£8 'rule' smartphone users should check to save money on their monthly bill

£8 'rule' smartphone users should check to save money on their monthly bill The average user could be overpaying each month, experts claim The majority of British people own a smartphone, figures show. As of last year, around 53 million people had one in their pocket - but most of them could be overpaying for what they use it for, according to consumer experts from Which?. Senior researcher Adam Snook, who specialises in content around mobile networks for the watchdog, recently claimed online that most people should not be paying any more than £8 per month as a general 'rule' for their mobile data package. Those who understand why could bank big savings, he says. He said: "Mobile networks offer huge amounts of data in their contracts, and despite usage increasing every year, most people don’t actually need so much. Regulator Ofcom reports that the average monthly mobile data use is 9.9GB." An investigation by Which? also backed this up, finding that two-thirds of mobile network customers use "up to 10GB" of data a month. The consumer group claims that people should check their actual data usage before jumping on the highest available offer. How do I check my data usage? The way to determine exactly what you are using when not connected to Wi-Fi depends on your device. All companies will be able to chart out the average amount of data used up for a particular contract. For Apple users, head to the 'Settings' section and look for 'Mobile Service' and find the 'Mobile Data' tab. There should be a table that includes the 'Current Period' of data usage on the device, along with a breakdown of the apps that used the most data. For Android, find the 'Connections' or 'Network and Internet' tab in the 'Settings' section. Select data usage or mobile data usage to see your total consumption and a breakdown by app. Alternatively, download your mobile provider's official app to view your remaining data allowance and billing cycle details. Many providers also let you text a keyword or call a short number for a quick update. How can I save on my phone bill? Adam told Which? readers: "Lots of customers, particularly anyone on a high data contract with a big four network (EE, O2, Three, Vodafone), can make savings by switching to deals of around 10GB. Savings will be even bigger if you go with a smaller network, where 10GB or more is readily available for £8 or less." The report highlights some deals from lesser-known phone providers. These deals were published by Which? on September 26 and may not be available if potential customers go directly to these SIM-only providers. One of the cheapest offers came from Asda Mobile, offering 10GB of 5G data for less than £6 over a 12 or 24-month period. Each online exclusive bundle included unlimited text messages and calls, along with a pledge to allow unused data rollover.