Lidl Connect review: pros, cons and what early users report

Is Lidl Connect any good?

On paper, yes: at €12.99 a month for unlimited data on eir's 5G network, with 50GB of roaming and no contract, it is one of the cheapest unlimited plans in Ireland. The catches are practical: everything runs through the Lidl Plus app, launch-week transfers were slow for some, and latency was higher in one test.

The terms are unusually plain for a mobile plan. There is one plan, one price in the official price list, no activation fee, no throttling in Ireland and no exit fee. Cancelling costs nothing. What you give up is choice: there are no tiers, no handsets, no bill pay and no web account.

Whether it is good for you depends less on the network, which is eir's, and more on how you travel, how you pay and how much you mind managing your phone plan in a supermarket app.

What are the Lidl Connect pros and cons?

The pros are price, simplicity and the eir network: unlimited data without throttling, free eSIM, no contract and generous EU roaming. The cons are the app-only set-up, card-only payment through Lidl Pay, no roaming outside Europe's zone, higher latency in one test, and launch-week delays moving numbers.

Strengths

• €12.99 a month, no activation fee
• Unlimited data in Ireland, "no speed throttling"
• 50GB roaming in the EU and EEA, the UK, Switzerland, Ukraine and Moldova
• 100 minutes a month to China, India, the US and more
• eir network with 5G, VoLTE and WiFi calling
• Free eSIM, or a €0.99 SIM in store
• Cancel any time without a fee

Catches

• Only through the Lidl Plus app, 18+
• No web login and no separate Lidl Connect app
• No roaming at all outside Europe’s roaming zone
• Other countries cannot be called
• Higher latency than eir’s own customers in one test
• Payment by debit or credit card in Lidl Pay only
• Some transfers delayed in launch week

How fast is Lidl Connect compared with eir?

In Goosed.ie's independent test, published on 30 September 2026, Lidl Connect matched eir on speed, but with "one small catch": latency. Median latency was 59.6 milliseconds on Lidl Connect against 32.5 for eir's own customers. That is one test in one place, not a national survey.

Latency is the delay before data starts moving. For browsing, streaming and video calls, a difference of 27 milliseconds is hard to notice. It matters more for fast online games and some live video, where lower is better.

The official maximum speeds are 1 Gbit/s down and 100 Mbit/s up on 5G, and 400 Mbit/s down on 4G, according to 1GLOBAL's service description. Real speeds depend on eir's coverage where you are: check your address on ComReg's map ↗, or read coverage and network.

What went wrong in Lidl Connect’s launch week?

Mainly number transfers. On 7 October TheJournal.ie reported that "exceptional" demand meant some customers waited longer than expected and a small number had a temporary interruption; Lidl apologised and said its team was contacting those affected. Forum users also reported failed card payments and rejected activation codes.

These are reports, not counts: nobody has published how many customers were affected. If a transfer goes wrong for you, you may be owed compensation under ComReg's switching rules; see customer service.

• Transfers that failed because the prepay number was entered as unregistered when it was registered (askaboutmoney.com users report).
• A Revolut card payment returned; Lidl lists debit and credit cards in Lidl Pay and does not mention Revolut (users report).
• An activation code for a store SIM shown as invalid (one user report).
• A user abroad in the UK who needed to choose a different APN before data worked (ISPreview forum; see APN settings).

Is managing Lidl Connect only in the Lidl Plus app a problem?

It depends on you. Everything, from signing up to changing SIM and cancelling, happens in Lidl Plus, and there is no web login. If you already use Lidl Plus, that is convenient. If you do not want a supermarket loyalty app, or share a phone, it is a real drawback.

There is also a dependency to understand: Lidl Connect needs an active Lidl Plus account. If that account is deleted, the 1GLOBAL terms say the Lidl Connect service ends after 72 hours, and the number is held for 30 days so you can move it. One account can hold up to 4 lines, and the people using extra lines do not need the app themselves.

Who is Lidl Connect a good fit for?

People who want unlimited data in Ireland for less, travel mainly within Europe, already use Lidl Plus and pay by ordinary debit or credit card. It also suits anyone leaving an eir-network provider such as GoMo, because the coverage is the same eir network, and anyone with family to call in the listed countries.

It is a reasonable second line too: a free eSIM, no contract and nothing to pay to leave make it easy to try alongside your current SIM on a dual-SIM phone, as long as the phone is unlocked.

Who should choose a different provider instead of Lidl Connect?

Anyone who travels outside Europe's roaming zone, since Lidl Connect has no roaming there; anyone who wants a phone on bill pay or a web account; online gamers who care about latency; and people who can only pay with a card Lidl Pay may not accept. eir's own customers had lower latency in the one test.

If you call countries outside the 100-minute list, such as Nigeria or the Philippines, Lidl Connect cannot call them at all. The compare page shows ten other unlimited plans with their first-year cost, and each provider comparison explains how to leave.