We all probably know the pain - your phone contract is finally coming to an end. The smartphone you thought looked decent two years ago is barely holding on, with a barely-there battery and completely full storage, and you'd love to upgrade to a better model. Then you're confronted by the deals actually being offered to you and realise that you're in for another couple of years of mediocrity. 

Plenty of savvy deal-hunters will tell you, over and over, that the best way to buy a phone is to go SIM-free - get a SIM-only contract and put it in a phone that you choose yourself. That overlooks a key problem for most people, though: phones are expensive! If you've got your eye on an iPhone 11 you probably aren't thrilled by the idea of spending hundreds on it straight away.

Enter phone leasing, and enter Raylo. It'll help you pick up a swish smartphone, fully insured and with accessories bundled in, for a monthly cost that'll stagger you. Here are a few of the many reasons you should consider signing up.

1. Spread that price

We're not in the business of burying the facts here, so we'll lead with those all-important price benefits, shall we? The core reason to plump for a deal with Raylo is to save some money, and the fact is that you can get a brand new iPhone the savvy way. 

Take the superb iPhone 11 Pro, still very much one of our very favourite phones on the market. You'll struggle to find it from a mobile network for less than £75 a month with a SIM card included, which might sound okay until you learn that Raylo's monthly price is just £36.99. That leaves you with nearly £40 of slack with which to find a superb SIM-only deal on whatever network you like, and then count the cash leftover by the difference.

Or, if you'd rather save even more each month, their refurbished iPhone X at a monthly price of £14.99 means that you can craft yourself a serious deal. It's all in the freedom. 

2. Go refurbished

To be clear, Raylo's iPhone 11 and 11 Pro are brand new phones and come as you'd expect in those glorious Apple boxes. What about refurbished phones, then? It's a great way to lower your costs even further, while still getting a like-new phone that Raylo has rigorously checked for quality.

All of Raylo's refurbished iPhone Xs go through a 51-point test as they make their way to their warehouse, establishing that they're in excellent condition and work just as a new phone would. They might have been previously owned by someone else, but they'll perform brilliantly for you. For that added peace of mind, all Raylo phones include 30 day no quibble returns and 24 months warranty. Safe as houses. 

3. Keep things sustainable

With the addition of the Refurbished iPhone X, Raylo is now committed to sustainability in a number of ways. The first is very unique - the circularity model. When you send a phone back to upgrade to the new model or because you're done with it, Raylo refurbishes it and gets it ready for another customer, ensuring that every phone is used by multiple customers and gets a much longer life. That means no phones sitting in drawers until the end of time, and even better, no phones in landfill.

Secondly, Raylo know that unless you're very brave, you're going to want to put a case on that shiny new phone you've just picked up. No one has any interest in being the person to drop their new phone on day one, after all. That's why all its subscriptions contain a free eco-friendly case as standard. Best of all, eco-friendly doesn't mean "made from 1% recycled plastic" or anything - you can literally compost Raylo's cases. 

This means that without any extra effort or research you can pick up a phone knowing it's a sustainable choice. 

4. Insurance from £6.99 per month

Of course, even with a case on board, things happen. Phones get stolen, lost or damaged, whether that means you accidentally dropping it out of your flat's window while getting a particularly cute selfie, or someone lifting it from your pocket on the Underground. That's why Raylo offers the option to add phone insurance as part of your plan, for a bit extra each month. For the iPhone 11 it's £6.99 a month, while for the iPhone 11 Pro it's £8.99.

It means that whatever happens to your phone you'll be able to get a replacement nice and quickly, without worrying about the financial implications. There's nothing like a bit of peace of mind. 

5. Get treated right

Part of what makes Raylo so enjoyable to use, though, is in contrast to the big mobile providers. It's a small UK company, with superb customer service dedicated to ensuring that every one of its customers is having a great time. It's got a TrustPilot rating of Excellent, which is as good an award as you can get, with 96% of its customers reviews coming back at five stars, which is the ultimate endorsement. 

Plus, its also innovating and adding new offerings all the time. Just now, for example, it's added a new phone option, at an even lower price point. You can now opt for a refurbished iPhone X to save even more money while still enjoying Apple's newer design and superb build-quality. 

If you want to break out of the cycle doled out to you by your mobile phone provider, these should be a compelling enough set of reasons to see whether Raylo could have the deal for you.