EE vs O2: which has the best network coverage and speeds?

✔ O2 are better for calls, EE are better for 4G data

EE and O2 own the networks they use to provide signal. Both networks have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to coverage for calls and data:

Coverage for 4G data is better on EE, so you’ll stay on 4G more often while travelling around or if you live in the countryside. But in urban areas you won’t notice much of a difference in 4G signal between the two.

When it comes to call signal (3G/2G) O2 cover more of the UK’s landmass than any other network. And their signal is broadcast on frequencies that are much better at getting through building materials.

Cheaper providers that use their networks

These smaller providers offer lower cost deals while offering identical coverage to their host network:

O2: Sky Mobile (read our review), Tesco Mobile (read our review), giffgaff (read our review), Lycamobile (read our review) or Virgin Mobile (read our review)

EE: 1pMobile (read our review), Talk Home Mobile (read our review)

It’s best to use both networks’ coverage checkers here to see what signal looks like in your area on either network. Check at home, at work, along your commute or anywhere else you’ll use your phone.

Useful link: EE's targets for geographical 4G coverage

✔ 5G coverage is very close between the two networks

Each main UK network now offers 5G. While we can’t exactly say how much of the population is covered on either network, we can look at where 5G is live on either network and how well each cover their locations.

EE currently have 317+ 5G live locations while O2 have 750+ UK towns and cities with 5G. While that sounds like a big win for O2, EE only claim a location once they have 50% of its area covered for 5G.

That means on a street by street basis you’ll usually get more widespread 5G coverage on EE than on O2. But again, that depends per location as we’ve found O2 are good at covering their locations too.

In the end, your choice between the two networks will depend on how 5G coverage is in your area and if they even have it live in your area. Use their coverage checkers below to see what signal looks like near you.

Best 5G SIMs on O2/EE-based providers

Useful link: O2's 5G rollout latest news

✔ EE typically provide much faster 4G than O2

Using independent network testers, Opensignal’s, latest report, we can see that typical 4G speeds on EE far exceed what you typically get on O2. EE are the fastest 4G network according to them and O2 are the slowest.

Their results show typical 4G speeds of 16.8 Mbps on O2 while EE raced ahead with typical speeds of 44.7 Mbps. But those results don’t tell the whole story.

In testing, we got speeds as low as 12 Mbps and as high as 130+ Mbps on EE and speeds between 5 Mbps and 95 Mbps on O2. You’ll slow down in rural areas on both, but you’ll still usually get better speeds on EE.

About EE’s speed caps

While EE might typically be the faster network, you should bear in mind that some of EE’s plans are now speed capped. That means you won’t be able to get the fastest possible speeds on these.

Some plans are capped at 100 Mbps while others are capped at 25 Mbps. EE market themselves around speeds then go and limit them, so they can charge you more to get the best ones.

Remember that this is an upper speed limit and it won’t affect you if you only get speeds below the cap anyway. So if you’re out in the sticks then you’re less likely to be affected, for example.

If you want to be sure you’ll get the best speeds you can join 1pMobile (read our review) or Talk Home Mobile (read our review). They offer lower prices than EE with no speed limits on their plans.

For basic social media and internet browsing you won’t notice a massive difference between the two. But if you’re a gamer, streamer or file sharer then EE are better. Just make sure to join on a full speed plan.

Useful link: EE's guide to 5G vs 4G

✔ 5G is also generally faster on EE than on O2

Now that both networks have offered 5G for a long time, we can compare them both in terms of typical 5G speeds using results from network testers Opensignal and Speedtest by Ookla.

Between them we can see that typical 5G speeds are between 122.32 Mbps - 130.5 Mbps on EE with peak speeds of 350.41 Mbps with speeds between 80.57 Mbps - 92.3&nbnsp;Mbps on O2 that peak at 214.2 Mbps.

Both for typical and peak speeds there’s a big difference between them. But this will only really be noticeable when downloading huge things like HD movies. O2’s speeds should be good enough for most users.

About EE’s speed limits

Above we talked about how certain plans on EE are speed capped. This is even more of an issue on 5G as you’re more likely to hit this cap on 5G than on 4G.

If you’re set on joining EE directly then make sure you take out a plan without speed caps. However these tend to be sold at a higher price than their speed limited plans, which is annoying.

Otherwise you might be better off joining 1pMobile (read our review) or Talk Home Mobile (read our review) as they both offer full speed 5G as standard and at lower cost than joining EE directly.

There’s now more data available as more people are able to access 5G, meaning the picture is changing for which networks are the strongest for 5G. For now EE offer better 5G speeds than O2, but that could also change in time.

Useful link: Read O2's guide to what 5G means on their network

✔ EE have a more flexible WiFi calling feature

Both O2 and EE offer WiFi calling and 4G calling features to connect calls using WiFi signal or 4G signal. This helps if you’re somewhere with poor call signal, such as if you’re indoors and far from the nearest mast.

In our tests, we found EE’s scheme was easier to get working. We struggled a bit to get O2’s WiFi calling to “kick in” (maybe due to their better call signal). But both now let you send SMS texts over WiFi and 4G.

EE also have a longer list of compatible devices than O2. And when we tested phones not bought directly from the networks, we found the features were more likely to work on EE than on O2.

You get both features on every EE and O2 pay monthly deals, but it’s not included on O2’s Pay As You Go plans. And we had to manually turn it on in our account settings on O2, which can be a pain if you didn’t realise.

Useful link: More about how WiFi calling works

✔ O2 provide loads of free WiFi hotspots

If you often use up your entire data allowance and don’t want to join on a larger, more expensive plan you’ll like networks that offer free WiFi hotspots. These are handy for saving data on the go.

EE provide free WiFi hotspots on the TFL system on all their pay monthly plans. This is handy for keeping yourself connected on the Underground. However, O2’s hotspot scheme does the same and much more:

O2 give you access to their huge network of WiFi hotspots across the whole country (and on the Underground) on all plans. Their app will automatically log you in to 7000+ of their 15,000+ hotspots.

We found speeds on O2’s hotspots were good enough and the automatic log in worked well. You’ll only be automatically logged in if the WiFi speeds are faster than being on data, we just wish more hotspots had this feature.

Useful link: O2's full guide to WiFi calling

✔ O2 offer inclusive EU roaming on all plans

O2 are the only main UK network to still offer inclusive EU roaming (EE, Three and Vodafone have removed theirs on standard plans) and O2 include it on all of their plans.

You can use your UK mins, texts and data in these EU destinations just like at home. But your data usage is limited to 25GB while abroad. But we think that’s big enough for most users on a regular trip.

And they even include their Travel Inclusive Zone benefit on some of their higher end plans. This lets you roam in 27 non-EU worldwide destinations including Australia and the United States.

O2 SIMs with extra roaming

These all include O2 Travel Inclusive Zone:

You essentially get an allowance of 120 minutes, 120 texts and 150 MB of full-speed data to use in those worldwide countries. And you actually get unlimited data once you use it up, but at severely limited speeds.

Overall, O2 are a good choice for going beyond the EU and to the EU. But if you want to go beyond the EU for a longer time, Vodafone’s Global Roaming with their Xtras plans might make them a better choice.

Useful link: O2's full guide to roaming and costs

✖ EE no longer include EU roaming on their plans

EE no longer include EU roaming on their plans. These days you have to pay per day to use your UK allowance of minutes, texts and data in their EU destinations.

It’s currently £2 a day to use your UK plan in their EU destinations. That will add up fast over a week or fortnight and there’s a monthly limit on your data usage up to 50GB abroad, which massive users won’t like.

You can get their Roam Abroad pass as an “Inclusive Extra” on EE’s premium All Rounder and Full Works plans. This is an extra that lets you roam in 5 extra worldwide countries (see them all here).

EE's current best SIM only plan with Inclusive Extras

Get EE’s Roam Abroad pass on any Full Works or All Rounder plan here:

For going beyond the EU, EE offer Travel Data Passes that are bundles of data that cost you a different daily rate with different allowances depending on where you’re roaming. In all, roaming on EE comes at a price.

Useful link: EE's full guide to roaming and costs

✔ O2’s premium plans include extra benefits

O2’s SIM only plans are some of the highest end in terms of price, so it’s good that they offer some nice benefits to give customers better value on their plan.

You’ll get access to O2’s popular Priority benefit on every O2 plan. This is an app that gets you access to unique special offers on high street restaurants, shopping and other experiences.

All their 12-month and 24-month contracts come with free trials to different entertainment services (see them here). Typically the higher the cost of your plan, the longer the trial and the more choices you get.

But once these trials are up (from 3 to 6 months, depending on your plan) you’ll either have to cancel or start paying for them. But if you remember to do that, these Extras can get you more value out of your plan.

Useful link: See everything that Priority gets you

✔ Get free trials to Apple services on any EE plan

EE don’t have a rewards app like O2’s Priority, but they do include a handful of free trials to different Apple services on any pay monthly contract.

If you’re an Apple user you’ll benefit from a 6 months free trial to Apple News+, Apple Arcade and Apple Music. However, Android users only benefit from the Apple Music trial, as the others aren’t available to them.

On top of that, the data you use on these apps won’t come out of your allowance. That means you can stream as much as you want on these until the end of your trial.

Overall it’s a nice benefit for joining them. But Android users don’t get as much out of it and if you don’t cancel the subscriptions once your trials are up then you could start paying for them without meaning to.

Useful link: EE's help article about free apps and their costs

✔ Get extra benefits included on EE’s premium plans

If you take out a higher end All Rounder or Full Works plan on EE you’ll get a different number of Inclusive Extras with it. These benefits can make the higher cost of their plans worth it if you’ll use them.

On an All Rounder plan you can choose one Inclusive Extra from a subscription to Apple TV+, Apple News, Apple Arcade or BT Sport. Or you can take an Entertainment Data Pass or a Roam Abroad Pass.

But on a higher end Full Works plan you get all of those Apple subscriptions and their Roam Abroad Pass included. That does mean you can’t choose any of the other benefits outside of that.

It’s worth checking that you’re not spending more than you would taking a plan and one of these benefits separately. Take a look at all the benefits here and see if the extra cost of these plans is worth it for you.

Useful link: EE’s guide to their Inclusive Extras

✔ EE offer discounts on extra plans and let you gift data

EE give you a percentage discount on any extra plans added to your account. By setting up a family plan this way you can save a lot of money while getting your family onto their own plans.

It’s a 30% discount on any SIM only contract or the usage plan (mins, texts, data) on a finance-based phone contract. Or you can get 10% off any conventional phone contract you add to your account.

And you get EE’s data gifting benefit letting you gift data from one user to another to prevent extra charges if one user has got through all their data. And you get 1GB extra for each user on your account.

The only real downside is that EE are a very pricey network and you could just save money by going with a cheaper provider. 1pMobile piggyback off EE but offer typically cheaper plans.

Useful link: All Family Account benefits on EE

✔ O2 offer a simple discount on fewer products

O2’s family plan scheme works similarly to EE’s, giving you 20% off any extra SIM only contract on your account or 20% off the usage plan on their phone contracts.

If you take a phone contract only the usage plan will be discounted. So your savings will be lower than EE’s 10% off their conventional phone contracts or 30% off the usage plan on finance-based ones.

But that’s still some decent savings. And you can add up to 20 extra plans on your account and get all of them discounted! But you’ll have to pass a strict credit check to do so.

You can no longer get a new Sharer plan on O2, which used to let you share data between users. If you’re still on one of these then you can keep doing this, but new customers have no way to gift data.

Useful link: How data sharing works on O2

✔ O2 offer very flexible phone contracts

O2 offer a great deal of flexibility with their Custom plans that let you choose the length of your contract anywhere between 3 and 36 months and set an upfront cost to suit your plan to your budget.

They do this by splitting your contract into one finance agreement (loan) for the price of your phone and a second for your usage plan (minutes, texts, data) that come together to make your monthly bill.

And you pay off the cost of your device early to upgrade to a new one if you wish. Or you can pay off the cost and then switch to another network after 30 days.

In terms of cost O2’s phone contracts tend to be middle of the road, but these are still more competitive than their SIM only contracts. You used to be able to take a cheaper O2 contract via a third party reseller, but not anymore.

Useful link: Full details on O2's custom plans

✔ EE offer conventional phone contracts

EE offer conventional 24-month contracts where the cost of your usage plan and phone are made as one payment. There are no flexible financing options whatsoever.

On other networks you’d be able to join via a third party retailer who would offer inflexible 24-month contracts at a lower cost. But EE don’t sell their phone deals via third party resellers any more.

You can’t set upfront costs or contract lengths like you can on O2, meaning EE aren’t as flexible when it comes to phone contracts. But you can get 10% off any traditional phone contract you add on top of your existing plan.

In terms of price, we’d recommend using our phone comparison tool here. They’re pretty close on cost, but this will depend per device and usage plan so it’s worth shopping around to find the best deal.

Useful link: See EE's range of phones