TELCO addicts will be rushing out to buy Apple's most expensive smartphone to hit the market yet but consumers are being warned to weigh up the financial costs before doing so.
The highly anticipated release of the iPhone X has been created to coincide perfectly with the timing of the 10th anniversary of the hit global gadget, allowing consumers from October 27 to pre-order the device.
But the new smartphone which comes in two models - a 64GB and 256GB models - has hefty price tags attached at $1579 and $1829 and will no doubt hit phone users' hip pockets hard.
This compares to the much cheaper iPhone 8 64GB which retails at $1079 and the 256GB at $1229.
Despite this high costs, new research from telco comparison website WhistleOut shows Australians don't care about how much they need to fork out for the latest gadget - instead phone users are more concerned about keeping up with the Joneses and ensuring they have the latest device in hand.
WhistleOut's data which polled more than 1000 Australians, has revealed the younger ones are those who simply can't go without - 54 per cent of 18-34 year-olds chose their existing phone because it was the latest phone at the time.
This compares to 37 per cent of 35-54 year-olds and 26 per cent of those aged 55 and over.
But surprisingly more phone users are opting to buy their devices outright - the research found 49 per cent bought their phone outright compared to 47 per cent who are on a contract.
WhistleOut's spokesman Kenny McGivlary urges Australians to weigh up the costs of getting a new phone, and work out if it's cheaper to buy the phone outright than to get a plan and pay it over time.
"The iPhone X is the most expensive phone to ever be released, but if people are more interested in buying the phone outright and not being caught in a 24-month payment cycle then they have to weigh up how it impacts the rest of their spending,'' he said.
"It depends on your cashflow, when we have looked at phones that are a bit cheaper it tends to make sense to buy the phone outright and then get a good quality plan at a lower cost that gets you all the data that you want."
WhistleOut research found a majority of people (36 per cent) have the same phone for about 12-24 months.
But before signing up to any deal Telstra's head of mobile products, Kevin Teoh, said customers need to weigh up the three key options - BYO plans, plans where a customer can purchase a device and pay it off over a 24-month period or leasing plans.
"Despite the popularity of BYO packages, many customers still do prefer to select a plan that includes access to a new smartphone,'' he said.
"It's often a really affordable way to get the latest smartphone technology. Currently around 6 in ten customers elect for this type of plan."
