Safaricom have recently launched a new, unique (and tbh exciting) approach to smartphone use. With the new FLEX bundle – accessible through *100# and *200# (Post Pay) – users get control over how they use internet, minutes or SMS.

FLEX, ideally, is derived from flexible and this is meant to make you feel in control over your choice and use. With the bundle, you don’t have to tire/bother yourself with buying data, and then having minutes for calling and then buying bundles for SMS. All you need is FLEX points.

Here is how Safaricom FLEX bundles work:

You buy the FLEX Units (Once or Auto renewed)
Ksh. 99 for example gives you 115 FLEX Units.
A FLEX Unit is deducted sequentially depending on your use.
1 minute of talk time deducts 3 FLEX units
3 SMS texts deduct 1 FLEX Unit
3MBs of data deduct 1 FLEX unit.

So essentially what this means is if you’ve bought 115 FLEX Units and you use them all on data MBs you get 345MBs. If you use 115 FLEX Units on SMS only, you get 345 texts. And if you use them on calling only you get 38.3 minutes.

Meaning 99 bob gives you 345MBs. 99 bob gives you 345 texts. 99 bob gives you 38 minutes of calling. Or 99 Bob gives you fractions of the above depending on your use.

But there’s something else:

You get 3 free FLEX Units every time you send more than Ksh. 100 via M-Pesa
If you have an active SMS or Data bundle (including Bonus), use it up first before subscribing to FLEX as they’ll be used first before the FLEX bundle.
This is only for local calls. International calls and Roaming will be charged on your airtime.

This new product is meant for convenience especially for people who constantly switch between Airtel and Orange to get cheaper data, voice and calls services.

I don’t know how this will play out with most people as there are still options people would consider better:

For the SMS part Safaricom still has the best SMS bundles with *188# where Ksh. 200 gives you 3500 SMSs.
For internet data part where Ksh. 50 gives you 400MBs on Orange Kenya or 15GB for Ksh. 990.
And for voice, data and SMS combined where Airtel Unliminet still does a good job in cost (but a terrible one in customer service).

The best way, personally, to enjoy FLEX Bundles on internet purely is to buy the 30 day FLEX bundle where Ksh. 2499 promises you a maximum of 9.3GB.

What are your thoughts on the new approach?