In July, Free led the way in the market for non-binding plans with its offer at less than 10 euros for 80GB. Opposite, Red and B&You respectively offer 100GB offers for €12 and 100GB for €11,99, without ever falling below the symbolic bar of 10 euros.
No time to read it all? Here's what you need to know
Free Mobile is 3 offers, without engagement, with advantages for Freebox subscribers:
- The 4G package at €2 for 2 hours of calls, 50MB of data and unlimited SMS/MMS*
- The 4G package at €9,99 for 80Go de data, Unlimited calls/SMS/MMS and 8GB of data in Europe
- The 5G package at €19,99 for 150Go de data, Unlimited calls/SMS/MMS and 25GB of data in Europe*
*If you are a Freebox subscriber, the €2 package is free and the 5G package is unlimited at €15,99
For me the Free 4G 80GB package for €9,99!PLEASE NOTE: after one year, the 4G package at €9,99 automatically switches to the 5G package at €19,99! Of course, it's non-binding, so you can change operator before the anniversary date.
What do you do on vacation with 80GB of data?
The largest 4G mobile plans now reach 200GB, which is huge and probably far too much compared to your actual consumption. So we offer you some benchmarks to try to understand how much data you really need.
First of all, the holidays can be a time of year when your mobile data consumption increases since if you cannot use your home's wifi even though you have more time to devote to your hobbies, to play online, listening to music or watching videos.
Exactly : video is the main source of data consumption, well ahead of mobile games or streaming music, and it is the permanent increase in the quality of video streams that creates the need for plans with a large volume of data.
Examples on Netflix (which details the use of data on its platform):
- 1 hour of SD content = 1 GB of data: either 30GB / month for one hour a day
- 1 hour of HD content = 3 GB of data: either 90GB / month for one hour a day
- 1 hour of UHD content = 7 GB of data: we don't recommend UHD on mobile :)
- 1 hour of 240p content = 96 MB of data: either 3GB / month for one hour a day
- 1 hour of 480p content (SD) = 240 MB of data: either 7GB / month for one hour a day
- 1 hour of 1080p (HD) content = 720 MB of data: either 32GB / month for one hour a day
So the answer is: YES, you will need 80GB of data per me on your mobile plan if you watch 4G streaming videos daily without sacrificing stream quality!
To get an overview of these current offers from the different operators, we recommend the comparison of the best mobile plans from our beloved Clubic. The offers are constantly updated.
Is the quality of the Free network still a subject?
In reality, it all depends on where you live and your travel habits. We obviously invite you to consult the tool made available by ARCEP to compare the coverage and quality of the mobile network. Unsurprisingly, Orange still dominates the rankings at all levels, but Free is not to be outdone and generally offers 4G coverage worthy of other operators. The operator is a little behind on speeds and not very good on some TGVs, but this is no longer supposed to be a problem since the TGVs now offer Wifi on board (but siiii!)
For me the Free 4G 80GB plan for €9,99! We like this Free plan and we generally like the Free Mobile offer, which has grown a lot since its distant complicated beginnings (especially in terms of network quality). Free has prepared the ground well for 5G and offers close to 1300 5G 3500MHz antennas, just behind Orange. If you are cautious but think you need a generous data plan, then we recommend the two other offers of the moment:
- The 4G RED by SFR 100GB package at €12
- The 4G B&You 100GB package at €11,99
