After my recent move, my existing mobile service provider fluctuated between 3G and 4G. Time for a change. Rather than listen to the market hype, I decided to try the different providers for a month, thereafter I would make my decision based on signal strength, plan flexibility and the features of the app. I purchased or received a free SIM card from SMARTY, giffgaff and MyLebara thus allowing me to try the different networks on three devices simultaneously. I also included a trip to Ireland and Turkey to test the roaming, or lack thereof given that most networks are now limiting roaming in EU countries or absolutely robbing you in non EU countries, like Turkey. After 30 days I would let the cards expire after turning off auto renew in the app and deleting my credit card. This is important to me to avoid overcharges and erroneous billing from the service provider. Giffgaff was exceptional. Within England, N. Ireland and Ireland. A consistent 4G signal, easily switching to roaming with a message saying there are no charges. In Turkey my device connected to the network, I then received a message detailing the charges and would have to use the app to add credit if I wanted to accept the roaming charges. At the end of the 30 days I disabled auto renew, my account was suspended and no charges appeared in my card. The app is simple, informative and easy to navigate. MyLebara behaved much the same as giffgaff except for poor reception in rural areas of England and N. Ireland. When roaming in Ireland I didn’t receive a message with charges, however there were no surprises on my account. In Turkey the device didn’t connect to the network at all which is also good in avoiding charges. After 30 days my service was suspended without further charges. The app is easy to use, although some navigation is required. They have some interesting plans that include international calling. Let’s get to the laggard, SMARTY. In rural areas and indoors the signal frequently dropped to 3G, or at best 1 bar 4G. In areas with 5G the service was exceptional, this only occurred in large cities and even then it could be patchy. Roaming in Ireland was seamless and in Turkey the device did not connect to the network. The app at first appeared good with the dashboard, however trying to make changes like billing or plans seems cumbersome. As an example, to suspend service the instructions are to remove the payment method, you would then no longer get billed thus suspending the service. This is exactly what I did. To my surprise my credit card was automatically charged for the next month. I contacted support and explained the situation, and more importantly asked for an explanation as to how my credit card can be charged when I have no payment methods setup in the app. Are they illegally storing my credit card information without my knowledge? The reply from support was to turn off auto renew, but why couldn’t I do this myself from within the app? When I insisted on an explanation as to why my card details were saved elsewhere and used without my authorisation, and the legality thereof, my service was cancelled and SMARTY has yet to provide an explanation. My test was to flush out this sort of stuff and it succeeded.