ASDA Mobile review 2023: our expert verdict on their network

ASDA provide great coverage via Vodafone’s network

ASDA Mobile piggyback off Vodafone’s network for signal, meaning when you join them, you’ll get signal in the same areas as Vodafone, with the same signal strength. We’ve confirmed this in our real life tests.

We tested our ASDA SIM against our Vodafone SIM in the exact same phone. Our tests showed no built-in coverage differences between the two (unless you’re on an ASDA plan without 5G). So what does that mean?

How we found coverage in real life...

We set up a test to see if there were any differences in coverage being on ASDA vs being on Vodafone. To do this we put an ASDA SIM and a Vodafone SIM in a dual-SIM phone and tested them in the same locations.

No matter where we were we got the same number of signal bars on ASDA as on Vodafone. There was no evidence of any built-in handicaps on ASDA (which you sometimes get on smaller networks):

You can get 4G in some surprisingly rural areas on Vodafone, which you’ll also get with your ASDA SIM. However, data speeds and signal quality will be weaker in these areas.

ASDA’s indoor signal is usually good as well and in our tests we got signal throughout the house. But signal might suffer indoors if your nearest mast is obstructed, so use their coverage checkers before joining.

If you want widespread call signal then you’ll like ASDA. They use the joint-largest network for covering the UK’s landmass for call signal and provide it in the majority of places where people actually live.

They’re only behind EE (and the providers that use them) for 4G data signal (see 5G below). You’ll get 4G almost anywhere in urban areas and their rural 4G coverage is strong. But still, it’s worth checking coverage in your area.

Useful link: Check your ASDA Mobile coverage now

5G is a strength but only comes on premium plans

ASDA Mobile get you access to Vodafone’s expanding 5G network, but only on certain plans. Their cheapest plans are 4G-only, while plans that are £10 or over generally get you access to 5G.

ASDA Mobile SIM only deals with full speed 5G

You can only get full speed 5G on these SIM only deals on ASDA Mobile:

You’ll currently get 5G in 141+ UK towns and cities on ASDA. And while coverage is still on a street-by-street basis, they’re usually quite good at covering these locations for 5G.

Opensignal and Speedtest put typical speeds on ASDA between 105.2 Mbps - 146.01 Mbps, with peak speeds of 322.91 Mbps. But bear in mind their unlimited data plans are speed capped.

We wanted to see if Opensignal’s report reflected the sorts of speeds you’d get in real life and to see if ASDA were any faster or slower than Vodafone. We tested speeds in different rural and urban locations.

How we found 5G data speeds on ASDA Mobile

Over 5G, we were actually able to go past the speed cap, but the average seemed to always level out to 150 Mbps:

This speed cap was the only difference being on ASDA against being on Vodafone. We got faster 5G on a consistent basis with Vodafone:

It is worth noting that ASDA provide 5G abroad, which is something very few networks do. This can be handy if you can get it, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that most plans don’t get you the full 5G experience.

Useful link: Best networks for 5G coverage and speeds

4G speeds can be impressively fast or disappointingly slow

You might think you’d get inferior speeds on ASDA vs being on Vodafone directly because of ASDA’s budget prices. However, when it comes to 4G speeds we found no built-in speed differences between them.

According to independent network tests Opensignal you’ll get typical speeds of around 21.2 Mbps. They measure this using millions of volunteer phones up and down the country.

That’s similar sorts of speeds to what you’d get with mid-range home fibre broadband. Streaming HD video should go smoothly, without buffering. However, speeds depend highly on where you use your SIM.

Our experience of ASDA’s speeds in real life…

With 4G we were getting the same speeds in the same locations with both networks. You can also sometimes get 4G+ on ASDA with speeds over 100 Mbps:

But in the sticks we got speeds as low as 5 Mbps over 4G, which is slower than what you’d get on most other networks in the countryside. There’s a huge difference between rural and urban 4G speeds on ASDA.

Overall we can see how the speed results average out to get Opensignal’s results. If you’re rural based, then you might find ASDA a bit sluggish, but it’s still faster than being bumped down to 3G speeds.

While they are the third slowest for typical 4G speeds, they actually have the second fastest 4G speeds in urban areas (behind only EE). The speeds you get on ASDA depend highly on where you’re using your phone.

Useful link: ASDA’s guide to their speed caps

ASDA’s WiFi/4G calling is a nice feature

ASDA provide excellent indoor signal via Vodafone’s network, but you may still run into blackspots at home if there’s any obstructions between you and the nearest mast. This is where WiFi calling is useful.

This lets you make/receive calls and send/receive SMS messages over WiFi or 4G signal if you can’t get conventional call signal. And ASDA include it on every plan at no extra cost.

Since you can call over WiFi or Vodafone’s excellent 4G and call signal, total blackspots are rare, short of being somewhere unusual. We still need to test ASDA’s WiFi calling in real life and we’ll update this bit when we do.

They share the same list of supported devices as Vodafone, meaning you might struggle to get it to work on older models, especially Android models. But if it does work then it’s a great feature.

Useful link: Guide to the best networks with WiFi calling

ASDA are a bit light on extra network features

ASDA allow tethering on every deal. This lets you connect other devices to your phone’s data signal. There are no limits to how much of your data allowance you can use for this, even on their unlimited data plans.

You don’t get any free WiFi hotspots on ASDA Mobile. These usually come in handy for saving you data on the go and staying connected in places you wouldn’t normally get signal, but ASDA offer none.

Call forwarding is not supported on ASDA either. Usually, this lets you divert incoming calls to another number but ASDA don’t let you do this.

ASDA also don’t offer visual voicemail, which is an iPhone feature that lets you sort through your voicemails one by one. Not many networks actually offer this, so it’s no surprise that ASDA don’t either.

Finally, ASDA don’t offer eSIMs yet. To be fair it’s mostly just the bigger UK networks that offer these right now, but we could see smaller networks like ASDA getting access to these sometime in the future.

Useful link: Our guide to the best networks for WiFi hotspots

Their no-contract plans give you great flexibility

ASDA are a low-frills, low-cost provider. This means going with them is a trade off of fewer benefits for lower prices. You don’t get extras like data rollover, unlimited streaming data or free extras.

But one thing ASDA do better than some networks is that all of their SIM only plans are sold as 1-month no-contract deals, where you pay for your monthly allowance of mins, texts and data up front.

This means there’s no credit checks to pass on ASDA, which is great if you’ve been denied for a contract in the past. And you can’t accidentally rack up a huge bill as you have to top up with credit to use any extras.

All you need is enough money for the bundle you want on your UK debit/credit card. And because you’re not joining on a contract, you can change plans month to month or leave altogether whenever you like.

Useful link: How to top up on ASDA Mobile

ASDA are a decent choice for EU roaming

While more and more UK networks have removed inclusive EU roaming from their plans, ASDA Mobile still let you use your regular allowance in the EU at no extra cost.

But they do restrict you to 5GB of your monthly allowance while you’re there. That’s a lot less than what many other networks let you use abroad, and if you go over that you’ll have to pay these EU roaming rates.

If you take your ASDA SIM beyond the EU you’ll have to pay at these very steep rates. That will add up very quickly, so you’ll have to keep an eye on your usage while abroad.

Overall, they’re a good choice for short trips to the EU. However, their hosts Vodafone are a better choice for going beyond the EU, as they offer inclusive roaming to 83 EU and worldwide countries on premium deals.

Useful link: Our top-rated networks for roaming

They also offer some nice, smaller benefits

Considering ASDA are a low-cost network it’s not a surprise that they don’t offer a lot of other benefits. But they do offer a few smaller benefits that make being with them more convenient.

If you run out of data and don’t want to wait for your plan to renew you can take out a data add-on for a low cost. Last time we checked it was just £2 for 1GB with bigger add-ons for even better value per GB.

Parents will also appreciate the fact that ASDA automatically block 18+ content from being accessed on their SIMs and even have some stricter parental controls for younger children.

That all makes ASDA a great network if you want to put your kids on a SIM only plan, but then they’re a good network for anyone to join. We’ll go over the benefits you don’t get on ASDA below.

Useful link: The best UK networks for kids

What other networks do better than ASDA

ASDA don’t offer any free streaming data benefits unlike low-cost rivals VOXI (who use Vodafone as well). VOXI also include unlimited data for social media apps on every plan and video streaming apps on higher-end ones.

You also miss out on data rollover. iD Mobile offer this on all plans, letting you keep leftover data for a month. But Sky Mobile have our favourite scheme that lets you hold onto rolled over data for 3 years!

Calling internationally can add up fast on ASDA. Lebara (who also use Vodafone) have the cheapest international calling tariffs of all networks with rates as low as 1p per min and inclusive international mins on all plans.

Finally there’s no way to add extra SIMs to your account. There are a few networks that not only let you manage all your SIMs under one account but give you extra discounts or benefits for doing so.

Overall, ASDA provide a low-frills experience. But if you don’t mind missing out on these then this shouldn’t be a deal breaker for you.

Useful link: The best networks for extra data charges

ASDA Mobile SIM only plans: quick facts

They’re an alright choice for infrequent PAYG users

ASDA have upped their Pay As You Go tariffs over time, but their rates are still lower than what you’d get some some networks. They’re now the third-cheapest network for PAYG.

You’ll find no cheaper pay as you go rates on the Vodafone network. The only network offering cheaper rates are 1pMobile’s 1p per minute, text or MB data tariff. Here are ASDA’s rates:

15p per minute + 10p per text + 10p per MB data = £0 a month (0‑month contract)
See full deal

Paying for your usage at these rates can get expensive fast, especially your data usage. Since their plans are paid up front and don’t require credit checks we think most users would be better off on a monthly deal.

One good thing is that credit won’t expire if you do something to keep your SIM active every 180 days. But overall it’s worse value than their monthly bundles and we’d only recommend it if you barely use your phone.

Useful link: ASDA’s full guide to their pay as you go SIM

ASDA Mobile focus entirely on offering SIM only deals, with no phone contracts on offer at all. You can take a phone from their website, but you’ll have to pay the whole price in one.

Talkmobile are another provider on Vodafone’s network. You can take a Talkmobile phone contract via third party resellers Fonehouse on lots of mid-range devices and are typically competitive on price.

VOXI also offer a some good value contracts on a range of 5G-ready high-end models. They also give you the flexibility to change your usage (mins, texts, data) plan month to month.

Of course you can join a phone contract on Vodafone directly. They’re a higher-end choice than those two, but you can join via a third party retailer to get a better deal.

Useful link: Compare phone contracts with us