RootMetrics Benchmarks the Best UK Mobile Networks for H1 2022

Mobile testing firm RootMetrics, which was last year acquired by Ookla (here), has today published their biannual H1 2022 study of mobile network (4G and 5G) and broadband performance across the United Kingdom, which sees EE collecting the most awards. But rival Three UK is threatening to pull ahead in 5G.

The new study used the “latest” 5G-enabled Samsung smartphones – purchased off the shelf from operator stores – to test both 4G and 5G performance across all four primary operators. All of this stretched across 16 of the UK’s biggest metro cities. The team then conducted a total of 642,296 tests, including at hundreds of different locations and while driving a total of 26,607 miles during the day and night.

As usual, the results from this have then been split into several categories (network reliability, speed, data, call and text quality etc.) and each is assigned a score out of 100 (higher numbers = better). In terms of the UK-wide results, EE came top in every single category, but this is largely due to the strength of their existing 4G network.

Overall Scores for H1 2022 (vs H2 2021)
1. EE – 96.7 (up from 95.3)
2. Vodafone – 91.1 (up from 90.9)
3. O2 [VMO2] – 89.3 (up from 88.6)
4. Three UK – 89 (up from 87.6)

In terms of the average (median) UK download speeds on both 4G and 5G networks combined – EE delivered the strongest data speeds of 66.2Mbps (up from 60.4Mbps), while Three UK saw a strong boost to 29.9Mbps (up from 21.6Mbps), Vodafone slipped to 23.8Mbps (down from 24.8Mbps) and O2 [VMO2] scored bottom with 16.4Mbps (up from 15.2Mbps).

EE was the only operator with median download speeds above 50Mbps in all 16 cities tested, and EE exceeded 70Mbps in 15 of those markets and even broke the 100Mbps mark in one. In fact, EE clocked the fastest median download speed in 15 out of 16 cities. We can see how these speeds split down by looking across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland below.

However, the picture starts to change when we look specifically at 5G networks, where Three UK is beginning to challenge EE in a number of key areas. Three’s 5G availability results were similar to those of EE during the UK-wide testing (both approaching 50%), with EE and Three a step ahead of both O2 (VMO2) and Vodafone (roughly 35% each).

Three also stood out for delivering the top 5G median download speed in 1H 2022 at nearly 200Mbps, which was a bit faster than that of EE (about 150Mbps) and much faster than those of O2 (110Mbps) and Vodafone (approximately 130Mbps). Furthermore, Three had the lowest [fastest] 5G latency during UK-wide testing (a little over 40ms), but latency will likely remain similar to that on 4G until Standalone (SA) 5G networks become the norm.

Sadly, RootMetrics fails to offer a wider summary of 5G performance and prefers to generalise, while also completely ignoring any results for upload speed. Nevertheless, it seems clear that EE and Three UK are now locked in a close race for providing the best 5G experience in the UK and, if the current trends continue, then Three UK may pull ahead.