Subscriptions, prepaid, sim-only... In the smartphone world there is enough (and sometimes too much) choice. It is important that you choose something that suits you, so in this blog we explain what sim-only means and what its advantages are.
What is SIM-only?
Sim-only is a subscription for phones, but without the device. A sim-only subscription is therefore only suitable if you already have a phone. Perhaps you have already bought your phone or paid it off with your previous subscription or you have received it from someone. With sim-only you only pay for calling minutes, text messages and internet. This is included in the bundle that you buy, which you often pay monthly. This bundle is on the sim card that you receive with your new subscription.
What should you pay attention to with SIM-only?
You can often take out SIM-only subscriptions for 1, 12 or 24 months. Suppose you buy a bundle with 200 calling minutes, 100 text messages and 2GB of mobile internet. Then you have to make do with these amounts in that month. Do you use more? Then you pay extra. Unfortunately, you cannot carry over any remaining minutes, text messages or GBs to the next month and you also do not get money back if you use less. There are also unlimited subscriptions where you are not tied to such restrictions.
Don't know how much you use? Then it is useful to first take out a subscription for 1 month and keep track of how much you use. Then you can take out a longer subscription based on this, which is often cheaper due to the longer term. Do you want to cancel this in the meantime? Then keep in mind that you still have to pay a redemption fee.
Why SIM-only?
You might have expected it: SIM-only subscriptions are much cheaper than subscriptions with a phone. Of course, that makes sense, because you don't have to pay for that phone anymore. This way, you spend much less money each month, but of course the one-off costs for the phone are still added. If you spread this purchase amount over a period of, for example, two years, you will often still be cheaper off than if you also pay for your phone per month.
And that brings us straight to the second advantage: Sim-only offers a lot of flexibility. Not only flexibility in the term of the subscription, but especially in the choice of telephone. This gives you the freedom to choose a device of your own preference and budget. For example, you can now buy a refurbished iPhone and take out a sim-only subscription. Nice and cheap and sustainable! Do you want to know how that works? Then read our blog about refurbishment . Or read more about our experience with Sim-only here .
Please note: Simlock free
Do you want to buy a phone for a SIM-only subscription? Then keep in mind that this phone must be 'SIM-lock-free'. This means that all SIM cards can be used in this phone. Devices with subscriptions often have a SIM lock, so that you cannot change the SIM card. After a certain period, often when you have paid off your device (in full), you can have this SIM lock lifted by the provider. After this, you can still use a SIM-only subscription.
