Considering joining Tesco Mobile?
In this article, we’ve tested Tesco Mobile using a pay as you go SIM, to see if they’re any good.
We’ve reviewed Tesco based on their speeds and coverage, value for money, customer service, and more, to see if you should join them.
Before we begin, if you’re searching for a new mobile plan, on Tesco 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
- Tesco Mobile overview
- Coverage and speeds
- Roaming allowances
- Value for money
- Customer service
- Verdict: should you join Tesco Mobile?
- Alternatives
- Conclusion
Tesco Mobile overview
Tesco Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that piggybacks off the O2 network.
Rather than having their own 4G and 5G masts, Tesco uses O2 infrastructure. They buy data, calls, and texts in bulk from O2, allowing them to offer cheaper prices than O2 itself.
Tesco currently offers a number of SIM-only deals on a pay as you go or pay monthly agreement, and they also have a good range of handsets available to buy on a contract as well.
Compared to most other MVNOs, Tesco Mobile’s range of offers is quite large – they also have upgrade and trade-in deals, which can be rare to see from one of the non-big-four networks. Plus, they support WiFi calling.
On a similar note, Tesco Mobile’s phone contracts come with a good range of extras and free gifts, such as free Apple Music or Apple TV+. And their contracts are very flexible – you can normally customise the data limit, contract length, and upfront cost, to create a plan that works for you.
As a Tesco Clubcard member, you can get a discount on their pay monthly contracts, and you can also lock in your monthly cost, meaning no mid-contract price rises.
When it comes to SIM-only, Tesco’s range of options and the value they deliver is a bit limited on their pay as you go tariffs, compared to some other providers that focus more on short-term SIM plans. We’ve discussed this in more detail later in the article.
It’s also worth mentioning, while Tesco does support eSIMs, the process of getting one is a bit tricky compared to with most other networks. You first need to order a physical SIM, then request a transfer to an eSIM at a later date.
Coverage and speeds
Since Tesco uses the O2 network, you may be curious what their real-world speeds are like, especially on 5G.
While O2 offers good 4G coverage and speeds, they have the slowest median 5G in the UK.
Despite that, we found that Tesco Mobile performed well on 5G in our area of the West Midlands, and we had no issues with coverage when travelling.
Our 5G speeds were fast, plenty for video streaming on the go, and we experienced no issues with service when making or receiving calls.
It was a similar story on 4G, although we found the coverage to be more impressive, compared to other networks.
Our 4G speeds were good, and we were able to get online in some areas we couldn’t on a Vodafone MVNO SIM.
So ultimately, if you want good speeds and coverage, we think Tesco performs well, and the O2 network is not as bad as it’s sometimes made out to be.
We just wouldn’t recommend Tesco Mobile if you want the absolute fastest 5G speeds. In this case, Three and their MVNOs, like Smarty or iD Mobile, would generally be a better choice.
Roaming allowances
One of Tesco Mobile’s biggest strengths is their roaming allowances.
Currently, they let you use your entire allowance overseas in their 48 different EU roaming destinations free of charge, no matter whether you’re on a pay monthly or pay as you go contract.
No other mobile network currently allows you to do this. Most have a “fair usage” roaming limit of around 10-20GB per month, no matter how high your actual monthly data limit is.
And some smaller networks, such as VOXI, don’t give you any free roaming allowance at all.
The one catch is, Tesco advertises their free roaming offer lasts until the end of the year. Last year, they did the same, then it was renewed for this year as well.
So, free unlimited EU roaming with Tesco may not last forever, but it is a very good deal at the moment.
Beyond Europe, Tesco Mobile charges per megabyte of data used, like most other networks, and this can get quite expensive, especially on a longer holiday.
Value for money
Tesco Mobile offers good value for money, if you don’t mind entering into a long-term contract.
The problem is, their pay as you go SIMs aren’t the cheapest, and they don’t come with unlimited calls and texts included.
Most other pay as you go SIM providers include this as standard, such as Smarty and VOXI.
When it comes to pay monthly phones though, Tesco offers very competitive prices, especially if you sign up for a Clubcard to get the extra discount on offer.
And it’s a similar story on their pay monthly SIMs – unlimited calls and texts are included, as well as all the other benefits that Tesco Mobile offers, such as free EU roaming.
To see if Tesco Mobile offers good value for money compared to other networks you’re considering, use our smartphone or SIM-only deal comparison pages.
Customer service
Tesco Mobile’s customer service is top-notch.
They have much better customer satisfaction than most other MVNOs, and perform better than most of the other big-four networks as well.
According to Ofcom data, they have the lowest number of complaints of any major network at the moment, beating out Three, O2, iD Mobile, Sky Mobile, and EE.
Tesco Mobile has shops you can use to get help in person, and they also have a phone number you can call to easily speak with someone, which is great.
Most other cheap MVNOs require you go through their live chat to get help – many don’t have a phone number at all these days. And to speak to a real person, you’ll often have to first go through a chatbot, which can be a bit frustrating.
This is part of the reason why Tesco Mobile’s prices are a bit higher than what some other networks offer at the moment – they have a much larger emphasis on providing quality service.
We personally had no issues with our Tesco Mobile SIM that required us to reach out to them. Adding data to the SIM, and later cancelling it, was very easy to do through their website or mobile app.
Verdict: should you join Tesco Mobile?
There are some significant advantages to Tesco Mobile, but also some downsides worth considering as well.
On the plus side:
- Tesco has some of the best customer support of any mobile network in the UK right now. You can get help in person or over the phone.
- EU roaming is included free of charge, with no fair usage limit.
- Tesco’s pay monthly deals can be very cost competitive, especially if you can get the Clubcard discount.
However:
- While we saw good performance, the O2 network, which Tesco uses, doesn’t have the best average 5G speeds.
- Tesco isn’t the best choice if you want a pay as you go SIM deal, especially if you make a lot of calls, or send a lot of texts.
Overall, we rate Tesco Mobile 4.3 out of 5. They’re a solid choice if you want a pay monthly plan, especially if you often travel to Europe.
Best Tesco Mobile alternatives
Here are some other mobile networks with different strengths and weaknesses in different areas, compared to Tesco Mobile.
1. iD Mobile
iD Mobile is very similar to Tesco Mobile – they also offer good customer service, and have generous roaming allowances.
However, iD uses the Three network, meaning they offer faster 5G.
Also, iD Mobile’s pay as you go SIM choices are a better choice than Tesco Mobile’s, in terms of value for money.
2. 1pMobile
EE has the UK’s best coverage, especially in the countryside. However, they can be very expensive to join directly.
Instead, you can buy a SIM from 1pMobile, for a much lower monthly cost, to access the same speeds and coverage.
This MVNO isn’t the cheapest on the market, but they can be worth paying more for, especially if you live in a remote area.
3. VOXI
VOXI allows you to buy flexible pay as you go SIMs on the Vodafone network.
Vodafone (and therefore VOXI) offers fast 5G, especially in the cities, and good 4G coverage as well.
VOXI isn’t the cheapest MVNO on the market, but they do include unlimited social media and/or video streaming on some of their plans, often allowing you to get away with having a lower data limit.
Conclusion
This is the end of our Tesco Mobile review.
If you’re still not sure whether to buy a phone or SIM plan from Tesco, 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.