EE provides the best mobile experience by a major operator, according to tests by Global Wireless Solutions.
Virgin Media O2 was the top provider when combining mobile and broadband experience, followed by Sky Mobile, EE, Vodafone, and Three.
EE performed best in most test categories, including reliability, video streaming, and latency. In terms of throughput,
Three had the highest download throughput at 63 Mbps and was tied with EE for the highest upload throughput at 17 Mbps. Vodafone came second, followed by Three and O2.
Data collected from just over 6,000 participants
GWS tests also showed Virgin Media O2 performed at or near the top in a majority of the metrics with Sky also performing well in video streaming and reliability.
Reliability across all combined providers remained constant. The fastest average download throughput by a combined provider was offered by Virgin Media O2 at over 150Mbps. This was over double the average of its closest rival EE/BT with an average download throughput of over 65Mbps. Virgin Media O2 was also top at uploads with an average throughput of 34Mbps
The conclusions were drawn from data collected from GWS’ opt-in consumer panel of just over 6,000 participants who used their phones and tablets as normal.
Data was anonymously collected from Android smartphones/tablets between December and May from background tests.
GWS collected 573 million data points
GWS collected 573 million data points and conducted over 1.5 million tests during the six-month test period. Tests were run at random times, seven days a week, on both mobile and WiFi networks.
These tests measured mobile and ISP broadband network performance, including download and upload available throughput, delivered throughput, latency, reliability, packet loss, and video streaming (resolution, freezing, and loading).
“Test results for mobile show that operators are all managing the everyday throughput requirements for consumers,” said GWS.
This is because the apps that consumers use require far less throughput from the mobile network than what the network is capable of providing.
GWS measured the throughput delivered to consumers while using their apps and found that throughput is generally much lower than the maximum throughput the networks are capable of providing. In contrast, broadband requires much higher throughput due to the number of devices accessing the network at any one point in time from the same household.”
GWS data shows that people spend most of their time on mobile devices accessing social media, communications, and navigation apps. In fact, people spend over 50 percent of their time on just 10 connectivity and social media apps, with Facebook at the top, followed by Chrome Browser, WhatsApp, Google Maps, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Gmail, and Snapchat.