SMARTY Unlimited Data SIM Review: £16 Unlimited Data With No Contract

SMARTY is offering a £16 unlimited data SIM card with no contract, no credit check & 5G coverage.

In the UK, SMARTY Mobile is currently offering an unlimited data SIM card for £16/month.

As a special offer for October 2023, you’ll get a £4/month discount when you order through this link. This plan gives you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited data for only £16 per month.

The plan is available on a one-month rolling basis, with no contract and no credit check required. You’ll get 4G & 5G coverage from the Three network.

Order SMARTY Unlimited SIM (with £4/month discount) →

In this article, we’ll review SMARTY’s unlimited data SIM card. We’ll start by looking at what their £16 unlimited data plan includes, the download speeds available and the monthly fair usage policy. We’ll also look at how SMARTY’s unlimited data SIM card compares to rival networks and at the coverage available on SMARTY. Finally, we’ll look at how you can keep your current phone number when moving to the SMARTY network.

Unlimited Data on SMARTY

No Download Limits

In the UK, SMARTY is a low-cost mobile network which is owned and operated by Three. Specialising in SIM cards that work on a one-month rolling basis, customers can join SMARTY without the need for a contract or credit check.

At the moment, SMARTY’s flagship price plan is their £16 unlimited data SIM card. This comes with unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited data. As a special offer for October 2023, you can get a £4/month discount on the normal price of £20/month. To get it, you’ll need to order your unlimited data SIM card from SMARTY through this special link:

Network	Minutes	Texts	Data	Monthly Cost
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£16.00 1 month

Get £4/month discount on Unlimited Data →

SMARTY’s unlimited data SIM card works on a pre-paid basis so you’ll just pay for each month’s usage in advance. For convenience, the payment for your plan will normally be taken automatically every month from a registered credit card or debit card. However, you can disable the automatic renewal at any time inside your SMARTY account if you’d no longer like to use it.

For any out-of-bundle usage (e.g. international or premium-rate phone calls), you can top-up a separate cash balance onto your SMARTY account.

4G & 5G Download Speeds

On SMARTY’s unlimited data SIM card, you’ll get access to 4G & 5G coverage from Three. The download speeds available on SMARTY are the same as those available on Three, with no speed restrictions or throttling in place on the service.

According to Three, they have the UK’s fastest 5G network. This is based on Ookla speed test data (H1 2022) which recorded a median download speed of 292Mbps. Speeds can vary by location and can sometimes go as high as 1,000Mbps (1Gbps).

As a customer of SMARTY, you’ll also benefit from Three’s ongoing network upgrades. Alongside the 5G rollout, there’s the introduction of 4G+ technology, the upgrade of older 3G spectrum to support 4G services, and the addition of L-Band spectrum to give Super 4G+ coverage. According to SMARTY, these network upgrades have improved speeds by up to 130% for customers using the 4G network.

Fair Use Policy

SMARTY doesn’t have any speed restrictions or hidden fair usage limits for unlimited data in the UK. This is confirmed in their price guide:

With our Unlimited plan there’s no hidden ‘fair use policies’ within the UK, giving you all the access to the Internet you’d need without worrying about hefty bills and no data speed restrictions.

If you’re travelling in the EU you will be subject to our fair use limit of 12GB each month.

All our SMARTY plans must only be used for your personal and non-commercial use.

In the past, a fair usage limit of 1,000GB per month was used to identify non-permitted commercial usage of the service. SMARTY has confirmed that this fair usage policy is no longer being applied.

If you’re using your SMARTY SIM card in another European country, a fair usage limit of 12GB per month applies on the plan.

Tethering & Personal Hotspot

You can share your unlimited data allowance with other devices through the tethering or personal hotspot feature on your phone. This is confirmed on the SMARTY website:

Tether without worrying
You can tether and hot-spot all of your data with no speed caps as long as you’re in the UK.

The use of tethering or personal hotspot can be a convenient way to get your other devices (including a laptop or tablet) connected to the internet.

SMARTY Mobile Broadband

You can use SMARTY’s unlimited data SIM card in other devices like your tablet, mobile broadband dongle, mobile wi-fi hotspot or 4G router.

In fact, you can build your own 4G home broadband service by combining SMARTY’s unlimited data SIM card with something like an unlocked Huawei B311 router. You’d then pay just £16/month for unlimited 4G home broadband through your SMARTY SIM card.

One downside of using SMARTY for 4G home broadband is the lack of a publicly-accessible IP address. This is because SMARTY uses strict CGNAT technology, assigning you a private IP address that’s unable to accept incoming connections. This won’t make a difference for most online activities, but it can stop you from doing things like running a server, using certain P2P apps or playing some online multiplayer games.

If you’d like a publicly-accessible IP address, it’s better to get a SIM card from Three instead. On Three, you can get a public IP address when you use the 3internet APN. This service is not available to customers on SMARTY.

Comparison to Alternatives

In the UK, there are numerous other mobile networks also offering an unlimited data plan.

At the current price of £16/month with no contract, SMARTY has one of the cheapest and most flexible unlimited data plans available on the market.

The following table compares SMARTY’s unlimited data plan to what is available on other networks:

Network	Minutes	Texts	Data	Monthly Cost
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£16.00 1 month
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£18.00 £14.40 for 12 months 24 months
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£22.50 12 months
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£27.00 24 months
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£30.00 1 month
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£30.00 24 months
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited 10Mbps max	£30.00 24 months
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£33.00 24 months
	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	£35.00 1 month

For more information, see our full guide to unlimited data plans in the UK.

Network & Coverage

4G Coverage from Three

On SMARTY’s unlimited data plan, you’ll get 4G coverage from the Three network. At the time of writing, this equates to 99.8% population coverage.

You can check the coverage in your area by entering your postcode on SMARTY’s online coverage map:

Check SMARTY Coverage Map (smarty.co.uk) →

You’ll also have access to 4G Calling and Wi-Fi Calling if you have a compatible device on SMARTY.

Unfortunately, SMARTY doesn’t provide any 2G coverage. In addition, whilst there is some limited 3G coverage still available, this is due to be switched off in 2024. For this reason, it’s recommended that your mobile phone supports at least 4G technology.

For more information, see our guide to SMARTY’s network and coverage.

5G Coverage

SMARTY now offers 5G coverage at no extra cost on all of their plans. Their 5G coverage is also provided by Three, with availability in more than 300 UK towns and cities.

To see whether 5G coverage is available in your area, enter your postcode on SMARTY’s online coverage map.

Check SMARTY 5G Coverage →

For more information, see our guide to Three’s 5G network.

International Coverage

If you’re travelling abroad to one of 35 European destinations, you can use up to 12GB of data abroad at no extra cost each month. You can also use the unlimited minutes and unlimited texts from your SMARTY plan. The following destinations are included in this offer:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Comoros & Mayotte, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland

If you’re travelling outside Europe, you’ll need to buy an “Out of plan” add-on. The costs for using your SMARTY SIM card outside Europe can be significantly higher. For instance, when you travel to the United States, you’ll pay 50p/minute, 20p/text and 10p/MB (equivalent to £100 per gigabyte). It isn’t possible to use your plan allowances when you travel outside Europe.

According to SMARTY’s website, you can only use your SIM card abroad for up to 60 days at a time. If you spend more than 60 consecutive days abroad, they may suspend your usage of the service.

For more information, see SMARTY’s web page on international roaming.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’d like to keep your current phone number when you join SMARTY Mobile, it’s a straightforward process to transfer it from your old mobile network.

Start by ordering your unlimited data SIM card from SMARTY’s website. To begin with, it will come with a temporary phone number assigned to it, allowing you to test out the service before moving your phone number over.

When you’re happy to move your phone number over, you’ll need to get a PAC Code from your old network. This is available through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. You can then submit the PAC Code to SMARTY through your online dashboard. Once you’ve done that, your phone number transfer will normally take place on the next working day.

For step-by-step instructions on how to move your phone number to SMARTY, please select your current mobile network from the drop-down menu below:

For more information on transferring your phone number between networks, see our guide to using a PAC Code.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Information

For more information on SMARTY’s unlimited data plan, please see their official website.