Raylo Review 2024 (Is It Worth It?)

This Raylo review will introduce you to the concept of renting smart devices rather than owning them. Tech gadgets can be expensive and age quickly.

To combat this, Raylo enables customers to rent devices. This means there is no upfront cost of buying and customers can always have the latest device.

But is Raylo really worth it? Read this Raylo review to find out!

Raylo Review

Raylo offers mobile phones and other devices for rent. Customers do not have to pay an upfront price when getting a new device and can simply return it at the end of the lease.

While this is an opportunity to save money, Raylo can also be more expensive than buying outright.

What Is Raylo?

Raylo is a rental service that enables its customers to rent mobile phones, laptops, and other tech gadgets.

Instead of outright buying their electronics, users pay a monthly fee for their usage and return their devices at the end of the leasing period.

With this, Raylo aims to reduce tech waste caused by the buy-and-dispose mindset.

This is because devices are refurbished at the end of the lease, meaning another person can rent them for a lower price.

Raylo was founded in 2019 by Karl Gilbert, Richard Fulton, and Jinden Badesha. It is headquartered in London with another office in Belfast. You can read more about Raylo’s background here.

Is Raylo Legit?

Raylo is a legit company and not a scam. Raylo belongs to Raylo Group Limited which is registered in the UK with the company number 11554120.

Furthermore, as Raylo offers financial services, it is also regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The FCA aims to ensure honest and fair markets by protecting consumers, protecting the financial markets, and promoting competition. 

You can also find Raylo on Trustpilot. It has an average score of 4.6 out of 5.0. Overall, 94% of users rated Raylo as great or excellent.

The overwhelming majority of reviews are positive. The negative reviews mostly relate to customer service or shipping issues.

As Raylo has responded to every negative review, we can assume that these customers had their problems resolved.

How Does Raylo Work?

On the Raylo website, you can choose which device you want from the available options. It will directly show you the price per month you would pay for a specific device.

Typically, the longer your lease, the cheaper it is.

If you cannot decide on a leasing period, read my post on how often you should buy a new phone.

Once you have chosen your device, Raylo will undertake a soft credit search. A soft credit check will not impact your credit score and cannot be seen by other lenders.

If your application becomes approved, Raylo will do a full credit check. This is also called “hard credit search” and can negatively impact your credit score.

However, it is a minor factor. Generally, as long as you do not do these searches too often, you are fine.

Finally, you will receive your device via free delivery and can use it as you like. All phones are unlocked so you can use whichever SIM card you want.

At the end of the lending period, you can either:

• Keep your device (keep paying monthly)
• Keep your device (buy it outright)
• Apply for a free upgrade
• Return your device

Which Devices Does Raylo Offer?

Raylo is mainly known for renting out phones but it also offers headphones, tablets, watches, and laptops. You can see the full selection of devices on the website.

Phones

With Raylo, you can get the latest models from Apple and Samsung, either new or refurbished. Popular choices include:

Phone	Condition	Price per Month
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max	New	From £32
Apple iPhone 14	New	From £22.55
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max	Refurbished	From £17.53
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra	New	From £26.41
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra	Refurbished	From £10.72

Headphones

At the time of writing this Raylo review, you can get the second and third Airpod generations. There are no refurbished options.

Laptops

As for laptops, Raylo offers the latest Macbook Air and Macbook Pro models. You can either choose a new device or rent a refurbished device for a lower price.

Watches

If you want to rent a watch, you can choose between Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 8. There are no refurbished options for watches.

Tablets

As for tablets, there are a range of Apple and Samsung options. Some of them are also available as refurbished devices.

What Additional Features Does Raylo Offer?

Alongside its devices, Raylo also offers the following benefits:

• Wear and tear policy: you do not need to pay extra if you return a device with signs or wear and tear
• 30-day return policy: if you are not happy, you can return your device within the first 30 days
• Lifetime warranty: all devices have a lifetime warranty
• Insurance: optional phone insurance with Axa is available at an extra cost

How Does Raylo Compare to Traditional Phone Contracts?

You may wonder if it is cheaper to rent a phone with Raylo and buy a separate SIM or take out a traditional contract that includes a phone without upfront costs.

If we are looking at the Apple iPhone 14 (128GB), the comparison is as follows:

	Raylo	Three*	Buying Outright
Upfront cost	None	None	£764*
Monthly price (24 months)	£26.46	£36.00	–
100 GB data (per month)	£10*	Included	£10*
Total cost (per month)	£36.46	£36.00	–
Total cost (24 months)	£875.04	£864	£1004 but the phone could be sold for £305 after 2 years, meaning the total costs are £699

As you can see, there is not much difference in cost between renting a phone with Raylo and taking out a traditional phone contract.

Overall, it comes down to preference and having the freedom to choose a SIM vs. being locked to a provider.

When comparing renting a phone with Raylo and buying it outright, buying is the cheaper option. Taking into account standard iPhone depreciation (60% over two years), you can save £176.04 over two years.

Of course, over a longer period of time, you could save even more.

Buying outright also comes with the benefit that you can keep the phone. However, it is weighed down by the high upfront costs. You also may not have a lifetime warranty.

Why Is Raylo so Cheap?

With Raylo, you rent a device rather than buy it outright. You do not have ownership of your device.

Additionally, Raylo displays monthly prices rather than the total cost which makes it seem cheaper than it actually is.

Overall, Raylo is a good alternative to traditional contracts but over time, it is more expensive than buying a phone outright.

Is Raylo Really Environmentally-friendly?

Raylo markets itself as environmentally friendly and sustainable. This is because they refurbish phones and recycle them when possible.

However, I do not agree that this is really something outstanding. When you buy a new phone, you can also re-sell your old phone or recycle it.

I guess it is true that a percentage of phones get thrown in the bin. However, Raylo mostly offers new models.

If you own an iPhone 14, you would not throw it away when you want a new one, would you?

In this case, being sustainable and environmentally friendly is the most economical choice. Thus, it is not really anything outstanding.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Raylo?

Raylo Review Pros

• No upfront costs
• Similar in price compared to a traditional phone contract
• Benefits such as wear and tear policy and lifetime warranty
• Can save money by renting refurbished devices
• Student discount available

Raylo Review Cons

• No ownership of the device
• More extensive than buying a phone outright

Raylo Review Summary

Raylo is a legit rental service for devices such as smartphones and laptops. Instead of buying a device outright, you can simply rent it for a defined period of time and return it afterwards.

Overall, Raylo is comparable in price to a traditional phone contract. However, compared to buying a phone outright, Raylo is more expensive.

Of course, this depends on the device you want so you should do a calculation beforehand.

Raylo also comes with the benefit of no upfront cost which may make it more affordable.

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