EE offers a range of 5G SIM-only deals, across four different ranges (No Frills, Essential, All Rounder and Full Works). Find out how the plans compare.
In the UK, EE currently offers 5G SIM-only plans from £16 per month (£10 per month if you’re an EE home broadband customer). All of their plans will give you full access to their 4G & 5G network, but with some differences in the download speeds and the features available.
In this article, we’ll review EE’s SIM-only plans and we’ll look at how they compare across the four different ranges (No Frills, Essential, All Rounder and Full Works). We’ll also look at the features available, and the best value deals currently available from EE.
Plans From: | £16 per month (£10 per month with EE home broadband) |
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Plan Types: |
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Reasons To Buy: |
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Reasons To Avoid: |
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Coverage: | 99% population coverage (check postcode) |
EE SIM Only Plans
In the UK, EE tends to position themselves as a ‘premium mobile network’, offering a ‘premium experience’ at a premium price. As a result, they’re generally the most expensive out of the four major mobile networks. For instance, whereas you’re able to get a SIM-only plan for less than £10 per month on O2, Three and Vodafone, you’ll need to pay at least £16 per month to get an SIM-only deal from EE (that’s unless you have EE home broadband).
Whether it’s worth paying the extra money really depends on what you’re looking for. In general, EE is considered to have the best UK network coverage, and that’s often backed up by independent analyses (e.g. from RootMetrics and Opensignal). Having said that, it can vary depending on where you live (as coverage is very much dependent on location).
Another reason to choose EE is the customer benefits, with the 6 months of inclusive Apple Music being a key benefit. Given that normally retails for £10.99 per month, it’s an extra benefit that worth’s nearly £66 over 6 months.
In addition, EE’s All Rounder and Full Works plans come with an Inclusive Extra (such as Netflix, TNT Sports or the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate). When you take the value of this Inclusive Extra into account, it can help to justify the price you’ll pay.
At present, there are four different types of Pay Monthly plan on EE: No Frills, Essential, All Rounder and Full Works. The following table shows an overview of the four options:
No Frills | Essential | All Rounder | Full Works | |
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Plans From: | £18 per month | £16 per month | £33 per month | £47 per month |
Download Speed: | Up to 10Mbps (“basic speed”) |
Up to 100Mbps (“excellent speed”) |
No maximum speed (“best speed”) |
No maximum speed (“best speed”) |
Coverage: | 4G & 5G | 4G & 5G | 4G & 5G | 4G & 5G |
Plan Features |
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Apple Music: | ✔ 6 months | ✔ 6 months | ✔ 6 months (24m with Inclusive Extra) |
✔ 6 months (24m with Inclusive Extra) |
Stay Connected Data: |
✘ No | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | N/A |
Data Gifting: | ✘ No | ✔ Yes (requires family account) |
✔ Yes (requires family account) |
✔ Yes (requires family account) |
Inclusive Extras: |
✘ No | ✘ No | ✔ 1 Inclusive Extra | ✔ 3 Inclusive Extras |
EU Roaming: |
£2.45 per day | £2.45 per day | £2.45 per day (included with Roam Abroad Extra) |
£2.45 per day (included with Roam Abroad Extra) |
In the following section, we’ll look at each type of plan in more detail. Alternatively, if you’re looking for other providers that also offer EE coverage, there are a number of other mobile networks that use EE’s network coverage.
No Frills Plans
EE’s cheapest Pay Monthly SIM cards can be found in their No Frills range. Starting from £18 per month, it’s the cheapest way of getting a SIM-only deal from EE with access to their 4G & 5G network. You’ll also get the six months of inclusive Apple Music (worth £10.99 per month).
If you’re going to choose a No Frills plan, the main limitation to be aware of is the fact that the download speeds are capped at a maximum of 10Mbps. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘basic speed’.
For most people, we don’t think the 10Mbps limit needs to be a deal-breaker as that’s already enough for pretty much anything you’d want to do on your phone (such as browsing the web, messaging, social media, listening to music, and watching videos). You’ll be able to stream and video call in HD quality (as this only needs about 5Mbps), though Ultra HD streaming won’t be possible on a No Frills plan. Larger downloads (e.g. apps and games) may also take a little bit longer, though this is unlikely to be significant.
Apart from that, you won’t get EE’s Stay Connected Data or Data Gifting features. You also won’t get Inclusive Extras when you choose a No Frills plan.
The following table shows EE’s No Frills SIM-only deals:
Tariff | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost (may rise during contract) |
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No Frills | Unlimited | Unlimited | 2GB | £18.00 24 months |
No Frills | Unlimited | Unlimited | 125GB | £24.00 24 months |
No Frills | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | £29.00 24 months |
Essential Plans
Starting from £16 per month, you’ll be able to get an EE Essential plan. This tends to be the most popular option as it gives you ‘excellent speeds’, and it’s only a little bit more expensive than a No Frills plan.
You’ll get download speeds of up to 100Mbps on your EE Essential plan. For all intents and purposes, this will allow you to do pretty much anything you’d like to do on your phone (e.g. streaming Ultra HD video only needs about 25Mbps).
In addition, you’ll get Stay Connected Data. This is handy as it means you’ll never lose connectivity in the middle of the month. There’s also Data Gifting if you have an EE family account.
The following table shows EE’s Essential SIM-only deals:
Tariff | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost (may rise during contract) |
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Essential | Unlimited | Unlimited | 25GB | £16.00 24 months |
Essential | Unlimited | Unlimited | 125GB | £27.00 3 months half price 24 months |
Essential | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | £32.00 6 months half price 24 months |
All Rounder Plans
On average, you’ll pay an extra £8 to £10 per month to upgrade to an EE ‘All Rounder’ plan with the same amount of data as on Essentials.
The biggest benefit of upgrading is the fact that you’ll get an Inclusive Extra. Depending on which Extra you choose, it can actually work out to be cheaper overall. For instance, if you’re a sports fan, you can get the TNT Sports on discovery+ Extra. This is worth £20 per month. On the other hand, some of the other Inclusive Extras are worth less (e.g. Netflix is £7.99 per month and Microsoft 365 Personal is £5.99 per month). With these options, it’s likely you’d be better off simply getting an ‘Essential’ plan and then paying for them separately.
The other benefit of upgrading to an All Rounder plan is the fact you’ll get EE’s fastest available speeds. For the average user, it shouldn’t make a significant difference as the 100Mbps is already incredibly fast. You’d only really be able to tell if you were doing a speed test, or downloading a very large file on 5G.
The following table shows EE’s latest All Rounder plans:
Tariff | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost (may rise during contract) |
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All Rounder | Unlimited | Unlimited | 25GB | £33.00 24 months |
All Rounder | Unlimited | Unlimited | 125GB | £35.00 3 months half price 24 months |
All Rounder | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | £40.00 6 months half price 24 months |
Full Works Plans
Finally, EE offers Full Works plans. These are currently available from £47 per month.
With Full Works, you can choose three Inclusive Extras. You’ll also get unlimited data included on your plan.
The following table shows EE’s Full Works SIM-only deals:
Tariff | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost (may rise during contract) |
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Full Works | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | £47.00 24 months |
EE Pay Monthly Features
Apple Music
Plan | Is Apple Music Included? |
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No Frills: | ✔ Yes, for 6 months |
Essential: | ✔ Yes, for 6 months |
All Rounder: |
✔ Yes, for 6 months (entire plan with Inclusive Extra) |
Full Works: |
✔ Yes, for 6 months (entire plan with Inclusive Extra) |
On all of EE’s Pay Monthly plans, you’ll get 6 months of Apple Music included. It’s a nice benefit as it can save you £10.99 per month (with a total saving of nearly £66 over the 6 months).
With Apple Music, you’ll be able to stream more than 90 million songs on-demand without any adverts. You’ll also get curated playlists, song lyrics and live radio stations inside the Apple Music app. It’s compatible with the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, along with laptops, speakers and smart TVs.
If you’re on an All Rounder or Full Works plan, you’ll be able to choose Apple Music as your Inclusive Extra. When you do this, you’ll get Apple Music included for the entire length of your plan (e.g. for 24 months if you’re on a 24-month contract).
Stay Connected Data
Plan | Is Stay Connected Data Available? |
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No Frills: | ✘ No |
Essential: | ✔ Yes |
All Rounder: |
✔ Yes |
Full Works: |
✔ Yes |
If you run out of data on your EE SIM-only plan (excluding on No Frills), you’ll be able to stay connected at speeds of up to 0.5Mbps. This gives you the reassurance that you’ll always be able to stay connected to essential apps such as browsing the web, sending messages, and using social media.
You can also use Stay Connected Data for things like listening to music, using maps and GPS navigation. However, large downloads can take a long time. You also won’t be able to stream HD-quality video (you might be fine with standard definition, although it’s possible there will be a bit of buffering).
In our opinion, EE’s Stay Connected Data is a beneficial feature as it means you’ll never be cut off in the middle of the month. It also means there’s less of a need to buy more data than you need (as you can rely on the Stay Connected Data if you were to go over the limit).
Data Gifting & Family Discounts
Plan | Is Data Gifting Available? |
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No Frills: | ✘ No |
Essential: | ✔ Yes (for family accounts) |
All Rounder: |
✔ Yes (for family accounts) |
Full Works: |
✔ Yes (for family accounts) |
When you add an additional line to your EE account, you’ll get a multi-line discount on it. There’s a 30% discount on additional SIM-only plans and a 10% discount on additional phone and tablet plans.
If you choose an Essential, All Rounder or Full Works plan, you’ll also gain the ability to move spare data between your family’s plans. This isn’t available on No Frills plans so it isn’t possible to gift data to or from a No Frills plan.
You can use the My EE app to manage all of your plans, including seeing how much data is remaining on each line and gifting spare data between your accounts. You can also change the individual settings for each line, including parental controls and bill caps.
Inclusive Extras
Plan | Will you get Inclusive Extras? |
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No Frills: | ✘ No |
Essential: | ✘ No |
All Rounder: |
✔ Yes, 1 Inclusive Extra |
Full Works: |
✔ Yes, 3 Inclusive Extras |
If you choose an All Rounder or Full Works SIM card, you’ll get Inclusive Extras with your EE SIM-only deal. This gives you access to inclusive entertainment or productivity features. The Inclusive Extras can be worth up to £25 per month, depending on the option you choose.
At present, you can choose from the following Inclusive Extras on EE:
- Apple Music (worth £10.99/month): Stream more than 90 million songs on-demand without any adverts. There are also more than 30,000 pre-built playlists for listening, plus Spatial Audio for a more immersive listening experience.
- Netflix (worth £7.99/month): If you choose Netflix Basic as the Inclusive Extra on your plan, you’ll be able to stream their entire catalogue of shows, movies, and documentaries on-demand. You can stream as much as you like, on any compatible device such as your smartphone, tablet, laptop and smart TV.
- TNT Sports on discovery+ (worth £20/month): Get access to all of the TNT Sports channels via discovery+, allowing you to watch live action from the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UFC, boxing and more. You’ll also get access to shows and documentaries on discovery+.
- Roam Abroad Pass (worth £25/month): The Roam Abroad Pass allows you to use your minutes, texts and data at no extra cost in the EU, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. This is subject to a fair use limit of 50GB data per month.
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (worth £12.99/month): Play hundreds of high-quality games including Starfield, Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite. You’ll be able to play on your console, on your PC or in the cloud. You’ll also get Xbox Live Gold for multiplayer gaming and an inclusive EA Play membership.
- Entertainment Data Pass (worth £14.98/month): Stream from selected video and music applications without eating into your data allowance.
- Microsoft 365 Personal (worth £5.99/month): Get premium Office applications such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook and more on up to five devices (including PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Android). You’ll also get 1TB of inclusive cloud storage. This is enough for you to store up to 500,000 photos.
International Roaming
On all of EE’s Pay Monthly plans (taken since the 7th July 2021), you’ll no longer get inclusive European roaming. Instead, you’ll need to pay an extra £2.47 per day to use your phone in the EU.
If you have one of EE’s All Rounder or Full Works plans, you can choose the Roam Abroad Pass as your Inclusive Extra. This will allow you to use your plan allowances (up to 50GB per month) in the EU, as well as the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
It’s also possible to get the Roam Abroad Pass on a chargeable basis for £25 per month (available on all Pay Monthly plans).
EE Broadband Savings
If you’re an EE home broadband customer, there are significant savings to be had on EE’s SIM-only deals. Most notably, you’ll be able to get their unlimited data plans from just £10 per month (prices vary for the No Frills, Essential and All Rounder variants).
If you’re not currently an EE home broadband customer, it might be beneficial to sign up for this first before you get a SIM-only deal from EE.
At present, you can get EE’s home broadband service from £28.99 per month. Once you have that, you’ll unlock their discounted SIM card offers.
The following table shows EE’s latest fibre broadband deals:
Service | Average Speed | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price (may rise during contract) |
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EE Fibre 36 | 36Mbps download | 24 month contract | £11.99 | £28.99/month |
EE Full Fibre 300 | 300Mbps download | 24 month contract | £0 | £32.99/month |
EE Fibre 50 | 50Mbps download | 24 month contract | £31.99 | £34.99/month |
EE Fibre 67 | 67Mbps download | 24 month contract | £20 | £36.99/month |
EE Full Fibre 74 | 74Mbps download | 24 month contract | £20 | £36.99/month |
EE Full Fibre 150 | 150Mbps download | 24 month contract | £31.99 | £38.99/month |
EE Full Fibre 500 | 500Mbps download | 24 month contract | £31.99 | £49.99/month |
EE Full Fibre Gigabit | 900Mbps download | 24 month contract | £31.99 | £59.99/month |
EE Full Fibre 1.6 Gigabit | 1600Mbps download | 24 month contract | £31.99 | £69.99/month |
See all EE fibre broadband deals →
Keeping Your Phone Number
If you’re switching to EE from another UK mobile network, it’s a straightforward process keeping your current phone number.
Start by ordering your new SIM Only deal from EE’s website. Once you’ve done that, you can request a PAC Code from your old network – either using their app or website, or by texting PAC to 65075.
Once you’ve activated your new EE SIM card, you’ll be able to head over to this online form. Here, you’ll be able to submit the PAC Code from your old network. Your phone number transfer will then be scheduled by EE, normally for the next working day.
For a step-by-step guide on how to move your phone number to EE, please select your current mobile network from the drop down menu below:
More Information
For more information about EE’s SIM-only deals and offers, please see EE’s official website.
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