Considering buying a SIM plan from spusu?
In this article, we’ve tested a spusu pay as you go SIM, and reviewed their performance as a mobile provider.
We’ve assessed spusu based on their coverage and speeds, value for money, customer service, and more, to see if you should buy a spusu SIM card.
Before we begin, if you’re searching for a new mobile plan, on spusu or any other network, use our comparison site to find the cheapest pay monthly phone plans or SIM-only deals on the market right now.
Contents
- spusu overview
- Coverage and speeds
- Roaming allowances
- Value for money
- Customer service
- Verdict: should you join spusu?
- Alternatives
- Conclusion
spusu overview
spusu is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that piggybacks off the EE network.
This means, spusu doesn’t have their own mobile network masts. Instead, they lease network access through EE, and use their 4G/5G infrastructure instead.
Originally from Austria, spusu is a more recent entrant into the UK mobile market.
They currently offer just a few different SIM-only deals, each of which comes with a rolling monthly contract.
There are no pay monthly deals available, though you can buy a SIM-free phone from spusu if you need a new handset.
They don’t have the largest range of phones on offer at the moment, but there are a few different models of Samsung Galaxy devices to choose from.
Each spusu SIM deal comes with unlimited calls and texts to UK numbers, and they also include 500 minutes to EU numbers as well, which very few other providers offer.
WiFi calling is supported, as well as Voice over LTE (VoLTE), and you can choose an eSIM instead of a physical SIM if you’d prefer.
There’s no need to order a physical SIM before switching to an eSIM with spusu, which is great. If you want to get connected immediately, without waiting for a SIM card in the mail, you can simply buy an eSIM on the spusu website.
Coverage and speeds
spusu uses the EE mobile network, which is the best in the UK in terms of coverage.
From our testing, we found that spusu had excellent 4G coverage, even in remote areas. And our 4G speeds were very good as well, in areas with strong signal.
The above speed test with a 187 Mbps download speed was recorded in a suburban area. In remote locations, your 4G speeds won’t be this fast, but you’ll still have signal, if there’s an EE mast close by.
We had no issues with call quality or dropouts, or issues receiving texts when travelling in the countryside.
Tested against a Vodafone SIM, we found we could get online and make calls in a few areas that the other SIM couldn’t.
When it came to 5G, our speeds were good, though our latency was often a bit high.
Similar to on 4G, our 5G signal was very impressive with spusu.
Our 5G speeds weren’t as fast as what we see with Three or Vodafone in the city centre, but we found that 5G was a bit more widely available in suburban areas and smaller towns.
Roaming allowances
Currently, spusu allows you to use 10GB of your data limit per month in the EU, as well as in a few other European countries, such as Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway.
You can also use a portion of your calls/texts allowance from overseas. At the moment, it’s 500 minutes and 500 texts per month.
Although the number of countries covered is good, 10GB is not a very high roaming data allowance compared to what other providers are currently offering.
Some networks with a higher roaming limit include:
- Three – 12GB
- 1pMobile – 14GB (another EE MVNO)
- O2 – 25GB
- Tesco Mobile – unlimited, up to your monthly data limit (though this is a limited-time offer)
For most people though, if you’re only spending one or two weeks abroad at a time, you should find that 10GB is enough data – provided you’re not watching a lot of Netflix or YouTube away from your accommodation.
Outside of the EU, if you enable roaming overseas, you will be charged per megabyte of data used, per text sent, and per minute of calls made as a spusu customer.
Value for money
spusu is not the cheapest mobile network on the market, but they’re not extremely expensive either.
Compared to other MVNOs like Smarty, iD Mobile, and giffgaff, you might find that spusu is more expensive, on a cost per gigabyte of data basis (we’ve pulled in some current deals below, so you can compare their pricing).
spusu’s prices look even higher when you consider spusu doesn’t offer much in the way of extras.
For example, their roaming allowance is a bit small, as we discussed above, and they don’t include data-free social media or video streaming on their plans, like VOXI does for example.
However, spusu’s parent network, EE, is generally the most expensive in the UK, mostly due to the level of 4G coverage they provide.
For some people, spusu makes up for their higher prices thanks to the level of service they offer, and their fast 4G and 5G speeds.
We think spusu is not the best value for money if you live in a major city, where a network like Three will offer faster 5G, and you won’t get much benefit from spusu’s excellent 4G coverage.
But if you often travel to the countryside, or find yourself struggling for signal with other networks, it might be that spusu’s SIM-only deals are worth paying more for.
Customer service
spusu has good customer service compared to other mobile networks, but we do have some complaints.
The good thing is, spusu is easy to get in contact with over the phone, using WhatsApp, or via email, which is great.
Many other MVNOs don’t have a phone number, and force you to use live chat to get in touch with them, after navigating through a chatbot, which can be a bit frustrating.
We found spusu’s team responded to WhatsApp messages and emails in about 24 hours on business days, which is not bad.
And it’s also quite easy to sign up for a spusu SIM. Their website makes getting started quite easy, with no credit check involved.
The spusu app is quite simple, but has most of the information you need, and makes it easy to control your account.
However, it can be difficult to cancel your plan. Currently, the process is quite confusing.
If you go to cancel in the app, spusu will issue a Service Termination Authorisation Code (STAC).
This is like a PAC, in that you give it to another provider when signing up, to transfer your service. But instead of porting your number when used with a different network, a STAC cancels the old number instead, and issues a new one.
STAC codes are seldom used, because if you want to change number when transferring networks, you can just do this by buying a new SIM, and cancelling the old one.
In pushing you towards using a STAC, spusu is overcomplicating the process of leaving their service.
The other issue with this is, if you just want to cancel your plan without moving to a new provider, a STAC doesn’t allow you to do this.
To actually cancel your plan with spusu, you have to contact their customer service team.
It would be much better if you could cancel your service directly from the app, rather than having to use a STAC.
Verdict: should you join spusu?
If you want to use the EE network, perhaps because you’re struggling with service on Three, O2, or Vodafone, spusu is definitely worth considering.
Their speeds and coverage are very good from our testing, both on 4G and 5G. Their service is not being throttled or restricted by EE.
And while spusu isn’t the cheapest mobile network on the market, compared to buying a SIM from EE directly, they’re a fair bit cheaper.
Plus, they offer good customer service – it’s easy to get in contact with a real person.
We just wish spusu would make it easier to cancel your plan. And we think it would be better if they had a slightly higher monthly roaming allowance.
Overall, we rate spusu 4 out of 5.
Best spusu alternatives
If you’re not decided on spusu, here are some other mobile networks it might be worth considering.
1. 1pMobile
1pMobile is spusu’s closest competitor.
They also use the EE network, and focus on delivering flexible, pay as you go SIM plans.
The difference is, 1pMobile can sometimes offer better value for money, depending on the deals currently on offer.
2. Three
While Three’s 4G coverage isn’t as good as EE’s, they have the fastest median 5G speeds in the UK.
Plus, Three SIM plans are often cheaper than what spusu offers, and they give you the option to lock in for 12 or 24 months to get an even lower monthly cost.
Also, Three has a slightly higher EU roaming fair usage limit than spusu, at 12GB at the moment.
3. Smarty
Smarty is to Three what spusu is to EE.
This provider offers some of the cheapest pay as you go SIMs on the market, while still offering the ultrafast 5G speeds that the Three network delivers.
While Smarty doesn’t support eSIMs, they still have good customer service, which is great to see given how cheap their SIM plans are.
Conclusion
Still not sure whether or not to join spusu Mobile?
Leave us a comment below with any questions you have, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
About the author
Tom is the founder of Green Smartphones. You’ll find him writing about phones on the Green Smartphones blog, or talking about SIM deals and mobile networks on our YouTube channel. He’s the Android expert on the team – currently using a Google Pixel 9, recently upgrading from a very long-suffering Note 20 Ultra. When he’s not working on Green Smartphones, you’ll find him playing football or hiking.