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iD Mobile review 2025: our expert opinion on the network

iD Mobile logo with a phone and a SIM cardVisit idmobile.co.uk

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We've joined iD Mobile ourselves to review their 5G/4G network coverage, data speeds and benefits as a real user. Here's what we found. Last updated: 16th December 2024.

Overall rating

SIM Sherpa rates iD Mobile as a very good provider
 (3.5 / 5, very good)

“It’s clear iD’s main appeal is low prices. But we are impressed with their 4G/5G speeds and features like WiFi calling and eSIM support. Coverage can be an issue if you live rurally though. Big cities are no problem.

Data rollover is a nice benefit for people whose usage changes each month. And it’s good to see EU roaming still in place, despite iD’s low-cost deals. They even include some non-EU countries.

It’s annoying you can no longer call iD’s customer service though. It’s hit their complaints record with Ofcom pretty badly. We found their app pretty useful for managing our account.

If there’s a deal you like on iD Mobile and you’ve checked signal near you, we think there’s little to stop you being perfectly happy with them. They’re not the UK’s best but it’s a very fair deal for the money.”

The 3 best bits

1) Leading 5G data speeds
2) Extras like WiFi calling and eSIM
3) Nice app to manage account

The 3 worst bits

1) No telephone customer service
2) Rural signal can suffer
3) Limited extra perks

Is iD Mobile legit?

Yes! They might be cheap but they’re a real, reliable company, owned by Carphone Warehouse. They’re actually one of the slickest virtual operators in the country.

Can I move my number to iD Mobile?

Yes you can. Just text the word PAC your old provider using their SIM card in your phone to the number 65075 and give the code they provide to iD Mobile in your online account. They’ll arrange the number to be moved across.

Is iD Mobile going bust?

Not in the UK. The Irish provider with the same brand did go bust. But there’s nothing to suggest the British company is in any financial trouble.

What network does iD Mobile use?

iD Mobile use Three’s 3G/4G/5G networks in the UK.

Does iD have 5G?

Yes. They have 5G in all the same places as Three, although iD Mobile are being cagey about which phones the faster data feature will work on.

Is iD Mobile part of Carphone Warehouse?

Yes. They’re owned by Carphone Warehouse. They were set up as a way to sell onto the Three network with their own distinct brand. You can join via Currys, Mobiles.co.uk, Carphone Warehouse or idmobile.co.uk.

Does iD Mobile have 4G calling?

Yes. They were one of the first virtual operators in the UK to offer the feature otherwise known as VoLTE. It works well and most phones are now supported.

Can you call iD Mobile?

Yes you can. They’re one of the few low-cost virtual operators to provide phone-based customer service.

Does iD Mobile support eSIM?

No they currently only support traditional paper SIM cards.

Information symbol We're a professional reviews website but we bought our iD Mobile SIM card as a regular consumer, to test what it's actually like for real life paying customers. The contents of this review are a combination of our expert industry knowledge and what we experienced during our test.

iD Mobile's network

Network coverage has been steadily improving

iD Mobile's official coverage checker

Their hosts have expanded 4G massivelyCheck iD signal

at idmobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)

iD Mobile use Three’s network for call and data signal, which has its upsides and downsides. It’s best to use their coverage map here to check signal in your area before you join them.

Their hosts have made huge investments into expanding 4G into rural areas and it really shows. They’re beginning to catch up to networks on Vodafone and EE when it comes to rural 4G coverage (see 5G below).

This massive 4G expansion has been helped by iD’s hosts converting their 3G call signal masts over to 4G. They will phase out 3G entirely by the end of 2024, leaving 4G as the main “call” signal via 4G calling.

If you’re on an older device without 4G calling or 3G-only phone, you won’t be able to make calls at all. And there will inevitably be some holes created by the switch off that 4G won’t be able to patch over.

We took our iD SIM and tested signal in urban, suburban and rural locations to see what you can expect in real life.

It was far less common for us to be kicked down to 3G in rural areas than in previous testing. And we very rarely found ourselves without signal at all. Their rural 4G is only getting better and better.

We stayed connected to 4G basically all the time in the places where people actually live. It’s a similar experience in urban and suburban areas to being on any other network, which is a good thing.

When tested our iD SIM directly against our Three SIM using the same phone and found no signal differences between them, for 5G, 4G or 3G. So we can say for sure that iD share identical coverage to Three.

But in more urban areas iD benefit hugely from their hosts 5G. You can get it in these 580+ locations and coverage in these places tends to be strong. Signal is a strength on iD, but check near you before joining.

Useful link: Check iD Mobile's coverage

Our coverage rating:
★★★☆☆ (good)

Rank:
Joint 4th
(out of 4 places)

Not as good as:
EE, O2 and Vodafone
(and all providers that use them)

Same as:
Three, SMARTY

Data speeds can be very impressive on iD but not always

iD Mobile 4G speeds

Speeds are identical to being on ThreeFind out more

at idmobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)

We tested 4G speeds on iD and Three directly against each other and found no significant differences between them. We went as high as 70 Mbps in the city while they slowed down to 7 Mbps in the countryside.

4G speeds on iD don’t quite reach the peaks of other networks but they slow down less in rural areas. More often than not we sat around a healthy 25 Mbps - 30 Mbps, which is close to Opensignal’s result of 38 Mbps.

Our tests revealed that speeds can range from very fast to very slow depending on where you use your phone.

We got speeds as high as 70 Mbps, which strangely enough we got in a rural location. In the suburbs we went down to 7 Mbps even though we had 5 bars. Still, that let us watch HD videos without buffering.

Over 3G we managed to get speeds as high as 20 Mbps (not far off the theoretical upper limit of 3G speeds). But more often we sat around 6 Mbps over 3G.

So you’re not getting an inferior network experience with iD Mobile just because they’re a budget option. Our test results should ease your mind about this.

5G data speeds are the real strength of being on Three’s network, however. Opensignal and Speedtest put typical between 208.9 Mbps - 276.17 Mbps with blistering peaks of 681.24 Mbps.

They blow the other networks out of the water for 5G speeds and offer some consistently healthy 4G data speeds as well. Either way, iD are a great choice for gamers or anyone else who needs the best speeds possible.

Useful link: What iD say about their 4G

Our data speed rating:
★★★☆☆ (good)

Rank:
Joint 2nd

Not as good as:
EE (for 4G)
(and most providers that use them)

Better than:
Vodafone (for 5G), O2
(and other providers that use them)

WiFi calling and 4G calling work really well on iD

An iD Mobile banner for WiFi calling

Make sure your phone is supportedSee list of phones

from iD Mobile's help guide
(opens in new window)

With 3G being phased out, it’s vital for iD to offer other ways of connecting to calls. Thankfully they offer WiFi calling and 4G calling just for this, letting you connect to calls via WiFi and 4G signal at no added cost.

In terms of functionality, iD’s feature is as good as many of the bigger networks’. They let you send/receive SMS texts over WiFi/4G and transfer a call from WiFi to 4G without it dropping (not all networks do).

Both WiFi calling and 4G calling worked right out of the box with our test iPhone and Android devices. Some networks require you to set up WiFi calling in your settings, but not iD.

There was no delay when connecting to a WiFi call vs connecting to a call over 3G. And there was no extra delay sending an SMS text over WiFi compared to sending one over 3G.

Audio quality suffered quite a bit when signal got weaker and we struggled to hear the voice on the other end. Even when signal was strong we noticed call quality was a bit worse than on some networks.

iD’s WiFi calling worked smoothly with no need to mess around in our account settings. It’s a really excellent feature overall.

4G calling now seems to kick in more easily than it did before. This is probably a change to network settings ahead of Three’s coming 3G phase-out.

Not every network that offers WiFi calling also lets you send and receive texts over WiFi, so it’s good that iD do. It can come in handy for receiving confirmation texts, such as from the bank or delivery services.

This is especially crucial as 4G becomes iD’s main form of “call” signal. In all, iD’s WiFi calling scheme will make the phasing out of 3G a much smoother experience for those on relatively new phones.

Useful link: Read what difference 4G calling makes

Our WiFi calling rating:
★★★★★ (best choice)

Similar to:
Three, EE

Better than:
All others

eSIM is ok when it works, other features lacking

iD Mobile's FAQs section

Join iD on an eSIMHow it works

at idmobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)

You can now get eSIM on iD Mobile. We’ve done it ourselves. It’s impressively quick to connect once it comes through. However, it did take a frustrating 25 minutes to arrive by email, due to iD’s long credit check process.

iD Mobile let you tether other devices to your phone’s data signal, effectively using your phone as a personal hotspot. There are no limits to how much of your data you can use for this while in the UK.

You also get call forwarding included on every iD plan. This lets you divert incoming calls to another number if you want to keep one line free from calls.

iD Mobile don’t give you access to any free WiFi hotspots like budget rivals SMARTY (who also use Three) do. These are usually handy for saving data and staying connected in places without signal.

They don’t support visual voicemail either, which usually lets you sort through your voicemails individually. And you can’t join iD on an eSIM, but it’s still mostly only the big networks that offer these for now.

Useful link: See costs for going over your data limit on iD

Our extra feature rating:
★★☆☆☆ (average)

WiFi hotspot ranking:
Last place

Worse than:
Three, EE, SMARTY, O2

Better than:
N/A

iD Mobile benefits

EU roaming’s great and it’s actually just got better

iD Mobile fair usage policy

Each plan has a different data limitRead policy details

at idmobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)

While many other networks have removed inclusive EU roaming, we like that iD Mobile have kept theirs in place. You can use your iD plan in these EU/EEA destinations and some non-EU Eastern European countries too.

We found no problem connecting to mobile signal when we used our iD SIM in the EU. But we did encounter some issues connecting to 4G signal while roaming, so you may find yourself kicked down to 3G signal instead.

We travelled to one of iD’s EU destinations with our iD SIM. We were connected to the local network and received the “Welcome to” message right after turning off airplane mode. We didn’t have to change any settings.

iD Mobile roaming message screenshot

4G signal can be limited while roaming on iD. If you do run into issues with this it may be worth setting your phone to not connect to 4G signal, stopping it connecting you to 4G when it’s weaker than 3G signal.

The kinds of speeds and signal strength you’ll get while roaming varies per location. But for things like checking Google maps or Tripadvisor, even iD’s 3G speeds will be good enough.

The big downside is their fair usage policy. This limits how much data you can use while roaming. Each plan has its own limit, so use their calculator to check what your data limit is before you go away.

iD don’t offer any inclusive worldwide roaming, unlike these providers. So if you roam outside their inclusive destinations you’ll have to pay at these hefty rates. It’s usually best to turn off data roaming there.

Useful link: All costs for roaming on iD Mobile

Our EU roaming rating:
★★★☆☆ (good)

Data rollover is the best of iD’s main added benefits

iD Mobile data rollover banner

Hold onto unused data for another monthRead iD's full guide

at idmobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)

Data rollover is a feature that lets you hold on to the data you didn’t get through for one month to use next month. Not a lot of mobile networks offer it these days, so it’s good that iD offer it on all plans.

You don’t have to do anything to get it to work, it does everything automatically. But their useful app makes it easy to see how much rolled over data you have left and manage anything else you need to.

We had some data leftover on the iD Mobile SIM we took out for testing at the end of the month. This unused data got rolled-over to our next month:

Screenshot of data rollover being applied

It feels great to be able to use up the leftover data you already paid for before beginning your new allowance. That’s especially the case on smaller plans where every MB counts for more.

You can see how much data you’ve used up and see your regular and rolled-over data allowances separately in their useful app:

Screenshot of data rollover breakdown

Just keep in mind that if you switch plans you will lose your rolled over data from the previous month. To get the most out of it, be sure to use up all your leftover data before switching your plan.

You’ll rarely use the same amount of data each month, so this scheme gives you a bit of a cushion if you need to use more data for one month rather than paying iD’s expensive extra data charges.

Other than that, iD reward you for referring friends to them by giving you both cashback after they join iD. It’s a nice reward for your loyalty and there’s no limit to the amount of friends you can refer.

Useful link: Get the full story on iD's Data Rollover

Our data rollover rating:
★★★★☆ (good)

Not as good as:
Sky Mobile

Better than:
All others

They offer some other handy smaller benefits too

iD Mobile Capping bannerCapping amount

Set an overspending cap £1 at a timeHow to set a cap

from iD's help section
(opens in new window)

iD Mobile have some of the most flexible overspending caps of all networks. While you can’t set it higher than £25, but you can set it in super flexible £1 increments between £0 - £25 and change it when you need.

And iD offer lots of 1-month plans that let you switch up or down each month. They’re more flexible than their longer contracts, but are a bit higher in cost. Check their prices here to find the best deal for you.

If you join iD on a SIM only contract then they won’t increase the monthly cost of your plan. That means you can enjoy their low costs without worrying about huge price hikes (they do up costs on their phone deals).

But you are missing out on things like unlimited social media and streaming data that VOXI offer and SMARTY’s 10% family plan discount. Still, iD offer a lot of benefits for a small budget network.

Useful link: How to change your plan mid-contract with iD

Our benefits rating:
★★★★☆ (excellent)

Data rollover ranking:
2nd

Loyalty rewards ranking:
3rd

Spending cap rating:
1st

iD Mobile deals and plans

What type of deal are you interested in?

Choose an option to skip to the right section:

Special offers running on iD Mobile

Here are the latest promotions on SIM only or phone contracts.

iD's affordable SIM only deals

iD Mobile 1GB £5 SIM banner

See all deals

at idmobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)

iD Mobile are always among the cheapest mobile networks for the lower data plans. This month they've got a couple of reasonably competitive deals:

Useful link: All iD Mobile's special offers

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iD Mobile’s phone contracts

We go over the kinds of phone deals iD offer:

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iD’s phone deals are great value but not very flexible

Screenshot of our phone comparison tool

Compare phone contracts

at simsherpa.com
(opens in new window)

Unlike most other networks, iD don’t offer any phone contracts over finance. Instead they offer all their phones on traditional 24-month contracts, making them a bit less flexible than finance based contracts.

Rather than iD loaning you a phone, the payment for your phone is on the same bill as your usage plan (mins, texts, data). It may be easier to pass a credit check for these, but we’re not sure of iD’s exact policy.

iD provide good value deals on lots of low-cost phones and mid-range Apple and Samsung devices. But your bill will go up annually during your contract, so they’re not as great value as they seem on the surface.

You’ll get all the same benefits on their phone contracts as on their pay monthly SIM only contracts, including data rollover, inclusive EU roaming and flexible spending limits.

Useful link: Browse iD Mobile's phone range

Our phone contract rating:
★★☆☆☆ (average)

Rank:
TBC

Not as good as:
TBC

Equal to:
TBC

iD Mobile customer service

Lots of ways to get help but a disappointing record

League table of complaints

A worse complaints record than mostRead Ofcom's report

at ofcom.org.uk
(opens in new window)

You’ll inevitably run into issues with your plan on any network. So it’s good to make sure the network you want to join are good at resolving their customers’ problems before joining them.

The first way to see how good a network are at helping their customers is by looking at how many complaints Ofcom receive about them. In their latest report, Ofcom received 4 complaints per 100,000 customers on iD.

That’s level with the current industry average of 4 complaints per 100,000 customers and hasn’t changed since Ofcom’s last report. That shows they haven’t made much effort to improve their over-the-phone services.

If you’re someone that wants to get help over the phone, iD won’t be the best choice for you. But they do have a forum page with lots of questions answered and their app is very useful for managing your account.

Useful link: How to get help on iD Mobile

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