EE v Vodafone v Three v O2: Best and worst networks revealed – does yours win or lose?

The results are in and there’s one clear winner when it comes to using your smartphone. All of the big four networks including EE, Vodafone, Virgin Media O2 and Three have been put through their paces in the latest tests from the team at RootMetrics and if you want the fastest downloads then EE has come out on top.

The network scored an average UK-wide speed of 58.8Mbps which is over twice as fast as all of its rivals. Vodafone came second in the speed league with average downloads of 25.2Mbps this was followed by Three (19.1Mbps) and the newly formed Virgin Media O2 (15.6Mbps).

And it’s not just speed where EE performed well with the operator also winning when it comes to reliability, data, calls and texts. “EE remained the operator to beat in our UK-wide testing, winning or sharing six out of seven UK RootScore Awards,” RootMetrics confirmed in its report.

Now before you get too disappointed if you don’t use EE there was also some good news for the other UK suppliers. Vodafone has had another excellent year with the firm coming second in key areas such as reliability, calls and texts.

In fact, Vodafone showed notable improvement in the first half of 2021, taking home three UK RootScore Awards, a marked increase from last year.

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One good piece of news for all consumers is that the UK’s 5G upgrade is improving and all the networks are helping to make this happen. RootMetrics says it has seen speeds and availability improve across the UK with all of the big four showing impressive growth.

5G is able to offer much faster downloads as well as allowing more people to connect at the same time making it far more reliable.

Speaking about the results, Patrick Linder, Chief Marketing Officer at RootMetrics by IHS Markit, said: “End users will be pleased to see all four main operators improving their performance, particularly when it comes to 5G availability and speed. With the availability of 5G continuing to grow and all four major operators providing users with Everyday 5G median download speeds above 100 Mbps in nearly every city we tested, the providers are clearly making good progress in terms of delivering the key combination of both widespread availability plus fast speeds.

“While EE was the clear standout in the first half of the year, the improvements we saw from the other operators shouldn’t be overlooked. As the competitive landscape becomes more intense and level over time, end users should continue to benefit from better mobile performance.”