ™]

Am with 02 and currently on my 3rd contract with them. As previously documented by myself on these forums, their Customer Services are f**king shocking but I always end up with around 6 months free with them due to their errors.

Will be shopping around a bit more when I am next due an upgrade in July 2012 but as rexclark says above I get a pretty good contract with them due to how long I've been with them.

Oh and their 3G network is rubbish.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Paul ™