Now that both telcos have published their prepaid and postpaid plans for the upcoming iPhone 5, we’ve come up with a more detailed breakdown to see which of the two offers the better deal.
We start off with the prepaid kit prices of the iPhone 5 with Globe and Smart. These handsets will be locked to their respective networks.
The most affordable price for the 16GB model is from Smart, which is Php33,600 compared to the Php35,400 from Globe. That’s a price difference of Php1,800 in favor of Smart.
We then look at the postpaid plans of the two carriers and compared the ones that offers a free iPhone 5 right off the bat (this is under the assumption that you want to get the unit free and is looking for the best/optimal monthly plan).
There are some qualifications we need to explain first between the plan offerings:
- Smart’s Data Plan 3000 indicates that the free minutes and SMS are “All-Net” which means it includes other networks.
- Smart’s iPhone Plan 2499 did not indicate that the free minutes and SMS are “All-Net”, unlike the Data Plan 3000, so we are to assume this is not free on when sending to other networks.
- Globe does not offer free minutes or SMS under Plan 2499. However, there’s a consumable amount of Php1,500 which you can use to make calls or send SMS.
- Under UnliSurf Plan 2499, Globe offers up to 5 free add-ons to the plan — unli calls & text to 1 Globe/TM number (up to 5), 10 min calls & 200 SMS to any Globe/TM number (up to 5x), and 5 min calls and 25 SMS to other networks (up to 5x).
Smart’s iPhone Plan 2499 has “unli internet” but is subject to 1GB cap (as indicated in their iPhone Postpaid Plan page and the previous iPhone 4S packages). This is the difference between the Data Plan 3000 which has true unlimited data but has higher MSF.Smart’s Plan 2499 used to be capped at 1GB for the iPhone 4S and uncapped for the Data 3000. They have now changed it to uncapped/unlimited for Plan 2499.- The iPhone 5 is not yet supported by the LTE network of Smart and Globe so it’s just HSPA+ for now. Once testing is done, a software update will activate LTE and “might” support it.
Based on the chart above, the Plan 2499 from Globe gives much more flexibility in plan usage and consumption. This is evident with the Php1,500 consumable credits tucked into it.
The free 32GB iPhone 5 from Smart gives you the lowest TCOA (total cost of acquisition) among the 3 plans, followed by the 16GB iPhone 5 from Globe. If you want a better deal for the unit and don’t really care much about the plan, then Smart’s got you with Plan 2499.
If you’re a heavy data user and want more storage, then the Unli Data Plan 3000 from Smart gives you the 32GB iPhone 5 for free. This puts the Data Plan 3000 into a very odd position of being more expensive but has less free SMS than the Plan 2499.
So this is basically a toss up between Globe’s Plan 2499 with 16GB iPhone 5 that comes with Php1,500 consumable credits or the 32GB iPhone 5 from Smart but with no consumable credits except for free minutes and SMS.
Depending on your usage behavior and priority, all three postpaid plans from Smart and Globe are very compelling offers. It’s really up to you which one fits your needs and lifestyle.
Complete plan and pricing for Smart iPhone 5 here.
Complete plan and pricing for Globe iPhone 5 here.
You can read our review of the iPhone 5 here.
Updated: Confirmed with a Smart rep that the Plan 2499 is now unlimited from last year’s 1GB cap. This means Plan 3000 is way more expensive but has less free SMS compared to Plan 2499. I think the adjustment was done to directly compete with Globe’s Unlisurf 2499 which created the plan discrepancy with Unli Data 3000.
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