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VoLTE stands for voice over LTE and it’s more or less exactly what it says on the tin. It's voice calls over a 4G LTE network, rather than the 2G or 3G connections which are usually used.
We tend to think of 4G as mostly being about downloading, streaming and web browsing, and indeed that’s primarily what it’s been used for so far, but it can also be used to improve calls, which is why why many networks have started offering VoLTE.
Below you’ll find everything you need to know about VoLTE, including which networks offer it and what’s so good about it.
The big advantage of VoLTE is that call quality is superior to 3G or 2G connections, as far more data can be transferred over 4G than 2G or 3G. That makes it easier to make out not only what the person on the other end of the line is saying, but also their tone of voice.
Essentially it’s an HD voice call and it’s a much richer experience overall.
VoLTE can connect calls up to twice as fast as when using 2G or 3G, and as 2G and 3G connections will still be available when there’s no 4G signal, it simply means that there’s greater mobile coverage overall, as without VoLTE you wouldn’t be able to make or receive calls in places with a 4G signal but no 2G or 3G.
You might think that would be a rare occurrence, but some of the frequencies that 4G operates on, such as the 800MHz spectrum, have far greater reach than 2G or 3G spectrum, so you’ll be able to get signal further away from a mast or in buildings which other signals struggle to penetrate. Indeed, Three is fully relying on its 800MHz spectrum for VoLTE calls.
However, while 2G and 3G services have largely remained so far they aren’t as necessary as they used to be, and much of the spectrum used for 2G in particular could potentially be repurposed to increase capacity on 4G or 5G networks.
Smartphone users could also find their battery life increased with VoLTE, as without it whenever you make or receive a call your phone has to switch from 4G to 2G or 3G, since 4G calls aren’t supported, and then once the call is finished your phone switches back again. All that switching, plus the need to search for a different signal each time, can give the battery a significant hit.
As you don’t have to switch to 3G when making a call with VoLTE, that means you can also keep using 4G for other functions on your phone while on a call. That’s handy if you’re multi-tasking. For example, browsing the web at the same time or downloading an app.
4G Calling also offers the ability to seamlessly move between that and Wi-Fi Calling, without the call cutting out, so if you move away from one signal type you can continue on the other.
It’s also theoretically possible to make video calls over 4G, much like a Skype call, except you’d just use your mobile number and be able to use the regular dialler and call interface, so you can make and receive video calls from anyone else with VoLTE, rather than relying on separate accounts.
In fact you may have noticed that Skype and other existing video call services often seem to have superior audio quality to voice calls. That’s because like VoLTE they use more data as part of a similarly named VoIP system, so you can expect your voice calls to sound more like Skype calls when using VoLTE, but they won’t hit your battery life as much as Skype does.
Not only could video calls become native to the dialler, but other Rich Communication Services (or RCS’s) could as well, such as file transferring, real time language translation, and video voicemail, and there may be applications which haven’t even been thought up yet.
However, it’s worth noting that many of these functions aren’t currently widely supported by phones and mobile networks.
VoLTE is not available everywhere on every network, or on every handset, so you may or may not be able to use VoLTE – we’ve got more information on that below.
But assuming you can use it the only real limitation is that it won’t work when abroad.
All the major UK operators offer VoLTE, as do most MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators).
In order to take advantage of VoLTE you need to ensure your phone is compatible and that coverage is available (though VoLTE works in most of the same places as 4G), so we recommend checking on the links provided to make sure you will be able to take advantage of VoLTE (4G Calling).
Assuming you have a compatible phone, the latest software from your network and are in an area with VoLTE on any of these networks you should have access to VoLTE – it may not be available on all plans though and the availability regularly changes, so if in doubt check with your network.
|
Network |
Availability |
|---|---|
|
EE |
|
|
O2 |
|
|
Three |
- |
|
Vodafone |
|
|
1pMobile |
- |
|
Asda Mobile |
Check compatibility |
|
Giffgaff |
Check compatibility |
|
Honest Mobile |
Check compatibility |
|
iD Mobile |
|
|
Lebara |
Check compatibility |
|
Lyca Mobile |
Not officially confirmed |
|
Sky Mobile |
Check compatibility |
|
Smarty |
Check compatibility |
|
Spusu |
Check compatibility |
|
Talkmobile |
Check compatibility |
|
Tesco Mobile |
Check compatibility |
|
VOXI |
Check compatibility |
Three was the first and network to offer VoLTE, through a service dubbed 4G Super-Voice, which is available in all the same places as 4G.
Three hasn’t provided a current list of supported devices, but the vast majority of smartphones bought from Three are likely to support it, and many bought elsewhere probably will too.
EE has a VoLTE service called 4G Calling, which is available everywhere on EE’s 4G network.
As with other networks it won’t work with every handset, but most of the latest and most high-profile handsets are supported.
Vodafone also has a VoLTE service called 4G Calling, and it’s available in the same places as its 4G network.
The service works with most high-profile phones from Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and Sony, among some others.
O2’s VoLTE service is also called 4G Calling, and it’s available in many cities across the UK, on a range of handsets from Apple, Samsung and Sony, plus a small number from OnePlus, Google and others. However as with most networks, some Android phones only work with it if bought direct from O2.
1pMobile lets you call over both 4G and 5G, the latter of which isn’t something that all 4G Calling networks offer.
It hasn’t detailed which phones are compatible with these services, but you can expect most recent and high-end handsets will be.
Asda Mobile offers 4G Calling in the same places as Vodafone, and it should work on a wide range of handsets, though the network doesn’t keep a list.
Giffgaff took quite a while to start offering 4G Calling but it now does, and you can make use of it on the iPhone XS onwards, the Samsung Galaxy S21 onwards, the Google Pixel 7 onwards, and many other handsets.
With Honest Mobile you can call over 4G on a vast number of devices, including every iPhone from the iPhone 6 onwards, Google handsets from the Pixel 6 onwards, and Samsung handsets from the Galaxy S20 onwards, among others.
We say ‘every’ model, but at the time of writing some recent releases like the iPhone 16 aren’t mentioned. However, that’s likely just because Honest Mobile hasn’t updated its list.
iD Mobile offers VoLTE in the same locations as Three, so it’s widely available. It works on a large number of devices, with a focus on Samsung, Apple, Google, Huawei, Oppo, Motorola and Sony ones.
Lebara also supports 4G Calling, and while it hasn’t said which devices this works with, it implies that the selection will be the same as Vodafone’s, which makes sense, since Lebara uses Vodafone’s infrastructure.
Lyca Mobile is the odd one out among these networks because at the time of writing it hasn’t actually officially said that it supports 4G Calling, but numerous Lyca Mobile customers have reported that the feature is available as of March 2024. As such, we can’t guarantee it will work for you on any handset, but you may well be able to make use of it.
Sky Mobile uses O2’s network for VoLTE (and everything else). It should work on the majority of recent handsets, though Sky Mobile doesn’t appear to keep a list at the time of writing.
Smarty offers 4G Calling in the same places as Three, and it’s supported by the iPhone 7 range onwards, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S10 range onwards, and a number of handsets from other brands.
Spusu supports VoLTE on phones including the iPhone 7 onwards, Samsung smartphones from 2020 onwards, the OnePlus 9 onwards, and various devices from Motorola, Xiaomi, Realme, and Oppo.
Talkmobile supports VoLTE too and does so on the iPhone 6 onwards along with select Android handsets. To check if your Android phone is compatible, look for a 4G Calling toggle on its settings screen – likely under Mobile Data Options or a similar heading.
Tesco Mobile also supports Wi-Fi Calling on numerous devices. It doesn’t keep a complete list of which, but directs customers to its device support page to check if their specific model supports it.
VOXI offers VoLTE in the same places as Vodafone. The network doesn’t keep a list of which phones support it, but we’d expect many of the ones it sells will.
If you’re using a 3G handset then you’ll definitely need to upgrade, but if you have a 4G enabled one (which all modern smartphones are) then it likely will work with VoLTE (though it may require a software update first).
In theory most existing 4G phones should work with VoLTE, but some may encounter problems and as they all require a tailored software update it’s dependent on each network to roll one out. In practice, each network only currently supports VoLTE on a subset of phones, and in some cases only those bought directly from the network.
Check the lists and links above for the full range of phones that are currently VoLTE-compatible on each network.
The problem with Voice over LTE is that 4G LTE is a data-only networking technology, so it doesn’t natively support voice calls. While 3G and 2G were primarily designed with voice calls in mind and data was added to them.
As such it’s been necessary to create new protocols to support voice calling over 4G and it’s a big job, requiring upgrades across the entire voice call infrastructure. There’s no one standard for this, with different networks creating their own solutions.
There are some common problems and solutions though, most notably the requirement for Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC), which simply means that the phone will be able to switch back to a 2G or 3G signal if you move out of a 4G signal zone during the call.
This needs to be seamless or the call will cut out, so it requires masts to pre-emptively deliver a 3G signal whenever the 4G signal drops dangerously low, but also to keep the 4G signal running at the same time, so it can either stay on 3G if it loses the 4G signal entirely or drop the 3G if the 4G signal becomes strengthened again.
At the time of writing, 5G isn’t used for calls, just as 4G didn’t used to be (and still isn’t in some cases).
We’d imagine that eventually call support will be added to the UK’s 5G networks, especially as it is a use case that has been explored during the development of 5G, but there’s no current indication of when that will happen – right now the focus of networks is understandably on increasing 5G coverage.
