I picked up a Toggle Mobile SIM card at an airport in England and was eager to try the service right away. Their offer of up to nine telephone numbers on one SIM and extremely low costs to make and receive calls abroad seemed too good to be true. Thankfully, so far, Toggle Mobile seems to be delivering, though their website could do with some serious work. Check out my review of the service below.
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How Does Toggle Mobile Work?
Toggle is a UK-based service, though they will send your SIM card anywhere in the world and you can top up with Paypal, so international users are welcome (Toggle Mobile has a Dutch service too, but this review is only about Toggle Mobile UK.). Your 'permanent' Toggle Mobile number is a UK-based number. This number works like any other mobile number in the UK, with competitive pay-as-you-go call plans.
Where Toggle Mobile comes into its own is with its nine additional international numbers you can add to the SIM for no extra charge.
Add, say, a Spanish phone number to your SIM through the Toggle Mobile website and you will receive a text message with your local Spanish number. Give this out to your friends in Spain and they will be able to call you it while everyone else will still be able to use the UK number.
In fact, Toggle doesn't require you to 'toggle' anything at all - all of your numbers are always on.
I can receive a call on my Spanish number immediately followed by a UK call without needing to do anything more complicated than answer the phone.
In Which Countries Does Toggle Mobile Provide a Local Number?
You can get a local number for your Toggle Mobile SIM for France, Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Ireland and the USA.
Registering for one of these numbers will get you cheap rates for these countries, free incoming calls and allow others to call you as if they were calling a local mobile number.
In Which Countries Can I Receive Calls for Free with a Toggle Mobile SIM?
You don't need a local number to receive free incoming calls. You will get incoming calls for free in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
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Some Examples of Toggle Mobile at Work
Toggle Mobile doesn't yet have local numbers in all countries, so a little explanation is required on how the service works in some situations. All prices are in UK pounds and pence.
See also: Toggle Mobile Rates from their official website
Scenario 1: You want to communicate with the US while in Spain
Toggle can provide you with both US and Spain local numbers. You will need to add both a Spanish and a US local number to your Toggle account to ensure that both you and your friends get the cheapest rates.
- Calling the US from Spain with a local Spanish Toggle number: 3p per minute or 7p per SMS.
- Receiving a call from the US in Spain with a local US Toggle number: they will be charged their normal local rate for calling US mobile phone numbers and you will be charged nothing for receiving a call.
Scenario 2: You want to communicate with Spain and Italy while in Belgium
Toggle can't provide a local Belgian or Italian number at present. In Belgium, your Toggle phone will be 'roaming' and you will be charged the relevant roaming charges for calling Spain. However, so your friends in Spain can call you at a local rate for themselves, you should still register a Spain local Toggle number.
- Calling Spain from Belgium Calls cost 21p per minute or 7p for a text message.
- Receiving a call from Spain in Belgium with a local Spanish Toggle number: free for you. The caller in Spain will be charged their normal rate for calling a Spanish number.
- Receiving a call from Italy in Belgium with your UK or another local Toggle number: free for you. The caller in Italy, though, will be charged the normal international rate for calling abroad.
Advantages of Toggle Mobile
Toggle Mobile works. Everything they claim to be able to do, they do.
- Local numbers mean it costs your friends, family and colleagues less to call you
- Toggle Mobile's tariffs are very low
- Cost to receive calls is low or free in many countries around the world
- Easy to top up online with Paypal
Disadvantages of Toggle Mobile
Toggle Mobile is a new service and (hopefully) still growing. Some of the problems below will be overcome with time. However, the website is a mess - let's hope they get some professional writers and usability testers to fix it before people get put off.
- Need to make a call every 90 days I have put a reminder in my Google Calendar every 12 weeks (84 days) to give myself a week to make that call.
- Website text is clumsy and confusing Seems like either a non-native speaker wrote it or the whole site was written hastily. I hope their service doesn't seem equally hasty in the long run.
- No international data plans (as of late 2013) Though per-MB pricing is fair and data plans are reportedly on their way.
- Local numbers only available in selected countries But more are apparently coming.
- Top-up minimum quite high Must top up with at least £20.