Best iPhone SE (2022) Deals: Get The Cheapest Prices and Ultimate Free Gifts

Apple unveiled its third-generation iPhone SE during a keynote streamed from its Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California earlier this month. And now, the latest iPhone SE – the most affordable smartphone in the Apple Store – arrives with faster performance, toughened glass to protect the screen, and 5G downloads. It’s available in either Product (Red), Midnight, or Starlight. It starts from £419, which includes 64GB of built-in storage, and maxes out at £569 for 256GB.

Best New iPhone SE Deal – Our Pick

Looking for the best pay monthly deal on the third-generation iPhone SE? We’ve trawled through every deal from UK networks and the best bet is this cracker from Virgin Media. It arrives with a very generous 30GB of superfast 5G, which is more than enough to upload photos to Facebook, make FaceTime calls, stream playlists from Spotify, check Google Maps for directions, and even watch an episode or two on Netflix when away from your home Wi-Fi network. You’ll also get unlimited text messages and unlimited calls. And it costs just £18 a month for the first six months. Yes, really. Better yet, following the merger between O2 and Virgin Media last year, you’ll even benefit from some of the same perks available with O2 Priority, including early access to tickets for the biggest concerts and free coffees from the biggest high street chains.

Best iPhone SE Deals From Three Mobile

If you’re looking for low monthly bills at launch, Three Mobile is always a good bet. And it hasn’t disappointed with the launch of the iPhone SE.

To celebrate the launch of the iPhone SE, Three Mobile has slashed the price of the affordable iPhone in half. Yes, really. For the first six months of your new iPhone SE 3 contract, you’ll enjoy half-price bills. That means you can pocket the latest smartphone from Apple for just £15 a month. For that, you’ll get unlimited calls and text messages and 1GB of 5G mobile data each month. Better yet, there’s no upfront cost to worry about!

If you need a little more data, we’d recommend the £17 a month deal, which arrives with 4GB of 5G data – more than enough to stream Spotify playlists, send family snaps on WhatsApp, and scroll through Facebook when you’re out-and-about. This plan also includes unlimited calls and text messages, with no upfront cost.

As a Three Mobile customer, you’ll benefit from its new Three+ rewards scheme, which boasts a number of perks. Not only will you be able to gain access to tickets for select festivals before the general public, but you’ll also enjoy discounts on Uber Eats, and £3 Cineworld tickets every weekend.

Best iPhone SE Deals From Vodafone

Vodafone has some incredible deals, with prices starting from just £29 a month for unlimited text messages, unlimited calls, and 2GB of mobile data. That’s twice the allowance that you’ll get from a similarly-priced plan from EE, and about on-par as O2.

However, there are some benefits of choosing Vodafone, including its free battery health checks and free replacements for up to three years after your contract starts. If your battery life starts to dwindle after the endless charge-cycles, you’ll be able to get a free battery cell and enjoy all-day battery again! You’ll also be eligible for Vodafone’s Rewards scheme, which offers two weekly Vue tickets for £7, free lunch treats from high street chains, and exclusive discounts.

It’s worth remembering that while Vodafone’s data plans are 24-months, its handset plan lasts for 36-months. That means you’ll need to switch to another data plan to continue using your handset for that final year. O2 uses an identical system with its contract to spread out the cost of handsets, so you don’t need to stomach higher monthly bills.

Best iPhone SE Deals From EE

EE isn’t known for its bargain-bucket prices, but if you’re looking for the best 4G and 5G coverage nationwide – not to mention some of the fastest 5G download speeds, it should be your go-to choice. One of the key upgrades inside the new third-generation iPhone SE compared to the previous model is support for 5G downloads, which can often unlock faster internet speeds than the average home broadband in the UK. As such, it makes sense to pick a network known for its 5G network.

If you want the lowest bills from EE, you can pocket the iPhone SE 3 with 1GB of 5G data, unlimited texts and calls for just £27 a month. That’s not a bad price, but be aware, it does come with a hefty £90 upfront cost. That’s the highest of any contracts in this article.

For our money, a better option from EE is the £38 a month plan. This includes 4GB of 5G data, unlimited texts and calls, as well as one of EE’s Smart Benefits. This offers free access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, BT Sport Ultimate, or the Roam Abroad Pass, which lets you take your 5G data, texts and calls and use them in 52 countries worldwide, or the Video Data Pass, which means that all streaming services – like Sky Go, Netflix, Prime Video – don’t count towards your monthly mobile data allowance, no matter how much you watch! Subscribers can pick ‘n’ mix between these Smart Benefits each month, so you can enjoy free music streaming all year and then switch when to the Roam perk when travelling.

Best iPhone SE Deals From Virgin Media

Virgin Media has an incredible offer on the iPhone SE right now, which includes a whopping 30GB of 5G mobile data, unlimited text messages and unlimited calls for just £18 a month. That’s one of the lowest prices in this article and one of the biggest data allowances! And there’s no upfront cost to worry about either!

So, what’s the catch? Well, this offer includes half-price data for the first six months, so you’ll need to add an extra £5.50 onto your bills at the end of six months. However, at £23.50, this is still a very affordable deal. Virgin Media’s contract is 36-months, compared to the 24-months available with Three Mobile and EE, for example. As such, if you’re keen to upgrade to a new handset within two years, you might want to look elsewhere.

Virgin Media isn’t reintroducing EU roaming charges with its plans, so you’ll be able to use that beefy 5G data allowance in 43 countries without spending an extra penny – a rarity compared to most of the other networks in this list. Better yet, unused data isn’t lost but will roll over to your allowance the following month. If you find that you’ve got too much (or not enough) Virgin Media’s flexible plans allow you to switch.

Best iPhone SE Deals From O2

O2 is one of the only mobile networks in the UK that isn’t bringing back roaming charges when holidaying in Europe. If you’re a frequent-flyer or own property on the continent, it might be your best bet. When it comes to iPhone SE deals, there are some great options available during the first days since launch. While plans start from just £27.50 a month, we’d recommend the £31.50 a month option as this arrives with a mammoth 20GB allowance of 5G data. That’s enough that you won’t need to worry about answering FaceTime video calls when away from a home Wi-Fi connection, watching YouTube videos, or uploading videos to Instagram or TikTok from the sun lounger.

If you use Virgin Media for your home broadband, you can double the amount of 5G mobile data free of charge. This is a new perk that was introduced following the multi-billion merger between the two companies last year. With the £31.50 a month plan, you can also enjoy a free three-month subscription to Disney+ or Prime Video. Just be aware that, unlike some of the other deals in this article, O2 spreads the cost of the handset over 36-months, whereas the data plan is only 24-months. That means you’ll need to negotiate a new data plan at the end of two-years for the final year that you’re paying off the cost of the iPhone SE hardware.

As always with O2, you’ll benefit from its O2 Priority scheme, which offers early access to tickets for some of the biggest gigs in the UK, as well as free coffees and discounts each week.

Best iPhone SE Deals From Sky

If you’ve got Sky TV at home, getting your brand-new iPhone SE from Sky Mobile is a great choice. That’s because any streaming from Sky’s own apps – including Sky Go and Sky Sports – will not count towards the monthly data allowance. That means even if you opt for a contract with a smaller data allowance, you’ll still be able to binge exclusive US dramas on-the-move with Sky Go or stream the latest Premier League fixture from your handset. That’s a really good perk for Sky TV fans.

iPhone SE deals start from £14 a month, but that 24-month contract only arrives with 100MB of mobile data, unlimited texts and calls. But we wouldn’t recommend that option for anyone. Instead, you can unlock 7GB of mobile data, unlimited calls and texts for just £21 a month – that’s a £48 saving compared to the usual price for this amount of data. Better yet, there’s no upfront cost either. That makes it one of the most affordable deals on the market right now.