You do not need a 24-month contract to put an iPhone on finance. At Mobile Direct, the four best cheap unlocked iPhones the refurbished iPhone 11 (from £100.99), iPhone 12 (from £179.99), iPhone 13 (from £239.99) and iPhone 14 (from £264.99) are all SIM-free, all factory unlocked, and all payable in short interest-free instalments with Klarna, Clearpay or PayPal.

Buy the handset on its own, spread the cost over six weeks or two months, and pair it with whatever SIM-only deal suits you: the phone is yours outright, and the network never gets a say. 

Below, each of these refurbished unlocked iPhones under £300 is broken down with its exact instalment split, who it suits best, and the one drawback worth knowing before you buy plus an honest look at how Mobile Direct compares with the other big refurbished sellers.

The Four Picks at a Glance

These are the best unlocked iPhone deals under £300 if you want to spread the cost rather than pay in one go:

All four are in the refurbished iPhone range check live stock before you commit.

 

First payment shown. The final payment may differ by a few pence so the installments add up to the phone's price and exactly nothing is added on top. PayPal Pay in 3 is also available at the same checkout.

How we chose these four: every pick had to cost under £300 at Mobile Direct, be factory unlocked for all UK networks, carry a guaranteed minimum 80% battery health, and still be receiving iOS updates. Anything older (iPhone XR, XS) has fallen off Apple's update list, so it is not cheap here; it is only a bargain if the phone stays secure and usable.

 

Refurbished iPhone 11 Pay Monthly The Cheapest Way In

 

The refurbished unlocked iPhone 11 is the cheapest iPhone Mobile Direct sells, from £100.99 or £33.66 today on Klarna Pay in 3 (£33.66, then £33.66 in 30 days, then £33.67 in 60 days), or four Clearpay payments from £25.24 every two weeks.

The honest drawback: the iPhone 11 has no 5G and an LCD rather than OLED screen, and it is the oldest iPhone still on Apple's list it runs the current iOS 27, but expect at most one more major update after this. Buy it for the price, not for longevity.

 

Refurbished iPhone 12 Pay Monthly Cheapest OLED and 5G

 

Step up to the refurbished unlocked iPhone 12, from £179.99 £59.99 today on Klarna Pay in 3, or four Clearpay payments from £44.99.

 

• OLED Super Retina display for sharp, bright visuals.

• 5G connectivity for faster downloads.

• MagSafe charging for magnetic chargers and wallets.

• Ceramic Shield glass for improved drop protection.

• Dual cameras with Night mode for better low-light photos.
  

• A14 Bionic chip for smooth everyday performance.

The honest drawback: battery life is a step behind the iPhone 13, and launching in 2020 means its update runway (expected into 2027) is shorter than the two phones below. If your budget stretches another £60, the 13 is the smarter long-term buy if it does not, the 12 is a genuinely good phone for the money.

Refurbished iPhone 13 Pay Monthly Best Overall Value

The refurbished unlocked iPhone 13 is the pick we would buy ourselves, from £239.99 £79.99 today on Klarna Pay in 3, or four Clearpay payments from £59.99.

• A15 Bionic chip for fast, smooth performance.
  
  

• Improved battery life compared with the iPhone 12.
  
  

• Cinematic mode and sensor-shift stabilisation for smoother videos.
  
  

• Long-term value with potential iOS updates into 2028.
  
  

• Lower cost per year, making a refurbished iPhone 13 a practical long-term choice.

The honest drawback: the screen is 60Hz like the rest of this list and charging is still Lightning, so your old cables work but USB-C is a generation away. Neither matters much at £239.99.

Refurbished iPhone 14 Pay Monthly The Newest Under £300

The refurbished unlocked iPhone 14 is the newest phone on this page, from £264.99 £88.33 today on Klarna Pay in 3, or four Clearpay payments from £66.24.

• A15 Bionic chip for fast, reliable performance.
  
  

• Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via satellite for added safety where supported.
  
  

• Photonic Engine for clearer low-light photos.
  
  

• Autofocus front camera for sharper selfies.
  
  

• Longer software support, with iOS updates potentially continuing into 2029.

The honest drawback: if those safety features do not matter to you, the iPhone 13 above does almost everything else for £25 less. The 14 is the right buy when you plan to keep the phone the longest.

How Instalments Work at Mobile Direct

Every phone above qualifies for iPhone buy now pay later at Mobile Direct's checkout no contract, no airtime bundle, and the phone is unlocked from day one, because the finance is on the handset only. This is what putting an iPhone on finance looks like when the network is taken out of the deal:

• Klarna Pay in 3 first payment today, then two more at 30 and 60 days. Interest-free.
  
  

• Clearpay Pay in 4 four payments, one every two weeks. Interest-free; a £6 late fee can apply, capped per order.
  
  

• PayPal Pay in 3 three monthly payments on baskets of £30 to £2,000, with no late fees.

For the full buying process and your rights, read how to buy a refurbished iPhone and pay in instalments.

 

All three are 18+, UK residents only, subject to status, and use a soft eligibility check at checkout. Since 15 July 2026, buy now pay later is regulated by the FCA as Deferred Payment Credit, so you get proper affordability checks and consumer protections and missed payments can still affect your credit record, so only spread a cost you are comfortable repaying.

For the full walkthrough of each provider, see our guide to the refurbished mobile iPhone in the UK with Klarna or Clearpay, and our breakdown of flexible payment options for refurbished iPhones.

Why SIM-Free + Instalments Beats a 24-Month Contract

Here is the trap inside most "pay monthly iPhone" deals: the tempting monthly figure is a 24-month contract that bundles the handset with airtime whether you need that airtime or not. You are not just buying a phone; you are signing up for two years of a network plan at the same time.

And the monthly figure is not even fixed. Contract prices rise every April, so the deal you sign is not the deal you finish paying. Comparison-site totals (checked 22 October 2026) show what that bundle really costs by the end of the term:

On the iPhone 14, that is £208.36 handed over for the privilege of paying slowly. The way out is simple: buy the handset SIM-free and split it with instalments instead. 

The phone is paid off in six weeks (Clearpay) or two months (Klarna) instead of two years, it is yours outright, and you can change network or SIM deal whenever a cheaper one appears. The contract keeps you paying and locked in long after the phone itself is covered.

How Mobile Direct Compares With Other Refurbished iPhone Sellers

Plenty of UK sellers stock refurbished unlocked iPhones. But the phone is only half the purchase, the other half is what happens in month eleven if something goes wrong, or in week five when you realise the colour is not for you. 

That is where sellers differ: how long you are covered, and how long you get to change your mind.

Why Mobile Direct comes out ahead:

• A month more warranty than every seller above 13 months as standard, not an upsell.
  
  

• The longest returns window 45 days to change your mind, more than three times musicMagpie's 14 days.
  
  

• Every phone PhoneCheck certified with a 90-point inspection, plus a CheckMEND history check, so no phone arrives with a hidden past.
  
  

• Battery health guaranteed at 80% or above on every grade, in writing.
  
  

• Free standard delivery on every order (1–3 working days). These phones sit below the £349 free next-day threshold, so next-day express is £4.99 or free once a basket passes £349.
  
  

• Real human UK support and more than 50,000 customers you talk to a person, not a chatbot.

Conclusion

Before: a £477.96 contract total, a phone that is not really yours for two years, and a bill that creeps up every April. After: the same class of iPhone, owned outright within two months, on whatever SIM deal you choose with £89 to £208 still in your pocket. 

The bridge between the two is simply how you pay: you do not need a contract, or a big upfront payment, to buy a cheap unlocked iPhone with payments spread sensibly. The iPhone 11 at £100.99 is the cheapest route onto iOS; the iPhone 12 adds OLED and 5G for £179.99; the iPhone 13 at £239.99 is the best value of the four; and the iPhone 14 at £264.99 buys the longest support life. 

All four are refurbished unlocked iPhones with a 13-month warranty, 45 days to change your mind, and interest-free installments at checkout.

 

For the UK Pay Later rules behind these plans, see our Pay Later guide.