O2 SIM Only Deals

Why choose an O2 SIM Only deal?

There are lots of reasons to choose an O2 SIM Only deal, including its wide range of plans. You can choose a flexible 30-day plan, a 24-month plan with lower monthly prices, or split the difference and go for a 12-month plan.

Whichever duration you choose there’s also a wide range of data allowances, right up to unlimited data, and most plans also come with unlimited minutes and texts.

Beyond that, O2’s plans all include free roaming in the EU, and some additionally offer global roaming, for a total of either 75 or a massive 123 destinations worldwide.

Other extras on O2’s plans include Wi-Fi Calling, 4G Calling, and access to the O2 Priority app (housing deals, discounts, and freebies from other brands, as well as early gig tickets).

Select O2 SIM Only plans also come with free subscriptions to various services such as Amazon Prime or Disney Plus Premium, for up to the lifetime of the plan.

Is O2 a good network?

As one of the UK’s main networks, O2 is a big, long-standing, and reliable choice. As with Three, EE, and Vodafone, O2 also has its own infrastructure, so it’s not relying on another company to provide coverage.

That coverage is extremely widespread too, with O2’s 4G coverage reaching around 99% of the UK population, and its 5G being available in at least 3,200 towns, cities, and other communities at last count (accounting for around 65% of the UK population outdoors).

As for its speeds, when looking at a combination of 5G, 4G, and 3G, O2 averages 23.1Mbps according to September 2024 data from Opensignal. That’s for downloads, with uploads averaging 5.3Mbps.

Things get far faster when just using 5G, with O2’s average download speed there being 80.1Mbps according to that same report.

When it comes to customer service, a 2023 customer service report from Ofcom found that 85% of respondents were satisfied with O2’s customer service overall, 78% were satisfied with the signal strength, 79% were satisfied with the network’s value for money, 9% had a reason to complain, and 53% were satisfied with the way the complaint was handled. It also reported that there were 10 complaints to Ofcom per 100,000 subscribers.

These results are respectable relative to rival networks, and fewer customers had reason to complain about O2 than many of the other networks in this report.

FAQ

Can I roam abroad with O2?

Yes, and in fact O2 offers free roaming in the EU for all SIM Only customers, which isn’t something you’ll get on every network. Additionally, select plans let you roam further afield, for up to 123 destinations overall, including popular holiday locations like the US and Australia.

The only restriction is your general allowances and a 25GB fair usage limit for data when in the EU, while when further afield your speeds will be capped at 2Mbps.

Does O2 have credit checks?

Yes, O2 will credit check you for its SIM Only plans. This is the case with most networks, but if you want to avoid a credit check, take a look at our guide covering who offers SIM Only deals with no credit check.

Can I keep my number when switching to O2?

Yes, you can keep your number when switching to O2 and it’s easy to do so. First, you should get a PAC (Porting Authorisation Code) from your old network. The easiest way to do this is just to text the word ‘PAC’ to 65075 from the number you want to keep, however you can usually call your network up to request it if you’d prefer.

Next, order an O2 SIM Only deal, and once it arrives, activate your new SIM card. Then just give your PAC code to O2 and it will handle the number transfer.

For more details, check out how to keep your number when switching to SIM Only.

Can I get unlimited data on O2?

Yes, O2 offers various SIM Only plans with unlimited data. You can choose between a 1-month, 12-month, or 24-month unlimited data plan.

Note however that there is a fair usage limit of 650GB of data per month, and that you also shouldn’t tether more than 11 devices at once. When abroad, the fair usage limit is 25GB.