17 Feb 2026

What is Raylo, and should you use it to pay for the latest tech?

Raylo adds LG Flex to its rental service, which also features laptops, consoles and smartphones

Martin has more than 10 years of experience and has tested more than 1,500 TVs, soundbars and speakers - few people know more about AV

TVs are expensive, especially LG's top-tier OLEDs. Raylo, a service that lets you pay monthly for the latest tech, looks like an interesting way to spread the cost.

Except, you're not really spreading the cost. Raylo lets you lease products by paying a monthly fee before giving you the option to upgrade or return it once your rental term has ended.

It's an unusual business model, so let's dig more into the terms of the agreement and see whether it's a good fit for you, or if you're better off buying outright.

Take a look at the best TVs available now, from top brands such as LG, Samsung, Sony, and Hisense.

How do Raylo and LG let you rent tech?

This isn't a loan agreement, there's no interest or APR and you're not paying towards the cost of the TV. You're renting it.

Let's look at the LG OLED48C5 available on Raylo. It's a 48-inch OLED TV released in 2025. Unlike most of the tech on offer on Raylo's site, clicking an LG TV takes you to LG's website to choose the TV using LG Flex and organise delivery before returning you to Raylo for a soft credit check that doesn't affect your credit score, although a hard credit check will come later before approval for the hire agreement.

There are options for rental periods, plus a rolling option, and the payments are lower if you choose a longer subscription term.

12 months - £73.57 per month for a total of £882.84.
24 months - £43.79 per month for a total of £1,050.96.
36 months - £33 per month for a total of £1,188.
Rolling - £92.76 per month.

You can buy this TV for £899, so only the 12 month subscription actually works out cheaper. The difference of course, is that with Raylo, you don't actually own the TV at the end of the subscription.

What happens when the subscription ends?

You get three options. You can carry on renting the TV you've got for a lower monthly fee, upgrade to a different TV and start a new subscription, or you can return the TV to Raylo/LG and end your subscription.

There's no way of knowing how much your new subscription might be though. If you upgrade, it will likely depend on the TV you choose and how long you continue to subscribe for.

If you decide to return your TV, either to end your subscription or for an upgrade, you need to pay £49.99 to LG to package and take the TV away.

Is using LG Flex and Raylo to get a TV a good idea?

This depends on your circumstances and we could see how if you only needed a TV for a month or two then this is useful. Otherwise, this really doesn't make sense.

It's one thing to pay off the purchase price of a TV each month and then own it at the end of a loan agreement, or by paying off a credit card, but with the LG Flex and Raylo model, you never own the TV.

Whichever subscription length you go with, the final cost of the TV is almost the same or more expensive than simply buying it outright.

Is Raylo a good fit for other tech?

TVs are the latest addition to Raylo, but you can also get phones, laptops, speakers, headphones and even Dyson products.

The model is the same. You pay monthly and have the option to upgrade, go onto a cheaper monthly subscription or return the device. As with the TVs, it's only worth renting one of these items if you know you'll only need them for a short amount of time and it doesn't make sense to buy it outright.

iPhone 17 Pro Max

You can buy the 256GB version brand new for £1,099. Here are the subscription costs to rent it from Raylo:

12 months - £50.59 per month for a total of £607.08.
24 months - £40.99 per month for a total of £983.76.
36 months - £35.59 per month for a total of £1,281.24.
Rolling - £59.59 per month.

The costs here are lower than the price of buying it now (unless you pay over 36 months) but remember, you don't own the phone at the end of your subscription.

Nintendo Switch 2

You can buy Nintendo's newest console for around £379. Here's how much you pay to rent it from Raylo.

12 months - £15.19 per month for a total of £182.28.
24 months - £12.59 per month for a total of £302.16.
36 months - £10.99 per month for a total of £395.64.
Rolling - £18.19 per month.

The Switch 2 is one of the harder devices to justify having on a short upgrade period. it only released in 2025 and based on typicaly consoles cycles, it will be at least another seven or eight years before we see a Switch 3.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (2025)

This the M4 powered version with 16GB of Ram and a 256GB SSD. You can buy it new for £899.

12 months - £45.95 per month for a total of £551.40.
24 months - £31.19 per month for a total of £748.59.
36 months - £25.99 per month for a total of £935.64.
Rolling - £59.39 per month.

As with the iPhone, you can save money here if you only intend to keep your laptop for two years. The resale value of MacBooks is relatively high though, so you'd be missing out on that by not buying your own.

The cash trade-in value for a 14.2-inch MacBook air from 2022 is £330 at CeX.

Is it worth upgrading your tech this often?

One of the more tempting elements of the Raylo and LG Flex model is the prospect of getting a new TV every one, two or three years. Take it from us, you do not need a new TV this often. The technology in them doesn't advance anywhere near quick enough to warrant getting an upgrade after just a few years.

If you upgrade from a poor TV to a good one then you might see some difference, but LG is offering this subscription on its top of the range sets and they aren't slouches when it comes to picture and sound. Research we've done in the past shows that people don't really consider upgrading their TV for at least seven or eight years and that feels about right to us, too.

And the same goes for a lot of other tech as well. Mobile phone lifespans have been increasing, meaning you can expect regular software and security updates for longer – 7 years for a lot of top-tier handsets. The same goes for laptops. Apple Macs are typically supported for 8 years from launch, Windows laptops should be supported until at least 2031 and most Chromebooks also have a good shelf-life. There are few good reasons for replacing this sort of tech more often.

So, the potential of an upgrade is just a way to sweeten the pot on a pretty sour deal that means you'll keep paying over and over again for a device you don't own when buying one outright in the first place that you can happily carry on using for close to a decade is the way to go.

What alternatives are there to Raylo?

You have other options if you want to spread the cost using a credit card or a buy now pay later scheme.

Credit card – splitting the cost of a large purchase over several months is one of the more popular ways of avoiding a hefty initial payment. Some credit cards charge you interest every month, but 0% interest credit cards don’t. As long as you pay off the entire balance of your credit card before the interest free period ends then you won’t be charged anything above the cost of the item you bought. Take a look at our top-rated 0% interest credit cards.
Buy now pay later – Klarna is probably the most famous example of this and it’s another way of spreading the cost of something without paying interest. The difference is that the interest free loan is only for three months, and typically the 0% interest fee term on a credit card is much longer, so it’s often preferable for bigger purchases like a new phone or TV. PayPal also offers a way to spread the cost of something over three months without interest.

Changes are on the horizon for the like of Klarna. You can read more about the increased regulations in our buy now pay later changes

What happens if your device breaks or is lost?

Raylo offers a lifetime warranty on the things you rent but this doesn’t cover you for accidental damage. You can add insurance though and the cost differs depending on what you’re renting.

iPhone 17 Pro Max insurance: £8.49 per month
MacBook Air 15-inch M4: £7.49 per month

If you lose the device and you have insurance then you can submit a loss claim. If the claim is accepted then you’ll get a replacement. Anyone without insurance will need to pay a fee to replace their device or pay a fee to cancel their subscription.

What happens if you miss a payment?

You’ll be charged, but how much isn’t clear. We’ve contacted Raylo to determine exactly what you’ll be charged if you don’t have the funds when the payment is due.

The payment date is flexible at least and you can change when you’re charged in your Raylo account.

It’s worth noting that Raylo is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), so if you’re having issues with Raylo you can contact the financial ombudsman.

Do you ever own the device?

Raylo says that you can contact them to discuss purchasing the product when your subscription ends.

Assuming Raylo says yes, the purchase would be at the market price at time of purchase to cover its cost of replacing it.

Raylo website page showing different tech on offer (smartphone and headphones)

Is Raylo's model really that sustainable?

One of Raylo's key claims is how leasing your tech is more sustainable than buying it.

At the end of your subscription, if you choose to return the device to Raylo it will refurbish the device to lease to someone else or recycle it.

This is great, but it's not as good as simply keeping the device for its lifespan instead. Upgrading your tech too often is a huge mistake and often unnecessary, but this is what Raylo is offering. Yes, it refubishes or recycles, but you're still better off buying a device and keeping it for longer.