spusu vs SMARTY: which low-cost network's best?

✔ spusu have more widespread 4G than SMARTY

Both spusu and SMARTY are smaller providers that piggyback off a main network for signal. SMARTY are a sub-brand of Three and use their network, while spusu use EE’s network. So what are the differences?

For call signal, spusu hold a small advantage. They use EE’s 2G network (they’ve shut off their 3G) which covers more of the UK’s landmass than Three’s 3G network (they don’t have 2G). But it’s still quite close.

The difference between spusu and SMARTY for 4G coverage is bigger, with spusu having an advantage. They’re on the largest 4G UK network, so you’ll stay on 4G more consistently as you move around with spusu.

Best SIM only plans on spusu and SMARTY

Overall, spusu hold a noticeable advantage for 4G data and call signal coverage over SMARTY. Indoor signal also tends to be better on spusu, giving them yet another advantage over their low-cost rivals.

Useful link: Check spusu’s coverage using their map here

✔ SMARTY’s 5G coverage is just better than spusu’s

Both providers offer full access to their hosts’ 5G networks as well and include it on all plans. On spusu you’ll get 5G in these 336+ UK towns and cities, while you’ll get 5G in these 580+ locations on SMARTY.

That’s a big advantage in numbers for SMARTY, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. spusu’s hosts only declare a location once 5G is available in 50% of its area, so they have 5G in more places than they claim.

It also means spusu get great 5G coverage in their claimed locations. However, SMARTY also get excellent coverage within their 5G live locations, similar to or even better than spusu’s coverage.

Best SIM only deals on SMARTY or spusu

So we give SMARTY the win. You can generally be sure you’ll get good 5G on SMARTY, while spusu still lag behind in the locations outside of their claimed ones. Still, use their signal maps before joining either.

Useful link: SMARTY’s guide to their 5G

✔ 4G data speeds are faster on spusu than SMARTY

In our testing, both spusu and SMARTY gave us identical 4G data speeds to their network hosts. So, we can use independent network testers Opensignal’s report to show what typical 4G data speeds look like on both providers.

They showed typical 4G data speeds of 34.5 Mbps on SMARTY’s hosts and typical speeds of 40 Mbps on spusu’s. That doesn’t seem like that big of a difference, but also doesn’t show the bigger picture.

Best SIM only plans currently on SMARTY and spusu

In our real life tests, speeds in rural areas went as low as 5 Mbps on spusu and as low as 7 Mbps on SMARTY. In the city centre, speeds went as high as 70 Mbps on SMARTY and a blistering 130+ Mbps on spusu.

That tells us that speeds are generally more consistent on SMARTY, but can reach much faster speeds where signal is strong on spusu. As such, spusu will generally be the better choice for users wanting fast 4G speeds.

Useful link: Read spusu’s guide to their plans

✔ 5G speeds are a lot faster on SMARTY than spusu

Just like for 4G, we found both spusu and SMARTY provide identical 5G data speeds to their network hosts. So we use results from Opensignal and Speedtest by Ookla to show what typical 5G speeds look like on both.

Typical 5G speeds were between 99.5 Mbps - 106.61 Mbps on spusu’s hosts, with peaks of 316.68 Mbps. On SMARTY’s hosts, typical 5G speeds sit between 205.5 Mbps - 246.89 Mbps with blistering peaks of 681.24 Mbps.

Best 5G SIMs on SMARTY and spusu

So it’s fairly self-evident who wins here. SMARTY are by far one of the best choices for mobile gamers or any other kind of heavy data user. And they’re a great choice for data only SIMs for other devices too.

It is important to know that those aren’t the kinds of speeds you’ll get all the time. Speeds can go far below that. But it seems SMARTY are much better for keeping you connected to super fast 5G than spusu.

Useful link: Read about 5G in SMARTY’s guide

✔ Better WiFi calling on SMARTY with handy WiFi hotspots

It can sometimes be a struggle to make calls in buildings as the signal can’t get through the building materials. This is where WiFi and 4G calling come in handy, letting you connect to calls via WiFi and 4G signal.

Current best SIM only deals on SMARTY and spusu

You get both these features on both providers. But SMARTY have a much longer list of supported devices, with lots of older iPhones and Androids supported while spusu are missing a lot of these.

We haven’t tested if phones not on spusu’s list will work or not, but we like the certainty SMARTY’s list provides. And SMARTY let you transfer a call from WiFi to 4G if you lose connection. Our test on spusu failed.

And SMARTY offer access to Three’s free WiFi hotspots on the Underground. This keeps you connected where you’d otherwise get no signal. spusu do have eSIMs, but that’s more of a consolation than a reason to join.

Useful link: Read SMARTY’s guide to their WiFi calling

✔ spusu have the more comprehensive EU roaming scheme

It’s no secret that many UK networks have removed inclusive EU roaming from their plans. But spusu have kept theirs in place, letting you roam in these 38 EU/EEA destinations at no added cost.

Each plan has its own data limit with a 500 mins and text limit while there. The smallest plan is limited to 10GB and their largest is capped at 15GB. That should be enough for most users going on a short trip.

And if you’re going away for longer or need to use a bit more data, spusu offer “Travel” plans for this. They’re not much higher in price than spusu’s regular plans, so they’re definitely worth looking at.

Best SIM only plans with EU roaming on spusu

spusu aren’t a great choice for going beyond the EU, however. They offer no inclusive roaming outside the EU, so you’ll have to pay at these rates for this. But that’s what we’d expect from a smaller provider.

Useful link: Read spusu’s full EU roaming guide

✔ SMARTY’s EU roaming is easier to understand

SMARTY also include EU roaming on all their plans, letting you roam in these 34 EU/EEA destinations at no added cost. And unlike spusu, they have a standard fair usage limit of 12GB across all their plans.

That’s only a bit more than the limit on spusu’s smallest plan and is less than the limit on spusu’s largest one. And you can’t increase this limit. But at least SMARTY don’t limit your mins and texts abroad.

Best current SIM only deals with EU roaming on SMARTY

So while it’s less complicated than spusu’s scheme, heavier data users may find it restrictive. Also you have to manually turn on SMARTY’s roaming before leaving, which can leave you without signal if you forget.

We still like SMARTY’s EU roaming scheme, but we just think that spusu do a bit more to appeal to more users. The restrictions on mins and texts won’t affect most users anyway. So spusu take this one.

Useful link: How to turn on SMARTY’s roaming in your settings

✔ spusu’s minutes to EU numbers can be very useful

spusu include 500 minutes and texts to EU numbers from the UK on every one of their plans, which you’ll love if you’ve got friends or family in Europe. It costs nothing extra to get these, they’re included as standard.

These renew each month and we think most people won’t use up all of them in that time. But if you do, spusu’s international rates are low compared to other networks, so you can keep calling without paying too much.

Either way, those inclusive EU mins can save you a good amount each month. SMARTY don’t offer any inclusive international mins and even their cheapest international rates are a lot more expensive than spusu’s.

spusu’s latest SIM only deals

We wouldn’t say spusu are the best network for calling abroad (they’re beaten out by a couple of other networks), but they’re still a brilliant choice for making calls to the EU.

Useful link: See spusu’s international calling rates

✔ spusu also include a few other handy benefits

spusu also offer some very handy benefits that can make them a better choice than joining SMARTY. They offer very flexible spending caps on things like extra data that help prevent yourself from racking up a huge bill.

You can set this in £1 increments between £0 - £100 and change it whenever. SMARTY’s plans also prevent overspending as you have to top up with credit to use extras, but you can’t cap how much credit you can use.

spusu also let you call their customer service if you need help, while SMARTY don’t. We had a genuinely pleasant experience when we tested it out for ourselves, so it’s another point in spusu’s favour.

Best current SIM only plans on spusu

In all, these kinds of benefits make being on spusu just a bit more convenient. And they’ve promised to introduce some new benefits in the future, so we’ll update this page here when they do that.

Useful link: What spusu offer on their plans

✔ SMARTY’s family plans are some of the best out there

One of the best parts of being on SMARTY in the first place is the excellent value they offer on their plans. But SMARTY go even further by offering a 10% discount on any plans you add on top of your existing one.

So if you want to get your kids on their own SIM only plans or have a close knit group of friends you can save a nice amount overall by setting up a group plan. SMARTY let you add up to 7 extra plans onto your account.

Each user can choose a plan that suits their needs and you can add more whenever, you don’t need to sign them up together. But each will be billed on the date you took it out, rather than the beginning of the month.

Best SIM only deals currently on SMARTY

While that can be a little bit annoying, it’s still very convenient to have all your plans in one place to make things like extra data charges and parental controls easier to manage. In all, it’s a fantastic scheme.

Useful link: How to set up a family plan on SMARTY

✔ SMARTY offer a few other useful benefits that spusu don’t

SMARTY offer a couple other useful benefits that might make them more appealing than spusu for you. The first is that SMARTY promise not to up the cost of your plan as long as you’re with them.

Again, SMARTY’s main benefit is their low prices, so it’s great that you get to keep this value for a long time. spusu have promised not to up your plan’s cost, but only until 2026. After that your bill may go up.

Also, SMARTY offer some of the cheapest data add-ons around at just £1 for 1GB. And these last forever until you use them up, so you really get value for money. spusu don’t offer any data add-ons at all.

Best SIM only deals currently on SMARTY

Either way, spusu generally offer a bit more than SMARTY, but SMARTY are better at giving you the best possible value. Whether you prefer one or the other will really come down to what you want out of your plan.

Useful link: See SMARTY’s cheap data add-ons