Review of Tesco Phones Sim

Advantages: cheap calls to landlines and mobiles, cheap text, very good reception

Disadvantages:limited number of options, can't use abroad, no MMS, no internet




I always had my phone on the contract. I have been with Vodafone since the day dot - basically the whole time I have had phones. Vodafone and I were best friends, are still there. But this is not part of the discussion here.

My latest phone is not locked to any particular network, and I had been toying with a PAYG SIM card and new phone number I want to use simply by texting a couple of times a month and calls for very occasional. I just need to cover the United Kingdom, with this, I can still make calls abroad with Vodafone. A phone in my opinion would also be able to break my phone calls between private and do not answer on principle, I'm sorry, business calls.

During a shopping trip to Tesco to stock up on food I was surfing the mobile unit. I was immediately attracted by the DVD box white almost shouting the words "TESCO VALUE SIM" and The Magic Numbers "5p texts - 15p per minute calling" on me. I took the box and read the fine print (which is not so small, but I have no glasses). I liked what I saw and put one in my shopping cart - even though I made a mistake, to 3.47 pounds which is not much of a loss in the grand scheme of things.





There are so many different tariffs out there when it comes to mobile phones. It seems that every company has at least a handful to choose from. Tesco has two, the usual SIM with a slightly higher cost (but also a number of special offers) and Tesco Value SIM, a part of the well-known Value range.

Of course, using Value SIM comes with restrictions. It can only do very basic things. But this also makes it ideal for those who use mobile phones for what they were designed in the first place - make / send and receive calls and texts. And it makes for a low price.

If you have a mobile phone handset that is locked to a specific service provider, you must have it unlocked before you can actually use Tesco Value SIM in the handset - not required when there is either SIM free (unlocked) or a Tesco phone in the first place. Locking the phone cost you, so there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Just take the small SIM carefully from credit card size holder, press it out from there, and put into the handset, following the instructions in your phone's user manual. You can then switch the phone on and it will automatically log on to Tesco network.

Before you can actually make and receive calls you need to activate your SIM card. You can do so by making a chargeable call.

I must admit that I was a little naive when I first started on the pay-as-you-go system and was not aware that to receive calls I had to activate the card, too. I thought it was just to call (and of course also necessary to put the credit on your phone). If I had been able to only receive calls without having to buy a credit I would have just went there as it was, and used it for incoming calls.




You can e-airtime vouchers at check out Tesco's. The minimum you have to spend is £ 10. Other amounts are 15 pounds or 20 pounds. The second option is to call from the mobile phone you want to buy calling time and charging your credit or debit card. The third option is to register online at www.tesco.com and pay for either a single top-up or a regular automatic top-up (every week or every month) for the amount you have specified online. The online option allows more than a Tesco phone and even record a top-up phone that is not yours.

I chose the online top-up and the lowest amount I was allowed (10 pounds, but I would have preferred that began at £ 5.00 not know whether I actually found the net) and within seconds I got a SMS message that the phone had been credited with the money. Then I put out my phone number at home, I grabbed the phone, the mobile call and entered the successful charged me 5 pence as the call was only half or so. There is a minimum connection charge of 5 pence. The call will be counted in seconds and up to 15 per minute for all fixed and mobile calls made via the Tesco Value SIM. All texts are charged at 5 pence. All calls and texts already include VAT. And I think the same will to cover all system services, when you finish the call or text the phone will tell you how much credit you have on your phone.

All costs for the Tesco Value SIM fixed rates, the instruction booklet that comes with the SIM lists them for you in case you need to know. Also due to the fact that the SIM card is very basic, you have to pay for calls to customer care (15p/min) and to your voicemail (10p/min) get when you choose to switch.

What I like to flat prices is the fact that Tesco cheap calls from the United Kingdom to offer to international mobile and fixed lines without the hassle of having to work out what it what. They have lumped all the 50 most popular countries in Zone 1 and charge 20p/min for the call. Zone 1 includes most European countries and Australia, the USA and many Asian and African countries. Zone 2 and 3 are charged at 40p and £ 1.49 per minute, but you will notice that most countries would you like to call are in zone 1. It is useful to me if I should call someone from a British airport, when I go abroad to travel and the plane is delayed or similar. I regularly fly to Germany and sometimes happens that a plane is delayed and I should call in advance and let them know not to make to the airport early. At 20p/min more I can really talk and not just rely on the bare needs.

I must say, since using the Tesco Value SIM in my phone, I have only had good experience with it. There have been no network problems and reception in general was incredibly good. Actually, what surprised me most was the quality of the reception I got. I live in an area where we should have perfect reception for TV, Freeview, DAB radio and mobile. However, I seem to live in a black hole and Freeview is pixilated, DAB radio only works in the kitchen and in mobile phone reception was always a little hit and miss. Simply moving a step to one side or turning around could reduce reception from a maximum of 3 bars to nothing. Tesco Value SIM is brilliant, even areas where I never had reception at all I can now receive calls. I get 5 bar reception all over the flat, if it’s really bad it goes down one bar to 4 but definitely 100% better than reception on Vodafone (or my friends’ that are on T-Mobile). I was well impressed with this.