Sky Mobile: Find the best deal

Person holding an iPhone

The best Sky Mobile deals: Phones & prices

Sky Mobile offers a range of mobile phone deals, flexible sim plans and discounts for new and existing customers. We look at the best mobile deals from the Sky catalogue, before going on to explain its sim plans and contracts. It’s worth noting that Sky mobile offers devices from the following manufacturers: Apple, Samsung, Google, Sony and Huawei.

It used to be the case, more often than not, that the number of hours spent talking on the phone determined the cost of your monthly bill. Now that unlimited texts and calls are the industry norm, data allowance and the price of handsets are the key factors in plan pricing. We’ve used these two key factors to determine the best deals available for each handset brand.

We’ve also provided a price breakdown for every device on our list, which has aided our selection of the best Sky Mobile deals. The breakdown shows the monthly cost of the selected device on the Sky Mobile Swap24 contract (30 month contract) and the Swap12 contract (24 month contract), as well as any upfront fees. This breakdown doesn’t include the monthly cost of device and sim plans. For more information on Sky’s sim plans, click here.

Apple iPhone XS Deals

The iPhone XS is Apple’s latest feat of brilliance, which took over from the retired iPhone X in 2018. It is, as expected, the most powerful and fastest iPhone to date. It sports a 5.8 inch Super Retina HD display with a 7 MP front-facing camera and two 12 MP cameras on the rear - comprised of a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. To top it all off, it has a 20 hour battery life.

While the iPhone XS courts higher prices than any other smartphone in this list - and overall, bar the iPhone XS Max - Sky Mobile offers better value for money deals than O2, EE, Vodafone, BT and Three.


Our choice for best Sky iPhone deal:

  • iPhone XS 64 GB | Swap24 (30 months) | Upgrade at month 24 | £47.00/month | 8 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

This deal’s £47.00 monthly price includes the 8 GB data sim plan with unlimited calls and texts at £10.00/month, and the handset at £37.00/month. The total cost of this 30 month plan is £1,410.00, which can be broken down as such: £300.00 for the data sim and £1,110.00 for the handset. Customers have the option to upgrade at month 24 by swapping in their handset for a new one.


Phone Swap24 Swap12 Swap12 Upfront fees
Months 1-30 Months 1-12 Months 12-24
iPhone XS 64 GB £37.00/m £53.00/m £32.75/m £99.00 (Swap12)
iPhone XS 256 GB £42.00/m £62.00/m £37.50/m £99.00 (Swap12)
iPhone XS 512 GB £56.00/m £56.00/m £44.00/m £99.00 (Swap12)

Apple iPhone XR

With a chunkier design, the XR sports a 6.1 inch Liquid Retina display that allows for true-to-life colour. It uses the same A12 Bionic chip as the XS, which makes it just as fast and powerful. The front camera is the same as the XS’s - 7 MP with the capacity to shoot HD video. The rear only sports a single 12 MP wide angle lens camera.


Our choice for best iPhone XR deal:

  • iPhone XR 128 GB| Swap24 (30 months) | Upgrade at month 24 | £48.00/month | 20 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

The monthly price of £48.00 is comprised of £20.00 for Sky Mobile’s 20 GB data sim and £28.00 for the handset. The total cost for this iPhone XR deal over 30 months is £1440.00, that’s £600 for the sim plan and £840 for the handset. Customers will be eligible for an upgrade at month 24.


Phone Swap24 Swap12 Swap12 Upfront fees
Months 1-30 Months 1-12 Months 12-24
Months 12-24 £26.00/m £32.00/m £24.75/m £99.00 (Swap12)
iPhone XR 128 GB £28.00/m £34.00/m £26.50/m £99.00 (Swap12)
iPhone XR 256 GB £31.00/m £40.00/m £29.50/m £99.00 (Swap12)
£12.00 (Swap24)

Google Pixel 3 & 3XL

Google’s flagship phone is remarkable. The Google Pixel 3 provides customers with one of the best inbuilt cameras on the market: a 12.2 MP single lens camera on the back. It also provides unlimited online storage for your images and supports wireless charging. On the front there’s a dual lens selfie camera that allows for wide group selfies.

The only real differences between the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3XL are size - as the name suggests - and battery life. The pixel 3 sports a 5.5 inch OLED screen compared to the 3XL’s 6.3 inch display. In terms of battery life, the 3XL lasts longer due to its inbuilt larger battery.

SPECIAL OFFER: Customers can pick up a free Google Nest Hub when purchasing either the Pixel 3 or 3XL with Sky mobile.


Our choice for the best Google Pixel 3 deal:

  • Google Pixel 3 | Swap24 (30 month contract) | Upgrade at month 24 | £32.00 | 8 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

With this Google Pixel 3 deal you pay £10.00/month for the 8GB data sim and £22.00/month for the handset. The total you pay over the course of 30 months is £960.00, which can be broken down to £300.00 for the data plan and £660 for the handset. Customers can swap in their phone for an upgrade at month 24.


Our choice for the best Google Pixel 3XL deal:

  • Google Pixel 3XL 64 GB | Swap24 (30 month contract) | Upgrade at month 24 | £36.00 | 8 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

Our choice for the best Google Pixel 3XL is made up Sky Mobile’s 8 GB data sim at £10.00/month and the 64 GB handset at £26.00/month. In total, this deal will cost you £1,080.00 over 30 months - £300.00 for the data plan and £780 for the Pixel 3XL itself. Customers can swap their handset in for an upgrade at month 24.


Phone Swap24 Swap12 Swap12 Upfront fees
Months 1-30 Months 1-12 Months 12-24
Google Pixel 3 64 GB £22.00/m £31.00/m £24.00/m None
Google Pixel 3 XL 64 GB £26.00/m £34.00/m £29.00/m £49.00 (Swap12)
Google Pixel 3XL 128 GB £30.00/m £35.00/m £32.00/m £99.00 (Swap12)

Samsung S10 & S10 Plus

Samsung’s S10 and S10 Plus are significantly better their S9 predecessors. They’re larger, thinner and lighter. They’re also the first to apply in-screen fingerprint readers and the magic of power sharing. Both incorporate their front-facing cameras onto their screens, which lends to a super sleek aesthetic and both sport three cameras on the back - the more the merrier; one is a wide lens, the other an ultrawide lens and the last an optical zoom lens.

They differ not only in battery life and size, but also in their respective front-facing cameras. Samsung has given the S10 Plus a dual lens selfie camera, which is an upgrade on the S10’s single lens. The S10 sports a 6.1 inch Dynamic AMOLED display, compared to the 10Plus’s increased 6.4 inch display.


Our choice for best Samsung S10 deal:

  • Samsung S10 128 GB | Swap24 (30 months) | Upgrade at month 24 | £39.00/month | 8 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

This deal combines the lowest priced handset, the 128 GB S10, for £29.00/month with the 8 GB data sim at £10.00/month. Over the full term of the contract, you’ll be paying £1,170.00 - that’s £300.00 for the data sim and £870 for the handset. No upfront payment is charged and customers can trade in their handset for a new one at month 24.


Our choice for the best Samsung S10 Plus deal:

  • Samsung S10 Plus | Swap24 (30 months) | Upgrade at 24 months | £42.00/month | 8GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

Our favoured S10 Plus deal is similar to the S10 deal, with the increased price reflecting the cost of the S10 Plus, which is billed at £32.00 per month. The full cost of the deal is £1,260.00 - £300.00 for the data sim and £960.00 for the handset. Customers are eligible for a swap upgrade at month 24.


Phone Swap24 Swap12 Swap12 Upfront fees
Months 1-30 Months 1-12 Months 12-24
Samsung Galaxy S10 128 GB £29.00/m £37.00/m £32.00/m £49.00 (Swap12)
Samsung Galaxy S10 512 GB £32.00/m £38.00/m £35.00/m £49.00 (Swap12)
Samsung Galaxy S10+ 128 GB £32.00/m £40.00/m £36.00/m £49.00 (Swap12)

Huawei P30, P30 Pro & P30 Lite

The latest in the Huawei P series blows all other smartphones away in terms of their camera technology. Huawei’s P30 variety contains the best camera-phones on the market, with sizeable storage space - all devices have 128 GB of storage space.

P30

The standard P30 sports a triple camera on the back, which includes a 40 MP wide-angle lens, a 16 MP ultra-wide angle lens and an 8 PM telephoto lens. The reverse side contains a 32 MP front-side camera for ridiculously detailed selfies. Its screen is a 6.1 inch OLED display that supports full HD+.

P30 Pro

A step up from the P30. This beast holds 4 rear cameras: a 40 MP super sensing camera, a SuperZoom lens, a 20 MP ultra wide angle lens and a Huawei TOF (time-of-flight) camera for greater depth. It uses the same 32 MP camera on the front-side. The screen is a 6.47 inch OLED display.

P30 Lite

At the lower end of the P range. The most affordable P30 phone comes with a 6.15 inch downgraded display. It also basks in the light of triple camera goodness, with a 48 MP wide lens, an 8 MP ultra-wide lens and a 2 MP depth sensing camera on the back. The front has the same 32 MP selfie camera as the P30 and P30 Pro.


Our choice for best Huawei P30 deal:

  • Huawei P30 | Swap12 (24 months) | Upgrade at 12 months | £33.00/month | 8 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | £49.99 upfront payment

This deal includes the handset for £23.00/month and £10.00/month for Sky’s data plan. You’ll pay £901 over the course of 24 months - £300.00 for the data plan, £520.00 for the handset and a £49.00 upfront payment. Customers can swap in their handset for an upgrade on month 12.


Our choice for best Huawei P30 Pro deal:

  • Huawei P30 Pro | Swap24 (30 months) | Upgrade at 24 months | £37.00/month | 8 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

Huawei’s P30 Pro is priced at £27.00/month and is combined with Sky Mobile’s 8 GB data sim at £10.00 a month. The total cost of the phone and the data plan over the full term of the contract is £1,110.00 - £810 for the P30 Pro and £300.00 for the data sim. Customers are eligible for a swap upgrade at month 24.


Our choice for the best Huawei P30 Lite deal:

  • Huawei P30 Lite | Swap12 (24 months) | Upgrade at 12 months | £36.00/month | 20 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

Sky Mobile offers the Huawei P30 Lite on a Swap12 contract for £16.00/month for the first 12 months, then £12.00/month for the next 12 months. The 20 GB data sim is priced at £20.00/month. Over the 24 months set out in the contract, customers can expect to pay a total of £864.00. Customers can swap in their phones for a new one at month 12.


Phone Swap24 Swap12 Swap12 Upfront fees
Months 1-30 Months 1-12 Months 12-24
Huawei P30 128 GB £20.00/m £23.00/m £23.00/m £49.00 (Swap12)
Huawei P30 Pro 128 GB £27.00/m £30.00/m £30.00/m £99.00 (Swap12)
Huawei P30 Lite 128 GB £11.00/m £16.00/m £12.00/m None

Sony Xperia 1

Sony’s latest Xperia phone gives us ‘fresh start’ vibes with its anachronistic name. It boasts a seemingly super-wide screen thanks to the 6.5 inch, 21:9 ratio, 4K OLED display - great for cinema buffs. The camera situation is an improvement on previous versions, with three 12 MP rear cameras. Unlike previous versions, it doesn’t support wireless charging.


Our choice for the best Sony Xperia 1 deal:

  • Sony Xperia 1 | Swap24 (30 months) | Upgrade at 24 months | £41.00/month | 8 GB | Unlimited calls and texts | No upfront payment

This deal includes the handset for a £31.00 monthly fee and the 8 GB data sim for £10.00/month. Consumers can expect to pay £1,230 over 30 months - £300.00 for the data sim and £930.00 for the handset. With Swap24, customers can upgrade their phone on month 24 swapping in their current handset.


Phone Swap24 Swap12 Swap12 Upfront fees
Months 1-30 Months 1-12 Months 12-24
Sony Xperia 1 128 GB £31.00 £50.00/m £20.00/m None

Sim plans & Sim Free

Sky phone deals are available sim free or with data, calls and texts plans. This means that you can sign up to a Sim Free phone contract and use your existing sim plan, whether you’re with Sky Mobile or not, or you can select one of Sky’s five sim plans to use with a device from the Sky mobile catalogue.

Flexible Sim plans

All five Sky mobile sim plans offer unlimited calls and texts, and only differ in their data allowances. For example, the cheapest plan comes in at £6.00/month for 1GB and the most expensive is £30.00/month for 40GB. These prices are added to the monthly price of the device you select. You can see all plans in the table below.

One of the key features of Sky Mobile’s sim plans is flexibility, Sky refers to this feature as Mix. Mix lets customers change their data plans every month through their Sky accounts. Customers that upgrade their data plans will see their data limit enhanced immediately. Those who downgrade will have to wait until the following month for it to come into effect.

Plan price /month Data limit Calls and Texts Extras
£6.00 1GB Unlimited Unlimited data use on all sky apps
£12.00 4GB Unlimited Unlimited data use on all sky apps
£10.00 8GB Unlimited Unlimited data use on all sky apps
£20.00 20GB Unlimited Unlimited data use on all sky apps
£30.00 40GB Unlimited Unlimited data use on all sky apps
£5 off your monthly bills when you select this plan on a phone + sim deal.

Data Rollovers

Any data you don’t use on your sim plan within a given billing month rolls over automatically to the following month. What’s more, this rollover can accumulate over a maximum period of three years. Any unused data can be used to redeem rewards using Sky Piggybank on your Sky account.

Sim Free Phone

Sim free plans are available to new and existing Sky Mobile customers. This plan lets customers keep their existing sim plans - with Sky or any other provider - by undoing the network lock for any chosen device. Customers then enter a Swap12 or Swap24 contract and only pay monthly installments for the handset device. Sky mobile also gives its Sim Free customers a free 100 MB data sim to use at any time.

Sky Mobile Swap: Contracts & Upgrades

Sky mobile deals are available on 24 month and 30 month contracts, titled Swap12 and Swap24 contracts, respectively. These contracts can be a little confusing to navigate given that they include price fluctuations, specific upgrade terms and timeframes, and titles that don’t quite reflect the full length of the contracts. Both differ significantly with regard to the particulars of their terms so we’ll look at them separately.

Both contracts allow customers to upgrade their phones months before their end dates by swapping in their current devices for new ones. Under the terms of the swap, Sky Mobile agrees to a “Swap option price”, which is a sum that Sky pays to customers for the return of their device.

This sum is used to pay off the remaining months of a given contract. If the Swap option price doesn’t cover the cost of the remaining months of the original contract, customers will have to pay the outstanding sums in tandem with the monthly payments for their new device.

Swap option price?The Swap option price is offered when customers choose to swap at the first opportunity. This price is valid only for the billing month in which it’s triggered and will reduce if customers hand in their devices in the months after. Reduction in price may also occur depending on the condition of a given device at the time of swapping.

Alternatively, customers can upgrade and keep their current devices by seeing out the full term of their contracts. Once their contract end dates have passed, customers can contact Sky mobile to upgrade device.

Swap24

Swap24 is a 30 month contract that doesn’t carry any upfront costs and charges a single low monthly fee for the duration of the contract. The 24 in the name refers to the earliest time at which customers can upgrade their handsets. At the 24 month mark, Sky offers customers the opportunity to upgrade by swapping in their current device for a new one.

Swap12

Swap12 is a 24 month contract that charges upfront fees for selected devices and considerably higher monthly prices than Swap24 for the first 12 months. At 12 months, customers can swap their current devices for new ones. If customers want to keep their devices and see out the full term of the contracts, they will receive reduced monthly prices from months 13-24.

Buy Outright

Consumers can choose to buy Sky Mobile devices outright when entering a contract instead of paying monthly credit installments. Those who opt for this will only pay the monthly fee for their chosen Sky mobile sim plan. When customers buy devices outright from the outset of their contracts with Sky mobile, they get put on the Swap24 timeframe, making them eligible for a swap-in upgrade after 24 months of sim plan payments.

Sky Mobile offers and discounts

Signing up with Sky Mobile has its benefits, whether you’re a new or existing Sky customer. There are quite a few perks, discounts and freebies when you purchase selected devices from Samsung, Huawei or Google.

Samsung Galaxy S10: Save £198 on select deals online

This offer is only available through online purchase. Consumers can save £198 when they sign up to the Samsung Galaxy S10 on a Swap24 contract with the 8 GB data sim plan. The 8 GB data plan would reduce from £10 to £5 a month over the course of 30 month contract, saving consumers a total of £150. Additionally, the price of the handset reduces by £2 over the course of the first 24 months for the contract, adding up to £48 in savings.

Google Pixel: Free Google nest hub

Consumers that sign up to the Google Pixel 3 or the Google Pixel 3XL on Sky mobile can pick up a free Google Nest Hub - formerly known as the Google Home Hub - worth £119.00. The Nest Hub is essentially an amalgam of Google’s voice enabled smart assistant with speaker and a 7 inch smart display.

Sky Mobile Watch: Free Sky streaming

Sky TV customers that join Sky Mobile can enjoy unlimited data usage on any Sky app, meaning that customers can stream Sky TV on the go without using any data. The content available to you depends on the Sky TV package that you’re signed up to. All you have to do is sign into any sky app with your Sky ID. New Sky customers can stream unlimited content on the Sky News app. Here’s a list of Sky apps customers can download:

  • Sky Go
  • Sky+
  • My Sky
  • Sky Store PLayer
  • Sky Q
  • Sky Cinema
  • Sky News
  • Sky Kids
  • Sky Sports
  • Sky Sports Football
  • Sky Sports Mobile TV
  • Sky Sports Box Office

Switching to Sky Mobile

If you’re enticed by the range of Sky phone deals and Sky mobile prices on offer, it’s never been easier to switch to a new Mobile provider. All you have to do is send a text message. You can choose to cancel your service and get rid of your existing number, or you can cancel your services and keep your number to use on a new Sky sim plan. Here are your options:

  1. Text PAC to 65075: Sign up to a Sky Mobile data plan or phone + sim plan, text PAC to 65075 to receive a switching code. Use that switching code when activating your new Sky sim to keep your current number.
  2. Text STAC to 75075: Cancel your current service, including your existing number by texting STAC to 75075.

Be aware!Cancelling your service with your current provider can result in an early termination fees for outstanding charges if you cancel before the end of your minimum term

Sky Mobile Network

Sky mobile is known as an MNVO, which stands for mobile virtual network operator. Crucially, MNVOs don’t operate their own mobile networks. Rather, they partner with other service providers to run their services. Providers like Sky essentially piggyback, so to speak, on other provider networks.

What network does Sky Mobile use?

In the case of Sky Mobile, it uses O2’s network to run its service. This means that Sky’s mobile service is bound to the benefits (more so) and ills of the O2 network infrastructure. Customers can enjoy reliable connections thanks to extensive coverage, however when it comes to 4G download speeds, the O2 network operates at a lower level than, say, EE, Three and Vodafone.

Sky Mobile Coverage

We mentioned that Sky depends on the O2 network to provide its service. The extent of its coverage, therefore, is entirely dependent on O2’s network infrastructure. It just so happens that O2 has one of the largest networks in the UK.

As such, its coverage, and therefore Sky’s coverage, is extensive, reaching 99% of the population. Geographically speaking, Sky & O2’s 4G services cover 77% of the UK’s, whilst their 3G services cover 84%.

Category
Mobile Deals