Ecotalk review 2025: how good's 'the greenest network'?
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See how we got on testing an Ecotalk SIM card out for real. We check their coverage, data speeds and other features to help you decide. Last updated: 9th October 2025.
Overall rating
SIM Sherpa rates Ecotalk as a good provider
(3/5 good)
✔ If you support their aims, you’ll likely be happyChoose a plan
at ecotalk.co.uk
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There is a lot to admire Ecotalk for, with their environmental credentials. Putting profits towards rewilding Britain and working to keep their carbon footprint to a minimum are noble things to do.
But we are a mobile networks review website. And we do have to look at the whole underlying experience you get with Ecotalk. And in our experience testing a SIM out for real, there are ups and downs.
The basics are there: coverage is excellent, data speeds are impressive and WiFi calling works well enough. We really like their UK-based over-the-phone customer service too.
But Ecotalk can be a bit threadbare. There’s no eSIM, EU roaming isn’t included. And you can’t really manage anything online. If you buy into their green aims, there’s enough to keep you loyal though.
The 3 best bits
1) Excellent coverage and speeds via EE
2) UK-based customer service on the phone
3) Profits go toward rewilding Britain
The 3 worst bits
1) Call audio quality not great
2) Online self-service very basic
3) No EU roaming included
Ecotalk’s network
Coverage through EE is excellent
Ecotalk use the EE network for signal. They are a separate company but rely on the masts, the ‘core network’, SIM cards and technology direct from EE. Our phone even just said EE when we first put the SIM in.
But is coverage identical? To find out, we put an EE and Ecotalk SIM card in the same model of phone to test side by side in a variety of locations.
Sometimes the SIMs connected to different bands but we couldn’t detect any kind of built in priority differences or not being able to access particular masts on Ecotalk (band 20 4G worked fine too).
That’s excellent news for Ecotalk customers. Industry regulators Ofcom say their hosts EE have the largest amount of the UK’s landmass covered with 4G and 5G data (but do check in your local area here).
They are still beatable for basic calls and texts signal indoors though, especially if you have an older model that does not support 4G calling (VoLTE). That said, we’ve never been somewhere wholly unable to make a call.
Useful link: Check your local Ecotalk coverage
Data speeds are very impressive on Ecotalk
Independent network testers Opensignal use millions of measurements to check network speeds. They put Ecotalk’s hosts EE as the fastest 4G network for typical downloads at 45 Mbps. 5G came in at 114 Mbps.
Those kind of speeds will comfortably support things like buffer-free ultra high definition video streaming. So we took our Ecotalk SIM out to do our own spot checks, to see if they can live up to that.
Our results found that there isn’t a top speed cap on Ecotalk. But we did find there was a pretty consistent disadvantage vs an EE SIM card – for both 4G and 5G downloads. Typically about 20% – 30% slower. But uploads were mostly faster!
But even with that speed disadvantage vs EE, we found our Ecotalk was still typically faster than other providers. No: Ecotalk isn’t identical to EE. But yes: they’re still impressively fast.
Useful link: What Ecotalk say about speeds
WiFi calling and VoLTE work well enough
There’s not a lot of information on Ecotalk’s website about WiFi calling and VoLTE (4G Calling), so we were pleased to find that both features worked on our test SIM, in an unlocked Android phone bought elsewhere.
4G calling worked automatically but we had to turn on WiFi calling manually. The SIM card didn’t force the setting on. But once on, the feature kicks in early when you’re on WiFi, not just when mobile signal’s poor.
We tested moving from a WiFi call to a 4G one mid-call and back the other way, to simulate flakey signal. The call didn’t drop, which was great. Though there was a quick pause as the transfer happened.
The one thing we would say needs improving is the apparent lack of HD call audio quality. Calls can sound a bit “lispy” on Ecotalk. If you’re hard of hearing or sensitive to this, it’s worth knowing about.
eSIMs and other extra network features are a bit lacking
Generally, we’d say Ecotalk are a bit underdeveloped for more advanced network features. You can’t join Ecotalk on an eSIM yet (see spusu instead). That undermines some of their eco-credentials with plastic and transport waste.
iPhone users won’t be able to take advantage of visual voicemail on Ecotalk either. And there is no network-level call forwarding available. If you’re out of signal it will go to voicemail.
There’s also nothing by way of free WiFi hotspots either, though only a couple of networks offer this nowadays anyway. Tethering does work fine though on Ecotalk.
Overall then, you will miss out on some of these more niche features by joining Ecotalk instead of one of the main networks. You’ll need to decide how much you value them.
Useful link: See the best networks for eSIM
Extra benefits
No mobile network does as much environmentally
If you’re into ethical consumerism, we think it’s hard to beat Ecotalk for environmental credentials. Only one other provider comes close into our guide to the UK’s greenest mobile networks.
Their chief focus is in restoring nature and re-wilding Britain. They have an extensive collection of projects they invest their profits into. Every month you stay on Ecotalk, you’re contributing to this automatically.
As a business they draw their power from their sister company Ecotricity, who generate all their power via wind and solar. Though it’s worth noting this isn’t the power used to run the EE network Ecotalk depends on.
We do think it’d be nice if you could see some kind of readout in your online account of how much you’ve contributed and where your money has been invested. Though their community section is stuffed with this.
Useful link: Full details on what Ecotalk do
EU roaming not being included is disappointing
In our EU roaming guide, we point out that getting inclusive roaming in Europe isn’t as rare as people think. Especially among smaller providers. So it is a shame Ecotalk don’t include it (spusu on EE do include this).
Instead you’ll have to pay per day to access your minutes, texts and data while away (see the latest rates in their FAQs here). If you are a value seeker, that could rule Ecotalk out for you. Check out spusu or 1p instead.
And even if you do that, there is a 2.5GB monthly cap on your data while you are away too, no matter which plan you’re on. That combination sadly puts Ecotalk among the worst EU roaming providers!
We’ve filtered these results for networks that also use EE but do include some EU roaming:
As for roaming outside the EU, it’s really not what Ecotalk are intended for. The per minute, text and data rates are so high you won’t want to use it, without very deep pockets. Check our travel eSIMs instead.
Useful link: Our guide to the best EU roaming networks
There are some other nice benefits on Ecotalk too
Ecotalk also offer a few other benefits that you may like. The best one in our eyes is that they won’t increase the cost of your plan while you’re still on it. That means you can enjoy the same great value for a long time.
Lots of other networks will increase your plan’s price each year according to inflation rates. So it’s nice that you don’t have to worry about this on Ecotalk.
And all of Ecotalk’s plans are sold as flexible 1-month deals. That means you can switch your plan up or down each month as you like. And you’re free to leave Ecotalk altogether whenever you want.
You also don’t need to pass a credit check to join their plans. They may check your credit history, but this is more to prevent fraud. That makes them a good alternative to EE if you have a poor credit history.
Useful link: See all no credit check SIMs
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Customer service
Ecotalk’s phone-based customer service is excellent
Many smaller providers don’t have customer service over the phone. But it’s a real strength on Ecotalk. We have called them a couple of times ourselves (they publish their contact details clearly here).
After a couple of minutes of slightly annoying birdsong hold music, we got through to a real UK-based agent, who was able to advise us well on activating the SIM card – it had been taking a while to register.
It’s a good job, because Ecotalk’s online account management is very basic. There’s barely anything you can change yourself. There’s no app. So you could end up needing to contact them fairly often.
We also sent emails to Ecotalk, which took them a couple of working days to respond to. If you do join them, we’d say phoning is the best way to go. It was a much better experience than most other networks.
Useful link: Best networks for customer service