I am a heavy internet user. Internet is essential for my job. In today’s (still) emerging technology era, the internet is necessary for anyone to connect with others and so much more. I am on the road most of the time, so finding Wifi sometime would be challenging. I am on a massive data plan, so I rarely have to connect to Wifi, except on occasions mobile network is not available.
When I first came to Germany (as a traveler), I was shocked by the price of data in Germany. It is nowhere as cheap as what I had in Asia. The price is ridiculously high. I used it because I thought having a local sim card with a data plan was a good choice. Besides a local sim card, I always have a backup sim card and plans from Keepgo.
Later on, when I moved to live in Germany, I found out that the price was high, but it matched the average income in Germany. However, the speed and coverage are still non-comparable. I used many German networks/providers already. Some brands I used before O2, including some popular ones in Germany, are Blau, Congstar, Vodafone, o2, winSim, and 1&1.
Before switching to O2, I had also been on a big data plan of Vodafone for 2 years. The reason for making a switch was because, at the time, Vodafone did not provide any massive data plan, the price was super high, my job required a stable internet connection, and the network speed and coverage were limited, despite Vodafone being a big name in Europe.
This post will focus on the O2 package I used in the past 2,5 years. It doesn’t include information about other O2 packages. However, I will compare the O2 network in general with Vodafone and Telekom – 3 of the biggest network providers in Germany altogether.
Quick facts
- Package name: O2 Mobile L Boost
- Data volume: 120 GB monthly (O2 recently changed to 140 GB+)
- Monthly price: 22,49€
- Network speed: up to 300 Mbit/s (37.50 MB/s)
- 5G: included, enabled
- EU-Roaming: included, enabled
- Connect-Option: yes, up to 10 devices use the same package
- Contract duration: 24 months
Network coverage
According to a recent article from Chip Magazin, at the end of 2022, network coverage density in the land of O2 reached 96,75%, close to Vodafone by 97,56% and Telekom by 98.74%. 5G availability in cities of O2 is 79,3%, far from Vodafone’s 87,4% and Telekom’s 91,1%.
That’s only in terms of numbers. In many cases, it doesn’t mean anything if you live in a city or an area where the O2 network is covered. You can check for the O2 network coverage in your location on this page (under “Netzabdeckung” section).
Network speed
Also, the same article describes the average speeds of the top 3 network providers in Germany as follows:
- LTE:
-
- Telekom: 143,4 MBit/s
- Vodafone: 106,2 MBit/s
- O2: (Only) 65,4 Mbit/s
- 5G:
- Telekom: 292,2 MBit/s
- O2: 153,8 MBit/s
- Vodafone: 139,0 MBit/s
Again, numbers are numbers. There’s a huge difference between statistical numbers and realities. It’s best to ask a friend or someone you know using O2 for a short speed test to get the most accurate feeling of the actual speed at your living location.
Data volume
According to official information from network providers’ websites, the biggest data plans which are not Unlimited plans are:
- Vodafone: GigaMobil M provides 50 GB of data monthly at 49,99€ (new customer)
- Telekom: MagentaMobil L provides 40 GB of data monthly at 59,95€ (new customer)
- O2: Mobile L Boost provides 140 GB+ of data monthly at 47,99€ (new customer)
The numbers said themselves the reason why I chose the O2 Mobile L Boost package. It’s by far the only option with massive data amount (more about why I didn’t select an Unlimited package, you can read in this post).
Many O2 plans also include the “Connect-Vorteile” (Connect-Option), meaning you can use up to 10 devices under the same contract. Each device will have its number, although only 3 devices can use both SMS/Call functions and data transfer, while the rest are only Data cards. For the other networks, you mostly end up having to pay for an extra sim card/number.
Conclusion
While this post is about reviewing O2 products and services, I didn’t add many of my comments. There is always a mix of good and bad reviews from other O2 users (mostly complain about the speed/coverage or support). Personally, I never had problems with O2 supporters. In fact, the best way to get support from O2 is to come directly to an O2-Shop, or a certified partner. There they can understand your problem better and provide you with the quickest, on-point support.
120 GB is more than enough for me to perform most of my online activities, including streaming music and movies in HD or 4K, syncing photos and videos to the cloud, and of course, working daily. As for network problems, with a little trick, anyone can easily switch from one network to another (but not many people know that). Whenever you are familiar with that little trick, you can choose any network provider suitable to your need.
So far, I am happy with my current plan at O2 now, especially when I get a lot of advantages as an existing customer. At least until the end of my contract, I have no plan to change to any other provider because what I need was fulfilled wholly. And I believe that my network needs is more than 80% of a regular user’s need. You can check my other article here to gather in-depth information about all available O2 plans.