Anyone Use Smarty?

[ReganAndCarter]

Recently returned from France after 3+ weeks. EE have stung me best part of £25 for roaming (another Brucie Brexit bonus!!! ) As I intend to spend a lot more time in France and Czech Republic I really need to switch to something inc. roaming - especially as I'm footloose and fancy free because I'm out of contract with EE.

At the risk of doing a Secure here can anyone give an opinion on Smarty mobile? I'm currently on £10pm, unlimited calls and texts + roaming charges with EE. I don't use data with my Nokia 6100. Smarty do unlimited calls and texts inc. roaming for £6pm. Is this a baragin? Or is it cheap for a reason? Anyone got any experience of Smarty, or recommend something else. I want SIM only as I will keep old phone and tel. no. Thanks in advance.

 

[fillyboy]

Motties pretty genned up on that.

 

[Mottie]

As far as I know, only the EU roaming data is capped on some plans. Unlimited calls and texts in the EU with most deals are just that so you should be okay. Look at sim only ID mobile and Lyca Mobile too. I'm on both of those and I find them fine.

My regular network is ID mobile but just because I can, I also have a Lyca mobile esim in my iPhone. Two numbers and two networks on one phone. ID uses the '3’ network and Lyca uses the EE network. I just have PAYG on the Lyca sim with a fiver credit on it. You get a better deal with a regular monthly deal on Lyca. If you’re happy with EE, I'd choose Lyca if I were you. Go for the 99p sim for 3 months then £4.90 a month after that - at the top of this list: https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_deals/lyca_mobile/?inset-cookie-banner&utm_accountid=5303720174&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=lyca sim only&utm_cmpid=16159910308&utm_adgid=132675040985&utm_tgtid=kwd-1615230068046&utm_mt=e&utm_adid=581617235657&utm_dvc=c&utm_ntwk=g&utm_plcmnt=&utm_locphysid=9044948&utm_locintid=&utm_feeditemid=&utm_devicemdl=&utm_plcmnttgt=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAyp-sBhBSEiwAWWzTng1iHzhExiSS3BC0Bq1L-CFBIOEeNjGlYEU5EquL2e4W4NVxP6rzYRoCvBMQAvD_BwE
ID and Smarty are just 30 day notice sims so if you’re not happy with them you can swap networks hassle free and not get stuck in a 12 month deal.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

As far as I know, only the EU roaming data is capped on some plans. Unlimited calls and texts in the EU with most deals are just that so you should be okay. Look at sim only ID mobile and Lyca Mobile too. I'm on both of those and I find them fine.

My regular network is ID mobile but just because I can, I also have a Lyca mobile esim in my iPhone. Two numbers and two networks on one phone. ID uses the '3’ network and Lyca uses the EE network. I just have PAYG on the Lyca sim with a fiver credit on it. You get a better deal with a regular monthly deal on Lyca. If you’re happy with EE, I'd choose Lyca if I were you. Go for the 99p sim for 3 months then £4.90 a month after that - at the top of this list: https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_deals/lyca_mobile/?inset-cookie-banner&utm_accountid=5303720174&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=lyca sim only&utm_cmpid=16159910308&utm_adgid=132675040985&utm_tgtid=kwd-1615230068046&utm_mt=e&utm_adid=581617235657&utm_dvc=c&utm_ntwk=g&utm_plcmnt=&utm_locphysid=9044948&utm_locintid=&utm_feeditemid=&utm_devicemdl=&utm_plcmnttgt=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAyp-sBhBSEiwAWWzTng1iHzhExiSS3BC0Bq1L-CFBIOEeNjGlYEU5EquL2e4W4NVxP6rzYRoCvBMQAvD_BwE
ID and Smarty are just 30 day notice sims so if you’re not happy with them you can swap networks hassle free and not get stuck in a 12 month deal.

Thanks for the info Mottie. I've been with Orange then EE for years, but for some reason when it changed to EE the signal at home dipped a bit. I sometimes have to go in front bedroom upstair to get a usable signal or even outside. So a change from EE (Lyca) may be a good idea. Smarty uses Three's network - not sure if I would get better reception with this network.

One thing on Three's website. They say they're switching off 3G next year. Will that affect using my ye olde Nokia 6100?

 

[JonathanM]

Do you use this?

View mobile availability - Ofcom Checker

Is the Nokia 2G? The checker may not show 2G. But the networks' own checkers usually do.

 

[Mottie]

Thanks for the info Mottie. I've been with Orange then EE for years, but for some reason when it changed to EE the signal at home dipped a bit. I sometimes have to go in front bedroom upstair to get a usable signal or even outside. So a change from EE (Lyca) may be a good idea. Smarty uses Three's network - not sure if I would get better reception with this network.

One thing on Three's website. They say they're switching off 3G next year. Will that affect using my ye olde Nokia 6100?

The good thing about Smarty. Lyca, ID mobile is that they are 30 day contracts and you can easily swap mpnetworks until you find one that works for you.

Is there any reason you don't want a smartphone? I sometimes have patchy signal in my house and we frequently have stays in the peak District where a signal is non-existent but many smartphones nowdays can switch automatically to wifi calling so as long as you have a WiFi signal, you can make and take calls clearly as if you had a strong phone signal.

 

[securespark]

I used to be with Three, then moved to Smarty. Their blurb says that they offer the same as Three, although I have never yet seen 5G. If you don't use data or download films though, this shouldn't bother you.

I pay £8 a month for 12GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts.

 

[Mottie]

I used to be with Three, then moved to Smarty. Their blurb says that they offer the same as Three, although I have never yet seen 5G. If you don't use data or download films though, this shouldn't bother you.

I pay £8 a month for 12GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts.

I get 5G on mine with ID mobile on the Three network. I get unlimited minutes and texts plus 20Gb of data and they roll over any unused data (up to 20Gb) each month.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Do you use this?

View mobile availability - Ofcom Checker

Is the Nokia 2G? The checker may not show 2G. But the networks' own checkers usually do.

Thanks had a go. Current EE and 3/Smarty are both 'ok' for voice coverage in my area on their map. O2 and Vodafone are both excellent. Looks like for best performance I should be looking at a cheaper operator who uses O2 and Voda's networks.

 

[securespark]

Tesco, Sky and GiffGaff use O2.

Voxi, Lebara and Asda use Vodafone.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Tesco, Sky and GiffGaff use O2.

Voxi, Lebara and Asda use Vodafone.

Had a look at Asda. They do a talk and text for £4p.m. It's on the Vodafone network, so will improve my reception at home - plus it includes roaming. For less than the price of a pint!

 

[securespark]

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Have contacted EE and they will refund the roaming charges, but it looks like they will charge in future so have to change to Asda with inclusive roaming on the Vodafone network.

Now my next problem. Looks like they're switching off the 3G network any day now - so my old faithful Nokia is u/s. I looked at a 4G Nokia 2720 flip which is quite compact and hopefully not too complicated. It looks like the 2720 has a few features/apps on there like social media, etc which I won't use. The sim I will get from Asda is basically text and talk - which is all I need. Will I be able to run the phone for just text and talk without needing to use data? Or does this type of phone also need a data connection to work properly?

 

[MNW67]

Looks like they're switching off the 3G network any day now - so my old faithful Nokia is u/s.

I'm no expert. But are we talking about the original Nokia 6100 from the early noughties? Surely that is a 2G phone? I think the 2G network will still be on.

 

[Mottie]

Or does this type of phone also need a data connection to work properly?

You don’t need any data to text and talk.