Why choose Vodafone mobile?
Vodafone, it must be said, offers some of the best extras and additional features in the business from free entertainment passes to extended warranties to literally the most roaming destinations on any UK network. Let’s take a closer look.
- Excellent range of handsets and SIM-only plans
- Vodafone has its own network covering 99% of the UK population
- 14-day free cancellation policy
- Vodafone is the UK’s best network for international roaming
- Get great entertainment from YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium or Amazon Prime included in your mobile plan
- Unlimited data plans give you unlimited data, minutes and texts
- Extended 24-month manufacturer’s guarantee on all Apple devices
- Vodafone EVO offers the ultimate flexibility, with flexible trade-in, contracts, upfront costs and upgrades
- 15% off additional plans for you or other family members
Excellent range of handsets and SIM-only plans
As you’d expect, handsets from Apple, Samsung and Google are present and correct – no surprises there as no provider would be fool enough not to stock the market leaders. We’re also glad to see Vodafone offering phones from Huawei. Huawei offers premium handsets for less money – call it budget-premium – so it’s a great option for the savvy shopper.
Vodafone also has handsets from Xiaomi, Motorola, Nokia and a handful of other smaller brands. Notable absences include LG, OnePlus and ZTE, though it would be fair to say that these brands offer nothing substantially different from those Vodafone does stock. It has those bases covered.
Vodafone also offers a wide selection of SIM-only deals called Xtra Plans if you already have a handset you’re happy with. Xtra Plans offer the same great choice of data and all Vodafone’s regular benefits - 5G at no extra cost and VeryMe Rewards. Plus, a load of Xtra benefits which aren't included with any of their other mobile plans.
Vodafone has its own network covering 99% of the UK population
Vodafone is one of four providers in the UK with its own physical network – the others being EE, Three and O2. All other providers piggyback onto one of these networks. While not measurably the ‘best’ network – if by ‘best’ we mean fastest data, widest coverage – there really isn’t much in it between any of these networks.
Vodafone covers 99% of the UK population. If you’re unsure of whether you’re covered you can use Vodafone’s coverage checker on its own website. Do bear in mind, however, that geographical coverage maps aren’t very good at predicting signals indoors, so if you have a friend or family member on Vodafone it may be worth having them round to see what the signal’s like in various rooms. 99 times out of a hundred, though, you’re going to be fine.
14-day free cancellation policy
Vodafone offers a 14-day cancellation period, giving you the right to cancel your contract within 14 days without giving any reason. This also applies to new devices which turn out to be faulty, and you have 14 days to return it. if your device is faulty, you have 30 days from the day you receive it. This means you’ll have plenty of time to ensure your new handset and/or SIM works as it should where it should.
The system works very simply, but if you’re returning a handset you’ll need to ensure it stays absolutely pristine prior to sending it back or Vodafone may quibble.
Vodafone is the UK’s best network for international roaming
Vodafone runs a vast telecoms empire around the world and it’s this, we believe, that has enabled it to offer such an overwhelming number of countries with either free or low-cost roaming available. You can use your data, minutes and texts at no extra cost in 51 countries on selected Xtra Airtime Plans.
They are: Åland Islands, Austria, Azores, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus (except Northern Cyprus), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France (incl. Corsica), French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Reunion, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St. Barthélemy, St. Martin, Sweden, Switzerland, and Vatican City.
If you’re on one of Vodafone’s Unlimited data Xtra plans with 4 Xtra benefits, you can holiday with ease and use your UK allowance of minutes, texts and up to 25GB of data at no extra cost in 83 worldwide destinations.
They are (brace yourself): All of the 51 countries listed above, plus Albania, Anguilla, Antigua, and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Mexico, Montserrat, Mozambique, New Zealand, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, South Africa, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and North Cyprus, Turks and Caicos and the United States of America.
It would be fair to say if you’re going abroad and it’s not to Bouvet Island, Vodafone has you covered.
Get great entertainment from YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium or Amazon Prime included in your mobile plan
Vodafone offers a great variety of options for entertainment add-ons. Get great entertainment from YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium or Amazon Prime included in your mobile plan. Or, use their Charge to Bill service to add Netflix, discovery+ and more to your bill.
This is tremendously generous. These services all weigh in between £8 to £12 per month each normally. You can only choose one, but all are worth having. YouTube Premium offers everything you love about YouTube, but ad-free and uninterrupted. Listen to unlimited music and podcasts on mobile, tablet and laptop, with better sound quality and no ads with Spotify Premium. Get the best of shopping and entertainment with Amazon Prime, including free fast shipping, Prime video access and more. Granted you’ll need one of the top tariffs to get them but if you enjoy one of these services that’s going to make it all the more worthwhile.
Unlimited data plans give you unlimited data, minutes and texts
Vodafone’s Unlimited data plans give you unlimited data, minutes and texts. There are different options available depending on your estimated usage. The Unlimited Lite plan is good for browsing, catching up on social media and streaming music with a maximum download speed of 2Mbps. The mid-range Unlimited plan is perfect for watching movies on-the-go, sharing photos and making video calls, plus everything Lite can do, with a maximum download speed of 10Mbps.
The top level plan is called Unlimited Max, offering super-fast downloads and UHD streaming, plus everything Unlimited can do — Max is for heavy real-time gamers, for people who want to stream high quality content, frequent hotspotters or for users who download a lot of content on the go. Max Unlimited offers the current maximum download speed available, so you always get the fastest available speed with this plan.
Basically, the difference between each of Vodafone’s unlimited plans is the speed available to you on the go, and the costs increase slightly as the maximum download speed increases with each plan. To give some context, with the Unlimited Lite plan you should be able to download a song in under 15 seconds and use the plan for general browsing and accessing social media.
With the Unlimited plan, you should be able to download a song in under 5 seconds and easily share and receive images, audio and video files, stream in HD, and make HD quality video calls. Finally, with Unlimited Max, downloading songs or large files should be near instant, and you can easily stream in Ultra HD.
Before choosing your plan, consider how much you use your mobile data on average, and how you use it when you’re out and about. If you don’t use it much except for checking email or updating your Facebook status, Lite is probably sufficient. If you’re always gaming on the go and need a superfast connection, Unlimited Max is probably best. For anything in between, the Unlimited plan is more than sufficient for heavy usage on the go without the need for Ultra HD streaming.
Extended 24-month manufacturer’s guarantee on all Apple devices
Like the title says. Apple provides a standard manufacturer’s warranty on all Apple devices for 12 months. Vodafone offers you an additional 12 if you buy the device directly from them.
Vodafone EVO offers the ultimate flexibility, with flexible trade-in, contracts, upfront costs and upgrades
This is getting increasingly common these days – the ability to adjust your up-front cost and your monthly payments, which is particularly helpful for spreading out the monthly cost of a more expensive handset. Vodafone EVO lets you choose your monthly price. You choose your device, and then set your upfront cost and plan length, from 12 to 36 months.
EVO is essentially two plans rolled into one: one for your phone and another for your airtime (that's your data, minutes and texts) separately – as a Phone Plan and Xtra Plan. You can also add your pick of YouTube Premium, Amazon Prime or Spotify Premium to your mobile plan for the length of your plan, and other benefits like free device care, unlimited picture messaging, 5G at no extra cost, and more.
Which you choose will largely come down to your own preferences.
15% off additional plans for you or other family members
If you take out an additional SIM or handset deal once you’re already a Vodafone customer, you’ll get 15% off of every aspect of it from the regular monthly cost to any additional bolt-ons. BT Mobile and others offer similar, but generally these tend to apply only to SIMs. Here you can get additional iPhones if your heart so desires… and that’s a hefty discount.