Considering buying a phone or SIM plan from Sky Mobile?
In this article, we’ve reviewed Sky Mobile, to see if they’re any good.
We’ve assessed Sky based on their speeds and coverage, customer service, value for money, roaming, and more, to help you decide if Sky is the right mobile network for you.
Before we begin, if you’re searching for a new mobile plan, on Sky 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
- Sky Mobile overview
- Coverage and speeds
- Roaming allowances
- Value for money
- Customer service
- Verdict: should you join Sky Mobile?
- Alternatives
- Conclusion
Sky Mobile overview
Sky Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the UK, which piggybacks off the O2 network.
Though they don’t have their own network infrastructure, Sky is still more of a premium provider, similar to some of the big four.
They focus on pay monthly phone and SIM-only deals, and offer laptops, smart watches, and tablets you can buy as well.
Unlike most other MVNOs, Sky doesn’t have pay as you go SIM plans on offer. Instead, you have to commit to at least a 12 month contract.
However, Sky does allow you to change your data limit mid-contract, on some of their SIM plans.
They also include unlimited UK calls and texts as standard on all tariffs, and offer eSIMs as well, which is good.
Compared to most other major networks, Sky doesn’t have a huge range of extra benefits or perks when you buy a contract from them.
For example, they don’t give you a speed boost or discount on your Sky Broadband plan (if you have one) when you buy a phone, like O2 does for Virgin Media Broadband customers.
There are also no perks like free Apple Music or Apple TV+, like you’ll see on some Vodafone or O2 SIM plans.
However, they do sometimes include extra tech on certain deals, such as a Samsung tablet when you buy an S25 Ultra. And you can stream Sky TV outside of your data allowance, if you have a Sky TV subscription.
Coverage and speeds
Since Sky uses the O2 network, their coverage performs well in some respects, but their speeds can be a bit limited.
O2 has some of the best 4G signal in the UK, especially if you’re looking for extra coverage in remote areas.
Sort of similar to EE, O2 (and therefore Sky) can be a great choice if you live in the countryside for this reason.
However, O2 has the slowest average 5G speeds of any UK mobile network.
If having the fastest possible 5G is important to you, you might be better off with a Three SIM.
They have the fastest 5G of any of the big four networks, and tend to offer cheaper SIM-only deals than Sky Mobile, including some pay as you go options. Their pay monthly phone plans can also offer better value than Sky as well.
It’s important to note, Sky Mobile is not super slow. We typically get speeds of around 200 Mbps on O2 5G at our address, and 150 Mbps on 4G.
It’s just, you’re less likely to see speeds of 300 Mbps+ that some other networks offer on a consistent basis.
Roaming allowances
Sky Mobile is one of the few UK networks that doesn’t include free EU roaming on their plans.
To use your allowance overseas, you’ll need to pay £2 per 24 hours.
This isn’t a huge amount, especially given it unlocks your entire allowance, but most other networks give you around 20GB to use in the EU each month, completely free of charge.
On the plus side though, this £2 add-on is also valid in non-EU countries, like Australia, and the USA.
This is actually quite a competitive price to roam in these further-afield destinations, compared to what most other mobile networks are charging.
With some other MVNOs, your only option is to pay per megabyte of data used outside of Europe.
If you mostly travel in the EU though, you might be better off with another O2 MVNO – Tesco Mobile.
Tesco is actually quite similar to Sky Mobile in many ways, except they offer PAYG month-to-month SIMs, and currently allow you to use your entire allowance in their EU roaming destinations, free of charge.
Value for money
Sky is not the cheapest mobile network on the market, and in general, we don’t think they offer the best value for money.
Other networks like Three, VOXI, and iD Mobile tend to offer cheaper prices on most Apple, Google, and Samsung handsets, on a pay monthly contract.
And if you want a cheap SIM-only plan, a few other networks normally have lower prices on plans with a similar amount of data.
The other issue is, Sky Mobile doesn’t offer much in the way of extras or benefits on their plans, nor the fastest 5G speeds. Therefore, other networks can offer better value than Sky, even at higher price points.
Despite this, Sky can sometimes offer competitive prices on a particular phone. And they are one of the few mobile networks that has no mid-contract price rises, even on their 24 or 36 month contracts.
Plus, Sky has a significant focus on upgrades and trade-in deals. So if you always want to have the newest phone, Sky can be a great choice for this, as they make it really easy to upgrade your device every year or two.
Remember, use our comparison pages to see if Sky offers the best deals on a given device at the moment, if you’re looking for a specific handset.
Customer service
The best thing about Sky Mobile right now is their customer service.
They have very high customer satisfaction compared to most other mobile networks. And according to Ofcom data, they receive the fewest complaints of any major mobile provider, tied with Tesco Mobile.
Sky has a customer service phone number you can use to speak to a real person, though when you call the number, there is a bit of an automated system you have to get through before reaching a human.
The good thing is, you’re not limited to just live chat support, like you are with some cheaper networks.
Also, the Sky support team is UK-based, and is very helpful once you reach them, which is the reason why they receive so few customer complaints.
Verdict: should you join Sky Mobile?
Sky Mobile is a bit of a mixed bag at the moment.
Their 4G signal, coverage and speeds are really good on the O2 network, but their 5G isn’t as fast as what most other providers offer.
Their customer support is great, but their prices are normally quite high, and there are no inclusive roaming allowances on any of their plans.
Sky makes it easy to get up and running with an eSIM, and their upgrade deals are quite good, but compared to most other networks at a similar price point, their tariffs are quite basic.
Overall, we rate Sky Mobile 3 out of 5.
This mobile network is worth looking at if you want good customer service, or a pay monthly phone plan with flexible upgrades, or no mid-contract price rises. But there are better value options on the market most of the time, especially if you often travel to Europe.
Best Sky Mobile alternatives
If you’re put off by Sky Mobile’s prices or lack of roaming allowances, here are some other networks it can be worth considering instead.
1. Three
The Three network offers faster 5G speeds than what you get with O2/Sky, and they often have cheaper prices as well.
EU roaming is included as standard, up to 12GB of data per month, and Three has a great range of pay as you go SIMs you can choose between.
The downside is, Three’s customer service isn’t as good as Sky Mobile’s at the moment.
2. Tesco Mobile
Tesco is another O2 MVNO, very similar to Sky Mobile.
They also offer really good customer service, according to Ofcom data, and have a great range of pay monthly and pay as you go plans to choose from.
But compared to Sky, Tesco normally has better value for money plans, and they include free European roaming on their tariffs at the moment.
3. Smarty
If you want a cheap, flexible pay as you go SIM, Smarty is a great choice.
They use the Three network, meaning they offer very fast 5G, and have good customer service as well.
Smarty’s plans are quite basic, but they often have some of the cheapest SIM-only deals on the market.
Conclusion
You’ve reached the end of our Sky Mobile review.
Still not sure if Sky is right for you? Leave us a comment below, 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.