iD Mobile is a no-frills mobile network, owned and operated by the Dixons Carphone group. Like Giffgaff, it offers rolling month-long SIM-only contracts starting at £6/mth, so you’re never tied into an expensive long-term deal. In the past, we’ve been impressed by iD Mobile’s prices for phones on monthly contracts and its great value SIM-only deals, which are made up for the fact that its reliance on Three’s mobile network has constrained its performance. It’s a great low-cost, low commitment network, but is it enough for more demanding users or best seen as a light use network?
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iD Mobile review: What do you get?
Where Giffgaff only sells SIM-only packages, iD Mobile also sells those on traditional monthly contracts. And here it doesn’t just compete on the big flagship models, but also on the best budget and mid-range phones.
This means good deals on the iPhone 11, with prices ranging from just £33/mth plus £50 upfront, but also for the Samsung Galaxy A51 which you can have for as little as £18/mth plus £20 upfront. Of course, these prices are for low data contracts, but even with a 50 GB allowance you could be looking at £36.99 for the iPhone 11 over 24 months with £50 upfront, or £26.99 for the A51 over 24 months plus £20 upfront. This makes iD Mobile cheaper than even the other low-cost champions like Three and Sky Mobile, and the same applies with many flagship, mid-range and even budget phones.
Browse phone contracts now at iD Mobile
If the handset prices are great, the SIM-only prices are even better. At the time of writing, you can have 1GB for just £6/mth or 9GB for £9. A healthy 12GB will only cost you £3 more. In the past, iD Mobile struggled more if you wanted higher data allowances. However that’s no longer really the case; you can have 20GB for just £13 or 50GB for £15, while iD’s Unlimited data deal is just £20/mth – or £18 with some limited time offers. You don’t get any of the extras you get with the premium networks, but if you just want data, text and calls iD Mobile’s deals are hard to beat for sheer value.
Browse SIM-only plans now at iD Mobile
iD mobile SIM-only plans – 4G |
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| Data plan | Monthly fee (1x SIM) | Call/texts | Contract length |
| 1GB | £6 | Unlimited | 30 days |
| 3GB | £7 | Unlimited | 30 days |
| 9GB | £9 | Unlimited | 30 days |
| 12GB | £12 | Unlimited | 30 days |
| 20GB | £13 | Unlimited | 30 days |
| 50GB | £15 | Unlimited | 30 days |
| Unlimited | £18 | Unlimited | 30 days |
What’s more, the network does have a few advantages. For one thing, all of iD Mobile’s plans offer a handy data rollover feature, so any data you don’t use one month is automatically carried over to the next. This isn’t as flexible as Sky Mobile’s piggybank feature, where unused data can be banked for up to 3 years, but it helps you make the most of what you’ve paid for. For another, its contracts work on a 30-day rolling basis, so you’re never looked into a bad deal. Giffgaff works on the same basis, but Three and Tesco Mobile reserve their best value deals for annual contract plans.
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iD Mobile review: Coverage and connection speeds
iD Mobile is a virtual network running on top of Three’s mobile network which means it shares the same strengths and weaknesses. Coverage is good across most areas of the UK with 4G services being the norm in nearly every area bar a few coastal and rural areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland, where EE and Vodafone are more reliable. In most areas of the UK, you can expect a solid signal.
Lack of speed is iD Mobile’s biggest drawback. Three’s aggregate median download speed 14.1Mbits/sec puts the network nearly 5Mbits/sec behind Vodafone and 28.5Mbits/sec behind EE for speeds across the UK. This masks the fact that Three’s speeds have actually been improving, and in most places with most applications, iD Mobile feels perfectly fast. However, if you’re looking for maximum performance for streaming games or 4K video, then you might want to look at Vodafone or EE.
The other question is over 5G coverage. Right now, iD Mobile doesn’t offer any 5G tariffs and while Three has rolled out 5G in major cities, iD Mobile has yet to announce its 5G plans. As a result, if you’re looking for a 5G or 5G ready contract, then you might want to look elsewhere – though iD Mobile’s 30-day rolling contracts means you’re not exactly tied in, anyway, unless you buy your smartphone through iD.
Browse phone contracts now at iD Mobile
iD Mobile review: Roaming
You can use your inclusive minutes and megabytes in any EU country, and iD Mobile hasn’t announced any changes to this policy when the Brexit transition period ends. You can also use them in the small selection of our destinations, mostly in the Caribbean and the EEA. But where its host networks Go Roam programme allows customers to use their allowances in a range of non-European destinations, including Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and the USA, iD Mobile’s Roam Like Home programme does not.
Instead, calls in Australia and the US cost £1.68 per minute to make and £1.50 to receive, while texts cost 42p and data is priced at 30p/MB. In other territories costs can go even higher: you’ll pay £3.60 per minute or megabyte in Kenya, and £2.40 per minute/£1.50 per MB in Thailand. Still, these aren’t the worst roaming charges on the market, and you can’t expect a no-frills network to pack in, well, frills.
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iD Mobile review: Other services and spending caps
iD supports both 4G calling (or Voice over LTE) and Wi-Fi calling, as long as your handset is compatible. This lets you make and receive calls even in areas you can’t get a decent voice signal.
We also like iD’s fuss-free approach to spending caps. You can set a spending cap at the time of purchase, then adjust it at any time through the iD Mobile app. This, combined with iD’s low prices, makes it a good option if you’re managing a contract for your kids.
iD Mobile review: Customer satisfaction
Ofcom’s latest review didn’t collect enough data on iD Mobile go give any definitive figures on customer satisfaction, but it did register that the network had 10 complaints per 100,000 subscribers, putting it ahead of BT Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone and Three, though behind EE, O2 and Tesco Mobile. That’s not a bad performance, though iD might want to look at how long customers spend waiting on a support call; its 1-minute 43-second average is longer than everyone else’s with the exception of Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile.
Browse phone contracts now at iD Mobile
iD Mobile review: Verdict
Not bothered about benefits, streaming features, cheap international roaming or maximum performance? iD Mobile could be the network for you. It’s cheap both for SIM-only deals and monthly phone contracts, coverage is great and speeds are mostly good. If you want benefits or need higher back levels of performance, take a look at what EE and Vodafone have to offer, but if you’re just looking for a basic service iD Mobile gives you excellent value.
The post iD Mobile review: Cheap handsets and low-cost deals make up for average performance appeared first on abangtech.
source https://abangtech.com/id-mobile-review-cheap-handsets-and-low-cost-deals-make-up-for-average-performance/
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