German Mobile Phone Contract

Best German Mobile Phone Contract

Find the best German mobile phone contract with our help.

Signing up with the best German mobile phone provider will save you a lot of money and trouble, as problems are bound to arise if you pick the wrong provider.

Mobile phone contract

To help you find the best mobile contract for your own personal needs and preferences, we put together an overview of the most popular German phone providers.

Some things you need to decide for yourself are whether you prefer a cheaper phone provider, or if your main focus is on fast mobile internet, etc.

Also some companies will offer contracts that can be terminated monthly while other contracts are for a minimum duration of 24 months.

Naturally the longer the contract runs the higher are the sign up bonuses or discounts that the providers might offer.

Whatever your needs are, with our help you will find the best German mobile contract!

Make sure to continue reading the whole article, as we will tell you after our provider comparison how to save a lot of money (Spoiler-alert: You will need to change your phone contract and provider every 24 months).

Comparison Best German Mobile Phone Providers

1&1 InternetDeutsche TelekomTarifhausO2 Mobile Contract
Mobile network qualityGreat D-Netz qualityGreat D-Netz qualityGreat D1 network
Medium quality Telefonica network
Medium Telefonica
LTE (fast mobile internet)Yes
Up to 500MBit/s
Yes
Up to 500MBit/s
Yes
Up to 50MBit/s
Yes
Up to 225MBit/s
Best dealLTE M 10GBMagentaMobil S 10GBAllnet L 8GB +1GBo2 Free M 20GB
Monthly price best deal0€ first 6 months
24,99€ afterwards
Setup 19,90€
39,95€ per month
39,95€ setup fee
EU + UK and CH roaming
8,99€ per month
0€ setup fee
29,99€ per month
Setup —€
Flatrate best dealYes
Phone calls in Germany and EU-wide
Yes
Phone calls in Germany and EU-wide + Switzerland
SMS flat
Yes
Phone calls in Germany and EU-wide
SMS flat
Yes
Phone calls in Germany and EU-wide
SMS flat
Contract duration24 months24 months24 months24 months
Option for monthly contract +5€/month
Best German mobile phone providers

1&1 Mobile Phone Contract

Logo 1&1

A great choice for your new mobile phone provider is 1&1.

1&1 has been rated as the best German phone provider in recent years in several leading customer magazines.

Plus 1&1 is know for their excellent customer service.

And best of all, 1&1 is a very good compromise between network quality, mobile internet speed and reasonable prices.

It is actually such a good combination of all of the above that we can clearly say that 1&1 is our No.1 choice when it comes to mobile phone providers.

Overview:

  • Great mobile network quality
  • Contracts including mobile phones
  • Very fast mobile internet with LTE speed
  • EU flat does not include Switzerland

Great mobile network quality

1&1 is using the same network as Deutsche Telekom. This network is called D-Netz and has the best coverage in Germany.

Mobile internet can be as fast as 500MBit and thanks to the great network coverage you can be sure to have a strong 5G signal in most cities in Germany.

Contracts including mobile phones

Naturally, with a new mobile contract you also want to get the newest phone.

Keep your eyes open as 1&1 changes the offers from time to time so that your favorite Smartphone might be included in that promotion.

Getting a mobile contract including a Smartphone is usually way cheaper than getting both seperately.

Very fast mobile internet with LTE speed

LTE max. speed of up to 500MBit/s, which is probably even faster than your internet at work or at home.

EU flat does not include Switzerland

Other providers (such as Deutsche Telekom) offer the option to use your phone in Switzerland as well for normal conditions.

Summary:

Right now our clear No 1 pick for a mobile phone contract in Germany is 1&1 Internet.

Great deals combined with the flexibility of choosing your favorite mobile phone and network paired with their outstanding customer service make for a great combination.

Deutsche Telekom

Logo Deutsche Telekom new

Deutsche Telekom should be your No.1 choice if you are looking for great mobile network quality and coverage even in rural areas of Germany.

Deutsche Telekom has been rated best German mobile network 3 times in a row by several popular consumer magazines, such as ‘Connect’ and ‘Chip’.

Quality comes with a price though, which you should be aware of.

But if you are in need of fast mobile internet and great network coverage throughout Germany then Deutsche Telekom is your best pick.

The best deals for Telekom can be found when you also have a German internet contract with Telekom – That way you are eligible for Magenta Eins Vorteil with a monthly discount of 10€.

Overview:

  • Great mobile network quality
  • Great options including Smartphones
  • Very fast mobile internet with LTE
  • Slightly more expensive compared to other mobile providers

Great mobile network quality

As mentioned before, Deutsche Telekom is known for having the best mobile network quality of all German mobile providers.

This means that usually, even in the most remote German village, with Deutsche Telekom you will have strong signal for calls and mobile data.

So if you are going to live in a very remote area, or if you travel a lot, then Deutsche Telekom is a very good choice.

Great options including Smartphones

Only pay for what you need – this is why Deutsche Telekom offers a lot of choices.

Not only can you choose to have flat-rates and extra fast internet, you can also save some money if you don’t need a new mobile phone, or if you are under 25 (or even 29 if you are a student).

However, we usually see that the combination of new phone contract + new Smartphone is by far the cheapest option.

Very fast mobile internet

While other German phone providers only offer LTE with up to 50Mb/s, Deutsche Telekom is one of the few companies that can already offer up to 100Mb/s.

This is probably 10 times faster than your internet at home!

Slightly more expensive compared to other providers

When comparing the rates for similar packages, you will see that Deutsche Telekom is slightly more expensive than other German mobile providers.

If you are only looking for the cheapest option available, don’t sign up with Deutsche Telekom.

But if you don’t mind paying a bit more in order to get the best network quality, then Deutsche Telekom is your best pick.

Summary:

Deutsche Telekom has won every test regarding quality of net coverage and quality in the last couple of years.

Right now they also are ahead of competition when it comes to LTE and mobile internet.

But quality comes at a price, which in this case is slightly higher costs than other German mobile phone providers.

Tarifhaus

Logo small Tarifhaus

Maybe you haven’t heard of Tarifhaus yet, as this is a very new phone provider in Germany, but it is definitely worth checking out their offers.

Luckily Tarifhaus offers different options for all needs. If you are looking for a cheap contract go for an option with o2-Telefonica network.

If you prefer good reception both in cities and in rural areas and fast mobile internet you should pick one of the D1 network contracts.

Tarifhaus will be a perfect fit for anybody who is looking for a contract with:

8GB of mobile Data with LTE speed
6 month contracts
Flatrate for calls within Germany and flatrate for SMS
Very competitive prices

We strongly recommend Tarifhaus for anybody who is looking for a good compromise of good prices and quality plus the advantage of being very flexibel.

You never know, if you need to move away again from Germany at least you are not stuck with a 24 months contract.

O2 Mobile Contract

Logo o2 new

o2 recently became the biggest German mobile provider after merging with Eplus.

This means that they are probably a good pick already, as many of your friends might have a contract with them.

o2 is especially popular in big cities and less popular in rural areas, as their signal in cities is quite strong while when on the road a lot you might have trouble finding a signal.

Overview:

  • Good reception in cities
  • Fast mobile internet with LTE
  • Cheap starter packages to pricier high speed packages
  • Flexible contract duration starting from 1 month to 24 months
  • Weaker signal in rural areas

Good reception in cities

As already mentioned, o2 has good reception in German cities.

This is something you are really going to appreciate if you’ve ever had a mobile provider that only provided bad signal that made it impossible to have long calls.

Fast mobile internet with LTE

If you need very fast mobile internet, make sure to sign up for a contract that includes the LTE option.

At the moment, the maximum speed for LTE is 50Mb/s, which is probably faster than your internet at home.

Big choice of different tariff options

You only pay for what you really need. If you do not need a mobile flat rate for all German mobile providers, or the fastest mobile internet available, then you just pick the package that suits you best, which means you can save a lot of money.

Flexible contract duration

If you are not sure how long you will stay in Germany, signing up for a monthly contract would be a great idea.

However, keep in mind that this flexibility will come with higher costs than signing up for a 24 month contract, for example.

Weak signal in rural areas

Let’s not beat around the bush, while o2 is great in cities, it can be really annoying if you live in a small German village and constantly have to fight for signal.

So here’s one tip: if you do live in a village, the best thing to do would be to ask your neighbors which German mobile provider they are with, and how good – or bad – their signal usually is.

Summary:

O2 Mobile Contracts are a great choice for all that want to save some money but still need full LTE speed.

If you prefer flexibility you better sign up for a contract that can be quit on a monthly basis.

Reception in big cities is very good, but if you live in a rural area ask your friends first if they experience problems with reception with o2.

Read the fineprint of your contract

Paying bills

We have been made aware that some people were charged more than they should have been with their contract and they did not understand why.

This is why we decided to update this page and give you an overview of the hidden cost that can drive your monthly phone bill up.

Datenautomatik

What sounds like a neat option is actually something that can cost you a lot of money.

Datenautomatik means that after you used up your monthly limit of mobile data the provider is allowed to book up to (usually) 3 times per month some more mobile data for extra cost.

Once you even ran out these 3 extra times they will cut your mobile internet speed until the new month.

Drittanbieter sperren

Make sure that with your new contract you also check the box “Drittanbieter sperren”.

Or if you don’t find that option online in the interface of your account make sure to call the hotline and request this.

What happened in the past that some malicious websites might have installed some code that made you book some services in the background (like sex-sites) and then charge you for it.

Your service provider will then add this on top of your monthly bill.

When you try to get your money back this is almost always impossible as those Drittanbieter are mostly located somewhere abroad.

So just follow our advice and block those 3rd party providers from the start and safe yourself a lot of trouble.

Save money by changing phone providers every 24 months

So here is the trick on how to save the most on your mobile contract.

You will need to change your phone provider each 24 months.

Most contracts are discounted for the first 6-12 months while for the rest of the duration of the contract you are paying the full price.

So make sure to cancel your contract at least 3 months before it expires.

Otherwise all contracts will renew themselves for another year (without any discount).

Other German Mobile Phone Providers:

Vodafone, Congstar, Yourfone

As mentioned before, we are only comparing the best mobile phone providers in Germany, which is why this list is not complete, but it will be frequently updated.

So as soon as better deals are available we will let you know about them.

If you want to check out some of the other major phone providers in Germany, have a look at Vodafone, Congstar, and Yourfone.

After sorting out your German mobile phone provider it is time to consider signing up with a German internet provider or get German cable TV.