COSMOTE/What’s Up Greece Review: The King Stays the Best (+Speedtests)

In March 2022, I decided to go on a trip again.

In March 2021, when I returned from Taiwan after a year, I felt like going out again because I had been at home for a year.

And travel restrictions were being lifted left and right.

So, what is the best way to catch up on a year of lost travel time?

Visit as many countries as you can within a month.

I visited Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Malta, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia & Slovenia.

Intense? Yes – I was exhausted for weeks… but it was worth it.

Because I (re-)tested 41 local SIM cards, like COSMOTE Greece, Airalo's Eurolink Europe eSIM, Nomad's Europe eSIM & SimCorner's Europe travel SIM cards.

If you have read any of my SIM card buying guides before, like the Greek one, or watched a YouTube video of mine, you know that I am crazy enough to buy and test so many SIM cards.

If this is your first Phone Travel Wiz review – welcome.

I buy and test all/most SIM cards in a country and tell you which ones are the best so that you do not have to 😎.

You may have already read some blogs or articles saying that COSMOTE Greece is the best.

But is that true? The only way to find out is to test COSMOTE Greece and compare it with the other Greek SIM cards (Vodafone Greece & WIND Greece).

And that is what I did – and I will share my experience in this review.

Let's get started, shall we?

Original publication: 13th of July 2022. Last updated: 3rd of May 2023.

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Table of Contents

Who is COSMOTE/What's Up Greece?

While you may think of the cosmos (universe) when hearing the name COSMOTE, the two have nothing to do with each other (for the better, the Greeks will tell you).

Instead, COSMOTE Greece, known as COSMOTE ΚΙΝΗΤΕΣ ΤΗΛΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΕΣ Α.Ε. in Greek, is the largest mobile operator in Greece.

I am not sure if COSMOTE Greece was ever owned by the Greek government, but the mobile operator was the first one in Greece.

So what is this “What's Up Greece” thing I mention in the title of this review?

It is a sub-brand by COSMOTE Greece, which was initially a youth-focus brand.

I do not recall the age restrictions with this SIM card, but it has now been abolished, and everyone can get a What's Up Greece SIM card.

Yes, that includes you, you oldie 🤪 – no, I am playing.

Nowadays, whenever visiting a COSMOTE or GERMANOS store (both deal with COSMOTE Greece customers), the salesperson will give you a COSMOTE or What's Up SIM card, depending on their stock.

But I would not be surprised if they still give What's Up SIM cards to young-looking peeps while oldies get COSMOTE SIM cards.

Alright, that is more than enough COSMOTE Greece history for now.

In Greece, you have three mobile operators, three sub-brands & one Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) easily accessible to travelers offering prepaid services, which I will list in order of market share (MNOs) and alphabetical order (sub-brands/MVNO):

• COSMOTE Greece
• Vodafone Greece
• WIND Greece
• Frog Mobile (COSMOTE Greece MVNO)
• Q Greece (WIND Greece sub-brand)
• Vodafone CU (Vodafone Greece sub-brand)
• What's Up (COSMOTE Greece sub-brand)

Of course, I tested the other two mobile operators during my trip to Greece in March. You can read them here: Vodafone (CU) Greece & WIND Greece.

In the title of this review, I called COSMOTE Greece the King – is it truly that great or are its competitors just trash?

You will find out later.

But before you go get yourself a COSMOTE Greece SIM card because it may be/is better than another Greek SIM card, there are still some things to be aware of.

Let's talk about COSMOTE Greece's coverage first, after these quick frequency details:

• 2G: 900 MHz & 1800 MHz
• 3G: 900 MHz & 2100 MHz
• 4G/LTE: 800 MHz (Band 20), 1800 MHz (Band 3) & 2600 MHz (Band 7)
• 5G NR: 3500 MHz (n78)
• VoLTE: Yes
• VoWiFi: Yes

Here you have COSMOTE Greece's APN settings:

• Name: COSMOTE OR What's Up
• APN: internet

Note: leave anything not mentioned above untouched.

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COSMOTE/What's Up Greece Coverage + My Experience

You can have a mobile operator providing you 1 Gbps download speeds.

But if it covers only one street in the entirety of Greece, it will be useless.

So, how is COSMOTE Greece's coverage?

It is the best in the country.

When looking at 4G/LTE availability in Greece, COSMOTE Greece has an availability percentage of 89.8%. Ahead of Vodafone Greece (88.3%) and WIND Greece (84.8%).

COSMOTE Greece has the best 4G/LTE coverage experience (9.1 on a 10-point scale), ahead of Vodafone Greece (8.4) and WIND Greece (8.1).

When looking at 5G NR, COSMOTE Greece is winning the 5G NR availability race (16.3%), far ahead of Vodafone Greece (5.4%) and WIND Greece (4.6%).

Good to know: What's Up Greece customers have full access to COSMOTE Greece's network (at least on 2G, 3G & 4G/LTE).

So far, I have been talking about coverage from other reports, but what was my coverage experience with COSMOTE Greece?

It was excellent, honestly – I had nothing to complain about.

Reception was spotty at times on the Athens metro, but that is to be expected – especially when the metro goes underground.

But COSMOTE Greece performed much better than Vodafone Greece and WIND Greece in this situation.

Below, you have COSMOTE Greece's official coverage map:

Here you have a COSMOTE Greece coverage map produced by Speedtest:

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How to Get a COSMOTE/What's Up Greece SIM Card & Prices

Now you have a basic understanding of COSMOTE/What's Up Greece and the telecom market in Greece, it is now time to talk about how to actually get an COSMOTE Greece or What's UpGreece SIM card.

Unlike many countries in Europe, especially the European Union, I recommend visiting a COSMOTE or GERMANOS store to get your SIM card.

That is because of the SIM card registration laws in Greece – SIM card registration is mandatory.

• Find out which countries have SIM card registration regulations and what is required from you (lookup tool)

Greek SIM cards are also sold by third parties, like grocery stores or convenience stores like in many other countries.

However, SIM card activation can take a few days when done through these third parties, so you are better off getting your SIM card in a COSMOTE or GERMANOS store.

In the larger cities of Greece (Athens, Patres, Thessaloniki, etc.), you will notice employees from the mobile operators walking around trying to sell SIM cards (they often look like young students).

These are official salespeople from the mobile operators and not a bunch of scammers, so you can trust them.

In fact, some stores will even send you back to the street sellers if you wish to buy a prepaid SIM card (which happened to me with Vodafone, ha).

Back in 2015, the salespeople had a machine to scan your passport or ID to fulfill the regulatory requirements.

In 2022 with Vodafone (CU) Greece, however, they just wrote down my personal details on a form.

Unlike buying your SIM card from a third-party reseller (like a kiosk, newsstand, or convenience store), SIM card activation and registration are close to instantly when done by a street seller.

Do note that some salespeople on the street may not sell the lower-priced plans mentioned in my Greece SIM card guide.

This was different with Vodafone (CU) Greece, where the salesperson was advertising data plans for 15 EUR with 30 GB of data, which is advertised nowhere on its site.

So you better shop around for the best deals 😏.

Anyway, back to COSMOTE/What's Up Greece.

By the way, COSMOTE SIM cards are sold at airports (through ConnectPhone), like Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (ATH), but What's Up SIM cards are not.

If you are flying into the non-Schengen terminal at Athens Airport (ATH – intercontinental flights + from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus & Romania), ConnectPhone will be there to sell you SIM cards (at inflated prices, probably).

If you fly into the intra-Schengen terminal (flights from mostly within the European Union), you will not be able to buy a SIM card at the airport.

Below is a list of airports where ConnectPhone sells SIM cards:

• Corfu – Corfu International Airport “Ioannis Kapodistrias” (CFU)
• Crete – Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER)
• Mykonos – Mykonos Airport (JMK)
• Rhodes – Rhodes/Diagoras International Airport (RHO)
• Santorini – Santorini (Thira) International Airport (JTR)
• Thessaloniki – Thessaloniki Airport “Makedonia” (SKG)
• Zakynthos – Zakynthos International Airport “Dionysios Solomos” (ZTH)

ConnectPhone also sells SIM cards at various bus stations, including the ones in Chania, Kozani, Larisa & Xanthi.

Anyway, I got my What's Up Greece SIM card from a GERMANOS store near the Omonia metro station (the exact address is Εμ.Μπενάκη, ΜΠΕΝΑΚΗ 6, 105 64, Greece), but most COSMOTE or GERMANOS stores will do.

The thing is… I visited about five COSMOTE and GERMANOS stores to find a SIM card.

Apparently, there was a SIM card shortage for COSMOTE and What's Up, meaning I was being sent left and right.

My friend, Jakub from Watchatter (an interesting source related to watches, btw), came over to join me for my weekend in Athens.

I tasked him to get me a COSMOTE Greece SIM card the night before, but they told me they were out of them.

Well… it looks like he was not lying to me 🤣.

After finally finding a GERMANOS store selling SIM cards, just before most stores were closing (on Saturdays, mobile operator stores close between 12:00 and 15:00 and are closed all Sunday), I could now buy my SIM card.

Anyway, we eventually found a store with an employee who spoke English (which is almost a given in Greece, especially in Athens, but some older salespeople do not (want to) speak English, so be aware of that).

I asked for a SIM card, and she talked about the various offers available.

Officially, you can get a COSMOTE Greece or What's Up Greece SIM card for 5 EUR.

I will list all the prices in EUR (Euro). To convert EUR to your currency (let's say GBP – (British) Pound (Sterling)) with up-to-date exchange rates, use the Wise Currency Converter tool.

However, they will seldom let you out of the door without purchasing a plan.

Surprisingly, the SIM card was free when I bought it together with a plan, which was cool.

I do not recall the exact combination of plans I got because the salesperson recommended getting two plans so that I would have enough data for testing purposes, but she did her thing, and I paid 12 EUR at the counter.

Oh, and she gave me a What's Up Greece SIM card.

After that, I was good to go.

One thing that I like about COSMOTE/What's Up Greece is that you can use your entire allowance in other European Union/European Economic Area member states without paying any roaming fees.

What does COSMOTE/What's Up Greece consider to be the EU/EEA? Below is a list:

COSMOTE/What's Up Greece does not have a tourist SIM card – only standard prepaid SIM cards are available.

The SIM cards sold at airports and bus stations by ConnectPhone are standard SIM cards and plans sold at inflated prices (which I refer to as a tourist tax).

COSMOTE/What's Up Greece offer eSIMs to prepaid customers.

However, not all sellers want to offer eSIMs to short-term travelers for some reason.

Note that the Greek mobile operators require your identification (ID for EU/EEA travelers and passport for anyone else) for eSIMs and physical SIM cards.

Moreover, Greek mobile operators, including COSMOTE/What's Up Greece, are quite stingy in terms of data allowances.

So it can actually be cheaper to use a travel eSIM than getting a COSMOTE/What's Up SIM card and plan.

Therefore, if you wish to get an eSIM for Greece without personal detail capturing and get more generous data allowances at competitive prices, you can get the Greece (Meraki) eSIMs from Airalo.

You have these four options:

• Greece/Meraki 1 GB eSIM for 7 days
• Greece/Meraki 3 GB eSIM for 30 days
• Greece/Meraki 5 GB eSIM for 30 days – very popular and loved with Phone Travel Wiz readers
• Greece/Meraki 10 GB eSIM for 30 days – very popular and loved with Phone Travel Wiz readers

For Airalo eSIMs, the links above will automatically get you the Phone Travel Wiz exclusive offers available – a code is not necessary.

Or you can get Greece eSIMs from Nomad.

Use code ADU123 for the best deals available when getting Nomad eSIMs (on the site or their apps) and get 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off (even on top of current promotions)!

• Check out my Nomad reviews

Finally, you can get Greece eSIMs from Holafly if you prefer unlimited data plans and do not mind paying a bit more for this advantage:

1. Greece unlimited data eSIM for 5 days
2. Greece unlimited data eSIM for 10 days
3. Greece unlimited data eSIM for 15 days
4. Greece unlimited data eSIM for 20 days
5. Greece unlimited data eSIM for 30 days
6. Greece unlimited data eSIM for 60 days
7. Greece unlimited data eSIM for 90 days

Use code PHONETRAVELWIZ for exclusive deals when getting Holafly eSIMs, AND get an additional 5% off!

With these eSIMs, you can skip Greece's SIM card registration scheme entirely and use it immediately upon arriving in Greece!

• Find out about the best local eSIMs, travel eSIMs & travel SIM cards for every country (lookup tool)

If you plan on visiting other neighboring European nations, consider the Eurolink eSIM (six variants: 1 GB/7 days, 3 GB/30 days, 5 GB/30 days, 10 GB/30 days, 50 GB/90 days & 100 GB/180 days) in Greece and these other countries:

• Check out my Airalo Eurolink eSIM review (tested in Greece and these other countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia & Spain)

Most Phone Travel Wiz readers tend to go with the 3 GB, 5 GB & 10 GB variants.

Holafly and Nomad also have eSIMs covering all of the European Union (and more).

But honestly, the Eurolink eSIM is superior (but you can consider the Holafly Europe eSIM if you want unlimited data in 30+ countries – just do not forget about code PHONETRAVELWIZ if you go with Holafly).

If you decide to go with Nomad, I want to let you know that the majority of Phone Travel Wiz readers go with the 10 GB variant, while a handful chose the 5 GB version (you can read my Nomad Europe eSIM review here).

TIP: Check out my eSIM lookup tool for an overview of local mobile operators offering eSIMs to prepaid customers and travel eSIMs I use and love (for eSIMs in Greece and eSIMs worldwide).

Because Greek mobile operators are stingy with (prepaid) mobile data plans, Greece is regarded as the most expensive country in Western Europe, using cable.co.uk's defintion, for mobile data.

When looking at Eastern Europe, The Czech Republic is the only other European country with an average cost of 1 GB of data higher than 8 USD (8.15 USD) – also way too high (but 1 cent cheaper than Greece 🤑)!

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COSMOTE/What's Up Greece Plans, Bundles & Offers

COSMOTE Greece and What's Up Greece share a few plans, although the SIM cards also have exclusive plans for the respective prands.

COSMOTE Greece has two COSMOTE-specific data-featured plans:

• Πακέτα προς Εθνικά Δίκτυα/Packages to National Networks (combo)
• Πακέτα EXTRA/Extra Packages (combo)

What's Up Greece has one What's Up-specific data-featured plan:

• Πακέτα Ομιλίας/Call Packages (combo)

COSMOTE Greece and What's Up Greece share two data-featured plans:

• Πακέτα Internet/Giga Now-Internet Packages (data)
• Play, Social, Chat & Combo Now (social data)

All COSMOTE and What's Up plans can be activated on the My COSMOTE or What's Up apps.

Packages to National Networks

The Packages to National Networks are combo plans with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS for COSMOTE Greece customers.

Packages to National Networks can be activated on the My COSMOTE app:

Price	Plan	Data	On-Net Minutes	Local/EU Minutes 1	Local/EU SMS 1	Validity
10 EUR	Cosmokapta Combo	400 MB	300 minutes	300 minutes	200 SMS	30 days
12 EUR	Cosmokapta Combo Max	800 MB	300 minutes	300 minutes	400 SMS	30 days

¹ for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)

Extra Packages

The Extra Packages are combo plans with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS for COSMOTE Greece customers.

Extra Packages can be activated on the my COSMOTE app:

Price	Plan	Data	On-Net Minutes	Local/EU Minutes 1	Local/EU SMS 1	Validity
2.02 EUR	Extra Speech	N/A	N/A	100 minutes	N/A	30 days
2.02 EUR	Extra Internet	250 MB	N/A	N/A	N/A	30 days
3 EUR	Extra Week	200 MB	N/A	150 minutes	N/A	7 days
4 EUR	Extra Week Max	200 MB	150 minutes	150 minutes	100 SMS	7 days

¹ for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)

Call Packages

The Call Packages are combo plans with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS for What's Up Greece customers.

Call Packages can be activated on the What's Up app:

Price	Plan	Data	On-Net Minutes	Local/EU Minutes 1	Local/EU SMS 1	Validity
3 EUR	Mini Calls	N/A	200 minutes	100 minutes	N/A	7 days
5 EUR	After Dark 5000’ προς What’s Up	N/A	5000 minutes	N/A	N/A	1 night (22:00 – 8:00)
5 EUR	Mini Combo	1 GB	200 minutes	100 minutes	N/A	7 days
5.04 EUR	500’ προς WHAT’S UP & 100’ προς όλους	N/A	500 minutes	100 minutes	N/A	15 days
10 EUR	Combo	400 MB	300 minutes	300 minutes	300 SMS	30 days
12 EUR	Combo Max	800 MB	300 minutes	300 minutes	600 SMS	30 days

¹ for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)

Giga Now/Internet Packages

The Giga Now or Internet Packages are data plans (with 5G NR access) for COSMOTE and What's Up (COSMOTE calls it Giga Now, while What's Up calls it Internet Packages).

Giga Now/Internet Packages can be activated on the My COSMOTE app or What's Up app.

What's Up Greece customers can also text the Activation Code to 1330 to activate Internet Packages:

Price	Plan	Data	EU/EEA Data	Validity	Activation Code
1 EUR	Giga Day	1 GB	550 MB	24 hours	gigaday
1.50 EUR	Giga Day Max	3 GB	850 MB	24 hours	daymax
2 EUR	Giga Week	3 GB	2200 MB	1 weekend	gigask
4 EUR	Giga Weekend	3 GB	1100 MB	7 days	3GB
5 EUR 1	After Dark 10 GB	10 GB	N/A	30 nights (22:00 – 8:00)	dark1
8.50 EUR	Giga Month	2 GB 1	2 GB	30 days	2048

¹ exclusively for What's Up customers. It cannot be used while roaming

Play, Social, Chat & Combo Now Plans

The Play, Social, Chat & Combo Now plans are data bundles (with 5G NR access) for select social media, video streaming, or music streaming apps for COSMOTE and What's Up. They are for local use only.

Play, Social, Chat & Combo Now plans can be activated on the My COSMOTE app or What's Up app:

Price	Plan	Data	Social Data	Apps	Validity
4.50 EUR	Chat Now	N/A	2 GB	Various 1	30 days
4.50 EUR	Social Now	N/A	2 GB	Various 2	30 days
4.50 EUR	Play Now	N/A	5 GB	Various 3	30 days
8.50 EUR	Social & Chat Now Combo	700 MB	2 GB	Various 2, 3	30 days
8.50 EUR	Play Now Combo	5 GB	5 GB	Various 3	30 days
15 EUR	Play Now Unlimited	N/A	Unlimited	Various 3	30 days

¹ for COSMOTE Message+, Facebook Messenger, Viber & WhatsApp
² for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Tinder, Tumblr & Twitter
³ for Amazon Prime Video, Apple Music, Deezer, Fly 104, Imagine 897, Join Radio, Mubi, Netflix, New COSMOTE TV, NG Radio, OFFRADIO, Pepper, Spotify, Thema Radio, Tidal & YouTube

EU Roaming

You can use your COSMOTE/What's Up Greece allowances in the following EU/EEA member states without paying roaming fees:

Be aware that, in some cases, the EU/EEA roaming allowance is lower than the domestic allowances.

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COSMOTE Greece Top-Up, Recharge & Balance Check

COSMOTE and What's Up top-up vouchers are sold in COSMOTE or Germanos (ΓΕΡΜΑΝΟΣ) stores, grocery stores, corner shops & electronics shops throughout Greece.

I did not have to recharge my What's Up SIM card because Greece was a short stop on my one-month Europe trip.

But I will still let you know about topping up your COSMOTE/What's Up Greece SIM card.

To top up your COSMOTE/What's Up Greece SIM card, text ANA VoucherCode to 1314.

For example, if your voucher code is 123456, you would text ANA 123456 to 1314.

If you top up with top-up cards, the following bonuses apply:

Top-Up	Bonus Data	Bonus Validity
12 EUR	N/A	N/A
15 EUR	600 MB	15 days
20 EUR	600 MB	15 days
30 EUR	600 MB	15 days

If you refill in COSMOTE or Germanos stores (POS eTopUp), the following bonuses apply:

Top-Up	Bonus Data	Bonus Credit	Bonus Data Validity
12 EUR – 14.99 EUR	600 MB	N/A	15 days
15 EUR – 19.99 EUR	900 MB	N/A	15 days
20 EUR – 100 EUR 1	1.2 GB	N/A	15 days
30 EUR – 59.99 EUR	N/A	+10%	N/A
60 EUR – 100 EUR	N/A	+15%	N/A

You can also recharge online (COSMOTE/What's Up) with (international/EU) debit and credit cards

If you top up online (sites or apps), the following bonuses apply:

Top-Up	Bonus Data	Bonus Validity
10 EUR	600 MB	15 days
12 EUR	600 MB	15 days
15 EUR	900 MB	15 days
20 EUR	1.2 GB	15 days
30 EUR	1.2 GB	15 days

1 if you top-up at least 30 EUR, you can choose whether you want bonus data or extra credit – not both

Text YP to 1314 to check your COSMOTE/What's Up Greece balance.

You can also top up and check your balance on the My COSMOTE app (Android/iOS/Huawei AppGallery) or the What's Up app (Android/iOS/Huawei AppGallery).

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COSMOTE/What's Up Greece Speed Test Results (in Athens)

Alright, now it is time to talk about the speeds you can expect with COSMOTE/What's Up Greece after covering all the other essential topics like coverage.

But before I share my 12 speed test results from Athens, I do want to set the stage first and make a small comparison with COSMOTE Greece's competition.

COSMOTE Greece is regarded by Speedtest as the fastest mobile operator in Greece in Q1-Q2 of 2022.

In fact, the median download speed of COSMOTE Greece (82.94 Mbps) is more than double of its competitors (37.33 Mbps for Vodafone Greece and 35.95 Mbps for WIND Greece).

However, when we look at 5G NR, COSMOTE Greece is also winning the 5G NR race with an average download speed of 178.3 Mbps.

Followed by WIND Greece (146.6 Mbps) and Vodafone Greece (110.3 Mbps).

Okay, those were valuable insights – let's talk about my speed test results now.

I did 12 speed tests with the Speedtest app at various test locations throughout Athens.

Here are the results:

Those are great speeds on 4G/LTE.

Officially, COSMOTE Greece allows its customers and What's Up Greece customers to use 5G NR.

However, I did not manage to get any 5G NR reception during my trip with my What's Up Greece SIM card.

So either 5G NR was not offered to prepaid customers yet, even though COSMOTE Greece claimed it did too – also for What's Up Greece, or What's Up Greece customers could not use 5G NR yet.

If you manage(d) to get 5G NR with your COSMOTE Greece or What's Up Greece SIM card, let me know!

Anyway, I got six results faster than 100 Mbps on 4G/LTE, which is always a good sign.

I was not on 2G or 3G when doing any of my tests.

But I do not recall being on those networks at all with my What's Up Greece SIM card, except when I was on the Athens metro.

While the 276.36 Mbps download speed at Attika Mall was the fastest, I managed to get a download speed of 703.2 Mbps on 4G/LTE with Optus from Australia – absolutely insane!

But that is truly the exception to the rule… I honestly thought the test was on 5G NR 😳.

Anyway, back to Greece 🤪.

I will show you a comparison with Vodafone (CU) Greece and WIND Greece later so that you have an idea of how fast COSMOTE/What's Up Greece is.

First, let's deal with some COSMOTE/What's Up Greece statistics based on 12 speed test results:

• COSMOTE/What's Up Greece's average download speed was 112.55 Mbps
• The median download speed with COSMOTE/What's Up Greece was 97.28 Mbps
• COSMOTE/What's Up Greece's average upload speed was 27.92 Mbps
• The median upload speed with COSMOTE/What's Up Greece was 27.01 Mbps
• COSMOTE/What's Up Greece had the fastest download speed, compared to WIND Greece, in 10 of the 12 locations
• COSMOTE/What's Up Greece had the slowest download speed, compared to WIND Greece, in 1 of the 12 locations
• At 6 of the 12 locations, COSMOTE/What's Up Greece had the fastest upload speed
• At 1 of the 12 locations, COSMOTE/What's Up Greece had the slowest upload speed

Awesome statistics, right? But these numbers are a bit skewed.

Let me explain.

During my weekend in Athens, my Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card was limited to 3G for some unknown ridiculous reason.

And as stores close just past afternoon on Saturdays and are closed on Sundays, I had no way to fix this issue.

On Monday morning, when I was about to fly back home, I got a text message from Vodafone Greece that 4G/LTE was activated.

I did some tests at the airport… and Vodafone Greece was the fastest! (see above)

I explained my Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card purchase experience in my Vodafone Greece review, but it looked like someone at HQ had to activate 4G/LTE first… which is an unusual way of conducting business.

Perhaps it is normal with Vodafone (CU) Greece? I do not know.

But I believe that if my Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card was not crippled, COSMOTE/What's Up Greece would not have been the best as often as I experienced.

Anyway, that was enough about Vodafone (CU) Greece, let's get back to COSMOTE/What's Up Greece.

So, is an average download speed of 112.55 Mbps fast enough?

Yes, more than enough – let me elaborate.

A download speed of more than 25 Mbps is enough to video stream content @ 4k resolution.

Social media sites that allow for live streaming, like Facebook Live, recommend an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps.

And I got an average upload speed of 27.92 Mbps – almost triple the recommended upload speed.

So, in short, these speed test results would be more than enough for watching videos at a high resolution and for uploading content like live streams.

But let's take these results to a global level – COSMOTE Greece is still doing well.

At the time of writing, the global average download speed is 74.14 Mbps – COSMOTE Greece is far above this average.

But the average is skewed because of countries like the United Arab Emirates, with an average mobile download speed of 256.06 Mbps (insane!).

So let's look at the global median – 30.37 Mbps. COSMOTE Greece's median download speed was 97.28 Mbps.

That is triple the global median – fantastic.

Then again, many countries have yet to roll out 5G NR… but that is why we looked at the median too instead of only the average.

In short, you should have a smooth network experience with COSMOTE/What's Up Greece.

Take a look at this Vodafone (CU) and WIND Greece comparison:

Remember, Vodafone (CU) Greece was restricted to 3G until the morning I left.

I was on 5G NR almost all the time with WIND Greece (all underlined results are on 5G NR).

But as you can see, WIND Greece's results were almost always slower than What's Up Greece's… and that was on 4G/LTE only.

Anyway, COSMOTE/What's Up Greece is fast enough for general phone use on cellular data.

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My Overall Experience with COSMOTE/What's Up Greece – Is It Any Good?

I would recommend COSMOTE/What's Up Greece, and it would be my top recommendation.

Getting a What's Up Greece SIM card was straightforward (even considering the SIM card shortage into account), and activation was quick.

COSMOTE Greece's coverage is the best in the country.

I would not be surprised that COSMOTE/What's Up Greece would be the only one(s) with reception in the most remote Greek town or island you can think of.

While the plans COSMOTE Greece and What's Up Greece offer are not the most generous compared to other European countries, they are acceptable for Greek standards.

I had fast speeds with my What's Up SIM card (on 4G/LTE).

Somehow, I never managed to be on 5G NR, even though COSMOTE Greece claims all its prepaid customers, including What's Up Greece, can use its 5G NR network.

Even then, speeds were fast enough for general data browsing.

With the best and most extensive coverage, good data-featured plans & fast speeds, there is nothing crazy to complain about COSMOTE/What's Up Greece.

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Support Phone Travel Wiz

I spent 32 EUR on Greek SIM cards (12 EUR for What's Up Greece, 10 EUR for Vodafone (CU) Greece & 10 EUR for WIND Greece) and 126 USD on eSIMs (100 USD for Airalo and 26 USD for Nomad) for my Greek SIM card reviews series.

While I love buying, testing & reviewing SIM cards and eSIMs, it is an expensive endeavor.

But it allows me to test the SIM cards in each country extensively.

That way, I can share my experiences with you so that you do not get suckered into a good deal (price-wise) but have a terrible network experience.

I would genuinely appreciate it if you would donate to Phone Travel Wiz on Ko-fi.

Donations will not be spent on coffees. Instead, the funds will be used to make Phone Travel Wiz the #1 hub for anything related to phone travel, including more reviews.

You can also set up a recurring donation if you want.

I appreciate your support!

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Greek SIM Card Reviews

As mentioned earlier, I also tried out Vodafone Greece and WIND Greece when I was in Athens.

You should read those reviews too.

>>> Vodafone Greece Review | WIND Greece Review <<<

Later, I will make a comparison post of the three Greek mobile operators… but that will take a while (I have many reviews of other countries that I still need to write, so they are prioritized).

But you can still make an educated purchased after reading the Greek SIM card reviews.

Check out my reviews page if you want to read all the other reviews I have written, including other European SIM cards from this trip.

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Greece SIM Card Buying Guide

There are five other SIM cards to choose from in Greece besides COSMOTE Greece and What's Up Greece.

I analyze and discuss them in-depth in my Greece SIM card buying guide.