Last night’s annual Uswitch.com Mobile Awards, at Café de Paris in London, revealed the UK’s most popular mobile manufacturers, networks and retailers, as voted for by consumers and a judging panel of industry experts.
People’s Choice:
Three triumphs, scooping four out of 16 awards, including best pay monthly and SIM-only value for money, best customer support and best for roaming
Best pay-monthly network and best PAYG network go to O2 and giffgaff
Apple’s iPhone is officially the best designed and easiest to use handset
Freebie-lovers vote O2 best for perks, while Tesco Mobile customers are happiest when it comes to their network coverage.
Judges’ Choice:
Judges bestow best manufacturer gong upon HTC, while best operating system goes to Apple’s iOS
Carphone Warehouse takes the crown for best high street retailer third year running, while Mobiles.co.uk wins the online retailer award.
The third annual Uswitch.com Mobile Awards saw Three triumph as the big winner, collecting a total of four out of 16 gongs. The network’s biggest win came in the ‘value for money’ categories with nine in ten (88%) pay monthly customers happy with what they get for their cash, and the judges voting its SIM offering the best value too. Three has also been voted top dog for roaming (64%), thanks largely to its ‘Feel At Home’ plan, which lets mobile customers use their UK allowances in seven countries at no extra cost. Mobile customers also voted Three top for customer support (68%), despite very stiff competition from Tesco Mobile (67%).
In fact, Tesco Mobile – which won awards for best network coverage and PAYG value for money – was runner-up in seven awards including the best value categories, best customer support and best perks and freebies. But Clubcard points couldn’t trump O2 for its Priority Moments and Tickets, which led the mobile giant to win the award for best perks and freebies. O2 also took home the coveted overall best network (pay monthly) award, which takes mobile customers’ scores for value, perks, support, coverage and roaming into consideration.
Champion of the best network award for PAYG was giffgaff, which uses O2’s network. The MVNO was also recognised by the judges as a runner-up for the award for best SIM-only value for money, but was beaten by Three which offers budget SIM-only deals from as little as £6.90 for 200 minutes, 5,000 texts and 500MB of data.
Apple also had a good night, with the iPhone voted both most easy to use mobile (95%) and best handset design (94%) in the people’s choice categories. Runners-up were lauded smartphone makers Samsung and HTC. In the judges’ choice categories, Apple’s new-look iOS beat Android and Windows Phone to take the award for best operating system. The judges described iOS7 as a “technological achievement” that was “simple and elegant” and “freshened things up no end”.
The distinguished panel of judges included Mark Gregory (BBC), James Day (Metro), Gareth Beavis (TechRadar), Hunter Skipworth (Digital Spy), Verity Burns (What Hi-Fi?), Chris Hall (Pocket Lint) and Chris Barraclough (Mobile Choice). Their manufacturer of 2013 was HTC which, they said, had “delivered the phone of the year in the shape of the HTC One”. They added: “HTC’s commitment to design is really impressive, resulting in premium flagship products that deliver in all areas.”
The judges voted Carphone Warehouse and Mobiles.co.uk best high street and online retailer respectively. For these categories, the judges looked at every aspect of the service provided by the stores, including value for money, the variety of handsets on offer and the standard of customer service. They said that Mobiles.co.uk “keeps popping up as the cheapest retailer” and its “service remains unparalleled”, while Carphone Warehouse stood out as having “friendly and knowledgeable staff” and “simply stunning” deals.
Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, says: “2013 has been another tough year for consumer finances, but our awards show that mobile providers are battling it out to give people more bang for their buck – from great value for money to perks and freebies. Three triumphed this year thanks in part to its continued innovation and low prices. Its new roaming offering could end post-holiday bill shock and, at home, customers can enjoy unlimited data without the hefty price tag.
“Innovation continued in the wider market this year, with 2013 arguably the year of 4G and mobile users becoming turned on to the need for speed. EE impressively scooped the fastest network award but, next year, the competition will be even more fierce as Vodafone, O2 and Three’s services become faster and more widely available.
“As for handsets, while Samsung’s popularity kept it at the top of our mobile chart for much of the year and the iPhone continues to garner both acclaim and sales, it was HTC that proved the number one choice for our critics – perhaps offering a ray of light to the manufacturer.
“But while Three and Tesco Mobile cleaned up, the other networks still have it all to play for. Consumers recognise great products and services when they see them, and vote with their feet and wallets, so it’s likely we’ll continue to see providers bringing out new and exciting deals to help consumers make the most of their mobiles.”
You can view the full results here
Katherine Moss
Phone: 020 3021 5893
Email: katherine.moss@uswitch.com
Twitter: @uswitchPR
Research carried out online by One Poll amongst 3,000 adult mobile users in September 2013. The figures are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). Specific reporting of results published for suppliers that received 50 or more responses. Results have been split by customers on pay as you go and those on pay monthly networks. Best network scores and overall positions have been calculated by averaging the scores for ‘very satisfied’ and ‘fairly satisfied’ across each category. The 'Fastest Mobile Network - powered by RootMetrics' award was based on data provided by RootMetrics speedtests. The tests were carried out Jan - June 2013 in the top 16 UK Large Urban Zones and do not take into consideration reliability factors."
Results of the Uswitch.com Mobile Awards 2013
Customer Satisfaction Research Awards
Judges’ Choice Awards
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