As all of you would know by now, I fly frequently for both work and leisure. I make it a point on each of these flights to go through the onboard shopping catalogs for (cue the drum roll) gadgets that can make my life and my travels better. It was one of these random moments that I stumbled across a mobile hotspot pocket Wi-Fi router by Glocalme called GlocalMe U2:

The device immediately caught my attention.

Let me back track a bit here. I have in the past done several reviews on similar products before and each product sort of fell short in delivering what was promised.

The initial reason for sourcing such products is the desire to avoid expensive data roaming charges from your Home Telco. No more S$25 per day data roaming charges… Or ridiculous charges like S$13.91 for 570kb of data:

Good riddance! The idea here is to find a device or service that offers the ability to tap into a local network and benefit from local pricing without having to actually go out and hunt for a local SIM.

The first product I reviewed was Flexiroam. The idea behind the product was attractive but the pricing wasn’t. While relatively cheaper than data roaming, it is not only still expensive but also inconvenient as enabling their service will disable your own home sim card (i.e. you will no longer receive any calls/smses on your home number until you deactivate flexiroam).

I thought I got around this problem when I invested in another device called Pokefi. Pokefi is definitely cheaper than Flexiroam and offered what I thought was pretty decent internet speeds when I used it in Greater China Region (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and also in Malaysia. That was until I went to India. It was either the hot Indian heat or simply the case that the device doesn’t work in India. Imagine the horror of visiting an alien country and suddenly realizing that your only connection to the rest of the world doesn’t work.

So began my quest to find another alternative and that hunt ended with GlocalMe U2.

First off the bat, the specifications look way better. Leaving aside the geekier numbers, I focused more on the practical stuff that average consumers care about like coverage and also battery life. GlocalMe U2 boasts a transnational coverage of 100+ countries/regions whereas Pokefi claims to cover around 70 countries/regions. I used the word “claims” because of the 70 odd countries/regions, a number of them appear qualified with warnings that the service may be unstable or that the device may fail to connect. GlocalMe U2’s battery life on paper is 13 hours as compared to Pokefi’s “up to 12 hours”. For the record, while I found Pokefi’s battery life decent, it never lasted anywhere close to 12 hours and was closer to 8-9 hours. More on that later.

I reached out to GlocalMe and requested if they would be willing to let me review their product against Pokefi.

Surprisingly, they agreed.

Setting up GlocalMe U2

Setting up GlocalMe U2 was easy.

I had to download GlocalMe’s app from the app store before creating an account and signing into the app.

I then had to link my GlocalMe U2 device to my account using the Scan QR code function within the app before connecting my phone’s wifi to it.

While it involved more steps than Pokefi (a plug and play device), the steps were easy to follow and intuitive. Moreover, these extra steps appear to be more for my benefit than an actual inconvenience. Let me explain. One main flaw with Pokefi that I experienced was the lack of a UI. While I could key in the relevant IP address to access my Pokefi device and its administrative features, it was troublesome as I had to either remember or bookmark the correct IP address. It was a pain as I have no easy way to check how much data I have left or to keep track of my data usage. The GlocalMe app allows me to do just that directly on my phone (I didn’t manage to take a screenshot but if you have a data package, it will show the amount of data remaining):

Data on GlocalMe U2

GlocalMe offers both “pay as you go” (“PAYG”) and data packages.

I would recommend getting the data packages as they are generally more value for money as compared to the PAYG option. For example, even if you are travelling just for a day in the UK, a 300MB data package will set you back by US$3 whereas 300MB on a PAYG basis would set you back by 15 Euros (at 0.05 Euros per MB).

For my review, I got myself data packages for both Spain and the UK since I will be travelling through these countries.

 

Experience using GlocalMe U2

Overall, GlocalMe U2 was a fantastic device.

GlocalMe U2 – Excellent connection speeds

The connection speeds were excellent. I decided to go geeky this time around and conduct actual speed tests in the UK and in Spain.

Granted, my time in the UK was rather short as I was transiting through London, the short transit still allowed me to test the device. My Pokefi had problems booting up and I could not test it. GlocalMe U2, however, booted up just fine and here are the results for London:

Pretty decent at 16.9 Mbps!

It also translated into an excellent ping of 33ms for my Mobile Legends game. Perfect distraction for the short transit!

The device worked spotlessly when I arrived in Spain and I hit the ground running with data available immediately.

Sometimes, this convenience is often underestimated and taken for granted. And I was reminded of this upon arrival in Spain. My checked-in luggage failed to arrive in Madrid and having access to data allowed me to easily retrieve my insurance papers from my email and also make Voice over IP calls to my insurers if necessary. While I avoided a disaster as I subsequently found out that my luggage was on the next flight in, I had some comfort knowing that my back was covered.

Having data on the go also made my trip more convenient and enjoyable.

I lost track of the countless number of times I had to turn to my google maps for directions on the narrow winding streets of old Spain. Being able to update friends and family via social media like Whatsapp or Facebook of that one interesting find was another one great plus for me. The ability to google translate a Spanish only menu in restaurants where no one spoke English also avoided many frustrating moments.

Okay. The more tangible stuff.

The results were great with download speeds averaging 32.7 Mbps and upload speeds averaging 23.4 Mbps:

Of course, the device has its own limitations. While I have gotten it to work on some occasions in Madrid’s metro, the connection was at times unstable. The same applies when travelling on their high speed rail. So do bear that in mind when visiting locations where signal might be weak or where coverage might be patchy.

GlocalMe U2 – Excellent Battery Life

This trip to Spain was a hectic one as I had planned for multiple day trips out from Madrid and Seville. Such trips provided the perfect test environment for the device as I am out of my hotel way earlier than normal to catch my morning train out (say, 7.45am) and only returning late at night after dinner (say, 9.30pm).  

I am happy to report that the device lasted the entire day. Pretty amazing compared to my past experiences using Pokefi which saw me having to charge the device halfway through the day.

While I am not certain on this, I do think one main factor behind the longevity of Glocalme U2’s battery is its ability to not overheat during use. I don’t recall the device ever heating up while in my backpack. This I think helped to preserve the battery to last the entire day. 

Final thoughts

This device performed spectacularly in my tests. Leaving aside the tangibles (which the device passes with flying colours) such as connection speeds, stability and reliability, having that device with me on my trip made it a way more enjoyable one. I would definitely recommend GlocalMe U2.

*While this is a sponsored post, all my opinions and views are based on my actual experiences using GlocalMe U2.