Spark Mobile Review
Spark is one of New Zealand’s largest telecommunications and digital services companies. It offers a varied range of different pay monthly and pre-paid phone plans as well as broadband services.
What phone plans does Spark offer?
Pay monthly
Spark’s Pay monthly plans include a range of Rollover data and Endless data plans. With Rollover data, you get a smaller allocation of data, but any unused data can be added to next month’s allocation.
Endless data provides unlimited data, but it typically comes with a max speed cap. Once you hit this cap, speeds are significantly reduced (to 1.2mbps) allowing for Endless data but with significant speed reductions.
the 3GB Rollover plan and 14GB Endless data plan both include half-price Spotify Premium while the 40GB and uncapped Endless data plans both include a free Spotify Premium account.
All Endless data plans currently include 6 months free Spark Sport (3 months if an existing Spark customer upgrading plans).
| Plan | Data | Talk | Text | Cost (monthly)* |
| Rollover Plan | 100MB rollover | 100 mins NZ/unlimited Spark mobiles | N/A (casual rates apply) | $15 |
| Rollover Plan | 500MB rollover | Unlimited NZ | Unlimited NZ | $25 |
| Rollover Plan | 3GB rollover | 300 mins NZ | Unlimited NZ | $39.99 |
| Endless Plan | Endless – speed reduces after 14GB | Unlimited NZ/OZ | Unlimited NZ/OZ | $65 |
| Endless Plan | Endless – speed reduces after 50GB | Unlimited NZ/OZ | Unlimited NZ/OZ | $85 |
| Endless Plan | Uncapped Endless | Unlimited NZ/OZ | Unlimited NZ/OZ | $100 |
Prepaid
Note that all of Spark’s Prepaid phone plans are valid for 28 days, not a full calendar month. All include Data stack, which provides an extra monthly limit of 100MB data each month you stay with your plan. All Prepaid plans also include hotspotting and half-price Spotify Premium while select plans include Socialiser.
Socialiser is extra monthly data for use only on: Facebook, Messenger, Spotify and Twitter.
| Plan | Data | Talk | Text | Cost (monthly)* |
| Prepaid Value Pack | 1.25GB rollover | 200 rollover NZ | Unlimited NZ | $20 |
| Prepaid Value Pack | 2GB rollover + 2GB Socialiser | 300 rollover NZ | Unlimited NZ | $30 |
| Prepaid Value Pack | 4GB rollover + 2GB Socialiser | 500 rollover NZ | Unlimited NZ | $50 |
| Prepaid Value Pack | 40GB Endless | Unlimited NZ/OZ | Unlimited NZ/OZ | $80 |
Group plans
Spark’s Team Up takes a different approach to group plans. Instead of allowing you to add companion plans for a set price, everyone is allowed to choose their own plan, from a selection of four, and a percentage discount is applied based on the total number of plans.
Team up allows you to select from the following plans:
| Plan | Data | Talk | Text | Cost (monthly)* |
| Rollover Plan | 500MB rollover | Unlimited NZ | Unlimited NZ | $25 |
| Endless Plan | Endless – speed reduces after 14GB | Unlimited NZ/OZ | Unlimited NZ/OZ | $65 |
| Endless Plan | Endless – speed reduces after 50GB | Unlimited NZ/OZ | Unlimited NZ/OZ | $85 |
| Endless Plan | Uncapped Endless | Unlimited NZ/OZ | Unlimited NZ/OZ | $100 |
You can then add up to three additional plans, all of which can be chosen from the above four plan options, allowing everyone to select the plan that’s right for them. The more plans the bigger the savings
- 2 plans – 20% saving
- 3 plans – 30% saving
- 4 plans – 35% saving
Spark top-ups and extras
Spark also has a range of top-ups that provide extra data should you run out as well as a range of wearable plans catered for a compatible smartwatch.
Are Sparks phone plans value for money?
Spark’s phone plans don’t tend to be the cheapest on paper. However, with the inclusion of free or half-priced Spotify Premium on many plans, most options work out in line with, or even cheaper than, other providers. Especially when you throw the current Spark Sport promotion in as well.
Of course, that is on the assumption that you are already paying for Spotify and this will be saving you money.
Spark’s Team Up is unique in its approach to group plans. The flexibility offered by allowing everyone to choose their own plan may be ideal for families, where a young child, a teenager, and a parent are all likely to have different data needs.
Whether or not the group plans work out as the cheapest option will depend on how many plans you take out, which plans are chosen, and whether everyone is currently paying for Spotify accounts, so shopping around is advised.
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: