BEST ANNUAL
150 GB at €89.99/year on O2. Cheapest national-network annual prepaid in Germany.
Why we picked it: Pay once. Best for residents who want one Euro number for the year without thinking about 4-week cycles.
BEST FOR CITY USE
20 GB on O2. After the high-speed cap, surfing continues at 1 Mbit/s — you stay online for chat, maps, and email even after using all your data.
Why we picked it: The continue-surfing rule alone often makes O2 worth a couple of Euros more vs. supermarket brands that hard-cap.
BEST PAYG
No monthly fee. 9 cents/min, 9 cents/SMS. Top-up 1 GB option at €3.99/4w, or 25 GB option at €5.99 for 24 hours.
Why we picked it: Right for backup SIMs and second numbers, especially with the 24-hour 25 GB top-up option for occasional heavy days.
BEST FOR HEAVY USE
999 GB tier on O2 with premium continue-surfing after the cap. Effective unlimited for almost any user.
Why we picked it: The de facto unlimited on O2 prepaid. Right for tethering laptops and heavy streamers.
When you use up the high-speed data on O2 S and M tiers, the connection does not get shut off — it drops to 1 Mbit/s. That's slow but it's enough for WhatsApp, navigation, maps, email, low-bitrate audio. Supermarket brands like NORMA or KAUFLAND hard-cap to 32 or 64 kbit/s (effectively unusable) or stop you entirely. The Max tier extends this with premium continue-surfing after 999 GB.
O2 is excellent in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, and Cologne and ranked sehr gut by connect in 2025. Coverage drops faster than Telekom or Vodafone in rural and alpine areas. For city-only users, O2 is fine; if you regularly travel to small towns or ski resorts, prefer Telekom.
Yes. €89.99 for 150 GB/year works out to €7.50 per month. Telekom's Jahrestarif is €99.95 for 240 GB. congstar matches at €100 for 240 GB. O2 wins purely on absolute price; congstar/Telekom win on GB-per-Euro.
Yes. O2 has a dedicated O2 Prepaid eSIM page. Activation uses VideoIdent by default; PostIdent at a Deutsche Post branch is the alternative.
Yes. Order online, complete VideoIdent (live video call with an agent who checks your passport), scan the eSIM QR or wait for the physical card. The whole flow takes ~20 minutes if your timing aligns with an available VideoIdent agent.