Smarty Reviews

Our In-Depth Smarty Review - The Best and Worst Bits About Smarty

Smarty is a low-cost mobile service provider owned and operated by Three. Though your contract will be with Smarty, the provider uses Three’s mobile infrastructure to provide service. Smarty are best known for the simplicity of their plans, their data buyback programme, and their low prices, making them a solid budget choice.

The Pros and Cons of Using Smarty

We’ll get to the details of what Smarty has to offer in a moment, but first, let’s hit the essential high and low points of opting for a Smarty SIM card:

Pros

• Data buyback programme can mean savings and means you never waste money on services you don’t use
• No long contracts mean that you never get tied down to Smarty, you’re free to change your operator or plan at the end of any 30 day period, and you don’t need to pass a credit check
• Plans are simple and easy to understand, making your choices less overwhelming

Cons

• Smarty doesn’t have a whole bunch of extra features and deals
• Lack of big data plans mean that Smarty might not be great for big data users
• If you use all your data (and don’t use the data buyback programme) prices are a little higher than with other low-cost operators

Coverage with Smarty

Because Smarty uses Three’s network to provide service you can expect the same coverage as Three’s regular customers receive. Currently, that means 97% coverage for both 3G and 4G. Three  (and therefore Smarty) do NOT support 2G service, but this shouldn’t be a problem unless you have a very old phone. It’s always best to double check your local area using the coverage map on Smarty’s website to ensure that you’ll get good reception wherever you are!

Packages with Smarty

Smarty offers a small range of 30-day rolling contracts. These will renew automatically, but you can cancel your service or change your plan at the end of any 30 day period, giving you plenty of flexibility. Plans will be charged when the month begins, so you’ll pay before using, meaning no unexpected bills. The current plans offered are:

• Unlimited calling minutes and texts, and 1 GB of mobile data for £6.25 a month
• Unlimited calling minutes and texts, and 2 GB of mobile data for £7.50 a month
• Unlimited calling minutes and texts, and 4 GB of data for £10 a month
• Unlimited calling minutes and texts, and 8 GB of data for £15 a month
• Unlimited calling minutes and texts, and unlimited data for £25 a month

In basic terms, Smarty charges you £5 for unlimited calling and texting, and then £1.25 for each GB of mobile data. You cannot use a Smarty SIM card as a traditional pay as you go SIM. However, you can top up credit (either £5, £10, or £15) and use it to pay for things that are not included in your package such as international calling (between 3p and £2 a minute depending on where you’re calling), calling special rate numbers (3p per minute plus the service charge of the number you’re calling), or buying additional data (£1.25 per GB).

Notice that there are no big data plans with Smarty. If you want more than 8 GB of data per month, you’ll need to buy extra GB, and these costs can add up quickly.

Credit Expiry

Plans with Smarty expire automatically (and renew automatically unless you change them) after 30 days. Any additional top-up credit does not expire at all. But you must have a valid 30-day plan before you can use any additional top up credit. Looking for the best PAYG SIM’s with no expiry? Read our pay as you go guide.

Extras and Features

Smarty is a low-cost operator and doesn’t have many extra features. But there are a couple of things that you should be aware of:

Data Buy Back

At the end of any 30 day period, Smarty will credit your account for any data left unused on your chosen plan. You’ll be credited with £1.25 per GB of data (calculated in 1 mb increments), meaning you’ll never pay for data you don’t use. This also means that it could be a good idea to choose the biggest plan available since you’ll receive a refund for unused data anyway.

Refer a Friend

If you refer a friend to Smarty you’ll get the price of one month of your regular plan credited to your account, and your friend will get their first month free.

Comparison to Other Networks

A basic comparison to other networks shows that Smarty’s prices aren’t necessarily the lowest around. In most cases, other providers will give you more data. For example, with Smarty’s £7.50 plan you get 2 GB of data, but iD Mobile will give you 2.5 GB of data for just £7. You only get 4 GB of data with Smarty’s £10 plan, but the same fee will get you 9 GB from iD Mobile or 6 GB from Vodafone. £15 buys you 8 GB of data with Smarty, but 12 GB with Three, or 10 Gb with iD Mobile.

However, this doesn’t take into account that data buyback programme. Whilst with other networks you pay for that monthly limit no matter how much data you use, with Smarty, you get money back if you don’t use all your data. If you’re not a big data user, or if you use varying amounts of data each month (making choosing a good plan difficult) then you could save money with Smarty simply because you won’t be paying for what you don’t use.

Handsets with Smarty

Smarty is a SIM only operator, so you won’t be able to buy a phone with them or through a Smarty contract. You’ll need your own, unlocked mobile phone, and Smarty will provide you with a free SIM card.

Wifi Calling and WiFi Hotspots

Smarty does not support WiFi calling, so you’ll need a regular mobile reception to make calls. They also do not support any free WiFi hotspots (unlike some other operators), so you’ll need to use your mobile data whilst out of the house, or rely on WiFi from cafes and restaurants.

Mobile Tethering

Smarty does allow mobile tethering. If you want to use your mobile data to get your tablet or another device online you can do so without fear. Just watch that data use, since tethering can use up mobile data limits quite quickly.

Bottom Line

If choosing a mobile plan is tough for you because you never know how much data to go for, then Smarty could be a good choice, since you get credit back for unused data. Big data users, or those who regularly use the same amount of data each month, will probably find other networks cheaper than Smarty, however. But the pure flexibility of using Smarty with their 30-day contracts and data buyback programme mean that they could be a very convenient choice for many people.