The UK’s Best Value Smartphone SIM-only Tariffs with Internet Access
July 6th, 2010
If you’ve got a smartphone such as a Blackberry, iPhone or Android phone and you’ve completed the course of your original contract, you can save hundreds of pounds every year switching to a SIM-only tariff.
If you already own your own smartphone (for example you bought one on Pay As You Go or you’ve completed the course of your Pay Monthly contract) then you can save money by switching over to a cheaper SIM-only tariff. A SIM-only contract is different from a traditional Pay Monthly contract in that you are not provided with a phone. This means they tend to be a lot cheaper than traditional contracts. Switching to a SIM-only contract can typically offer a cost saving of about £180 per year.
All of the major networks (3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone) now offer SIM-only contracts. We’ve searched through the dozens of SIM-only tariffs to find the best value tariffs which are suitable for use within a smartphone. All of the listed tariffs have an inclusive internet/data allowance and should work in any unlocked smartphone including Blackberry, iPhone and Android smartphones.
If you don’t have a smartphone or you don’t need an inclusive internet allowance, check out our guide to the best value SIM-only tariffs for non-smartphones.
First things first… Is your phone locked?
Firstly, is your phone locked? Depending on who you bought your smartphone from, there is a good chance that it could be locked to your current network. That’s no problem if your network offers the best value SIM-only smartphone deal out there but if you want to switch network, you’ll need to unlock it first. See our guide on how to tell whether your phone is locked. Typically unlocking your phone involves calling up your current network. There may also be a small fee involved.
What should I look out for?
You should choose a network that has good coverage where you live. We’ve got a guide on how to find out which network offers the best reception where you live. You’ll want to choose a network which offers you 3G coverage (this gives you high speed internet). Choose a network without reception where you live and your phone could be as useful as a brick!
Then you’ll want to find the tariff that gives you what you want for the lowest price. We’ve listed the best value tariffs at various price points below.
Finally, if you are switching network you may find our guide on PAC codes useful.
£5/month – Three’s “SIM Only Internet” Deal
If you only very rarely use your phone for calls and texts but you need a internet package, Three’s “SIM Only Internet” tariff (see our review) offers 1GB of internet, 5000 Skype-to-Skype minutes and free voicemail. It’s a fiver a month and a 1-month rolling contract.
Calls cost 20p/minute and texts cost 10p each. If you’re likely to make more than 25 minutes of calls or send more than 50 texts each month (or some combination of the two), you’ll find the next deal better value…
| Internet: | 1GB |
|---|---|
| Minutes: | None; 20p/minute |
| Texts: | None; 10p each |
Get this deal from Three (£5/month) »
£10/month – T-Mobile
Besides the “SIM Only Internet” deal which only provides internet, T-Mobile have the cheapest SIM-only tariff out there with an internet allowance worthy of use with a smartphone. For £10/month, you’ll get 100 minutes, 100 texts and 1GB internet (choose the “Unlimited Internet” flexible booster). Like Three’s tariff, it’s also a 1-month rolling contract. It’s great if you’re coming from Pay As You Go or you like to call and text to stay in touch but mainly rely on a landline or another mobile.
For £5/month extra, you can add unlimited texts to your package.
| Internet: | 1GB |
|---|---|
| Minutes: | 100 minutes |
| Texts: | 100 texts |
Get this deal from T-Mobile (£10/month) »
£15 per month – T-Mobile for minutes; O2 for texts
At the £15/month price point it’s difficult to see an overall winner. The best package really depends on whether you want more minutes (T-Mobile) or more texts (O2).
T-Mobile offer 600 minutes, 500 texts and 1GB internet (choose the “Unlimited Internet” flexible booster) for £15/month. The one disadvantage this has over the £10/month deal is that it’s a 12-month contract instead of a 30-day rolling contract.
| Internet: | 1GB |
|---|---|
| Minutes: | 600 minutes |
| Texts: | 500 texts |
Get this deal from T-Mobile (£15/month) »
If 500 texts per month isn’t enough for you, O2 have a “Simplicity” deal (reviewed here) which offers 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB internet for £15/month too. You’ll get half the minutes and half the internet allowance of the T-Mobile deal but you’ll never run out of texts. Again, it’s also a 12 month contract.
For iPhone customers, the “Simplicity for iPhone” variant of this tariff (reviewed here) offers the extra bonus of visual voicemail and BT Openzone wi-fi hotspot access.
| Internet: | 500MB |
|---|---|
| Minutes: | 300 minutes |
| Texts: | Unlimited texts |
Get this deal from O2 (£15/month) »
Get this deal from O2 (£15/month, iPhone Variant) »
£20 per month – Vodafone
The best value tariff at the £20/month price point comes from Vodafone. They are offering a tariff with 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB internet for £20/month. It’s a 12 month contract.
| Internet: | 500MB |
|---|---|
| Minutes: | 900 minutes |
| Texts: | Unlimited texts |
Get this deal from Vodafone (£20/month) »
£25 per month – Three’s “The One Plan”
Three’s “The One Plan” (reviewed here) is essentially an “unlimited calls, texts and internet” package (albeit with some limits). For £25/month, you’ll get 2000 cross-network minutes, 5000 3-to-3 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB internet and free voicemail. You’re going to struggle to use this all up… it equates to making 67 minutes of calls and sending 167 texts every single day.
| Internet: | 1GB |
|---|---|
| Minutes: | 2000 cross-network minutes & 5000 3-to-3 minutes |
| Texts: | 5000 texts |
Get this deal from Three (£25/month) »
This is the tariff to go for if you use more than 900 minutes every month. There are no “best deals” above the £25/month price point as “The One Plan” provides a higher allowance and or is cheaper than all of them.
About the Author: Hi! I'm Ken. I've been using mobiles for over 10 years and technology for a lot longer! I'd love to hear from you.
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
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
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?
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).
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?
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
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.
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
http://giffgaff.com/
offering free data till may 25 2010 with a minimum £10 top up
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?
[...] charge for the handset or impose extra charges for using the internet connection. Furthermore, even SIM-only tariffs for smartphones usually cost at least £15/month – meaning that this deal is at least competitive with [...]