Singapore operators release iPhone 5 prices

Singapore operators M1, SingTel and StarHub have announced their iPhone 5 prices when bought with a price plan. Below is a summary of the handset prices and their corresponding post-paid monthly price plans in brackets (prices have been rounded up to the nearest dollar).

iPhone 5 (16GB) iPhone 5 (32GB) iPhone 5 (64GB)
M1 S$430 (S$39/month plan)
S$190 (S$59/month plan)
S$0 (S$98/month plan)
S$0 (S$198/month plan) S$580 (S$39/month plan)
S$290 (S$59/month plan)
S$20 (S$98/month plan)
S$0 (S$198/month plan) S$710 (S$39/month plan)
S$450 (S$59/month plan)
S$150 (S$98/month plan)
S$55 (S$198/month plan)
SingTel S$478 (S$40/month plan)
S$198 (S$60/month plan)
S$0 (S$100/month plan)
S$0 (S$205/month plan) S$598 (S$40/month plan)
S$308 (S$60/month plan)
S$48 (S$100/month plan)
S$0 (S$205/month plan) S$758 (S$40/month plan)
S$468 (S$60/month plan)
S$198 (S$100/month plan)
S$0 (S$205/month plan)
StarHub S$473 (S$38/month plan)
S$233 (S$58/month plan)
S$0 (S$98/month plan)
S$0 (S$205/month plan) S$613 (S$38/month plan)
S$343 (S$58/month plan)
S$83 (S$98/month plan)
S$0 (S$205/month plan) S$768 (S$38/month plan)
S$498 (S$58/month plan)
S$228 (S$98/month plan)
S$78 (S$205/month plan)
We reckon most people won't go for the top-tier S$200 plan, so we'll ignore that for now. Note also that the data bundle for the lowest and highest plans for all three telcos are identical at 2GB and 12GB, respectively.

Let's start with StarHub. It has the least expensive monthly plan, but the most expensive upfront handset prices. This is most obvious with its S$58/month iPhone SmartSurf Value plan. Even though you save S$1 a month compared with M1's equivalent plan, amounting to S$24 over two years, the 32GB iPhone 5 costs S$53 more than at M1. Given StarHub's extremely limited LTE (4G) rollout (coverage only in CBD area, Changi Airport and Singapore Expo convention center), we were surprised that its prices weren't more aggressive.

However, do note that StarHub is the most generous with its data bundle, with the S$58 and S$98 plans getting 4GB and 6GB, respectively. Its data bill cap is also the lowest, at S$64.20 a month. These may be important factors if you consistently use more than your allocated data bundle.

The SingTel and M1 bundles are quite similar, offering the same S$94 monthly excess data cap and the difference in price for the monthly plans are just S$1 or S$2 apart. However, the upfront handset prices are lower for almost all models with M1. M1 also has a number of other significant perks, including 1GB of extra data for returning customers, free calls to three other M1 numbers and a higher data bundle of 5GB (SingTel's is 4GB) for the S$98 plan. So it seems there's a case to go with M1, price-wise, especially if you are a returning customer.

One factor that tips the scales in SingTel's favor, however, is its faster 4G speeds. In an earlier test, we found that even though SingTel's LTE network is not nationwide like M1's, it recorded faster downloads in many locations outside Singapore's town area. On a few occasions, M1's 4G download speed even lost out to SingTel's 3G.

However, this may change very quickly. While we found SingTel's speed faster at the moment, it's hard to say what will happen when thousands of iPhone 5 users on LTE are suddenly unleashed on the network. Furthermore, our tests were done using the HTC One X, which supports both the 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz bands--the iPhone 5 uses only the 1,800MHz band.

So, even if speed is a big consideration for you, don't make a choice immediately--it's probably best to wait a few days when user feedback trickles in. We will also be testing out how fast LTE is with the iPhone 5 on both SingTel's and M1's networks, so look out for that.

Click here for last year's iPhone 4S launch prices.

If you want to get your iPhone 5 for free and don’t mind paying sky-high monthly subscription, here are the prices.




For free iPhone 5s, M1’s monthly subscription is the cheapest at $198 with unlimited talk time and 2000 SMSes.

Starhub’s iPhone 5 64GB is the most expensive at $78 despite having a similar plan to Singtel.

Contract-less iPhone 5s are available from the Apple store with the 16GB model retailing at $948, 32GB model at $1,088 and the 64GB model at $1,238. Apple has limited its sales to two iPhone 5 per customer.

Nano-SIM cards

The new iPhone 5 will require a nano-SIM cards, different from the Micro SIM used in iPhone 4. Subscribers will have to pay for the new nano-SIM when they purchase the new smartphone.

For M1, customers will have to pay $26.75 to get a nano-SIM.

For Starhub, new subscribers will have to pay a one-time $37.45 for the SIM card while existing customers will have to pay $21.40 when they upgrade from older models of the SIM card, such as the USIM or Micro SIM, to the new nano-SIM card.

Re-contracting M1 customers also get an additional 1GB added to their bundled data making it 3GB.

SingTel and Starhub might offer 200 more SMS, but prices for the iPhone 5 are higher at $478 and $473. Offering more SMSes might not work in attracting subscribers since most smartphone users are on chat application WhatsApp.

If you want to get your iPhone 5 for free and don’t mind paying sky-high monthly subscription, here are the prices.


Comm
Never get recontract promotion for Singtel and Starhub(last yr $100) but M1 only!