Considering buying a SIM from Smarty, and wondering if they’re any good?
Today, we’ve reviewed Smarty Mobile, to see if they’re worth joining – based on their speeds and coverage, value for money, customer service, and more.
Before we begin, if you’re searching for a new mobile plan, on Smarty 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
- Smarty overview
- Coverage and speeds
- Roaming allowances
- Value for money
- Customer service
- Verdict: should you join Smarty?
- Alternatives
- Conclusion
Smarty overview
Smarty is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that piggybacks off the Three network.
Compared to Three itself, Smarty is designed to be a simple, cheap SIM-only provider.
They don’t have any pay monthly phone deals, or any pay monthly contracts at all for that matter. All Smarty SIM plans come with a rolling monthly contract, and there is no credit check required to get started.
We found Smarty was very easy to sign up for. You can order a free SIM online, and add data once it arrives in the mail, if you’d prefer.
Each Smarty SIM plan comes with unlimited calls and texts to UK numbers, as well as WiFi calling. However, Smarty is one of the few mobile networks that doesn’t offer eSIMs at the moment.
There is a good range of data limits to choose from, ranging from 2GB up to unlimited data.
Something unique that Smarty does is offer special, cheap plans with a low data limit, which give you a discount on your next bill if you don’t use your entire allowance.
These “Data Discount” deals as they’re called aren’t something we’ve seen from any other network. However, we wouldn’t generally recommend them, because if you want to save money, it’s often cheaper to simply buy one of Smarty’s regular SIMs with a small data limit.
Coverage and speeds
Smarty is one of the few mobile MVNOs that is actually owned by their parent network – like how Vodafone owns VOXI, and O2 owns giffgaff.
Often, MVNOs owned by the main network perform the best, when compared to other providers that simply purchase data, calls, and texts from the carrier they’re using.
And from our testing, we found this holds true for Smarty.
Three offers the UK’s fastest 5G, according to data published by speedtest.net, and we found Smarty offers the same ultrafast speeds.
When we tested a Smarty SIM alongside a Three SIM in the same area, they offered the same download and upload speeds. Smarty was actually a bit faster, which is good to see – they weren’t being throttled at all.
The above speed test was performed in an area with weak signal. We regularly saw speeds of 200-300 Mbps in a suburban area using Smarty on 5G.
Smarty’s 5G coverage is also good, and they perform well when it comes to 4G. Although, EE and its MVNOs offer better 4G coverage, especially in remote areas.
But unlike EE, and also Vodafone, Smarty and Three don’t put any speed caps on any of their plans, meaning you’ll always have access to their fastest 5G.
So, unless you live in the countryside, Smarty’s speeds and coverage are unbeatable at the moment, as long as your phone supports 5G connectivity.
Roaming allowances
For a piggyback network, Smarty’s roaming allowances are good, but they could be a bit better.
Currently, Smarty SIM users get free roaming in the EU, in 44 different destinations, which is decent.
However, the monthly fair usage roaming limit is just 12GB, even if you have a much higher monthly data limit.
It is common for mobile networks to have these types of monthly roaming limits – it’s also 12GB if you buy from Three directly for example.
It’s just, some other providers have much more generous allowances, around 20-25GB or so. Tesco Mobile for example lets you use your entire allowance when roaming, though they are the only network doing this currently.
On the plus side, you still get access to unlimited calls and texts on Smarty when roaming in the EU.
However, beyond their 44 European destinations, roaming with Smarty becomes more complex, and can be quite expensive.
In countries like Australia, you’ll need to pay per minute of calls made, per text sent, and per megabyte of data used.
This isn’t a criticism of Smarty here, as it’s very rare for mobile plans to come with inclusive roaming beyond the EU, unless you buy an expensive pay monthly SIM plan with a big four network directly.
Value for money
Smarty is generally one of the best value for money SIM providers on the market.
Compared to other cheap networks, like giffgaff and VOXI, Smarty is often the cheapest or close to it, when you compare plans with similar data limits.
The downside is, Smarty is relatively basic. They don’t give you unlimited social media usage for example, separate from your data allowance, like VOXI does on some of their plans.
But if the Three network offers good signal in your area, and you want to prioritise having fast 5G speeds, we think Smarty offers really good value for money.
Customer service
As a cheap, basic MVNO, Smarty’s customer support options are a bit limited.
They don’t have a phone number you can call, like Three does. Instead, to get help, you normally need to begin by using their live chat.
Smarty’s live chat begins by giving you automated answers, which aren’t normally that helpful, unless you have a basic query about how to upgrade or downgrade your plan, for example.
Once you do get through to Smarty’s support team though, they are quite helpful.
Their customer satisfaction ratings are a fair bit higher than some other MVNOs, especially ones offering similar prices to Smarty.
Plus, unlike most other small mobile networks, Smarty has a public-facing customer support email address, which you can use to bypass the live chat, if you’d prefer.
We’ve also found the Smarty app is quite straightforward, and intuitive to use. It’s very easy to monitor your data usage and activate add-ons, for example.
It’s also easy to cancel your plan with Smarty, which isn’t always the case with some other providers.
Verdict: should you join Smarty?
We really like Smarty if you’re looking for a cheap SIM-only deal.
They offer low cost, flexible tariffs, with very fast 5G speeds – the fastest in the UK, on average – and good coverage as well.
Their roaming allowances in the EU are decent, and their customer service is a lot better than what some other cheap networks offer, although their chatbot isn’t all that helpful.
Plus, Smarty’s range of different data limits is really good. You can normally find a plan with the exact amount of data you need.
There aren’t really that many downsides to Smarty to speak of. The only thing worth noting is, they don’t currently offer eSIMs, meaning they’re not a good choice if you have an iPhone without a physical SIM slot.
Also, Smarty isn’t the best choice if you want a pay monthly phone or SIM contract (which can sometimes come with a lower monthly cost, compared to a pay as you go tariff).
Overall, we rate Smarty 4.5 out of 5. We think they’re definitely worth considering if you want fast 5G for a low monthly cost.
Best Smarty alternatives
If you’re not set on Smarty, here are some other mobile networks you might also like to consider.
1. 1pMobile
While Three has the fastest 5G network in the UK, when it comes to overall coverage, especially on 4G, EE comes out on top.
1pMobile allows you to access the EE network for a much lower price compared to buying from them directly.
While they’re not as cheap as Smarty, 1pMobile can be a good choice if you often struggle for signal in remote parts of the country.
2. Tesco Mobile
Compared to Smarty, Tesco offers a much larger range of phone and SIM deals on a long-term contract, potentially helping you save money over the long run.
The best thing about Tesco though is their roaming allowances. They allow you to use your entire data limit in most European countries, instead of limiting you to 12GB like Smarty does.
However, Tesco Mobile piggybacks off the O2 network, which doesn’t offer the best 4G or 5G speeds and signal.
3. VOXI
VOXI tends to be more expensive than Smarty, and while their 5G speeds are fast on the Vodafone network, they’re not as fast as what Smarty offers.
However, they still offer cheap SIM-only deals, and VOXI plans include more perks than Smarty’s tariffs. For example, you can get an eSIM if you’d prefer, and many of their plans exempt social media and/or video streaming from your data allowance, which is nice.
The downside is, VOXI’s support isn’t as good as Smarty’s, and they have no inclusive EU roaming allowances.
Conclusion
This is the end of our Smarty Mobile review.
If you’re still not sure whether to choose Smarty or another provider, leave us a comment below, and we’ll help out.
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.