O2 vs SMARTY: how they compare for coverage, speeds & extras

✔ O2’s network is bigger in rural areas

O2 are in the process of being bought out by Virgin Media. But they own and operate their own network currently. SMARTY were launched by Three as a cheap and cheerful brand so run on theirs.

If you’re mainly interested in calls and texts, O2 are more reliable, particularly in smaller towns and villages and countryside. There are still rural blackspots on SMARTY. Indoors O2 are generally better too.

For 4G data (see 5G below), the difference is less stark. They have similar amounts of the country covered. And in big cities, they’re essentially neck and neck.

Coverage is something that varies locally from network to network, so always give their coverage maps a check before joining either. And don’t just check your home. Think about everywhere you tend to go.

Useful link: Read about SMARTY’s network improvements

✔ 5G is something only O2 have, not SMARTY

If you know your phone has 5G as a feature and you’re keen to make use of it, O2 are the only suitable choice at the moment between them and SMARTY.

Even though their parent network Three have 5G live, there’s no 5G data on SMARTY today. Each of O2’s pay monthly plans comes with it (although you must select a 5G SIM card in their checkout).

O2’s best 5G SIM only plans

O2 have the faster technology live in 150+ locations. Like all networks, they’ve focussed their rollout only on the busiest parts of the largest cities and towns. So it’s still street-by-street rather than national.

SMARTY do say that 5G is coming at some point, although they’ve been saying that for a couple of years now. They’ve put other improvements in before it so far though.

Useful link: Updates on O2’s 5G rollout

✔ SMARTY are generally faster than O2 on average

You might think that joining SMARTY instead of a main network like O2 would put you at a disadvantage for speed. We don’t think it’s the case though, from a combination of our own testing and larger test companies.

For our SMARTY vs Three guide, we took a SMARTY and Three SIM out to multiple locations to try and find any in-built speed differences but couldn’t find any. So we think it’s safe to compare Three and O2’s results:

Independent network testers OpenSignal and Speedtest take millions of measurements on each network and they found Three’s 4G downloads (for SMARTY) to average out at 20 Mbps, ahead of O2 at 16 Mbps.

So you should find SMARTY generally slightly faster than O2 (and providers that use them) - although it’s worth saying these are averages: both can go faster than it and slower than it.

Useful link: SMARTY say they won’t slow you down

✔ Both offer WiFi calling and 4G calling

O2’s indoor coverage for calls is generally better than SMARTY’s but both networks still have extra technology in place to improve it. They both now have WiFi calling and 4G calling.

WiFi calling works by letting your phone connect to a mobile network for calls via a WiFi connection, where conventional mobile signal is weak. And 4G calling adds 4G to 2G/3G signal that can be used for calls.

SMARTY have only recently started offering both and so their list of devices they guarantee will work on WiFi calling is shorter than O2’s own list here (even though we found some unlisted phones do work).

But overall, if your phone is supported, both networks are suitable choices for getting WiFi calling. We found both schemes work well, although we did have to manually switch it on in our settings on O2.

Useful link: Our guide to the best WiFi calling networks

✔ O2’s free hotspot provision beats SMARTY’s

Even though mobile data signal is a lot more available now, it’s still handy when your network provides you with free automatic hotspot access, because it helps you save data and stay connected.

SMARTY don’t offer anything in this regard. Their host network Three get you free WiFi on the Underground. You also get this on O2 if you pay monthly or have topped up in last month on pay as you go.

But O2 go a step further too. They’ve got a network of 16,000 free hotspots across the UK in useful places that you can connect to free. And 7000 of these will recognise your O2 SIM and connect automatically.

We’ve tried it for real for our O2 review. It is impressive. If you’re sensitive about how much data you use, it does come in handy - although the hotspots can be slower than 4G and 5G.

Useful link: Our free WiFi hotspots guide

✔ O2 have kept EU roaming and offer some extra

We’re now seeing some networks use changes in rules on roaming fees after Brexit to start charging for EU roaming (read our full guide here). But SMARTY and O2 have both kept inclusive EU roaming.

It means with both providers, you can take your regular UK minutes, texts and data with you on trips to EU countries and pay no extra. O2 do have a 25GB fair usage policy though, while on SMARTY it’s 12GB.

O2 offer something extra though. Take any of their more-premium plans flagged as including their Travel Inclusive Zone and you’ll get 120 mins, 120 texts and 150MB data to use per day in these extra countries.

Current O2 SIM only plans with extra roaming

It’s enough to keep you ticking over, even if it’s not as good as SMARTY’s parent Three’s Go Roam. You won’t be sitting streaming by the pool but it’s enough to check maps without paying regular high rates.

Useful link: Our guide to the best roaming networks

✔ SMARTY’s roaming is EU only on all plans

With more expensive networks like Vodafone and EE ditching inclusive EU roaming, it’s nice to see that cheap and cheerful ones like SMARTY have kept it.

They’ve tightened their fair usage policy though, so you can now use 12GB a month out of your plan, before paying extra. But that’s more than most people would use at home, so will only affect heavy data users.

One annoyance with roaming on SMARTY, which caught us out when testing them abroad: you have to activate your SIM’s roaming settings on your phone manually to get it work (see instructions here).

So make sure you do that before leaving, else you could get stuck. But once it’s up and running, SMARTY are perfectly adequate for usage abroad. Going outside the EU can add up quickly though (see rates).

Useful link: SMARTY’s guide to their roaming

✔ Money back for unused data on some plans

If your data usage changes quite a lot from month-to-month, you might want to consider one of SMARTY’s data payback plans. If you end up not using all your data, SMARTY will pay you back what it cost to buy.

Current SMARTY payback plans

All these plans pay you back for unused data

So for example, the data costs £1 per GB to buy in your plan. So for every 1GB you don’t use, they’ll give you a discount of £1 off next month’s plan. And they’ll work it out to the MB and penny.

The closest O2 have to this sort of system is data rollover on their pay as you go SIMs (where unused data is added to your next month’s plan, so you get a second chance to use it).

SMARTY’s payback is good for small data users. But it’s worth saying they have bigger, cheaper deals per GB that don’t include the benefit. So definitely compare up front before choosing which to join on.

Useful link: SMARTY’s full guide to data discounts

✔ No contract and no credit check on SMARTY

SMARTY were set up by Three to appeal to people that want no commitments and maximum freedom in their mobile deal. They’ve achieved this by having all their plans be pre-paid (pay everything up front).

It means there’s no contract: you just register a card and then buy your plan up front each month. You can set that to happen automatically, or you can manually login and buy it each month too.

That’s good, because it gives you the flexibility to change plans if you’re on one too big or small for your needs. And you can leave SMARTY with no notice at all. Just don’t re-buy your plan and you’re gone.

It also means it’s impossible to run up bills that you can’t pay. So SMARTY don’t need to run a credit check to see if people are reliable bill payers. That means anyone can join, even with poor or no credit history.

Useful link: Why there’s no credit check on SMARTY

✔ Free trials with most pay monthly O2 plans

Joining O2 is more of a case of paying more to get more than SMARTY, who are more cheap and cheerful low-frills. One thing most plans on O2 get you is at least 3 months of a free trial to a service of your choice.

They call this O2 Extras. You’ll get shown your choices when you add a pay monthly SIM only or phone contract to your basket but they include trials to Disney+, Amazon Music, Amazon Prime and more.

Qualifying SIM only plans with O2 Extras

It’s important to understand these are free trials only though. They’re not total freebies. At the end of your trial, the subscription cost will be added to your mobile unless you cancel them.

If you’ll use the trial and or don’t mind paying at the end, we’d say O2 Extras are fair enough. They’re a nice little extra touch to sweeten your deal. We probably wouldn’t make it a deal breaker ourselves though.

Useful link: Full guide to O2 Extras

✔ O2 Priority is as popular as ever

Another premium feature you get on O2 that SMARTY don’t offer similar to is Priority. You’ll get it on any O2 plan, whether you pay monthly or pay as you go. So what is it?

It’s basically a rewards scheme that only O2 customers can access. It mostly via works via an app here. Download that and O2 will send you various high street and online offers for shopping, food and drink.

You’ll also get first dibs on tickets for particular O2 sponsored events and venues. That includes stuff like rugby, music and more. If you’re into any of those, you’ll value the opportunity.

Again, because there’s a sizeable price difference between O2 and SMARTY, we’d recommend thinking about how much you’d value this sort of scheme. Make sure you definitely think it’s worth paying more for.

Useful link: See current offers and events