1pMobile review 2025: the best cheap network on EE
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We joined 1pMobile as a real life customer to find out if their 5G/4G coverage, speeds, WiFi calling and other benefits are any good. Last updated: 7th November 2024.
Overall rating
SIM Sherpa rates 1pMobile as an excellent provider
(4/5, excellent)
✔ We joined 1p for real for our reviewVisit 1pmobile.com
“Don’t be put off by their cheap looking branding, we’ve always found the underlying network experience on 1pMobile to be excellent. It’s the closest you can get to being on EE, without the usual high price tag.
The coverage is the same as EE. The WiFi calling and 4G calling work really well. Data speeds are uncapped, so actually faster than most EE plans. eSIMs are the only real missing mainstream extra network feature.
Benefits-wise, you still get EU roaming included. Plus they’ve got customer service you can call. Though they have made their pay as you go worse for infrequent users.
But overall, if you’re the type of person that just wants a well-functioning mobile deal and you don’t care about fancy branding, it’s hard to go wrong with 1pMobile.”
The 3 best bits
1) Full speed 5G/4G via EE network
2) WiFi calling and 4G calling
3) Customer service you can call
The 3 worst bits
1) Minimum PAYG top-up requirement
2) Paying 1p per MB would add up fast
3) No real additional benefits
Who do 1pMobile piggyback on?
1pMobile use the full EE 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G network.
What is the catch with 1pMobile?
There is a requirement to top up with £10 every 60 days to keep your SIM active. This might be more than very infrequent users want to do. 1p per MB data isn’t actually that cheap either. 1GB would cost £10 at that rate, which is very easily beatable on pay monthly.
Does 1pMobile credit expire?
No. You can keep credit forever. You do have to top up once every 4 months though to keep the SIM active.
Does 1pMobile have an app?
No they don’t. Their online account system is pretty good though, with lots of the settings you’ll need.
Can I keep my number when I move to 1pMobile?
Yes you can. Just text the word PAC to 65075 from your old SIM and give the PAC to 1pMobile when you sign up or once your SIM arrives.
1pMobile's network
Coverage is excellent on 1pMobile thanks to using EE
From testing a 1pMobile SIM card side-by-side against an EE one, we’re certain that coverage between the two is identical. And that’s a real advantage for 1pMobile.
We don’t think they can be beaten for 4G data coverage nationally (though local differences exist, so check coverage here). 5G data is also a strength. 1p have it live in 1000+ locations, everywhere EE have it.
As EE switch off their 3G signal, we have noticed worse data coverage rurally on 1p though. Where you’d previously get decent 3G data, we’ve often found unusably slow, single bars of 4G instead.
The remaining 2G signal used for conventional calls is less widespread than Vodafone/O2 and worse frequencies mean indoor signal can suffer. But 1p’s 4G calling and WiFi calling are excellent to make up for it.
All in all, it still builds into an excellent overall coverage experience on 1p that we’d happily recommend.
Useful link: Check 1pMobile signal
Data speeds are generally impressive on 1pMobile
The main benefit of 1pMobile choosing EE as their network partner is the data speeds. Our side-by-side tests found no speed differences vs EE. In fact, most EE plans now have a speed cap, so 1p often outpace them!
We’ve had 4G speeds as high as 130+ Mbps in the city centre on 1p but as low as 5 Mbps in the countryside. Independent testers Opensignal predict typical downloads around 45.9 Mbps. That’s the best in the country.
For 5G, Opensignal and Speedtest predict typical speeds around 96.8 Mbps - 119.21 Mbps. That’s obviously better than their 4G but it’s beatable on Three/Vodafone based networks.
We would say we’ve found a lot of "5G" that is no noticeable upgrade on 4G with 1p (and EE). But when you do hit "proper" 5G, you can hit peaks of 300 Mbps. More of this full 5G is being rolled out constantly.
Useful link: Read 1pMobile's FAQs on data speeds
WiFi calling and 4G calling work really well
With old calling technologies 2G and 3G being switched off on all networks, it’s now basically essential to offer WiFi calling and 4G calling technologies. 1p do, and we’ve never had any issues with it (read their guide here).
We suspect they use the identical setup as EE directly. The number of supported phones is vast, whether you have Android or iPhone bought from a network or SIM-free elsewhere.
In our tests, we successfully sent and received SMS messages over WiFi. And you can move from WiFi to 4G mid-call without it dropping. Call quality was decent too.
WiFi calling can be a weakness for cheaper networks, so it’s a real bonus that it’s so slick on 1pMobile. It completes an overall picture of a very good mobile network.
Useful link: 1pMobile's own guide to their WiFi/4G calling
You don’t get some of the more specialist network features
Despite the quality of their general mobile network, 1pMobile don’t offer some of the more niche advanced features you can get elsewhere. It’s worth knowing these to avoid disappointment.
The most notable lacking feature is eSIM. Their low-cost rivals spusu on EE do offer this. These let you buy online and have the service working on your phone within minutes. Or run two SIMs at once.
They don’t support call forwarding. They don’t support visual voicemail. And they have no free WiFi hotspots. But you can tether all your data allowance on 1pMobile.
So it’s not a perfect experience joining 1pMobile but for a budget mobile network, we think they’ve got an excellent setup. Lacking these should only put you off if you know you’d definitely need them.
Useful link: 1pMobile's About Us page
1pMobile benefits
Inclusive EU roaming is really useful to have
Lots of UK networks have removed inclusive EU roaming from their plans, but 1pMobile are not one of them (see all the networks that still include EU roaming here). They’re still a good choice for going to the EU.
You can use your UK mins, texts and data in these 46 EU destinations at no added cost. While there you can use up to 14GB of data, which is a sizeable chunk and should be enough for most on a short trip.
Roaming is turned on by default on 1pMobile, so you don’t have to worry about arriving with no way to connect to data. And if you’re on PAYG you get the same 1p rates in the EU as you would at home.
1pMobile don’t include any roaming beyond the EU, but we wouldn’t expect this from a budget network. And they’re way ahead of all the providers that removed EU roaming anyway. Their scheme is simple but we like it.
Useful link: All about roaming on 1pMobile
1pMobile’s other smaller benefits are also useful
1pMobile offer all their SIM only plans on flexible 1-month deals. There are no contracts, meaning you can switch or leave your plan whenever you need and you don’t need to pass a credit check to join them.
They also have some good value data add-ons if you need some to tide you over. It was 1GB for £5 the last time we checked, or 4GB for £7.50. There are cheaper options, but they’re far from the worst at this.
International calls are also good value on 1pMobile, with calling rates to North America, Australia and New Zealand in particular being much lower than on most networks. But calls to Europe aren’t great value.
You will be missing out on big benefits like the free data streaming that VOXI offer. And you don’t get data rollover like you do on Sky. 1p are a budget network, so we expect them to be sparse on added benefits.
Useful link: Our guide to the best international calling networks
1pMobile deals and plans
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An overview of promotions running on 1pMobile
They have the lowest PAYG rates, but there’s some drawbacks
Traditional Pay As You Go SIMs are rarer than ever these days. But 1pMobile fill in the gap by offering the UK’s best Pay As You Go tariff in our eyes, with the lowest rates of all networks:
This makes 1p an excellent choice for a second SIM in a dual SIM phone as calls and texts won’t cost you much and you’ll still benefit from EE’s network. You can also use your SIM for devices like sat-navs too.
But their newest changes might annoy PAYG users. You now have to top up with and use at least £10 every 60 days in order to keep your account active when it used to be every 120 days.
That will turn off users who just want to make calls or send texts now and again as they’ll have to top up with more credit than they could ever actually use. Paying as you go is a bit less appealing now on 1p.
Useful link: Order a 1pMobile SIM card
1pMobile customer service
It’s nice having over-the-phone service on a budget network
It’s sometimes the case that joining a budget network means you can only get customer service online, which isn’t ideal for everyone. However, 1pMobile are a low-cost network you can actually call!
You’ll be put through to a real, UK-based agent on the phone (see their customer service numbers and opening hours here). This is great for customers who’ve had to deal with poor customer service in the past.
We called their customer service number and we put through to an agent impressively quickly. This might be due to their low number of customers, but still it was a pleasant surprise.
When we called them up we were put straight through to their call centre, just like if someone was in an office waiting to pick up the phone. We didn’t have to navigate a finickity menu or hold either.
So we tried emailing them and were pleasantly surprised to see they responded in just 3 minutes. Their online chat was also good, but it can take around 10 minutes at the very worst to get help this way.
In all, other budget networks should be using 1pMobile’s customer service as an example of how to do it right. Whichever way we tried to contact them we got through to a real person easily.
The main downside of 1p’s customer service is that if you call them as a Pay As You Go customer you will be using up your credit to do so. Most other networks let you call them for free, so this is a big issue.
But, if you’re a pay monthly customer, calls to their service line are included in your unlimited allowance, so not an issue. 1p’s small customer base means getting help is quicker in our experience.
Useful link: Visit 1pMobile's online help section
Special feature: "Is 1pMobile legit?"
How we found ordering a 1pMobile SIM card
You may never have heard of the 1pMobile before. We originally only found out about them in the first place after seeing an advert on social media.
It’s understandable that you’d be cautious when choosing a new provider, especially one that’s not too well known and hasn't got the flashy advertising that the bigger providers have. But we were curious.
So, we took out our own 1pMobile SIM card to see what’s what. We ordered at 4pm on a Wednesday and were pleased when our SIM was delivered the very next day by Royal Mail.
The SIM package that arrived was basic looking, but it had everything we paid for in it. You’ll receive each size of SIM to fit any phone. Just pop out the one that goes into your device and you’re all good.
Useful link: About 1pMobile's SIM card sizes
How to get your 1pMobile SIM set up
Once you’ve popped your new SIM into your phone you have to activate it online. It’s a simple process, you just need to follow the information that 1pMobile put in their welcome email.
While the instructions claimed our SIM would start working in 15 minutes, it took 30 minutes for ours to connect to the network. In fairness, they say 24 hours at the worst, so don’t panic if it takes a bit of time.
We tested our 1pMobile SIM directly against an EE SIM and found we got exactly the same number of signal bars. We were connected to mobile signal right away (but it took about 3 minutes for 4G to work).
As such we can say that 1pMobile are definitely not a scam and are a legit provider, so you’re safe to join them without worry. In this guide we look at how good their network is and the other features they offer.
Useful link: Get a 1pMobile SIM card now