Prices for cell phones with contract have risen sharply

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Those who choose a cell phone with a fixed contract get it “for free” in 22 percent of cases; for the rest, the surcharge has doubled from 360 to 720 euros in recent years. Apple customers must dig particularly deep into their pockets, the online platforms geizhals.at and tarife.at the report from their experiences. “The zero-euro cell phone is becoming increasingly rare,” says Maximilian Schirmer, head of tarife.at.

While in other countries, the trend is increasingly to get one’s latest smartphone from a retailer and get a cheap mobile phone contract, the situation in Austria is different. Just under 50 percent still resort to offers from network providers. At first glance, this has a financial advantage, but it turns out worse over two years, which is how long a contract commitment lasts. In addition, the responsibility does not allow the user to respond to newer, more attractive offers.

Those who purchase a cell phone and rate from the mobile network operator usually go for more expensive models. Apple customers pay an exceptionally high price of 840 euros. In comparison, Samsung and OnePlus devices are relatively inexpensive at 299 euros. Honor and Xiaomi, with an average of 249 and 149 Euros, respectively, are even lower.

The most searched model on geizhals.at since 2019 has been the Samsung Galaxy A52. This year, the Apple iPhone 13 was ahead.