Considering joining the EE mobile network?
In this guide, we’ve reviewed EE, to see if they’re worth joining.
We’ve assessed EE based on their speeds and coverage, value for money, customer service, and more, to see if they’re a good choice in 2025.
Before we begin, if you’re searching for a new mobile plan, on EE 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
- EE overview
- Coverage and speeds
- Roaming allowances
- Value for money
- Customer service
- Verdict: should you join EE?
- Alternatives
- Conclusion
EE overview
EE is one of the big four mobile networks in the UK, alongside O2, Three, and Vodafone.
This means they operate their own network masts, rather than piggybacking off another provider’s infrastructure.
EE is one of the more premium, more expensive mobile networks on the market.
They have a good range of pay monthly phone contracts and SIM-only deals to choose from, many of which come with inclusive extras such as subscriptions to Apple Music or Apple TV.
It’s also normally possible to customise your plan, for example, you can adjust how much you want to pay up front, in order to raise or lower your monthly cost. You also normally have the choice of a 24 month or 36 month contract.
For a given phone, EE normally offers a good range of different contracts to choose from, with different data limits. There are generally different plans with the same data limit but a different monthly cost – the cheaper options often come with a speed cap of 100 Mbps, and a more restrictive inclusive roaming plan.
Unlimited texts and calls to UK numbers are included by default, and it’s easy to get set up with an eSIM as an EE customer. They also support WiFi calling as standard on all plans.
You can also buy a cheaper pay as you go SIM with EE. However, these are normally limited to just 25 Mbps, and are fairly expensive given how basic they are.
If you want a flexible SIM-only deal on the EE network, it is probably a better idea to look at one of their piggyback providers, such as spusu or 1pMobile.
Coverage and speeds
To test EE’s coverage and speeds, we used a pay monthly SIM, meaning there are no limits imposed on our download or upload speeds.
On 4G, EE performs extremely well.
They have the best coverage of any of the big four, and are particularly good in remote areas. You can often get signal in places where Vodafone, Three, and O2 struggle (though O2 is also quite good in the countryside).
When speed testing in an area with good signal, we saw strong results on EE, with download speeds of more than 100 Mbps most of the time.
The best thing about EE 4G from a speed point of view is their upload speeds. They often offer double the upload speed or more compared to most other networks on the market.
On 5G, EE has fast speeds and performs really well, but they’re not as fast as Three, on average.
As Three combines its network with Vodafone’s following their recent merger, the new VodafoneThree network will likely continue to pull ahead of EE in terms of 5G speeds.
And remember, unless you buy a more expensive EE pay monthly plan, your 5G speeds will be limited to 100 Mbps, compared to the 200-300 Mbps or more you can normally get with Three.
If you want the fastest possible 5G speeds, check out Three’s deals, or look at one of their MVNOs, like Smarty.
In saying this though, EE’s 5G coverage and consistency is very good. Compared to just using Vodafone on its own for example, you might find you’re seeing 5G signal more often using the EE network.
Roaming allowances
To roam with EE, you’ll normally need to pay for it, either directly or by buying a more expensive tariff.
The exact roaming allowance you’ll have will depend on your plan. An Essentials plan will have different roaming allowances compared to a Full Works plan, and so on.
In most cases, unless you have a No Frills package, EU roaming is included as standard, which is great.
On some more expensive tariffs, you might also be able to roam free of charge in other destinations like the US and Canada.
If you’re not covered, you’ll need to pay a daily charge to get online abroad, or buy a roaming pass.
These add-on options are good to have, but they’re also quite expensive, especially if you need more than a few gigabytes of data.
If you want a more expansive roaming allowance without buying an expensive pay monthly SIM, O2 is the best of the big four mobile networks in this area.
You may also like to consider Tesco Mobile, which allows you to use your entire allowance in the EU, which is quite rare for a cheaper provider.
The good thing about EE though, in terms of roaming, is their fair usage limit is 50GB – the highest of any mobile network we’re aware of at the moment, except Tesco.
Most mobile networks only allow you to roam with 10-15GB of your data allowance each month, but this isn’t the case with EE Mobile.
Value for money
Likely the biggest downside to EE is their value for money.
Compared to similar SIM deals from other providers, with similar inclusive benefits and data limits, EE is generally more expensive.
You do often get what you pay for, in return for the higher price – for example, you might get a 50GB roaming fair usage limit, and access to extremely strong 4G coverage.
However, if you want a new iPhone or Samsung for example, a network like Three or VOXI is likely going to offer better value for money.
It’s not much different on SIM-only plans either. If you want to access the EE network on a cheap SIM plan, 1pMobile or spusu are going to be significantly less expensive.
Customer service
EE’s customer service is quite good for a big four mobile network, but it does have some issues.
Unlike many other cheaper providers, EE has a phone number you can use to get help, and their support team is UK-based, which is great.
We also found they answer the phone very quickly most of the time – you shouldn’t have to wait more than a few minutes on hold.
The downside to EE customer support is, because they’re such a big company, they can sometimes be a bit inflexible. You can end up being just another number, some of the time, especially if you have a complex or unique issue you need help with.
Compared to the rest of the big four, we think EE support is better than Three and O2’s, and about on par with Vodafone’s.
In general, if you want closer, more personalised support, a small MVNO such as Lebara is likely to be a better choice than a big four provider.
Verdict: should you join EE?
There are a few different situations in which EE can be a great choice:
- You live in a rural area and need the best possible signal, at any price.
- You want a pay monthly SIM contract with extra benefits such as free roaming beyond the EU, and don’t mind paying more for it.
- You want a phone on a contract with a basic data plan – in this case, EE can sometimes offer competitive deals.
However, EE is a very expensive option. Their MVNOs generally offer the same connectivity, including very strong rural 4G, for a much lower monthly cost compared to buying an EE SIM directly.
Overall, we rate EE 3.8 out of 5. They’re expensive, but offer very good signal and strong roaming allowances on their more expensive plans.
Best EE alternatives
If EE looks a bit expensive, here are some alternative mobile networks you might also like to consider.
1. spusu
spusu is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that piggybacks off EE, allowing you to access their network for a much cheaper price.
They don’t offer phones on a contract, or have as expansive roaming as EE. But if you just want a cheap SIM-only deal, spusu offers much better value for money.
Even as a cheaper mobile network, you can still get an eSIM with spusu, and their customer service is quite good as well.
2. 1pMobile
1pMobile is another EE MVNO, similar to spusu.
The difference is, 1pMobile has even better customer service, and a much larger range of SIM plans to choose from. It’s easier to find a tariff that meets your needs, including if you need unlimited monthly data.
However, 1pMobile is more basic than spusu or EE. They don’t offer the ability to buy an eSIM, for example.
3. Smarty
If you want the fastest possible 5G speeds, it might be worth looking at a Three network MVNO, like Smarty.
Apart from ultrafast, widely available 5G, the other benefit of Smarty is their prices. They’re a fair bit cheaper than most other MVNOs, and their tariffs are very flexible.
There are no pay monthly phone deals available though, and Smarty’s roaming allowances are quite restrictive.
Conclusion
You’ve reached the end of our EE Mobile network review.
If you’re still not sure which mobile provider to choose, 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.