How to upgrade your phone early

If you’ve signed up to a phone contract you might assume you have to wait until the minimum term ends to upgrade to a new plan – and if it’s a long contract as most smartphone plans are, then that could be a long wait.

But the good news is that you don’t have to wait. Whether you’ve just started your plan or you’re mid-way through it, upgrading early is usually an option – though in many cases there will be a fee to pay.

Below, we’ll look at exactly why you might want to upgrade early, how to check what you’ll have to pay, whether it’s possible to upgrade early without a fee, and how to go about upgrading early. We’ll also look at plans which are specifically designed for early upgrades.

Why you might want to upgrade early

There are a number of reasons you might want to upgrade early. Perhaps you’ve just started your plan and realised it wasn’t the right choice, so you want to switch to another one. Or perhaps you’re further into your plan and are finding you need more or less allowances than you currently have.

Maybe a shiny new phone has launched that you’re desperate to get your hands on, or perhaps your phone has broken or become sluggish, so you need a new one. In all of these cases an early upgrade can be a good solution, but where your phone is the issue there are other options you should consider first, which we’ll outline in the next section.

Alternatives to upgrading early

In the case of a sluggish phone it’s worth deleting unused apps, making sure the software is up to date, and even factory resetting it before committing to a new handset, as these steps can sometimes fix things.

If your phone is damaged or broken, then it’s worth checking whether it’s still under warranty, as you may be able to get it repaired for free. Even if the warranty has expired, the repair costs might be cheaper than upgrading early, so that’s worth looking into. Contact the retailer you bought it from or look up the warranty information on the manufacturer’s site for this.

Finally, you could always buy a new phone outright and stay on your current plan. This is typically a costly option, but is still worth weighing up versus the costs of upgrading early, which can sometimes be high too.

How to check what’s left to pay

If you’re upgrading your phone early it’s likely that you’ll have a fee to pay, which is typically the remaining cost of your phone, and likely the remaining months of your plan as well – though there’s often a discount for that bit.

One way to get an idea of what – if anything – you have to pay, is to text ‘INFO’ to 85075 from the phone number of the network you want to upgrade early on. This will tell you how much you’d have to pay to cancel your contract, and the figure for that is likely to be similar to the early upgrade fee, but it may not always be identical.

Alternatively, give your network a call and discuss it with them – you’ll find contact details for most networks further down, in the ‘how to upgrade your phone early’ section.

How early can you upgrade without a fee?

The most common way to upgrade early without a fee is to be either right at the start of your contract or very near the end.

If you signed up for a plan over the phone or online, then you legally have a 14-day cooling off period where you can cancel without a fee. So this is a simple way to upgrade to a new plan if you decide you’d rather be on a different one. However, this doesn’t apply if you sign up in a store.

Beyond that, most networks let you upgrade in the last month or so of your plan without a fee, but the exact timing varies. The table below details the point at which you can upgrade fee-free on most UK networks where early upgrades are applicable. Note that this is for standard plans – there are some special plans designed for early upgrades, which we’ll cover further down.

Note also that this table was accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing, but things may have changed by the time you read this.

Early upgrade plans

If you’re lucky enough to be on a plan designed for early upgrades, then you can potentially upgrade earlier at a lower cost – or even at no cost.

A number of networks offer such plans, and we’ll go through the currently available plans in the same order as the chart above. First up then, there’s EE, which has a feature called Upgrade Anytime. This is available on its All Rounder and Full Works plans, and it allows you to upgrade any time after the first 12 months with no upgrade fee.

If you upgrade in the first six months then there will be a fee of £200-£600 depending on your device, and in months seven to twelve there’s a fee of £50-£300 depending on your device. Note that in all cases you have to swap your current phone, so you won’t get to keep it.

Next up, there’s Vodafone Evo plans, which let you upgrade from 3 months into your plan. There will be a substantial fee if you have a lot of months left, but these plans additionally let you trade in your old handset to help with the cost of the new one. Of course, you could independently trade in your phone without Vodafone’s help anyway.

Vodafone also offers a service called Flexi-upgrade, which lets any Essentials, Red Extra, or Red Entertainment plan customer pay an early upgrade fee to upgrade at any point after six months.

O2 has a service called Switch Up, which comes as standard with Plus Plans. This lets you swap your current phone for a new one as often as every 90 days, with no extra charges.

O2 also has Refresh plans, which separate the cost of the phone and your allowances into two separate bills. With these, you only have to pay off the device part of your plan to upgrade early.

Sky Mobile has ‘Swap’ plans that let you upgrade 12 months before your contract ends at no extra cost, but these plans come as standard, which is why we’ve included them in the chart above.

However, you have to trade in your old device, and the upgrade is only ‘free’ if the value of your old device covers your remaining contract.

Finally, Tesco Mobile has a similar service to O2 Refresh, in that it splits up your plan into two contracts – one for your phone, and one for your allowances, so once you pay off the former you can upgrade.

How to upgrade your phone early

If you’ve decided to upgrade your phone early, the process for actually doing so will vary slightly depending on your network. Below you’ll find a guide for each.

EE

You can find your EE upgrade options via the My EE app or your My EE account online. This will show you if you’re eligible for an upgrade, and if you are then there will be an ‘upgrade now’ button you can press.

If you’re upgrading early then this button may not be visible, in which case just give EE a call on 150 from your EE phone or 0800 956 6000 from any other phone to discuss your options.

Three

If you’re due an upgrade you can do so directly from the Three app or your My3 account online, but for early upgrades you’ll typically have to contact Three either via your Three phone on 333, via another phone on 0333 338 1001, or via live chat. You can also head to a Three store to discuss your options.

Vodafone

With Vodafone, you can use live chat. You can also check whether you’re eligible for an upgrade by logging in to your online account.

O2

When it comes time to upgrade you can head to the network’s upgrades page, head to an O2 store, or give the network a call on 202 from your O2 phone or 0344 809 0202 from any other phone.

iD Mobile

With iD Mobile the option to upgrade should be visible on your online account (specifically the ‘My account’ page) if you’re eligible to. If in doubt, you can use the network’s live chat.

Sky Mobile

You can use Sky Mobile’s upgrade page, or call 0333 7591 796.

Talkmobile

With Talkmobile you can discuss your upgrade options either by using live chat or calling 5888 from your Talkmobile phone or 0333 304 8064 from another phone.

Tesco Mobile

You can see whether you can upgrade in the Tesco Mobile app or your ‘My Account’ page online. Or to chat about your options, call 4422 from your Tesco Mobile phone or 08000 30 40 30 from any other phone.