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- Cheap Smartphone and SIM only deals
- Data rollover feature
- Solid performance
- Free EU roaming
- Poor customer service scores
- Too many dissatisfied customers
iD Mobile is one of the original budget virtual mobile networks, run by Currys Plc – the owner of Carphone Warehouse – and hosted on the merged VodafoneThree mobile network. You can see it as a hybrid of the traditional mobile networks and the no-frills crowd, offering a mix of pay-monthly phone packages, one-year and two-year SIM only contracts and rolling monthly plans. Throw in cheaper-than-average prices and a data rollover feature, and it should in theory rank high for value, much like its old rival, Giffgaff.
Sadly, things haven’t worked out like that in practice, according to this year’s Mobile Network Awards survey data. iD Mobile frequently appears near the bottom of our category results tables, placing last for customer service and scoring particularly poorly for its handset contracts. It fares better for the speed and value of its services, but still struggles on customer satisfaction. Only 37% of its customers would be actively keen to promote the network, while 18% would discourage others from signing up. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.
iD Mobile review: What do you get?
iD Mobile has long been a good bet for a new smartphone on a reasonably priced contract, and that hasn’t changed since last year. At the time of writing you can bag an iPhone 17 with 500GB of data for £50.99/mth over 24 months plus £29 upfront. With Three, it would cost you nearly £5 more per month with 150GB. On EE, you’d be spending over £70/mth.
How about a Samsung Galaxy S25 with unlimited data. On Three and EE you’d be looking at £60-£70/mth on a 24-month contract with a basic plan. On iD Mobile, it’s currently £31.99/mth plus £19 upfront. That’s a significant saving over the whole contract term. Whether you’re looking for a flagship phone, a budget phone or a punchy mid-ranger, iD Mobile is always competitively priced.
It’s a similar story on SIM-only contracts. iD Mobile has cut-price, low data deals starting at £6/mth, but you can go all the way to an unlimited package and still keep the price below £20. You don’t get much in the way of the overall package – just a rollover feature where unused data from one month rolls into the next. Still, that’s not a deal breaker if you’re not worried about the extras.
As we said, iD Mobile hasn’t done well across our awards survey, but value is its strong suit. 45% of customers said they were very satisfied with their package on value for money, while a further 42% were satisfied. Only 5% were dissatisfied. That’s a respectable score for iD, though rivals Giffgaff and Smarty scored even higher for satisfied customers – and lower for dissatisfied punters.
iD Mobile review: Customer service
If value is iD Mobile’s strength, customer service seems to be its Achilles’ heel. Only 14% of customers surveyed who had had a problem dealt with by the network said they were very satisfied with its customer service, though 45% were satisfied. Subtract the 3% dissatisfied and the 7% very dissatisfied and the net result is the lowest customer service score in the survey, below Three, O2 and Lebara.
Ofcom doesn’t publish a complete set of figures for iD in its latest mobile network customer service annual survey, but while iD had fewer customers with a reason to complain over the last 12 months than Sky Mobile, Three, O2, EE or Vodafone, it still had high average call waiting times and a higher-than-average call abandonment rate, where customers give up waiting and hang up. iD Mobile needs to pick up the pace on resolving issues.
iD Mobile review: Coverage, reliability and speed
iD Mobile does much better when it comes to performance, actually coming third for speed satisfaction in our survey, behind winners Giffgaff and Smarty. A comparatively low sample size keeps the network out of the running for reliability.
As we said, iD Mobile runs on top of Three’s mobile network and can now operate on top of Vodafone’s as well, switching networks as required to get the best coverage or signal. This is a good thing, as both Three and Vodafone delivered good test results in Rootmetrics’ most recent mobile network tests, with Vodafone having the second-fastest UK-wide median download speed (48.4Mbits/sec) and Three having the third (45.7Mbits/sec). 5G coverage is set to reach 71% of the UK population by the end of 2025, and 99% by 2030.
Here, Three is actually stronger than it is in 4G, with 5G UK median download speeds of 217.3Mbits/sec, second only to EE, while the lucky top 5% of customers are getting speeds in excess of 900Mbits/sec; the fastest results of any network. That’s all good news for iD Mobile customers.
iD Mobile review: Roaming
iD Mobile still offers free roaming in 50 destinations worldwide on all its plans, giving you your inclusive texts, calls and data while you’re on the continent, subject to a 30GB fair usage policy. Outside those destinations you’ll need to splash out on a Roam Beyond add-on, typically costing between £5 for 2GB of data for one day and £35 for 20GB over 10 days. Otherwise, you’ll need to pay as you go and costs mount up, with calls to the UK from the US costing £1.68 per minute, and data costing 30p per MB.
The small sample size means we don’t have valid figures for customer satisfaction with the roaming experience on iD Mobile.
iD Mobile review: Other features, services and spending caps
iD Mobile doesn’t really do extras or bonus features in its packages, but you can set a spending cap on your account, starting at £5 over the regular cost of your plan. You can adjust the cap online or through the iD Mobile app.
iD Mobile review: Verdict
iD Mobile built its brand by delivering decent speeds and a good service at a reasonable price, but while it’s still performing well on value and performance, it’s struggling on customer service and satisfaction, much as it did in last year’s survey. Throw in stiff competition from giffgaff, Voxi, Smarty and Lebara for cost-conscious plans, and it’s slipping down our survey rankings. Things may improve as a result of the Three and Vodafone merger, but iD Mobile needs to sort out its customer service if it wants to start climbing back up our rankings.
