I did it with Note 8, now is to do it with iPhone X but this time the numbers game is very very interesting because SingTel has a new plan!
So here is the table in an easy to see format.
| SingTel Combo 3 + Infinity | SingTel Combo 6 + Infinity | SingTel Combo 12 + Infinity | Circles.Life 20GB + 24GB | Circles.Life 20GB | |
| Phone Cost | |||||
| Upfront Cost | $1,098.00 | $858.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Monthly Cost | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $78.67 | $78.67 |
| 24 month | $1,098.00 | $858.00 | $0.00 | $1,888.08 | $1,888.08 |
| Plan Cost | |||||
| Monthly | $68.90 | $95.90 | $239.90 | $28.00 | $28.00 |
| Infinity | $39.90 | $39.90 | $39.90 | ||
| 20GB | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 | $20.00 |
| 24GB* | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $120.00 | $0.00 |
| Per month | $108.80 | $135.80 | $279.80 | $168.00 | $48.00 |
| 24 Month | $2,611.20 | $3,259.20 | $6,715.20 | $4,032.00 | $1,152.00 |
| Net Total | $3,709.20 | $4,117.20 | $6,715.20 | $5,920.08 | $3,040.08 |
| Data Amount | 53GB | 56GB | 62GB | 50GB | 26GB |
Footnotes to take care of:
*$10 per 2GB add ons
** I did not add any associated costs to Phone and SMS as the key thing to discuss is data usage. Hence if you need to add in Calls minute and SMSes, please add the associated costs.
My points
- If you realise I have just used Combo 6 as the comparison. If you are going to use more than 6GB, then you may not have any choice other than going to Infinity. As of this writing, I did try to go to DataX2 and DataX3 to confirm the cost under the new plan but it has forwarded me to the new XInfinity Webpage. i.e. that means X2 and X3 are not on the table. I could be wrong because under this webpage the X2 and X3 are still around. Again not surprising because doing research on SingTel webpages can be training for hard-core research work for the academic thesis.
- If point 1 is valid, that means it is either 3/6/12GB or 53/56/62GB and there is no choice in between. If your monthly data usage is 10GB, then the only worthwhile option is to get Combo 3 and then add the Infinity at 53GB. No point getting 12GB or else the cost will double (around S$2000 more).
- So what is happening here is SingTel is forcing you to go all the way. There is no midway. If you go either 6 or 12GB it doesn’t make sense at all because the associated costs will be higher than Circles.Life. It is better to just get Combo 3 and get Infinity if you wish to stay with SingTel. But your upfront costs will be $1098.00.
- It will still be better to go with Circles.Life and get the 20GB add-on if your data usage is 24GB and below. You will save $669.12 based on the table calculations.
- If people still say iPhone got subsidised via contract then how come at 3GB plan without Infinity, CirclesLife is $200 cheaper and 6GB plan (the one on par with Circles.Life Data) is $599 cheaper?
| SingTel Combo 6 | Circles.Life 6GB | |
| Phone Cost | ||
| Upfront Cost | $858.00 | $0.00 |
| Monthly Cost | $0.00 | $78.67 |
| 24 month | $858.00 | $1,888.08 |
| Plan Cost | ||
| Monthly | $95.90 | $28.00 |
| Infinity | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 20GB | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 24GB* | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Per month | $95.90 | $28.00 |
| 24 Month | $2,301.60 | $672.00 |
| Net Total | $3,159.60 | $2,560.08 |
| Data Amount | 6GB | 6GB |
Conclusion
In the end, why you would want to go to Combo plans is because you want to buy the phone with as little upfront costs as possible and thinking that having a contract will allow you to get more benefits through the X Infinity program. Which is true, if (that’s a very very big IF) you are sure you will be using at least 50GB per month and then Circles.Life plan is clearly not for you.
However if you know your data usage is not going any higher than 20GB, then Circles.Life plan with a credit card repayment for the phone will be cheaper not to forget about the loyalty, referral and bonus data that comes your way as well.
You know what will make it even cheaper? Buy a phone that don’t cost an arm and leg in the first place.
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