Skinny Mobile is a division of Spark New Zealand. Think of Skinny as a no-frills version of Spark mobile. It runs over Spark’s 4G and 5G network, so it has great coverage. But instead of offering all the extras that Spark bundles with its plans, like free and half-price Spotify, Skinny just concentrates on the basics – calls, texts and data – at a reduced price.
What phone plans does Skinny offer?
Skinny has six different monthly plans, and two weekly plans, which cater for all budgets and needs. 5G is currently included in all Skinny plans at no extra cost. Limited coverage only (check here) and to access you’ll need a 5G-compatible device.
Skinny:
Prepaid: four-week period
$9 Plan
- 100mins talk NZ/OZ
- Unlimited texts NZ/OZ
- 250MB data
$16 Plan:
- 200mins rollover talk NZ/OZ
- Unlimited Skinny to Skinny talk
- Unlimited texts NZ/OZ
- 1.25GB data
$26 Plan:
- 300mins rollover talk NZ/OZ
- Unlimited Skinny to Skinny talk
- Unlimited texts NZ/OZ
- 2.25GB data
$36 Plan:
- Unlimited talk NZ/OZ
- Unlimited texts NZ/OZ
- Unlimited data (4.5GB max speed) with hotspotting
$46 Plan:
- Unlimited talk NZ/OZ
- Unlimited texts NZ/OZ
- Unlimited data (12GB max speed) with hotspotting
$70 Plan:
- Unlimited talk NZ/OZ
- Unlimited texts NZ/OZ
- Unlimited data (40GB max speed) with hotspotting
Prepaid: Weekly plans
$5 Plan
- 60mins talk NZ
- 750 texts NZ
- 100MB data
- Auto-renew bonus: 500mins talk/500 texts
$20 Plan:
- Unlimited talk NZ/OZ
- Unlimited texts NZ/OZ
- Unlimited data (10GB max speed) with hotspotting
Skinny top-ups and extras
Top-ups start from only $5, and you can set them to renew automatically, to help ensure you never run out of credit. Skinny also offers a range of add-on packs.
Calling and text add-ons, include:
- $1/7 days: 250 NZ texts
- $2/28 days: Unlimited voicemail
- $4/7 days: 100mins NZ talk
- $8/28 days: 150mins NZ/OZ talk
Data add-ons, include:
- $4/7 days: 200MB data
- $8/7 days: 600MB data
- $10/28 days: 1GB data
- $15/28 days: 2GB data
- $30/28 days: 5GB data
Skinny also offers data binges – from 50c for 10 minutes to $4 for 12 hours – which serve up as much data as you can stream through.
It also offers $20 credit for you, and 4GB free data for your friend, if you sign them up for a $16+ monthly plan.
How to switch to Skinny
It’s easy and simple to switch to Skinny:
- Buy a Skinny SIM
- Dial 456 to activate it
- Sign Up for an online account
- Submit a request if you want to keep your current mobile number
If you are currently on prepay and already have a SIM, you’ll need to provide Skinny your SIM serial number, which is printed on the back of the SIM card.
If you are switching to Skinny from a monthly account, you’ll need to provide Skinny with your account number. Once the number transfer has been completed, you’ll need to contact your former mobile provider to close down your old account.
Are Skinny’s pre-paid plans value for money?
Skinny offers some great value, mid-range plans and, if you need a data splurge, their add-on data binges are good value for money, too. Plus, if you’ve a 5G phone and live in an area that has 5G connection, the ability to tap into 5G speeds at no extra cost is an cool bonus.
To help Kiwi consumers choose the best mobile phone providers, Canstar surveys thousands of mobile phone customers and asks them to score their providers across categories including Value for Money and Customer Service. To read the results of our full research and to find out more about NZ’s best mobile phone providers, just click on the big button below: