Compare SIM Only Deals: Best Mobile Phone SIM Cards In The UK

Your Comments 154 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 154 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

• 

  tim said:

  June 23, 2023 at 4:02 pm

  I know this is an old thread but does anyone know of any payg or 1 monthly providers that allow you to pay the bill early? Smarty lets me top up in a shop and they use that cash for the bill, any others that can do that? Thank you.

• 

  Melissa said:

  January 8, 2022 at 3:30 pm

  Hi Ken,

  Please help. Is there any sim contract in the world that does not include any data? I need a mobile phone set up with absolutely no possibility of internet access. So ideally would be a large old fashion sim (not micro sim) for an old style Nokia phone, with only calls and texts. Thanks.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    January 9, 2022 at 10:43 pm

    Hi Melissa,
    Thanks for your comment. Yes, you can go for ASDA Mobile’s £4 deal which gives you unlimited minutes & unlimited texts with no data. Alternatively, consider a Pay As You Go SIM for light users. All of those networks will give you an old fashioned Standard SIM card (the only one I’d avoid would be Three as they don’t support 2G phones on their network).
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Miss S M Maltby said:

  April 29, 2021 at 11:51 am

  Hi Ken
  Some months back I purchased a brand new SIM free Samsung Galaxy A20e with a view to switching from my present Samsung Galaxy J3 model – (purchased from EE and presently use on a pay-as-u-go basis) – believing my J3 SIM card would fit the A20e model – wrong!
  So now I’m thinking of arranging a SIM only contract with another provider but wonder whether I have to purchase a mobile ‘phone from them before going forward?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    April 29, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    Hi there,
    Thanks for your comment. No, there’s no need to buy a mobile phone from the other provider. You can simply order a SIM-only deal (like one of those listed above) and that SIM card can slot inside your SIM-free Galaxy A20e.
    Hope this helps!
    Ken

• 

  Ian said:

  December 26, 2020 at 3:20 pm

  Hi Ken,

  Is it possible to use a sim only deal which inludes minutes and texts in a dongle rather than a data only sim without restrictions?
  The difference in cost can be quite an amount of pounds

  • 

    Ken replied:

    December 28, 2020 at 10:53 am

    Hi Ian,
    Thanks for your comment. Yes, this should normally be possible 🙂 For more information, see my guide to SIM cards for tablets & dongles.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  David said:

  December 8, 2020 at 12:30 pm

  Hi. Looked through and found ‘not one’ deal where I get a PAYG where there is no monthly fee or charge. Can you help please, I’m sort of stuck and I am not willing to pay monthly costs for a company basically sitting on their backsides not doing anything.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    December 8, 2020 at 1:56 pm

    Hi David,
    Thanks for your comment. That’s right: the deals on this page are all Pay Monthly SIMs. If you’re looking for a Pay As You Go deal with no regular monthly charge, take a look at my guide to free Pay As You Go SIM cards or the best value SIM card for low users.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  charlie said:

  October 29, 2020 at 1:53 am

  Does a PAYG agreement charge a £1 every time you switch the phone on in the morning? if only to listen to FM radio? for 15 minutes? then switch off. or are PAYG phones
  only chargeable when downloading Apps, E mail, Google chrome ect?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    October 29, 2020 at 11:46 am

    Hi Charlie,
    Thanks for your comment. Are you referring to Vodafone Pay As You Go 1? If so, there’s more detailed information in the article about that plan, but you’ll only be charged when you make an outgoing call, when you send a text message or when you use mobile data on your phone (initially these are charged at 20p/minute, 20p/text and 20p/5MB, but this is capped at a maximum of £1/day). If you’re only using FM radio and browsing the internet over Wi-Fi, there should be no charge from any Pay As You Go provider for this.
    Ken

  • 

    David replied:

    December 8, 2020 at 12:27 pm

    PAYG on radio is using your internet so will be chargeable. What deal are you on.

• 

  CC said:

  August 30, 2020 at 7:16 pm

  Technical Question:
  What happens when you put a 4G Cat-6 SIM in a 4G Cat-5 mobile router (in terms of performance)?
  — Let’s say you live in a major UK city like London, with an associated decent 4G network connection on all available networks.
  — Let’s say (according to one web page I viewed detailing median average tests) that EE is fastest, Vodaphone is second fastest, and 3 network is a bit slower (but less expensive).
  — Let’s say my priority is to save money on data costs rather than go for top performance, so I get a 3 network (or 3-owned Smarty) SIM, which is Cat-6, and put it into a Cat-5 mobile router, such as the TP-link M7350.
  Here’s the question:
  In such a case as described above, would I be restricting the potential data speeds of the Cat-6 network SIM by using it in a Cat-5 router?
  — Or in real world use, would it not make any difference for example, if the overall network speed is not able to reach the potential top speed (150 Mb/s) of the Cat-5 device anyway?
  I hope that makes sense.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    September 3, 2020 at 10:55 am

    Hi there,
    Thanks for your comment. To answer your question very generally: the weakest link will dictate the speeds you can get. For instance, if your network supports Category 6 and your device supports Category 4, you’ll only be able to get up to Category 4 speeds (dictated by the maximum your device can support). Similarly, if your network supports Category 6 and your device supports Category 12, you’ll only be able to get up to Category 6 speeds (dictated by the maximum your network can provide).
    In your specific case, I’m not sure there’s an appreciable difference between Cat5 and Cat6. As far as I can tell, both can theoretically give you up to 300Mbps. However, Cat6 does add support for a technology called carrier aggregation, which may sometimes give you faster speeds on some networks.
    Ken

• 

  Alan martin said:

  August 27, 2020 at 7:10 pm

  Hi ken when able I plan to go to Dubai for about a month my current contract runs out at the end of the month so
  Which sim deal will allow me to roam included in the cost
  Should I do a data only sim for my tablet

  • 

    Ken replied:

    August 28, 2020 at 5:02 pm

    Hi Alan,
    Thanks for your comment. Sadly, I’m not aware of any UK mobile network offering inclusive roaming when you travel to Dubai/the United Arab Emirates. One option would be Vodafone’s Roam-Further offer where you pay £6/day. Otherwise, you might be able to get a SIM card from one of the local networks upon arrival.
    Ken

• 

  Andy said:

  July 17, 2020 at 8:38 pm

  Thanks for the info Ken! I’m after a sim only plan that I can use abroad in my holiday place on my 4G LTE Router, I know Vodafone has some plans but data is capped to 25GB. Do you know any Unlimited data sim that could be use in EU on a 4G router? Thanks!

  • 

    Ken replied:

    July 18, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    Hi Andy,
    Thanks for your comment. I believe all UK mobile networks will have a fair usage limit on how much data you’re able to use each month in Europe. Have you considered potentially using a SIM card from the country you’re visiting instead? This may be a better solution if you’re looking to use lots of data.
    Ken

    • 

      Lala replied:

      October 4, 2020 at 12:07 am

      I know Isle of Man sims that have high data, can roam in any eu state including the UK mainland, as to the price, I’ve no idea, but the advantage is, you have a choice of all carriers. So every mast is your oyster, lobster, Manx prawn.

• 

  Lee said:

  May 5, 2020 at 9:46 am

  hi Ken, i just found out new brand CMLink launched a plan at GBP1 per month, it comes with 500MB plus 100 call min.

  https://www.cmlink.com/uk/en

• 

  Le said:

  October 4, 2019 at 1:22 pm

  Thanks for all the useful information Ken. I wanted to ask about the Vodafone sim only deals for £6 and £8 that you have on the page. I couldn’t find these anywhere on vodafone’s own website so wondering how these are available. Looking at the data plan, both include additional data allowance at no extra cost (1GB for £6 and 2GB for £8) and I wanted to ask how this worked.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    October 4, 2019 at 3:50 pm

    Hi Le,
    Thanks for your comment. The deals you found in the table come from the Vodafone Basics range. You can read more about them here, or see a comparison to Vodafone’s other SIM-only deals.
    The standard data allowances on these plans is actually 500MB for £6/month and 1GB for £8/month. However, Vodafone have boosted the data allowances as part of an offer to 1.5GB for £6 and 3GB for £8.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Jon said:

  September 17, 2019 at 12:13 pm

  Hi Ken,
  Extremely useful information here. Thanks.
  I’m currently using 3 on a monthly rolling contract, how do I switch to the 3 deal you provided above?

  Coz I’m not switching so I don’t need a PAC code, and if I walk into the shop or logon to my3 I cannot view any deals like yours. Please kindly instruct me what I should do.

  Many thanks.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    September 19, 2019 at 8:27 am

    Hi Jon,
    Thanks for your comment. There are really two ways you can do this:
    1. You can process it as an upgrade within Three (i.e. go to Three and see what plans are available for you to upgrade to). You might not have full access to the range of price plans listed here.
    2. The table above contains lots of new customer price plans, which might be priced more competitively to attract new customers to Three. They often don’t want existing customers to move on to those plans (especially if they’re giving you more data for a lower monthly price). If you’d like to take advantage of them, you can easily port your phone number out to another network and then back in to Three. Order a free Pay As You Go SIM card from another network and use a PAC Code to move your phone number onto that network and back.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

  • 

    Arthur replied:

    May 29, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    That’s the problem I had with 3 I wanted upgrade from 4 gig data to 8 gig more data cheeper than what I was paying 3 lied we don’t sell a plan like this you can’t upgrade when it was on their website they wouldn’t budge discusting practice
    I have left 3 horible network horrible customer service

• 

  Rafi said:

  September 4, 2019 at 7:24 am

  Does VOXI/ Giffgaff have access to international roaming? If yes, what countries in general do they cover? If no, can you advise me on sim-only deals that do not require credit history that also have access to international roaming?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    September 6, 2019 at 6:36 pm

    Hi Rafi,
    Thanks for your comment. Yes, VOXI and giffgaff both offer international roaming. For more information, see my review of VOXI and my review of giffgaff. Both of them offer international roaming in most countries and inclusive roaming within Europe.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Goolash said:

  August 7, 2019 at 6:33 pm

  Hi Ken

  I have a question about using sim cards abroad.

  If one travels to a number of countries in the far east – Philippines, Malaysia etc.. is there a sim card which you can buy in the UK topped with data, minutes and SMS and use in these countries and others?

  I am not talking about the usual big companies like O2, Vodafone, 3 etc. Perhaps a small company. I ask because its very frustrating travelling from country to country and having to purchase sim cards in each different country.

  I have heard of WorldSIM which offers an international sim but I know nothing about this company – can you shed any light?

  Thanks

  • 

    Ken replied:

    August 12, 2019 at 11:27 am

    Hi Goolash,
    Thanks for your comment. Like you said, there unfortunately aren’t any mainstream companies that offer a worldwide international SIM card. There are a number of companies like WorldSim, Truphone, etc but unfortunately I don’t have any first-hand experience of them. I do feel like things are generally getting better amongst the main providers (e.g. with Three’s Go Roam, EE’s Roam Further Pass, Vodafone’s Global Roaming Plus, etc) and hopefully we’ll see this continue.
    Ken

• 

  dsw said:

  August 6, 2019 at 9:24 am

  Ken:- Re: cheapest sim-only deals.
  Giffgaff’s lowest priced ‘goodybag’ is now £6 per month. 500MB, 500 SMS, 300mins

  Regards

  • 

    Ken replied:

    August 7, 2019 at 11:11 am

    Hi DSW,
    Sorry – this was a typo on my part. Thanks for letting me know – it has been amended 🙂
    Ken

• 

  Richard said:

  July 12, 2019 at 4:57 pm

  Hi Ken,
  Lebara Mobile are now offering 1GB, 500 minutes UK, 100 minutes to 41 countries and unlimited texts for £5 on a monthly rolling contract. So far I can’t see any obvious snags so this looks like good value.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    July 15, 2019 at 10:11 am

    Hi Richard,
    Thanks for the heads up on the update to the Lebara Mobile SIM! I’ve updated the above so it’s reflected with the new allowances.
    Thanks again!
    Ken

• 

  andrew lee said:

  July 6, 2019 at 8:55 am

  Hi Ken. When I search the Vodafone website I don’t see SIM-only prices anywhere near as low as quoted by you (e.g. 3GB is £15 compared to your £8). Am I missing something? Thanks v much, Andrew.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    July 7, 2019 at 11:36 am

    Hi Andrew,
    Thanks for your comment. Yes, click through the link provided to see the 3GB for £8 tariff. There are some little-known Vodafone Basics price plans (see full review here) which you won’t find through the main navigation on their website.
    Ken

    • 

      andrew lee replied:

      July 7, 2019 at 4:02 pm

      Great, thanks, v useful. I notice that MMS isn’t available on the Vodafone basics. Do you know if this would prevent me sending a photo via email when I’m out and about using 4G, i.e. using my own Mail account app? I’m guessing it wouldn’t as Mail is OTT but maybe I’m wrong. Thanks v much. Andrew. PS – my wife thinks your site is great ….. it was her that pointed me to it 🙂

      • 

        Ken replied:

        July 7, 2019 at 5:19 pm

        Hi Andrew,
        Haha – great! I’m really pleased to hear that you both like the site!
        Regarding MMS, yes, this only stops you from sending a MMS message. It doesn’t stop you from sending photos a different way (e.g. using e-mail, WhatsApp, Twitter, iMessage, or something else). To be honest, people rarely use MMS these days so it isn’t a massive disadvantage in my opinion (but it’s something they can remove from the plan to dissuade some people from choosing the cheaper tariff “just in case” they need it).
        Ken

        • 

          andrew lee replied:

          July 7, 2019 at 5:47 pm

          ok got it, thanks v much, really helpful. Andrew.

• 

  perry said:

  June 26, 2019 at 7:12 pm

  Hi Ken,

  We’re going to England for a month and want to use data and phone and text while we’re there. What’s our best option

  • 

    Ken replied:

    June 27, 2019 at 9:47 am

    Hi Perry,
    Thanks for your comment. Are you visiting from outside the UK? If so, you’ll be looking for a prepaid SIM card & ideally one that allows you to use a non-UK card. I’ve written more about this in my guide for visitors to the UK, but in short, giffgaff will normally be the best option. They offer 3GB data, unlimited minutes & unlimited texts for £10/month.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Takako said:

  March 28, 2019 at 10:44 am

  Hi,Ken,your website is excellent!It’s very helpful for me because it is difficult to understand the plans for mobile phones in the UK.

  Question
  I’m using 3’s Pay as you go currently.I think I want to move to monthly SIM-only deals. I’m interested in the following plans.
  I think Three is better if only the internet,and it’s not unnecessary to transfer. But If you think that there is any benefit in BT, please give me advice.

  Three(12-month contract)
  Unlimited Unlimited 8GB £10
  BT(12-month contract) I’m a BT Broadband customer.
  Unlimited Unlimited 4GB £10

  Many thanks.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    March 28, 2019 at 7:49 pm

    Hi Takako,
    Many thanks for your comment. You’re right in saying that Three offer a better value deal, and it’s probably the one I’d recommend here providing you can get good coverage from them. A potential benefit of choosing BT Mobile is you might live in an area with better coverage from BT/EE, or if you want to use BT’s other features (e.g. Family SIM).
    Ken

    • 

      Takako replied:

      April 3, 2019 at 11:41 am

      Hi Ken,
      I really appreciate your message.I’m very sorry but I could not reply to you soon.
      I’ll decide to take Three’s plan.
      Many many thanks and have a nice spring time(It’s very cold today…..)!

• 

  Dave said:

  March 24, 2019 at 3:43 pm

  The Phone Co-op used to offer Pay As You Use, which was a post-pay tariff with a £2 per month standing charge without calls, texts or data. Data bundles were available, so one can be a really low call/text user but get high value data. As it wasn’t pay as you go you didn’t have to make a call every 90 days or whatever to keep it active. Clearly there would be a moderately low break even point with bundles that might start at £5 or thereabouts (I see you list iD Mobile with some at £3.99), but it was unique for really low users who don’t want to have to be pay as you go.

  https://www.thephone.coop/Documents/Editor/TPC_mobile_rates_Oct_18_Opt_2.pdf

  I am on the Phone Co-op Pay As You Use and have never been able to find another provider with similar offering. Ken, do you know of one?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    March 26, 2019 at 8:14 am

    Hi Dave,
    Thanks for your comment. I’m afraid I don’t know of any other such hybrid offering. Is there a reason something like 1pMobile, O2’s Classic Pay As You Go or Three’s 321 tariff wouldn’t work here? On those tariffs, there’s no monthly standing charge and the prices are as low as 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB (3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB on the offerings from O2 and Three). On 1pMobile, you’ll need to top-up your phone by at least £10 every 120 days (automatic top-up functionality is available for this if you desire). Meanwhile, O2 and Three have no such minimum top-up requirement (you just need to use your phone for a chargeable activity at least once every 180 days).
    Ken

    • 

      Dave replied:

      March 26, 2019 at 1:05 pm

      Hi Ken,

      Thanks for replying to my comment.

      I hope this message isn’t too long – I do like to go into detail.

      I intend to continue on the Phone Co-op’s Pay As You Use service; I was just wondering whether there are any other similar post-pay plans out there. I have looked but been unable to find.

      I was on Orange’s OVP Virgin for about 10 years until they scrapped it in 2013. As off-net calls were 35ppm, moving to Phone Co-op’s PAYU brought me up-to-date in respect of not paying a premium to ring other networks.

      Phone Co-op PAYU allows me use of call divert. While 7ppm calls aren’t as cheap as the other services you mentioned, I like it because it has per-second billing and a minimum call charge of only 1.2p (1p plus VAT). Also, there is the ability to add a large data bundle if required, something which other post-pay plans would require subscription to a plan that includes many calls and texts I don’t use.

      I prefer the Phone Co-op’s PAYU. I appreciate that for such service the operator will have the expense of a credit check, something which isn’t required for PAYG. It would also take on risk of bills not being paid, all for little return. This may be the reasons that other operators aren’t interested in offering a similar service – pay as you go with low call rates sufficiently fills this part of the market.

      I dislike the idea of pay as you go as it means having to pay in advance for use of service at some unknown times in the future. Also, it is usually not possible to obtain an itinerary of what charges were spent on and call divert is generally not available (I know some smaller MVNOs allow it). While unlikely, there is always the risk that the account could be closed because circumstances meant it wasn’t used within the 90, 180 days or whatever (or worse, the operator decided to change the terms and I didn’t find out until it was too late).

      A few years ago I had a Vodafone “Top-Up and Go” 3G dongle where the only requirement was one use every 6 months. This was excellent as my use pattern was irregular/occasional. I came to connect short of six months since I last used it and it wouldn’t work. It turned out that Vodafone had moved the goal posts and scrapped the plan – only I didn’t know. Perhaps an SMS was sent to my account but I wouldn’t have seen it because I never accessed it. The “new” plans meant some amount of data would have to be used within 30 days (I seem to recall), whereas before there was no such restriction. Lesson learned not to trust them (and, of course, phone service comes with additional risk, however unlikely, of loosing the associated telephone number if the provider shuts the account, whereas with a data-only service the number is of no importance). This saga left a very sour taste.

      To return to the subject of Phone Co-op PAYU, I like my phone to be available to make calls should needs arise and that I am billed for only those items at the end of the billing period. I am happy to pay a moderate standing charge of a pound or two in order to maintain the account.

• 

  Martin Campbell said:

  May 8, 2018 at 4:34 pm

  Excellent and very informative site. Thank you. Question: If I buy a phone with a dual sim can I switch my number to both sim cards?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    May 9, 2018 at 11:47 am

    Hi Martin,
    Many thanks for your comment. With a PAC Code, you’ll be able to transfer your phone number onto one of the SIM cards. You can place that SIM card into your dual-SIM phone, but each of your two SIM cards will have a different phone number (as opposed to both SIM cards having the same number).
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

    • 

      Martin Campbell replied:

      May 9, 2018 at 1:19 pm

      Thank you Ken for your quick response. This helps me make an informed choice,

• 

  Pat Gledhill said:

  October 20, 2017 at 7:52 am

  Your website is very informative, but no mention of Talk Talk SIM card deals.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    October 23, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    Hi Pat,
    Many thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, TalkTalk Mobile is currently closed to new customers so this is why we haven’t included them in this guide. It’s expected the service will re-launch later in the year using coverage from O2. However, there are also rumours TalkTalk will try to phase it out so they can focus on their core home broadband/TV/home phone service instead. Watch this space!
    Ken

• 

  steve said:

  August 21, 2017 at 10:15 am

  Help! I can’t be the only dinosaur left in the UK. I use a phone to make phone-calls and the occasional text. .
  Talk mobile suited me down to the ground, but , sadly, Vodafone decided to shut it down.

  I did get a freeby (eventually!) to transfer to Voda. they are scandalously expensive for payg. Telepnone “help” is a joke, BUT they have opened a call-centre in Manchester…that works, they are English and understand the culture and don’t lose anything in the translation….5 minutes to sort -out a problem their foreign call – centre couldn’t resolve in 2 1/2 HOURS…..guess I won’t stay with them!

  What -about 1p? seems to fill my needs. PAYG, ancient (2g ) ? phone, cheap rate, long (4-months) active life for £10 credit- blocks. I’ll look again through your site but didn’t see that provider.

  next nearest for value appears to be ID, £3.50 a month is OK, but only 3G and newer phones. both deals appear to be better value than Asda……am I missing something?
  Great site, found you through Google.

  • 

    steve replied:

    August 21, 2017 at 1:03 pm

    Found your review on 1p. by far the cheapest option on payg, if I read the small print correctly…..anyway, I’ve signed up. Hate contracts, as prices seem to be dropping daily in this now-mature market, where all providers seem to be desperate to flog their airtime.

    It wouldn’t surprise me to see a return of the reduced evening and weekend tariff -structure, in order to sweat their assets a little bit more.

    • 

      Ken replied:

      August 21, 2017 at 11:25 pm

      Hi Steve,
      Many thanks for the feedback! As you said, 1pMobile is a Pay As You Go option so they’re listed in a separate part of the website from these Pay Monthly SIMs 🙂 I think 1p is a good option if you’re a fairly light user with occasional usage. Of course, you just need to keep an eye out for the 120-day requirement (so I recommend you either use auto-topup or you put something in the diary to top up your account every 3 months).
      Ken

• 

  WM said:

  June 29, 2017 at 1:30 pm

  Very helpful! I’m planning on coming to the UK next month, and this will be great for making a carrier choice

  • 

    Ken replied:

    June 29, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    Hi WM,
    Many thanks for the kind feedback! As a visitor to the UK, it’s worth being aware you’ll only be able to get a Pay As You Go deal. However, don’t despair, as you can get really good value on Pay As You Go as well.
    The reason you won’t be able to get a contract is because it will require you to pass a UK credit check.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Oliver Scott said:

  March 14, 2017 at 4:44 pm

  Ken missed out on a deal that EE is currently running that I switched to personally, 20 GB, unlimited calls and texts for £20 a month + 3 months BT sport app and apple music use.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    March 14, 2017 at 5:08 pm

    Hi Oliver,
    Thanks for the heads up about this! I am actually listing this in the table above, though it’s possibly a little bit confusing (the tariff is actually £19.99/month, so is listed the “From £15/month” section rather than “From £20/month” section). Definitely a great deal, especially if you get it with the voucher code offer!
    Ken

    • 

      Oliver Scott replied:

      March 14, 2017 at 5:48 pm

      I’d have listed it up to the “£20/month” but this isn’t oliverstechtips.com haha!
      Also you have another EE offer for £19.99 for only 2GB which would only add to the confusion of whether that’s a typo. Anyhow, glad to be of assistance. I think this offer will only be valid for this month though, atleast that’s what I was told at the shop. This bundle’s regular price is £34.99.
      Keep doing what you do and have a good one.

• 

  Wulfrunian said:

  February 23, 2017 at 6:23 am

  Hi Ken!
  I’m coming to the UK for a 2 week holiday and need a PAYG Sim card for calls only – text and internet not necessary – but the number of options are many and most offer what I don’t need or want to pay for, so what do you suggest?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    February 23, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    Hi Wulfrunian,
    Thanks for your comment. I’d recommend having a look at my article on free Pay As You Go SIM cards and on Pay As You Go bundles. With regards to the best value SIM card for phone calls, you’re probably best off getting a SIM card from Three. They charge 3p/minute so your £10 of credit should give you about 333 minutes of calling (slightly less if you also text or use mobile data). You can also get a Pay As You Go bundle from any other mobile network (typically, they all start from £10 for 30 days usage).
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  bobby kennedy said:

  December 30, 2016 at 7:36 am

  Sir,
  Soon i will be returning to uk, at the moment i am an ex-pat,,
  lots changed in the mobile network since i left uk ,, My wife wile be following me to the uk a few months after,,

  i planed to get a prepaid bundle like on giffgaff or so , then did a search on international texting , and realized that things not going to be easy or cheap, some wanting extra cash on balance, for that reason ,, and the so called unlimited texts and minutes hardly ever used,, but on the data i could be classed as a heavy user

  hmm wondering what your thoughts will be on this,, i would be in uk , but main contacts abroad, no i do not think i would be roaming on the real sense on roaming ..i also expect my data usage to be 6 gb,or more, seen 3 do a 12 gb not too big on the txts or minutes

  anyways thats my story ,, your thoughts welcomed,,i also looked at lycamobile, great for getting the distance calls,, not best as what can see on international txts,, think tat can also be set up for Philippines contact from uk..
  don’t think ill be the only 1 with a situation like this,, might thia be an add on for your page, with your own composition of course.
  thank you

  • 

    Ken replied:

    December 30, 2016 at 3:04 pm

    Hi Bobby,
    Thanks for your comment. You might find it helpful to read my article on international calling (it compares the cost of making international phone calls from the UK). With regards to international texting, giffgaff and Tello are probably the cheapest (or even better, you can side-step these charges by using an instant messaging app such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger).
    With regards to the best all-round option, you’ll probably need to cross-reference the information on that page with the list of available bundles here. Alternatively, if you’re happy to make internet-based phone calls through Skype or WhatsApp, you can simply look at the best Pay As You Go deals and you can then consider international calling as a totally separate matter.
    Ken

  • 

    Stefan Westen replied:

    December 31, 2016 at 9:20 am

    I use the Tesco International Calling app for calling and texting abroad. The rates are quite competitive and you get 2000 free international texts a month as long as you have a positive balance. You get £1 free when you first install the app. Calls can be made using a local number or WiFi. Calls to the local number from Tesco mobile are free. You can find the terms and conditions for the free texts here: https://www.tescointernationalcalling.com/terms-and-conditions/
    When you’re abroad you can also call UK landlines and mobiles for 1p/min using WiFi and text UK mobiles for free.

• 

  Sarah Harris said:

  October 7, 2016 at 3:19 pm

  MTV and EE have a Pay as you Go sim in the market, called MTV Trax Sim – this has been in market since February and is available online (https://pages.mtvtrax.com/simorder) and is also in the retail space such as Carphone Warehouse (currently listed as CPW’s best PAYG deal), Sainsbury’s, Argos, WHSmith, Poundland, Primark and QVC.

  It’s one of the most competitive PAYG propositions currently in the market:

  MTV Trax PAYG SIM (EE)
  Top-up £15 per month for 7GB of data, unlimited texts and 500 minutes
  You will also get MTV Trax Premium Mobile Music app for FREE (http://mtvtrax.com/)

  Please can you advise why it is not featured in teh price comparison table for £15/month?

  Thanks!

• 

  Tim said:

  September 14, 2016 at 1:50 pm

  Hi Ken,

  My extended family are all on T-Mobile. Now we want an emergency phone for our daughter when she starts travelling to school alone, so it makes sense to be on the same network.

  However all I can now find are EE pay-as-you-go SIMs which all expire in either 30 or 7 days. This means we’d end up paying minimum £52 per year for a phone that may only be used once a month and waste lots of credit.

  Have you got any suggestions on best way to get a PAYG SIM on EE/T-Mobile that doesn’t expire its credit so quickly?

  Many Thanks

  • 

    Ken replied:

    September 14, 2016 at 2:18 pm

    Hi Tim,
    Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, it’s no longer possible to get a new SIM card from T-Mobile as EE are trying to gradually move everyone over to their 4G network. If you want a good low-cost Pay As You Go SIM card offering the exact same coverage as what you’d get on T-Mobile, I’d recommend ordering a free SIM card from ASDA Mobile. They charge 8p/minute, 4p/text and 5p/MB. Also, your credit doesn’t expire providing you use the SIM card at least once every 270 days.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

    • 

      Tim replied:

      September 14, 2016 at 3:37 pm

      Thanks Ken for your swift reply. I’ll have a look into the Asda option. Best Regards. Tim

• 

  Stephen said:

  June 6, 2016 at 7:44 pm

  Hi Ken

  I am looking for a sim for work I am traveling to Portugal for 1 month. I am looking for a sim with unlimited data that will work with my Huawei Mifi any suggestions and price guide?

  Thanks Stephen

  • 

    Ken replied:

    June 10, 2016 at 11:33 am

    Hi Stephen,
    You’ll probably be best served by one of the local Portuguese mobile networks. However, take a look at my guide to using your smartphone in Europe: it will summarise the options you have with regards to roaming on a UK SIM card.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  N Malik said:

  October 18, 2015 at 7:32 pm

  Hi Ken,

  Many thanks for helping the (ever growing, occasionally thirsty too) community with all sorts of questions and valuable advice with varied queries, issues puzzling the individuals concerned thus enabling them save time and expense.

  kindly advise me if my brother, who owns a sim free cell phone, probably locked into VIRGIN USA net work and who is visiting us in London, from the states – will or can somehow, be able to make use of this one of his phone, as just described above, here. Not sure if there is any help/facility available on line or else, to get it unlocked, I mean, this SIMFREE but limited to work with VIRGIN USA net work . Local Virgin store employee expressed his ignorance to offer any help, saying VIRGIN USA has nothing to do with us with virgin in UK. My brother has got 2 such phones and told me he can leave one here with me, for my usage as this seems to be quite a smart phone is another temptation for me to be writing to you.

  Anxiously looking forward to hear from you.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    October 20, 2015 at 11:51 am

    Hi there,
    Thanks for your comment. First of all, it’s worth double-checking whether the handset actually works with the network technology in the UK. As Virgin Mobile USA is a CDMA network, many of their handsets lack GSM/WCDMA support and there might not even be a SIM card slot for you to insert your own SIM card. Secondly, as previously mentioned, Virgin Mobile in the UK is a totally separate network to Virgin Mobile in the US. If the handset will work on UK-based networks, you’ll need to ask Virgin in the US to unlock the handset before you’re able to use it here.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  June said:

  August 10, 2015 at 10:12 pm

  I have got a standard sim in my old phone and I’m thinking of getting a new one xperia E4 dual sim will my standard sim fit in it or will I need a different one can you help as I know nothing about sims. Thanks.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    August 11, 2015 at 11:07 pm

    Hi June,
    Thanks for your comment. For more information on SIM card sizes, I recommend reading the guide I’ve written here. In short: the Xperia E4 requires micro-sized SIM cards. Hence, before you’re able to use your SIM card in it, you’ll need to get it replaced for a smaller-size micro-SIM (normally free).
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Peter said:

  July 18, 2015 at 10:53 am

  Hi Ken,
  I am having excellent service using a 4g 6gb EE sim, on sale from many eBay sellers for £14.99. This gives 6gb of data, valid for 3 months from registering, though you have to top up to use voice or texts. Since I use it in a Tablet, it’s ideal for me, much cheaper than any monthly contract – I just have to get another sim at the end of the 3 month period, though of course this means a different number (not worth keeping the same number).
  I also use this in Europe, charge is £3.00 per day, (longer period deals available), so you need to top up before travelling.
  Hope that this is of interest.
  Peter

• 

  Kasper said:

  July 18, 2015 at 8:13 am

  Hi. My current T-Mobile contract has just ended. I’m happy to keep my phone from that contract. I’m interested in a 12 month sim only contract with EE.

  Mobiles Phone Direct are offering a potential £108 cashback on the EE Unlimited minutes tariff. Can I sign up with them and they ‘ugrade’ my number to the sim only? Or do I need to transfer my number away to a temp provider and then back to EE once I’ve signed up through Mobile Phone Direct?

  There doesn’t seem to be a clear notice anywhere about taking a third party sim only deal on the same network the number is currently on.

  Thanks for your help and advice.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    July 19, 2015 at 10:27 pm

    Hi Kasper,
    Thanks for your comment. I recommend having a look at the comments on my blog post about moving a phone number from T-Mobile to EE. In short, I believe it should be possible to transfer your phone number from a T-Mobile SIM card onto an EE SIM card. Sometimes, EE isn’t so happy when customers do this (it means they need to pay another new customer commission to a third-party company such as Mobile Phones Direct) but there’s nothing which actually stops them from being able to do it.
    Ken

• 

  Dinesh Shah said:

  July 6, 2015 at 10:02 am

  Dear Ken,

  We are visiting UK and Ireland for 18 days. Basically we need sim for local calls covering UK and Ireland, text messages and internet purposes. I have a handset of Samsung S3 mini with regular/standard sim card. Please advice us on the best package/network operator for our requirement.

  Thanks.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    July 7, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    Hi Dinesh,
    Thanks for your comment. As a visitor to the UK, you’ll need to choose a Pay As You Go tariff (the Pay Monthly deals listed on this page require a credit check and are only suitable for long-term residents in the UK).
    As you’re planning to visit both the UK and Ireland, I recommend choosing a Pay As You Go SIM card from Three. With Feel At Home, you can use your allowances when travelling in Ireland as well as when you’re in the UK. You’ll need to buy an All-in-One bundle to take advantage of the offer. Also, please be aware that it doesn’t include calls to an Irish phone number (you’ll pay an extra 16.6p/minute for these when travelling in Ireland). For this reason, it will probably be worth adding a bit of extra credit to your SIM card to cover the extra calls.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  James K said:

  June 8, 2015 at 7:34 pm

  Hi- I am a Brit who has lived abroad for quite some time now, but looks like I will be back in UK for 8 months pa for next few years. I am keen to get a SIM only contract in UK that will offer me the cheapest all in fees for calling both UK and France. Been looking in to this for a while, but find that UK mobile operators offer great terms on Brits calling home from abroad but not calling Europe from UK. Do you know of any good tariffs available from the main players?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    June 10, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    Hi James,
    Thanks for your comment. If you’re likely to call abroad fairly often, you’re probably best off getting a specialist SIM card for international calls. The best deal for calling France would probably be giffgaff (you can order a free SIM card here): they charge 5p/minute to mobiles in France and 2p/minute to landlines in France.
    On the major networks, there are a couple of deals for regular international calling. They do, however, tend to be fairly expensive.
    One deal worth looking at is O2’s International Favourites. For an extra £10/month above the cost of your normal plan, you get 3000 minutes to landlines in France and 100 minutes to mobiles in France. Crucially, you’re only allowed to nominate 3 numbers to use with the service. One benefit is you can get a ‘Call Me’ number in France. Your friends in France could call this number and the phone call will be routed to your UK mobile at no extra charge.
    For greater flexibility, Three offers 3000 international minutes for an £15.32/month. For France, it can only be used for calling a landline and there isn’t a ‘Call Me’ included.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  chris miller said:

  May 20, 2015 at 12:11 am

  Hi Ken,
  At the moment i am using tesco PAYG,where everybody and next doors dog know my number, this is my only phone contact i do not have a landline number.
  I also have an EE/Orange PAYG number which some people know
  and a laptop using a dongle and a sim card which is on 3.
  The coverage on 3 in North West Wales,is not that good,but i am continually advised that it is going to improve….. i am still waiting.
  I am looking for either a one month rolling or 12 or 24 month contract,i would be looking at bringing my Tesco number with me.
  Is it possible to have a sim card in a phone and the same number and operator for the sim card in my dongle ? At the moment i am spending £15 for 30days internet,regardless of whether i use it or not.
  Thanks for a great site,what would we do without you.
  All the best.

  Chris.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    May 20, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    Hi Chris,
    Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to have the same phone number on more than one SIM card. One way of using the same contract in your smartphone and for mobile broadband is to use a feature known as tethering. That way, you only need to pay for one contract (and you’ll only have one phone number). For more information, take a look at my article here for a review of the best tariffs with tethering included.
    Ken

• 

  Christine said:

  May 10, 2015 at 9:53 pm

  Hi , I want to go on a 30 day rolling contract, can u tell me when I do which
  Networks have hotspots so I can use my iPad from it thank you.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    May 19, 2015 at 11:33 am

    Hi Christine,
    Thanks for your comment. I believe you should be able to use tethering/portable wi-fi hotspot on EE, giffgaff, O2, Tesco, Three and Vodafone. You can also use tethering on TalkTalk Mobile (excludes the All-in SIM card) and ASDA Mobile/Co-op Mobile Pay As You Go.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  craig said:

  April 21, 2015 at 8:32 pm

  Hi Ken,
  I am coming to an end with my monthly Vodafone contract. I want to switch to a free sim deal with Vodafone but can’t see one that suits my needs. I need a lot of data somewhere round the 2gb but don’t need a lot of texts and minutes and I would like to stay with Vodafone as my wife and daughter are with them. Any help?

  Also is giff gaff sims any good in the Wirral area?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    April 22, 2015 at 10:21 am

    Hi Craig,
    giffgaff would indeed be a good choice for you – it’ll be £12/month for 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB of internet. You can order a free SIM card here. Unfortunately, there aren’t any deals for unlimited calling to Vodafone so you’ll need to use the inclusive minutes.
    With regards to your second question, giffgaff uses O2 as their network coverage provider. Hence, if you’d like to check the coverage in your area, you should use O2’s online coverage checker.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Fiona said:

  April 11, 2015 at 11:28 pm

  Hi Ken
  I have been given an iphone5 by my sister. I would like to know can I get sim that is reasonably priced to cover uk and international calls especially to Ireland and uae?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    April 12, 2015 at 11:10 am

    Hi Fiona,
    Thanks for your comment. For a low-cost SIM-only deal with competitive rates for calling abroad, I would probably recommend choosing a SIM card from giffgaff. They have some pretty competitive rates for calling in the UK (£10/month for 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of internet) and they’re also competitive for calling another country. You can see a full comparison of international calling rates here: giffgaff is cheapest for both Ireland and the UAE (8p/minute and 13p/minute when calling a mobile phone in the respective countries – 2p/minute and 12p/minute when calling a landline).
    As you’re going to use an iPhone 5, you’ll need to order a nano-sized SIM card.
    Hope this helps!
    Ken

• 

  avia said:

  April 8, 2015 at 3:07 pm

  I’m curious why you don’t include “monthly sim only” bundles from other PAYG providers apart from the MVNO giffgaff ? In essence GTMobile, Vectone and Three amongst others offer monthly PAYG bundles that are not really any different to giffgaff which a PAYG only provider that offers bundles.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    April 12, 2015 at 9:17 pm

    Hi Avia,
    Thanks for your comment. I actually have a complete page detailing and comparing the UK’s Pay As You Go bundles. They generally aren’t included on the page here as it would end up being incredibly long and confusing (there are also some fundamental differences between Pay Monthly SIM cards and Pay As You Go bundles). As you say, strictly speaking, giffgaff shouldn’t actually be listed on this page (they’re a Pay As You Go provider rather than Pay Monthly). The reason we’ve listed them is simply an editorial decision: most people compare them side-by-side with a Pay Monthly SIM card so it makes sense to also list them on this page.
    Ken

    • 

      avia replied:

      April 14, 2015 at 8:26 am

      Editorial decision Interesting.

      I read on forums that giffgaff is often promoted more because it pays at least £5 for a successful activation from a referral link and potentially more for continued spend following activation. Hence it’s pushed more by certain websites.

      Does your site receive payment in this way from all the providers you refer or just some? If just some which ones for transparency ?

      The pricing info shown above is also incorrect in that giffgaff’s open to all £18 goodybag increased in price to £20 recently.

      Also any thoughts on what will happen to giffgaff when Hutchison (Three) buy its parent Telefonica UK (O2 UK) ?

      • 

        Ken replied:

        April 14, 2015 at 10:59 am

        Hi Avia,
        Many websites do indeed push giffgaff more due to their referral scheme. For full disclosure, we’re a member of the giffgaff affiliate scheme (the website you’re reading is funded by advertising). To the best of our ability, we do try to ensure that advertising doesn’t affect the conclusions of our content. To that extent, we don’t limit inclusion only to companies who advertise on our website. We also use automated software which adds the advertising links only once articles are completed. You can find our full disclosure policy at this page.
        With regards to the £20 goodybag, thanks for the heads up – I’ve updated it in the table. With regards to the takeover from Hutchison, it will definitely be interesting to see what happens next (my guess is as good as yours!)
        Ken

        • 

          Amir replied:

          September 28, 2015 at 7:51 am

          I think you find ken and i keep seeing it again and again that giffgaff is owned by Telefonica!

          This is the same parent company as o2! So when o2 is sold you’ll find giffgaff will not be sold with it! That’s if o2 do get sold! It’s not looking good for three as it drops the operators down from 4 to 3. BT’s buying of EE does not reduce the amount of oprators down from four to three as BT does not own a mobile network.

          Hope this clarifies a few things! Check giffgaffs page deffo telefonica and not o2 directly!

        • 

          Ken replied:

          September 28, 2015 at 10:04 am

          Hi Amir,
          According to this, giffgaff is 100% owned by Telefonica UK, which is itself a part of O2 Holdings Ltd. So giffgaff is actually considered a part of O2 (though nothing precludes them from spinning out giffgaff as a separate independent company before the Hutchinson takeover).
          Ken

        • 

          Amir replied:

          October 14, 2015 at 5:28 pm

          Interesting ken but looking at your link the ultimate parent company of giffgaff is telefonica uk ltd which is owned by telefonica of spain no mention of o2 holdings! When i click 02 holdings this is owned by telefonica uk ltd so it looks like telephonica uk ltd own giffgaff and 02 but deffo different companies so giffgaff is not part of 02 holdings but part of telefonica uk ltd! So as you say easy to sell o2 but keep giffgaff but deffo not o2 that own giffgaff! As per your link

          Amir

          P.s any chance of a review of life mobile no mention on your website of it! its the old phones 4 u network now owned by EE

        • 

          Ken replied:

          October 14, 2015 at 5:36 pm

          Hi Amir,
          Thanks for this! I’ve actually been asked several times about the LIFE Mobile network… it’s on the to-do list to review some time in the future!
          Ken

• 

  Kate Peace said:

  March 17, 2015 at 3:25 pm

  I have enjoyed finding out more about my mobile phone and will change to a Sim only deal now.
  I have an IPhone and spend 3/4 months each year in Thailand . At the moment ( on a fixed contract ) I dare not use my phone in Thailand.
  If I use Sim only and continue with EE will I be able to use it there without incurring huge costs ?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    March 18, 2015 at 6:24 pm

    Hi Kate,
    Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, there are still hefty charges if you want to use your UK SIM card abroad when travelling in Thailand. This is the case even with a SIM only contract. According to EE’s website, it’s £1.50/minute to make or receive a phone call in Thailand. It’s also 50p to send a text message and it’s £7.50/day for 10MB of internet.
    To save money, I strongly recommend you unlock your iPhone and you use a local SIM card from a network in Thailand.
    Hope this helps,
    Ken

• 

  Alan said:

  March 16, 2015 at 7:16 pm

  Hi Ken

  Great article simple and precise, any advice / tips on best value for money on Pay As You Go data plans under £10 per month, where the data will not expire after 30 days ? thanks Alan

  • 

    Ken replied:

    March 18, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    Hi Alan,
    Thanks for your comment. The 30-day Pay As You Go data plans you refer to in your comment as known as Pay As You Go monthly bundles. If you want the internet without a monthly bundle, there are several options you’re able to choose from. The cheapest is probably Three’s 321 tariff (1p/MB when you access the internet, no expiry unless your SIM card is inactive for more than six months). You could also consider giffgaff Pay As You Go (20p/day for 20MB of internet, you only pay on the days where you actually use it).
    Ken

    • 

      Alan replied:

      March 18, 2015 at 6:39 pm

      Hi Ken
      thanks really appreciate the smart advice , its a mind field of info out there but you make it all a lot more understandable
      Cheers
      Alan

• 

  Stephen said:

  March 6, 2015 at 8:23 am

  Thanks Ken for making it easy to evaluate what is best to suit individual needs. We plan to be in UK and Switzerland for 1 month and you made it so easy for us to decide that Three is the most suitable for us without having to trawl through the different sites to get the information. Keep it up. It is very much appreciated.

• 

  Vakeros said:

  October 9, 2014 at 10:23 am

  Though this is SIM only deals – Tesco Mobile provide the Moto E and a couple of other handsets for the same price as SIM only deals – £7.50 a month. Admittedly it is a 24 month contract, but the price is almost the best possible, especially as you get a decent phone in the Moto E.

• 

  David said:

  May 15, 2014 at 12:56 pm

  Very useful guide 🙂

  It would be even more useful if you could indicate which plans allow you to tether.

  I am sure I am not the only one who has a smart phone plus a tablet that does not have a SIM card slot.
  As I rely on the phone to provide Internet to the tablet when away from home tethering (or hot spot) is a “must have”.

  • 

    Mark Richardson replied:

    March 11, 2015 at 11:02 am

    Hi David, the only plans which allow tethering up to the data limit you decide to purchase is EE. The other plans either prohibit tethering, only allow tethering up to a pre-defined data limit or, charge extra for tethering. Some of Three`s plans for example allow unlimited data to be used on a smartphone but they prohibit tethering in excess of 2GB data and you would probably need to enter into a contract with Three in order to tether. EE plans allow tethering at any time and this also applies to their pay as you go add ons. Whilst EE charge higher prices, I find them much more convenient for unrestricted tethering but it depends on how often you tether and your data use whilst tetherin. I would advise reading the terms and conditions of EE, Three and Vodafone.

    • 

      Ken replied:

      March 11, 2015 at 6:23 pm

      Hi Mark,
      Thanks for this! You’re right: EE allows you to tether up to your monthly download limit. In addition, however, this is also possible on O2, Three and Vodafone SIM only contracts. For all-you-can-eat data plans on Three, there’s a 2GB limit on Pay Monthly plans with a new smartphone included and a 4GB limit on SIM only contracts. giffgaff also allows you to tether free of charge but only on the goodybags without unlimited data.
      Ken

• 

  Leanne said:

  December 19, 2013 at 12:44 pm

  Hi there,

  Have you seen The People’s Operator Unlimited 30 day-SIM?

  Unlimited talk, text and data for just 14.99. Even though fair usage applies, still looks very good!

  http://www.thepeoplesoperator.com/pay-monthly#featured-deal

  Hope its useful, Leanne

• 

  Hugo said:

  November 1, 2013 at 9:23 pm

  Hi Ken,

  Do you know if the one plan 12 month simonly contract on three will include 4g?

  Thanks

  • 

    Ken replied:

    November 2, 2013 at 7:22 am

    Hi Hugo,

    Yep – the 12 month One Plan will include access to 4G (as will all of Three’s other plans). At £15/month for unlimited internet and 4G access, I think it’s a great deal!

    Ken

    • 

      Hugo replied:

      November 2, 2013 at 7:09 pm

      Sorry Ken, forgot to ask, what happens at the end of a 12 month sim only contract? Does it automatically renew for another 12months? Or, does it go onto rolling monthly basis?

      Thanks

      • 

        Ken replied:

        November 5, 2013 at 4:02 pm

        Hi Hugo,

        Thanks for your comment! The 12 month period refers to your minimum commitment. After the 12 months, your contract will continue as before though you’ll be able to leave at any time (essentially it becomes a rolling monthly contract).

        Hope this helps!

        Ken

• 

  Jonathan said:

  August 16, 2013 at 1:17 pm

  Doesnt EE also offer Deezer on its 4G plans? I know with Orange thr code also offers 2-1 main course at Pizza express is that carried over to EE? Also what about EE’s back up app thing and international plans? Tbh I find EE’s explainations confusing.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    August 17, 2013 at 1:38 am

    Hi Jonathan,

    Thanks for dropping in and leaving a comment! EE gives customers a free add-on but this is restricted to Pay Monthly plans of £41/month or more. As such, customers picking up an EE SIM Only deal won’t get free Deezer.

    With regards to 2 for 1 at Pizza Express, I’m not sure! The EE website makes no mention of it (however the Orange website advertises 2 for 1 pizza as part of the Orange Wednesday deal). It’s possible that pizza isn’t included with EE Film. I’ll see if I can get an official response from the guys at EE.

    Finally, EE Clone Phone is supposed to protect your phone and the data on it. All customers on 4GEE get 500MB of free cloud storage (fairly useless as you can get more from Google, Microsoft, etc). Everything else is a paid addition: phone insurance, phone tracking, etc.

    Hope this helps,

    Ken

  • 

    Jonathan replied:

    August 17, 2013 at 11:16 am

    Thanks for the response. I can see EE riding the wave a bit longer and then adjusting their offerings again. Surely they have to unless they hope coverage wins hearts and minds alone? I dont want to sound too bold in asking but the reason Im with orange is due to the handsets they offer (exclusive atrix before tmobile got it) and as such would it be possible to compare handset offers? I think for example the lumia 625 is exclusive to O2 and Vodafone which if it hits the £200 P&G mark will be a killer 4G handset! I think EE have the ascent P2 exclusive atm and three seem to have the most “niche” products. Also got my BB curve on orange cause a similar contract on O2 cost me £10 a month more. Ultimately on 2 occasions my network was chosen by the handset.

• 

  Nigel Smith said:

  August 15, 2013 at 6:33 pm

  Your report today on SIM only deals says all four networks in UK use 800mhz but only Three and EE ALSO use 1800Mhz so check that your phone works.

  But when I look up the Samsing Galaxy S4 Mini spec it only says 4G LTE. Howe do I find the networks it is designed for?

  N

  • 

    Ken replied:

    August 16, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    Hi Nigel,

    Thanks for getting in touch! You make a really good point – readers should refer to this page to see what frequencies each network is using. Your 4G phone will need to work on at least one of their 4G frequencies.

    With regards to the Galaxy S4 Mini, the selection of bands varies depending on your country. In the UK, the S4 Mini GT-I9195 supports the following bands:
    800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600MHz (Source: Samsung UK)
    Hence, it should work on any of the UK’s 4G networks.

    Ken

• 

  John Ward said:

  May 13, 2013 at 2:19 pm

  Your smartphone tips are as always, very informative, thank you. However, you haven’t mentioned the Virgin Media 30 Day SIM Only deal. 1200 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB data for only £12 per month. I have recently signed up for this service which uses Orange and T-Mobile communications when it needs to. I will now save more than half of what I was paying on my last contract and get twice as much for my money.

• 

  Leo said:

  March 15, 2013 at 12:47 pm

  Great info and tips and thanks for highlighting the best deals. I personally like the essential Internet tarriff from Three, which I bought @ just £6.90/month. Thanks again.

  • 

    Paul replied:

    June 21, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    Hi Leo,
    Do you know if this can be used in an iPhone (so long as I get the micro sim)?
    Thanks
    Paul.

• 

  guest said:

  January 23, 2013 at 1:22 pm

  Ken you should mention that at the lower tariffs, H3G and Orange are charging for retrieving your voicemail. So on the H3G £6.90 tariff; you pay 10p for every voicemail you retrieve. This could be very expensive in the long run. Retrieve 5 voicemails a day and you add £15 to your monthly bill.

• 

  Radioray29 said:

  August 30, 2012 at 8:30 pm

  Why has no-one mentioned GiffGaff Goody Bag @ £10 per month with 250 mins, Unlimited txts, internet & FREE Giffgaff to Giffgaff calls ? No contract and automatic monthly renewal if you choose. Brilliant value for UK based users

• 

  Janis said:

  August 30, 2012 at 1:23 pm

  Hi Ken – First class site! My only comment would be which packages offer per second billing?

• 

  Darren said:

  August 26, 2012 at 7:13 pm

  Hey Ken.

  I spotted a fantastic sim only deal when I was looking for a new sim for myself. 3 Mobile have just bought out some new tariffs and thier cheapest is now only £6.90 a month for 200 minutes, 5000 texts and 500mb of internet.

• 

  mike said:

  May 26, 2012 at 9:44 am

  hi ken, why don't you include giffgaff in your comparison chart as you recommend it on your other pages?

• 

  Bravo said:

  December 28, 2011 at 1:53 am

  Tesco Mobile have some fantastic deals at the moment, if you visit the following link and select "30 Day SIM"

  http://phone-shop.tesco.com/tesco-mobile/special-offers/

• 

  Stephen Aldhouse said:

  December 13, 2011 at 4:15 pm

  I'm coming to the end of the initial free usage of my iPhone 3GS and iPad1. You may call me a skinflint; I say I just want best value. Given my usage pattern, I like the '3' £5/month deal. Can I milk it any further by using Skype, which appears to be available on my phone, thus turning my calls into data? Also, would 3 let me turn the 3GS iPhone into a personal hotspot and could it then allow my iPad1 internet access by Bluetooth?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    December 14, 2011 at 1:51 am

    Hi Stephen,

    I believe Skype is allowed on Three – yes. They used to advertise this as a feature of their network – though they haven't recently. Tethering is only allowed on The One Plan (£25/mo) AFAIK.

    Ken

• 

  ann said:

  October 22, 2011 at 11:58 pm

  i have just received a new htc wild fire i am currently on 02 simplicity 15 pounds monthly 02 02 unlimted 500 texts would like to add internet any sugestions

  • 

    Ken replied:

    October 23, 2011 at 12:22 am

    Hi Ann,

    I've prepared a guide which reviews each of the internet packages (The Basics, The All Rounder & The Works).

    Hope this helps!

    Ken

• 

  Nick said:

  May 26, 2011 at 9:29 am

  What are these rolling contracts. I am thinking of buying a Samsung Galaxy S2 unlocked from say Amazon or Play and want a PAYG SIM for reasonable Internet access. Three sounds interesting but what exactly do you buy? Do you buy a SIM that has to be topped up every month or do you pay for a year's worth. Honestly, I don't understand these 30 day rolling contracts

  • 

    Ken replied:

    May 26, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    Hi Nick,

    Essentially you get a "Pay Monthly" mobile contract but one which doesn't come with a phone. It'll be a 1-month rolling contact or a 12 month contract. Because there is no phone included with the tariff, these tariffs are about £15/month to £20/month cheaper.

    Ken

• 

  Matan said:

  May 16, 2011 at 11:20 pm

  Hi Ken,

  Are you planning to update this analysis for the latest position? And include details for the very attractive virtual networks (such as giffgaff, Vectone, Tesco Mobile, etc.)?

  Specifically very interested in getting something with unlimited (or 1GB) internet, a large amounts of minutes (say 500 ish), free land lines with a PAYG or 30-day rolling contract, but most attractive package seen to date is giffgaff's.

  I also heard rumours that Tesco used to do £10 p/m unlimited internet, 5000 texts and 500 minutes – is this true?

  Cheers,

  Matan

• 

  Hands0n said:

  March 5, 2011 at 1:23 pm

  You need to update the information on Three's The One Plan – their Internet is completely unlimited in the pure dictionary definition. There are no catches or clauses, no FUPs or anything else. If your intention is to download the entire Internet then Three will not charge you a penny more for doing so! There is no speed throttling. It is, plain and simple, unlimited. A recent "challenge" was run by another blogger who managed 46GB in two weeks and with zero £ charge for Internet usage on his bill – validation that Internet with them is really unlimited in the package.

  • 

    Ken replied:

    March 6, 2011 at 11:18 pm

    Hi Hands0n,

    Thanks for getting in touch 🙂 Sorry for the oversight on this page… we had reviewed "all-you-can-eat data" back in January. The details on this page have been updated now.

    Cheers

    Ken

• 

  Ken said:

  November 29, 2010 at 9:04 pm

  You can use any tariff on a smartphone but you are strongly recommended to use one with an inclusive internet allowance. Otherwise, you'll have huge data bills. All of the tariffs listed on this page come with an inclusive internet allowance.

  Ken

• 

  Sarah Page said:

  November 28, 2010 at 7:04 pm

  is it true that there are only certain tariffs you can use for smartphones?

• 

  sam said:

  November 19, 2010 at 9:04 pm

  hi can any one help i have an unlocked blackberry curve 8900 i live 6 months in the UK and 6 months in Spain i want to know what is the best option for me i dont want to be tied to a contract when im not in the uk.

• 

  Alex said:

  October 3, 2010 at 11:44 am

  Great post, thank you. I persuaded Three to double my allowance from 1GB to 2GB on their £15/month SIM only deal. Giffgaff may be cheaper but three's coverage in rural Scotland is unsurpassed.

• 

  jay said:

  October 1, 2010 at 2:05 pm

  Tesco have £5 off sim only contracts until 6th or 10th October. £10 = 500 min, 500 txt, 500MB. all on a 30 day contract. In-store only afaik.

• 

  Adrian said:

  September 20, 2010 at 11:51 am

  If one is considering the iPhone 4, a microSIM is required: so is there a good deal for a microSIM?

• 

  Gareth said:

  September 2, 2010 at 9:05 am

  Good article
  I have an unlocked 3G iPhone and am looking at doing a sim only monthly contract with tesco, I need the data 500 mb would be enough and the calls and texts. But whenever I speak to tesco they say they haven't yet released a sim only for a iPhone? But you look on the website and they have sims on with data?
  I am also considering giff gaff, any thoughts?

• 

  Rick said:

  May 11, 2010 at 10:22 am

  Does anyone know if Vodafone’s SIM-only for iPhone will work in an HTC Desire? Their online chatters say the SIM is incompatible, but is that technically bull?

• 

  andrew said:

  March 14, 2010 at 8:05 am

  http://giffgaff.com/
  offering free data till may 25 2010 with a minimum £10 top up

• 

  Andy Burns said:

  March 3, 2010 at 9:31 am

  O2 simplicity for smartphones, on a 12 month or 1 month contract, e.g. £15/month for 300 minutes + unlimited text + unlimited data

  http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/simplicity/smartphone/12_months

• 

  Ray cannon said:

  February 19, 2010 at 5:30 am

  I have an unlocked HTC TyTNII with a t-mobile sim card on PAYG (mates rate).
  Walk-n-Web is capped at £1 a day, BUT you can buy 5 days in advance for £2.50
  (EG 6am on Monday till midnight on Saturday just £2.50, so you can effectively get
  unlimited for less than £15/month.)

  It was working fine until I upgraded TyTNN from Windows Mobile 6.0 to 6.5.
  Since then, although GRPS/3G are working, I can no longer connect to TomTom’s traffic downloads.

• 

  Aaron said:

  February 1, 2010 at 12:02 am

  I’m currently on the 3 network now- And I am extremely pleased with them. I get a signal virually everywhere, and 3 is the only network operator to provide 3g internet speeds where i go to school, and I live in rural dorset!!

  I’m actually planning on buying the Nexus one within the next few months, and am interested by rumors that 3 is trying to offer it from the google website. However, i digress. What I came here to ask was, with the 3 pay monthly-sim only, what exactly do they define as ‘unlimited’ ?
  Because I am aware 3 defines unlimited as 150mb on a PAYG sim card. I hope this won’t be the case for my data-hungry nexus? 🙁

  • 

    Ken replied:

    February 1, 2010 at 12:39 pm

    Hi Aaron,

    According to the Three T&C:
    http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/Terms_and_Conditions?content_aid=1214305746279

    The fair usage limit for Three is 1GB/mo. I’ve updated the article for clarification.

    Cheers

    Ken

• 

  Matt said:

  January 23, 2010 at 12:51 pm

  Hey man, very good article. I’m thinking of changing now my 18 month O2 contract has run out but I’m worried about internet speed and GPS. I have an iphone 3G and was wondering if the GPS would still work on another network. I also heard that the internet on 3 might not be very good. What do you think?

  • 

    Ken replied:

    January 23, 2010 at 9:52 pm

    Hi Matt,

    Make sure you unlock your iPhone (http://cow.neondragon.net/index.php/how-to-unlock-your-iphone-from-o2-and-orange) first before trying a 3 SIM card. Firstly, you can use the coverage checker on their website. With the SIM only deal, you can cancel after one month if speeds are slopw. Alternatively, you could test the internet speed on 3 in your area using a 3Pay (3 Pay As You Go) SIM card (http://cow.neondragon.net/index.php/threes-pay-as-you-go-offers-free-texts-150mb-internet-skype-windows-live).

  • 

    Steve replied:

    July 24, 2011 at 7:32 am

    I'm in pretty much the same position. I'm moving to Giffgaff. They use the o2 network and for a £10 a month rolling contract they give 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited 3g web. A no brainer!

• 

  dan said:

  January 20, 2010 at 7:01 pm

  well done and very interesting. however, there is one thing that I do not understand: Lets take the three contract for instance. There is unlimited internet – so, what does costs outside allowance for internet mean? thanks for clarifying!!! cheers, dan

  • 

    Ken replied:

    January 20, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Thanks Dan 🙂 For an unlimited tariff, the data costs outside of your allowance doesn’t really have much meaning (unless you exceed the fair usage allowance). Hope this helps, Ken

    • 

      @AshtonBRSC replied:

      December 6, 2010 at 10:37 am

      There's no such thing as unlimited if you get charged if you use too much. Costs outside allowance are very important.