Looking at buying a SIM from Talkmobile?
In this guide, we’ve reviewed Talkmobile, to see if they’re any good.
We’ve assessed this mobile network based on its coverage and speeds, roaming allowances, customer service, prices, and more, to help you decide if Talkmobile is worth joining.
Before we begin, if you’re searching for a new mobile plan, on Talkmobile 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
- Talkmobile overview
- Coverage and speeds
- Roaming allowances
- Value for money
- Customer service
- Verdict: should you join Talkmobile?
- Alternatives
- Conclusion
Talkmobile overview
Talkmobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that uses the Vodafone network to provide their customers with signal.
Unlike most other MVNOs, Talkmobile does not exist as an independent company that buys minutes and data from the parent network. Instead, they are wholly owned by Vodafone.
Talkmobile mostly focuses on offering cheap SIM-only deals, but they used to sell phone plans, and still offer upgrade deals on new handsets for existing Talkmobile customers.
This is a bit of a weird setup – most MVNOs only offer SIM-only tariffs. Some also have pay monthly phones on a contract, but offering only upgrade plans to existing customers is quite rare to see.
For new customers though, Talkmobile has a good range of SIM plans to choose from, but there isn’t an unlimited data option – the maximum is 250GB.
Each SIM comes with unlimited calls and texts to UK numbers and a rolling monthly contract by default. However, you can also choose to commit for 12 months on some of their plans to save a bit of money.
WiFi calling is supported, and you can choose to get an eSIM as a new Talkmobile customer, which is great.
But apart from this, Talkmobile’s plans are very basic. They don’t offer much in the way of add-ons or extras – their inclusive roaming allowance is very limited for example, as we’ll discuss later in the article.
Coverage and speeds
Since Talkmobile uses the Vodafone network, they offer good all-round performance, but don’t excel in any particular area.
Talkmobile’s 4G speeds are very good, normally reaching around 100 Mbps on newer phones in areas with strong signal.
However, Vodafone’s national 4G coverage isn’t as good as EE’s or O2’s, meaning you may sometimes struggle for signal in very remote areas as a Talkmobile customer.
Talkmobile performs well when it comes to 5G speeds – they don’t have any speed caps, which isn’t always the case when you buy from Vodafone directly.
This means you should get 150-200 Mbps most of the time, allowing for smooth video streaming and fast downloads, such as when installing new apps on your phone.
Compared to Three though, Vodafone 5G is a bit slower – they don’t have the fastest average 5G speeds in the country at the moment.
But since Vodafone and Three are currently in the process of merging their operations, you may soon begin to access Three network masts on your Talkmobile SIM, in areas that have stronger Three signal compared to Vodafone.
This network sharing is slowly rolling out in different areas around the UK, meaning you should soon begin seeing faster average 5G speeds with a Talkmobile SIM card.
Roaming allowances
Talkmobile’s free roaming allowances are very restrictive, though you can pay more to get a higher inclusive roaming limit.
By default, you only get 5GB of monthly data to use each month in the EU, even if you’re paying for a much higher monthly data cap.
Most other mobile networks, including small ones like Talkmobile, allow you to use at least 10GB of data each month in Europe.
However, instead of cutting off your service once you hit this limit, or making you pay per megabyte downloaded, Talkmobile gives you the option to buy an extra data package to continue roaming past the fair usage limit.
These add-ons are quite expensive, but can be convenient for longer, infrequent overseas trips, and are a good option to have.
Plus, there are other add-ons called “World Holiday Boosters” that you can buy to get inclusive roaming outside the EU.
These packages are also quite expensive, but are good because most other MVNOs make you pay as you go in countries like Turkey and the United States, which can cost you hundreds of pounds if you’re not careful with your usage.
If you want to join a mobile network with much less restrictive European roaming, you might like to check out Tesco Mobile, which currently allows you to use your entire data allowance in the EU.
Value for money
As a fairly basic provider, Talkmobile’s SIM deals can be very good value for money.
Talkmobile is often one of the cheapest providers on the market, when you compare their deals to other similar plans with similar data limits.
Plus, if you buy a pay monthly contract, Talkmobile’s deals can be even cheaper – they normally have promotions such as half-price SIMs for the first three months of the contract.
However, as we touched on above, Talkmobile’s SIM deals are very basic. You can sometimes find similarly-priced tariffs from other providers that offer more for your money, such as higher free roaming allowances in Europe.
It’s normally worth comparing Talkmobile’s pricing with Smarty’s, as they offer very cheap SIM-only deals with a 12GB roaming fair usage limit.
Customer service
Talkmobile is one of the few cheap SIMO providers on the market that still has a phone number you can use to speak to their support team.
Most other MVNOs at this price point only provide live chat-based support, because it’s cheaper to operate. But this isn’t the case with Talkmobile – there is a live chat you can choose to use, but it’s also easy to get in touch over the phone and speak with a real person.
We found that Talkmobile is quick to answer when you call them, and their team is very helpful once you make contact.
Talkmobile has extremely good customer satisfaction, and we found that they are effective at solving billing and technical-related questions.
If you’re searching for a cheap mobile network with good customer service, Talkmobile is one of the best options on the market, along with Lebara.
Verdict: should you join Talkmobile?
There are a lot of things to like about Talkmobile:
- They have very good customer service given the prices they’re charging.
- They’re cheap, but still offer the functionality you’d expect from a modern mobile network, such as eSIM compatibility.
- They offer good 4G and 5G speeds on the Vodafone network, and don’t seem to have their traffic deprioritised by the parent network, from our testing.
The main downside to Talkmobile is their very restrictive EU roaming limit. Also, this provider doesn’t offer unlimited data SIM plans at the moment.
Overall, we rate Talkmobile 4 out of 5. They’re a good choice if you want a cheap SIM, don’t travel internationally very often, and don’t need unlimited usage.
Best Talkmobile alternatives
Other than Talkmobile, here are some other cheap MVNOs you might like to consider buying a SIM-only deal from.
1. Smarty
Smarty is Three’s version of Talkmobile – a provider focused on offering cheap SIM-only deals, which is wholly owned by the parent network.
Compared to Talkmobile, Smarty can be cheaper, and they offer faster average 5G speeds as well. Plus, their customers are gradually getting access to the Vodafone network, helping to improve their coverage.
However, Smarty’s customer service isn’t as good as Talkmobile’s at the moment.
2. VOXI
VOXI is another MVNO owned by Vodafone.
Their SIM plans are less basic than Talkmobile’s. They often come with inclusive social media or audio/video streaming for example, separate from your regular data limit, which can be very useful if you like to scroll X or watch YouTube on the go.
VOXI doesn’t have a phone number you can use to reach them, but their customer support team is Vodafone’s UK-based one, and they’re generally very helpful.
Plus, VOXI has a 20GB roaming fair usage limit, compared to just 5GB with Talkmobile.
3. spusu
If you want the best possible coverage in the countryside, you might be better off with an EE MVNO, like spusu.
They aren’t the cheapest mobile provider on the market, and don’t have a huge range of plans to choose from, but still offer very good value for money.
They also generally offer better roaming allowances than Talkmobile, and have good customer service – though cancelling your SIM can be a bit tricky, if you’re not migrating your number to a new network.
Conclusion
You’ve reached the end of our Talkmobile review.
If you’re still not sure which mobile network to join, leave us a comment below, and we’ll reply 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.