Vodafone Review 2022: 5G, Great Discounts and Free Prize Draws with VeryMe Rewards

Vodafone has one of the best underlying infrastructures in the country, and they make great use of it. However, coverage can vary depending on many factors & the network’s 4G coverage may be weak in your area. Vodafone is the second-best UK mobile network, according to objective testing bodies such as Opensignal, OOKLA, and umlaut.

The network offers over 99% population coverage and their landmass coverage is over 90% which is quite good. Indoor blackspots are still an issue, but features such as 4G Calling and WiFi Calling can eliminate these, provided your plan and phone support them.

As always, we strongly recommend you check out the network’s coverage in your area before you commit to a long-term SIM-only contract. You can always cancel your mobile contract within the first 14 days if you’re unhappy with the service you’re getting.

Since we can’t measure the data speeds in a healthy way across the country, we rely on data provided by objective testing bodies. According to Opensignal, Vodafone’s average 4G download speeds are around 21.6Mbps and their upload speeds are around 7.4Mbps. The carrier is behind the likes of EE and Three in this area, but some Vodafone plans come with speed restrictions which bring the average speeds for the network down. Please remember that these are average data speeds and your experience can be very different.

We don’t recommend the network’s 4G for mobile gaming as you’d be fighting high latency and your connection won’t be stable enough to play anything competitively.

In the UK, EE is the fastest 4G network provider with 44Mbps 4G download speeds and 9.7Mbps upload speed. The carrier also has the best 4G coverage. You can read our EE Review to learn more.

While Vodafone is the first UK carrier to launch a 5G network in the country, they’re far from being the best. All testing bodies rank them as the worst option for 5G in terms of coverage and data speeds. Vodafone 5G is in a total of 364 cities and towns across the EU (124 UK locations and 240 locations across Germany, Spain, Italy, and Ireland).

They may not be the best in the UK, but they’re the only major network offering 5G in the EU, and more countries will follow soon.

Looking at Opensignal’s September 2021 5G Experience report, we see that Vodafone’s average 5G download speeds are around 73Mbps, and their 5G upload speeds average around 12Mbps. Vodafone is the only mobile carrier in the UK that averages below 100Mbps, but their upload speeds are pretty strong and consistent. If you get Vodafone 5G in your area, you can use this connection to play games in ranked/competitive mode without having to worry about your ping.

The download speeds may not be great, but 73Mbps is still solid and you can stream 4K videos on any platform while doing other heavy data activities.

With WiFi Calling, when you’re having a signal problem, you can use an available WiFi connection to make calls and send texts. And 4G Calling allows you to make calls over 4G, meaning clearer calls whilst eliminating many indoor blackspots. Vodafone offers both these features to their pay monthly customers at no extra cost. You can move seamlessly between WiFi and 4G to continue your calls.

Both WiFi Calling and 4G Calling are also available on Vodafone’s pay as you go bundles. You may need to first activate these features before you can use them & your device also needs to be compatible.

Turning your handset into a personal hotspot is allowed on Vodafone SIM plans, be it a contract deal or a PAYG bundle. Having said that, we strongly recommend you to opt for a plan with a lot of data because tethering burns through your data allowance at a much faster rate. Vodafone’s unlimited data plans will give you the freedom to share your data with other devices.

Members with a pay monthly plan or PAYG big value bundle get Wi-Fi access on the underground. This perk provides Wi-Fi access at over 250 stations to Vodafone members. Some specific Vodafone deals also allow members to access BT’s Wi-Fi premium spots.

This is Vodafone’s loyalty programme and it’s one of the best. The VeryMe Rewards programme is designed around you, and the rewards eventually match your interests. You have access to discounted movie tickets, tasty treats to perk up your day, a free cup of coffee, and more. You’ll need to download the My Vodafone App and use it regularly for your rewards to become more personalised though.

All pay monthly customers can enjoy VeryMe Rewards. PAYG customers can also benefit from these rewards, but to unlock even better rewards, they must top up at least £10 every 6 weeks.

Vodafone is the only mobile network in the UK that offers 5G roaming outside the country. However, the mobile network operator is changing the number of pay monthly plans that include free roaming in Europe. If you’re on a Pay monthly plan that started before 11 August 2021, there won’t be any changes for you as long as you stay on that plan, but customers who signed up after this date will have to check if they’ll get to keep their roaming perks after January 6, 2022.

You can add an entertainment option to your pay monthly SIM plan on Vodafone for £7 a month. You can choose between YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium, and Amazon Prime Video. You’ll have to pay for the membership for the duration of your contract, so think twice before applying for an entertainment deal.

The carrier lets you keep any unused data, minutes, and or texts from your previous Vodafone Big Bundle, and you can use them in the next 30-day period. Your allowance only rolls over once, and you can’t save it for longer than 30 days. This data rollover perk is only available on PAYG bundles, pay monthly SIM deals don’t include it.

In the UK, Vodafone offers a wide range of unlimited data plans to choose from. If you don’t mind signing a contract with the network, you have four options: Unlimited Lite, Unlimited, Unlimited Max, and Unlimited Max + 4 Xtra benefits. The prices for these unlimited SIM only deals differ depending on the length of the contract. Customers can also add the entertainment package for an extra £7 to Unlimited and Unlimited Max plans if they are on a long-term contract (12 or 24-months).

There are download speed restrictions on ‘Unlimited Lite’ and ‘Unlimited’ plans, respectively at 2Mbps and 10Mbps. Vodafone Unlimited Max plans offer uncapped 5G data speeds, and if you get an Unlimited Max with 4 Xtra benefits, you can roam freely in 83 worldwide destinations.

There is also a pay as you go alternative which is 5G ready and is packed with unlimited calls and texts. It’s missing most of the fancy perks you’d usually get with a pay monthly deal, but it still allows you to roam in 51 destinations, however, with a 25GB data cap.

If you are an existing Vodafone customer, the network offers a 15% loyalty discount on additional plans. This includes SIM-only price plans, as well as new phone and tablet deals. To activate Vodafone’s loyalty discount programme you have to log in and pick one of the deals in the ‘Offers for you’ section. Once you select an offer your discount will be applied automatically to your selected plan.

You can use the programme as a family plan as well. By getting an additional plan as an existing customer you can take control of your family plans. This way, bills will be easier to manage and there won’t be any shocks waiting for you at the end of the month.

If you’re interested in getting more than just a SIM only plan from Vodafone, the carrier also offers fixed broadband and internet on the go with several WiFi Hubs and USB dongles.

You can read our Vodafone Pro Broadband Review and/or Vodafone Mobile Broadband Review to discover all you need to know about these services.

Vodafone offers good network coverage & internet speeds, the best international roaming scheme, many different plans to choose from, and interesting rewards. These, however, make most of their tariffs pricey and the best deals they offer will lock you into a long-term commitment.

Their contract-free deals don’t offer great value, especially compared to some of the smaller networks.

We give Vodafone 4 stars out of 5 and strongly recommend it, especially for mobile users who want decent network coverage and data speeds, bundled with great rewards and entertainment options.