There are 6,649 Metro by T-Mobile locations in the United States as of October 24, 2023. The state/territory with the most number of Metro by T-Mobile locations in the US is Texas with 1,055 locations, which is 15% of all Metro by T-Mobile locations in America. O2: Giffgaff, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, Lycamobile, Virgin Mobile; Vodafone: Asda Mobile, Lebara, Talkmobile, Voxi; Three: ID Mobile, Smarty; Asda Mobile review. Asda Mobile is a PAYG-only provider, offering a variety of bundles. This means you can’t get contracts or Sim-only deals, and you have to pay upfront to use its services. One of these is for customers who migrate to a Magenta, Magenta MAX, or T-Mobile for Business 13+ rate plan. The good news is that T-Mo will now allow subscribers to keep their free line. The peltruquin • 1 yr. ago. I switched from T-Mobile to Verizon, Verizon’s hotspot is horrible compared to T-mo’s also there are areas upstate NY where T-Mobile gets reception and Verizon doesn’t, the only reason I kept Verizon is because of FIOS, I get mad discounts and I pay $54.99 a month for FIOS 1GB. 4. Results from independent network testers Opensignal show that 4G speeds on EE are around 44.7 Mbps against Virgin’s average speeds of 16.8 Mbps. That’s a pretty big difference. In real life we got speeds up to 130 Mbps on EE vs 95 Mbps on Virgin in the city centre. Expand user menu Open settings menu. Log In / Sign Up; Advertise on Reddit; Shop Collectible Avatars; Get the Reddit app Cricket Wireless vs T-Mobile plans. Cricket Wireless plans start at $30 and T-Mobile plans start at $65. With no contract, you can get some of the cheapest cell phone plans when shopping for a deal with MVNO's like Cricket Wireless. Virgin Mobile UAE is one of the first truly digital mobile brands in the world. Our promise to our users is simple, yet ground breaking: download the Virgin Mobile UAE app, keep your number or choose one you’ll love, build a plan that’s right for you and we’ll deliver your SIM right to your doorstep within an hour. No paperwork, no stores You are comparing T-Mobile pre-paid vs. Sprint non-Prepaid which isn't much of a valid comparison. Apples to oranges. About as useful as comparing Virgin Mobile pre-paid vs Verizon non-prepaid. I don't recommend any of T-Mobile's prepaid plans because there is no roaming and coverage is much worse. 100 minutes free ($0.35/min after) As you can see, T-Mobile comes out slightly ahead. Its Magenta Plan offers free data and texting abroad for $70 USD per month. AT&T’s Passport Plan is also $70 USD per month and includes free data and texting and just slightly more expensive calls. Verizon is still lightyears behind both. oWH6Me. The retailers featured on this page may compensate us when our readers follow links to their websites and make a purchase. MoreWe look at whether you're better off joining Three or Virgin Mobile when it comes to network coverage, speeds, prices and benefits. Last updated: 15th February 2022 How Virgin compares with Three for signalRead whyat in new window) Virgin Mobile now use Vodafone’s network (they used to use EE), meaning they get access to one of the most widespread networks for call signal (2G/3G) and for 4G data signal (see 5G further down).More of the UK’s landmass is covered with call signal on Virgin than on Three, meaning you’re more likely to stay connected while you’re on the go, even in some pretty surprising also stay connected to 4G more often on Virgin if you’re out in the countryside. In urban areas there’s little difference between the networks for both call signal and 4G data. In any case, you should use both networks' coverage checkers below to see how coverage is in your area. Check everywhere you’ll actually use your phone, that’s more important than the national link: More about Virgin Mobile's networkIf your phone is 5G-ready, then you can get 5G on both Three and Virgin on all of their plans. While both are expanding their networks rapidly, it seems Three is coming out ahead of cover 300+ UK towns and cities while Virgin cover a comparatively low 120+ towns and cities. But, 5G is still only on a street by street basis. So how well do each network cover their declared locations?On both networks you’ll only really get 5G in the busier, more populated areas. This includes train stations and other transport hubs as well as stadiums and high streets. Neither network is great at covering whole towns and cities. Both sell 5G at no extra cost. You'll get it on every SIM only plan or phone contract, as long as the model itself has 5G data as a link: Latest news on Three's 5G rollout Don't just look at your home postcode but where you work, your commute, where you go for pleasure: anywhere you'd use your phone "Virgin have the better blend of coverage overall. You’re more likely to stay connected on the go with them than Three, but the differences disappear in urban areas. Which is better for 5G will depend on your location."Compare pricing and deals We look to see if Three or Virgin Mobile have quicker downloadsRead whyat in new window)Both Virgin and Three sit in the middle for fastest 4G speeds. They’re not the fastest, nor the slowest. We use the results of independent network tester Opensignal who take millions of measurements from volunteer measure Three’s speeds at around Mbps and Virgin’s hosts Vodafone at around Mbps. But these are only averages and don’t give you the whole there’s no speed caps on Virgin, we can say you get the same peak speeds of around 80 Mbps in city centres and lows of 6 Mbps in rural areas as we got in our tests. Three got peaks of 44 Mbps and lows of around 10 Mbps. So from our experience we’d say you can get higher peak speeds on Virgin, but if you’re out in the sticks you might get better 4G speeds on Three. If you’re not satisfied you can always return your SIM within 14 days of receiving link: Three's 4g+ Big Network Build news✔ Three are racing ahead for 5G speedsSince 5G has been live for a while on both networks, we can make some pretty accurate predictions of typical 5G speeds using results from Opensignal and Speedtest by on Three fall between Mbps to a blistering Mbps vs speeds on Virgin’s host network of Mbps to Mbps. Both have a lot of variation in results, so we think it’s dependent on your location. Both are revolutionary compared to 4G and will allow more advanced features to be developed for phones that weren't previously possible. But if you want bragging rights, Three are probably the current best reason Three currently have the advantage is that they've secured more radio spectrum in the same more-optimal wavelengths to broadcast their 5G on. It's paying off now but as more spectrum gets sold, Three may not have a permanent link: What speeds might Three's 5G achieve? "Three get you faster average 4G speeds and blistering fast 5G. It will depend where you live, however. Some areas might not have 5G and Virgin tends to have faster 4G speeds in city centres. But Three are generally faster over all your usage."Compare pricing and deals Here we look at other things Virgin and Three offer to keep you connected on your overall call signal is weaker than Virgin’s and tends to suffer more indoors, as their frequencies aren’t as good at getting through building materials. But indoor signal can suffer on all help out, both networks have got WiFi calling (lets your phone make calls via WiFi where no mobile signal) and 4G calling (utilises more types of signal for calls, so better chance of having reception).Three’s is much better overall. With Virgin’s you can’t transfer a call from WiFi signal to 4G signal without your call dropping. Their list of supported devices is also quite short, and if your phone isn’t on there it’s not likely to think Three's list of supported phones is actually a little defensive (the phones the guarantee rather than the models that might work). It kicks in easily when needed and supports SMS texting link: Our guide to the best WiFi calling networks✔ Virgin Mobile offer more WiFi hotspots than ThreeVirgin Mobile customers get a real advantage from joining a mobile provider that's also part of a broadband supplier: Virgin Media. You can tap into their broadband any of Virgin’s pay monthly plans you’ll get access to a network of million+ hotspots, which are usually located in places like restaurants, transport hubs (including the London Underground) and on the high is useful as it saves on using up your mobile data allowance. You get unlimited usage. Using less data means you could in theory choose a smaller, cheaper plan (although the actual savings are hard to predict).Three don’t offer nearly as many hotspots, but you do get free WiFi on the London Underground, which pairs well with their great WiFi calling to keep you connected (here's how to get that on Three).Useful links: Free UK-wide WiFi on Virgin Mobile | Three's free WiFi on the Underground"You’ll probably have better luck getting WiFi calling to work on Three and they also have a better feature. WiFi hotspots on Virgin are nice, but there’s plenty of free WiFi out there anyway. Three have the upper hand overall."Compare pricing and deals Both Three and Virgin Mobile have free data schemes, so which is more generous?There used to be an excellent benefit on Three called Go Binge. It gave you an effectively unlimited data allowance to stream a selection of apps on your phone, even if you were on a plan that had a data are a few networks still offering similar schemes, which you can read about here. But Three aren't one of them. Virgin do have something similar, for social media messaging data, which you can read about video and music streaming are some of the data-hungriest activities you can do on your phone, so not having this count towards your data usage on Three was a real Three are getting in danger of becoming a bit of a low-frills provider. They've stripped out other benefits too recently, like their Wuntu Rewards app and their easyJet upgrade link: Read Three's existing customer guide for Go Binge ✔ Virgin Mobile's free data focusses on social media appsVirgin don't have anything quite as generous as Three's Go Binge was in terms of writing off the cost of data for specific apps but they do still have something:If you're on a pay monthly phone or SIM only contract, they'll not charge you for data you use for pictures and texts via the messaging apps Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. And also the social network effectively means you can use these as much as you like without worrying about the data. In our guide to networks that offer free data, we point out that you use this type of app a lot but that they're not really the biggest consumers of basically saying it's a nice feature if you use your phone with these apps a lot but don't expect it to save you huge amounts of link: Data-free messaging on Virgin Mobile"Now Three don't offer Go Binge to new customers, this is a win for Virgin Mobile by default."Compare pricing and deals Is roaming on Virgin Mobile as good as Three's Go Roam? On any of Three’s pay monthly plans you used to be able to roam in 71 worldwide destinations and this was one of our favourite roaming schemes. But you no longer get access to this if you’re new to you have to pay a daily charge while you’re abroad to be able to access your regular UK allowance. It’s currently £2 per day in the EU and £5 not too terrible for worldwide roaming, but there are still a lot of networks that offer inclusive EU roaming. It’s sad to see our former favourite for roaming Three not even offer EU roaming £5 a day doesn’t sound too bad when compared to some of the really expensive rates you’ll have to pay in worldwide destinations. Virgin’s rates are particularly high. But either way it’ll get expensive fast. Useful link: Full details on Three's free roaming scheme ✔ Virgin Mobile promise to keep inclusive EU roaming While mobile networks no longer have to offer free inclusive EU roaming, Virgin Mobile have promised to keep their roaming scheme in place. You can check all their roaming destinations Mobile don’t go beyond this basic provision though. And have quite a few finickity rules about how much of your normal data you can use abroad (see their roaming calculator here to work it out).So if you mainly travel within the EU, you’re covered with Virgin. But if you regularly go further afield, you might want to check Virgin’s extra roaming costs here as you could end up paying a lot for even using a little bit of can set a cap to make sure you don’t accidentally overspend. While Virgin’s roaming scheme isn’t anything special, it’s still nice that they offer it. And it’s a lot better than Three’s scheme for EU roaming. Useful link: Virgin's guide to all their roaming costs "We think the majority of people do their roaming in the EU. The fact Virgin still include it and Three don’t, means Virgin with this category by default."Compare pricing and deals Here's what you'd miss out on by joining Three instead of Virgin Virgin offer a decent benefit that helps you save a bit of your data when using certain social media apps. It won’t save you quite as much as a free data streaming data scheme would, but it’s still nice to you're on a pay monthly phone or SIM only contract, they'll not charge you for data you use for pictures and texts via the messaging apps Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. And also the social network means you can browse these apps without having to think about how much data you’re using. As we said in our guide to free data schemes, this won’t save you a lot of data, even if you use these apps a basically saying it's a nice feature if you use your phone with these apps a lot but don't expect it to save you huge amounts of data. Useful link: Data-free messaging on Virgin MobileMost people's data usage varies from month-to-month, depending on what you've been doing with your phone. Sometimes you'll get right near your data-limit or over, sometimes you'll get nowhere offer a solution to the annoyance of losing your unused data and help you get the most of what you paid for (see all the networks that offer it here).It's called Data Rollover on Virgin, and it comes with every pay monthly SIM only plan or phone contract. It lets you keep unused data to use next month instead. It's a second chance to use think it pairs well with their WiFi hotspot network and free social media data as you can save a lot of data then roll it over for your next month. Three don’t offer any form of data rollover, not even on pay as you link: Everything you need to know about data rollover Which of the two currently has the best value SIM only plans? Here are the key promotions Three and Virgin Mobile have on right now We look at prices and differences between their smartphone deals Virgin offer what are known as “split contracts” for their phone deals. This is where you have a separate finance agreement (loan) for the cost of your phone and one payment for your usage (mins, texts, data).This means you can pay off your loan and upgrade your phone early, you can change or leave your usage plan whenever while still paying off your phone and they also let you set your contract length at either 24-months or you’ll need a good credit rating, because most of Virgin Mobile’s smartphone contracts are based on credit agreements (basically loans). Otherwise, you’ll find a decent range of iPhone, Samsung and some other cheaper Android models with Virgin Mobile, all with no upfront link: See Virgin's full range of phones ✔ Three's contracts are more conventionalGetting a contract on Three is very different to getting one on Virgin. All their contracts are 24-months only and there’s no credit agreements or early upgrades. It’s a lot simpler, but a lot less phone range is very similar to Virgin's. We've built a new tool for you to compare phone contract prices on Three, Virgin and other mobile search for the phone you want, click on it, set the usage plan you want and it’ll show you a comparison of what sort of prices you’ll get on each look at our popular model example comparison further down the page to compare Virgin Mobile and Three's starting prices on some of the best selling link: Compare mobile phone contracts "When comparing 24-month contracts, Virgin tend to be cheaper. Add to that the option to take a 36-month contract to reduce monthly costs, the choice to upgrade early and change your usage plan and Virgin are a much more attractive option overall."Compare phone contracts Up to 5GB of high-speed data in 210+ countries and destinations: Magenta MAX (including 55+, Military, and First Responder), Magenta Plus, Magenta MAX for Business, ONE Plus, Business Unlimited Ultimate, and Magenta Amplified. Up to 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries: Magenta (including 55+, Military, and First Responder), Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Business Unlimited Select, Business Unlimited Advanced, and Magenta for Business. Simple Choice, Select Choice, and ONE plans are also included. Data speeds up to 256 Kbps: Magenta, Magenta MAX, Magenta 55+, Magenta MAX 55+, Magenta First Responder, Magenta MAX First Responder, Magenta Military, Magenta MAX Military, Magenta Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Magenta MAX Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Magenta Amplified, Business Unlimited Select, Business Unlimited Advanced, Business Unlimited Ultimate, Magenta for Business, and Magenta MAX for Business rate plans. Simple Choice, Select Choice, and ONE plans are also included. Customers on a T-Mobile Essentials plan get unlimited texting and calling at $ per minute in 210+ countries and destinations. Sprint customers with Global Roaming benefits will now get double the data speeds than before—up to 256 Kbps—in over 200 countries and destinations. If you're on an eligible Sprint plan using a T-Mobile SIM, you now get up to 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries. And if you’re on a MAX plan with a T-Mobile SIM you’ll get up to 5GB of high-speed data in 210+ countries and destinations. Up to 5GB of high-Speed data in all Global Roaming countries: Included for customers who are on a T-Mobile SIM and on the following plans: Sprint MAX, Unlimited Plus, Unlimited Premium, and MAX UP with Sprint ONE Up to 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries: Included for customers on a Sprint ONE plan when using a T-Mobile SIM Global Roaming data speeds up to 256 Kbps: All Sprint plans except for Essentials Essentials plans get free texting in 210+ countries and destinations. If you need data, you can purchase International Passes to get high-speed data and calling for 1, 10, or 30 days. T-Mobile customers on qualifying plans can add an International Pass to get more high-speed data and unlimited voice calling in 210+ countries and destinations. 1-Day International Pass: 512MB of high-speed data and unlimited calling, to be used up to 24 hours, for $5/day. 5GB International Pass: 5GB of high-speed data and unlimited calling, to be used up to 10 days, for $35. 15GB International Pass: 15GB of high-speed data and unlimited calling, to be used up to 30 days, for $50. International Pass high-speed data can be used however you like throughout the designated time; you’re not restricted to a certain amount per day. Primary account holders and authorized users can get an International Pass by using your T-Mobile app, logging on to or following the link in the welcome text message you receive when you enter an eligible country. You can also call your Team of Experts® before your trip by dialing 611 on your mobile device. Click here to see if a destination is one of the 210+ countries and destinations that receive data and texting as part of your eligible plan. You can check your cruise coverage here. We recommend that you turn off roaming while the ship is docked at the US port. Otherwise, your phone may pick up the ship's network and you'll be charged cruise ship roaming charges for any usage. Once you're out to sea, you can then turn roaming back on and pay the respective usage for data, text, and voice. The retailers featured on this page may compensate us when our readers follow links to their websites and make a purchase. MoreNow that Virgin Mobile no longer use the EE network, we look at what differences there now are for coverage, speeds and benefits. Last updated: 15th February 2022. Is coverage better on Virgin Mobile or EE?If you’ve been on Virgin Mobile for a while, you might remember that they used to use EE’s network for coverage. That’s no longer the case, as Virgin now use Vodafone’s network, while EE own and operate gives Virgin an advantage for call signal (3G/2G). Their hostscover more of the geographic area of the UK than EE do, and their indoor coverage tends to be a bit better as EE hold a clear advantage for 4G data (see 5G below). In fact we’d say it’s the best thing about being on EE. They cover more of the UK’s landmass for 4G and more of the areas where people way, it’s worth checking both networks' latest coverage checkers before signing up to see which one has better reception in your area. Check everywhere you’ll expect to use your link: Use EE and Virgin's coverage checkers.✔ 5G is expanding rapidly on both networksEE and Virgin both have 5G live in many large towns and cities up and down the country and offer 5G on all of their plans at no extra cost. So, which one offers better 5G coverage?EE's 5G SIM only dealsThese plans come with 5G data:In our rankings for the best 5G networks, we put EE at number one because they covered an impressive 160+ locations against Virgin's 120+ listed here. That doesn’t sound like a massive difference, but there’s more to it:EE will only declare that a location is covered once 5G is available in at least 50% of that location’s area. Some networks declare theirs after only covering a few not only do EE cover potentially way more locations than Virgin, but they tend to have better coverage within their locations. Still, it’s worth using their network maps below to see which is better in your link: What difference does 5G make vs 4G? Check signal everywhere you'll use your phone, not just at home "EE have by far the best 4G coverage of all networks and it makes up for their weaker call signal, as you can make calls over 4G calling. Virgin isn’t bad for 4G either, but they’re still weaker than EE. Virgin also have the worst 5G coverage while EE have the best"Compare pricing and deals Is Virgin Mobile's 4G slower than EE's?In terms of sheer 4G speeds, EE are by far the fastest UK provider. Along with their brilliant 4G coverage, these speeds are one of the main reasons to join on the EE network:Results from independent network testers Opensignal show that 4G speeds on EE are around Mbps against Virgin’s average speeds of Mbps. That’s a pretty big speeds in urban areas can be around 80 - 110 Mbps on both networks. In more rural areas Virgin often slows down to a crawl, while EE stays around a decent 10 - 20 if you’re an urban dweller and you want fast speeds, both networks are good options. But if you travel around a lot or you live in the countryside, EE or providers that use them might be the better option for link: Our best 5G networks guide✔ 5G speeds might be pretty closeAs 5G has been live on both networks for a while, independent network testers Opensignal and Speedtest by Ookla have had time to measure typical 5G speeds on both networks:They found typical speeds on EE between Mbps - Mbps, while Virgin host Vodafone’s were between a shocking Mbps to a speedy Mbps. We can’t really explain this variation in networks’ best 5G SIM only plansAll we can say is that if you can get peak 5G speeds, then Virgin may be slightly better. But we think you’re more likely to get consistently strong 5G speeds on EE. Either way, they’re not massively different. Useful link: Our full Virgin Mobile review "Since you’ll still spend most of your time on 4G with either provider, EE’s much faster average 4G speeds get them a win here. Virgin can compete with their peak speeds, but they will suffer more in rural areas. 5G speeds are basically a draw between them."Compare pricing and deals What else do Virgin and EE have to keep your phone connected?EE have offered WiFi calling for a longer time than Virgin, and so have had more time to develop their technology and offer it on more device both you can make/take calls and send/receive texts both via WiFi signal and 4G signal. But only EE let you transfer a call from WiFi to 4G and vice versa without your call dropping (check your phone's supported).Also Virgin support fewer models than EE (check yours here). And as soon as you lose WiFi signal or 4G signal, we found that your call will drop. It’s just not as slick a the end, EE has one of our favourite WiFi calling schemes, while Virgin’s is still a bit limited in our view, though it has got better over link: Our best-rated networks for WiFi calling✔ Virgin Mobile offer a massive network of WiFi hotspotsSince Virgin Media are also a broadband company, it makes sense that Virgin Mobile are able to offer the second largest network of WiFi hotspots in the UK. EE offer comparatively only offer 250+ hotspots on the London Underground. These are only at ticket barriers and stations, but not yet in the tunnels themselves. It’s a shame they don’t get any of BT’s 5 million+ hotspots despite EE being owned by the other hand, you’ll get access to Virgin’s million+ hotspots on all of their plans. Their app has been subject to poor reviews, but it should be able to log you in EE, Virgin get you WiFi hotspots on the London Underground. Their other hotspots will be found in restaurants, shopping centres and you also get 20 million hotspots around the link: Full details on Virgin's free WiFi scheme"While having free WiFi hotspots is nice, there’s plenty of free WiFi out there anyway. EE’s WiFi calling is easier to get working and generally works better than Virgin’s."Compare pricing and deals Which is the best for unused data?There are a few networks with data rollover. This is where the data you don’t get through in one month gets added onto your data allowance for your next month. Both Virgin and EE offer this in some any of Virgin Mobile’s plans the data you don’t manage to get through will be automatically added onto your next month’s allowance. It can help prevent you from going over your allowance if you have a bit only get to keep it for a month, however. It’s nowhere near as generous as Sky’s, which lets you keep unused data for 3 years, trade it in for discounts on devices and share it with other users on your account (see Sky’s scheme here).You’ll get through your rolled over data first, so you have the chance to use it up before it’s gone and you have the chance to get rolled over data again. At that point you should probably take a smaller deal link: Virgin Mobile's data rollover help guide✔ EE only offer data rollover on pay as you goEE are largely geared towards pay monthly plans and phone deals, but they don’t actually offer data rollover on these. The only way to get data rollover on EE is by getting a pay as you go monthly current PAYG SIM bundlesWith these bundles you’ll be able to keep your unused minutes, texts and data for a month so long as you renew your bundle. If you don’t you’ll lose them essentially the same as Virgin’s, except you don’t get it on pay monthly. This is a drawback because EE’s pay as you go bundles are fairly pricey even compared to their regular pay monthly are one of the most expensive networks. So we would like to see them add data rollover, as it would mean you could comfortably go with a smaller plan and get the most out of your data. But they don’t offer link: See latest PAYG plans"The vast majority of users will hop onto a pay monthly plan, so Virgin will be the better choice if keeping your data is a priority for you. Virgin’s deals are already better value, but with data rollover you get the most out of your deal."Compare pricing and deals There are two major benefits of getting other users onto your account with EE, whether that be adding friends or family members on new deals:The first is that you get 10% off phone contracts, SIM only plans, tablet deals or data SIMs added onto your main account - whether that be for friends or family. You also get a 1GB boost for adding new you’re also able to gift data, meaning if one of the users on your account runs out of data and another has a decent amount to spare you can transfer data over. Helpful for avoiding extra data usage to that the convenience of having all of your plans in one place and all on one monthly bill and you’ll see why EE’s Family Plan is one of our favourites out of all the link: EE's full guide to their family accounts✔ Virgin's Family plans are mostly about discountsVirgin Mobile don’t offer a whole lot of extra benefits for their home broadband or TV customers, but their Family SIM discounts are exclusive to can add up to 4x extra family SIMs to your main account whether you joined on a phone contract or a SIM only contract. You get a modest £2 off each added SIM. Not as impressive for savings, but Virgin are already we said, this discount is exclusive for Virgin Media customers. You can still add extra users to your account if you’re not a Virgin Media customer, but you won’t get the also don’t get any extra benefits like data sharing or anything like that. But it’s a good way for Virgin to reward loyalty, so if you’re a Virgin Media customer then this might be a decent reason to join Virgin link: Full ins and outs of Virgin Mobile family plans"It’s a bit of a shame that Virgin’s discount is exclusive to Virgin Media customers, as it is a really nice scheme on top of cheap prices. But EE’s will save you more money and data gifting is a useful way of avoiding extra charges."Compare pricing and deals If you join on any Virgin SIM only or phone plan then you’ll get access to one of Virgin’s brilliant benefits that makes it so the data you use on certain social media apps won’t come out of your you send a message over Facebook, download a picture from Whatsapp or scroll on Twitter you won’t use up any of your monthly data allowance. Video/audio calls on these apps will come out of your data basically means you’re getting unlimited data to use on these apps. It’s nice to have to have some peace of mind while you’re on social media. What’s even better is that it comes on even their cheapest plan:In fairness, messaging doesn’t use up much data in the first place. The biggest data savings will be from videos on Twitter, but even this doesn’t come close to networks that offer free unlimited streaming data (read our guide here).Useful link: How data-free messaging works✔ You can buy unlimited streaming data on EEJoining EE on any SIM only or phone plan gets you free trials to Apple Music, BritBox and Apple TV+ for up to 6 months which you can redeem at any you have your trials the data you use to stream these apps won’t come out of your monthly allowance, meaning you can stream without worry. But you can also get unlimited streaming data permanently:If you take a Smart Plan on EE you can choose a Video Pass that gets you unlimited streaming data for these popular video services. These are premium plans, so you’re paying a bit extra for current Smart SIM only plansAll these deals come with at least one Smart Benefit:With their Video Pass you can stream Youtube, Netflix, BBC iPlayer and more. If you often go over your data allowance then it’s worth thinking about, but you might just be better off with a bigger data link: EE's full guide to Smart Benefits"It really depends on what you want to use your phone for. If you’re using it mostly for social media then Virgin’s benefit can help you save a bit of data, while EE’s benefits will save more data overall but come at a cost."Compare pricing and deals We look at whether Virgin or EE offer the better provision for roaming abroadLike Vodafone and Three, EE have changed their EU roaming scheme so you can no longer access your regular allowance of minutes, texts and data for free while you’re you’ll have to pay a daily rate to access your allowance. At the moment they say it’s about £2 a day while you’re in their EU destinations. Even though you’re paying, you’ll also be restricted to 50GB while you’re going further afield you’ll have to pay a daily rate for a data pass. These give you a small amount of data at fairly pricey daily rates (currently between £5 - £6 depending on the destination).Or, if you’re on a Smart Plan you can choose their Roam Abroad benefit as an extra, which lets you roam for free in their EU destinations and five worldwide destinations. But remember, these are premium link: Full guide to roaming on EE's network✔ Virgin Mobile still offer inclusive EU roamingUnlike their hosts Vodafone, Virgin don’t offer any sort of worldwide roaming. But also unlike Vodafone, they’ve kept their inclusive EU roaming policy in are a few finickity fair usage policies, but unless you’re a really heavy data user we don’t think this will ever be an issue. Usually you can use around half of your data can use their calculator here to see how much data you can use while abroad. It depends on the size of your regular allowance and the cost of your outside the EU can get expensive very quickly on Virgin Mobile (1GB can cost £5000!) so you might be better off looking elsewhere if you’re going far link: Virgin's own guide to roaming"If you mainly travel within the EU, there's little to split EE and Virgin for roaming. It's only if you're going further afield that EE's Roam Further pass could save you money in select countries."Compare pricing and deals Are SIM only plans cheaper on Virgin or EE "EE aren’t really known for their cheap deals. Virgin have some very competitive prices. The main reason to join EE is their brilliant network, rather than their prices."Compare pricing and deals Current offers compared on EE and Virgin Mobile Are phone contracts better from EE or Virgin Mobile?Virgin offer their phone deals on what are called “split contracts”, where you have two separate payments. You get one finance agreement (loan) for the cost of your phone and another payment for your usage (mins, texts data).So you get a bit of flexibility in choosing your contract length (24-month or 36-month) and you can upgrade early and leave Virgin altogether by paying off the rest of your loan all at you sign up on a 36-month contract because the monthly price is cheaper, bear in mind you’re paying the same amount in the end and three years is a long commitment. You’ll also have to pass a credit check to be in general, Virgin will work out cheaper than EE for the whole contract due to their cheaper usage plans. If you want a good price and you like the look of Virgin’s network, then they’re certainly a good link: How Virgin's phone contracts work✔ EE's phone contracts offer less flexibilityEE’s phone contracts are a lot simpler, but a lot less flexible. All of their contracts are 24-months with a single payment for the cost of your phone and usage means you can’t upgrade early or change your usage plan until your contract is up, nor can you choose a contract length to suit your budget. EE’s prices also tend to be pricier when buying directly from it might be a good idea to go with a reseller like as they buy a lot of phones in bulk to sell them at a cheaper getting the same benefits as being on EE directly and it’s not like you’re sacrificing flexibility as your contract should be the same. It’s worth shopping around to see what you can link: Compare all ways to join EE and Virgin on phones"You might get a better deal going with a reseller, but Virgin are already fairly competitive for pricing and also give you a decent amount of flexibility that we think a lot of users will appreciate."Compare pricing and deals