Huawei E5573bs-322 Review

Our smartphones let us get online wherever, whenever, but most other devices that we might went to go online with – such as laptops and tablets – don’t tend to come with a mobile data connection, leaving them a little useless when there’s no Wi-Fi.

But a mobile Wi-Fi device makes them useful again, by broadcasting a mobile (usually 4G) network that these other electronics can connect to.

The Huawei E5573bs-322 4G Mobile Wi-Fi is one such device, and it’s an especially affordable one too, but is it good value or is it cheap for a reason?

Price

The Huawei E5573bs-322 4G Mobile Wi-Fi is available with unlimited monthly data for just £22 per month (and no upfront cost) on a 24-month contract on Three.

There are a couple of other options too, including a 12-month plan, with the cheapest choice at the time of writing being £13 per month with no upfront cost for 20GB of data on a 24-month contract.

The unlimited data option is worth highlighting though, as this makes the Huawei E5573bs-322 very useful for heavy users. Given that a mobile Wi-Fi device is often connected to multiple devices it can be very data-hungry, so not having to worry about that is a real boon.

However, it’s not alone in offering unlimited data, even on Three – you can get the faster Huawei 4G Plus MiFi now for just slightly more, and that’s available on a larger selection of plans at the time of writing.

Design

The Huawei E5573bs-322 is a very plain device, and that’s fine, no-one needs a flashy mobile Wi-Fi device.

It’s a little white box, and little is the key word here, as at 94 x 58mm it’s not much bigger than a credit card, and at 75g it doesn’t weigh much either. That’s important, as this is one more device you’re going to be carrying around with you, so you want it to be small and light – in this case it could even slip into most pockets.

And the design while basic is nice enough, with a patterned trim around the edge and little green lights on the top.

Setup and performance

It’s easy to get the Huawei E5573bs-322 up and running for the first time – just pop in a SIM card, make sure the device is charged, and follow some simple setup instructions.

It comes with a quick start guide to help you along, and once it’s up and running it has a predefined SSID and network key, so you can use those details to connect other devices to it in the same way as you would connect them to a normal Wi-Fi network, so it’s fast and simple. It’s also just as secure as a private home or office network.

As for performance, the Huawei E5573bs-322 is sold by Three in the UK, so it’s Three’s network you’ll likely be using. As such you’re limited by Three’s coverage and speeds, but the good news is that Three’s 4G network is widely available across the UK.

And the Huawei E5573bs-322 is equipped to take advantage of 4G speeds, with download speeds of up to 150Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50Mbps. That’s in line with many other mobile Wi-Fi devices, though there are now some faster ones, as we’ll get to below – of course, this is also just 4G. You’re not getting 5G here.

Ultimately then your internet connection won’t be as fast as the speediest fibre broadband would be, but that’s not portable, while this is.

Battery

The Huawei E5573bs-322 4G Mobile Wi-Fi has a 1,500mAh battery. It can last for up to 300 hours in standby mode, which is a great amount of time, as you don’t need to worry about it running out of juice when you’re not using it.

However, when you are using it the battery will only last up to 4 hours. That should be good enough in most cases, but if you’re planning to be out of Wi-Fi range all day (and not near a socket) then this might not get the job done.

Features

The Huawei E5573bs-322 4G Mobile Wi-Fi is a fairly basic device, putting a low price ahead of features, but it does have some extras.

For one thing, there’s a microSD card slot with support for cards of up to 32GB. And it also has indicator lights, giving you an idea of the battery life and signal at a glance.

You can also use it to get up to ten devices online at once, which is in line with some other devices such as the similarly-named Huawei E5573, though the aforementioned Huawei 4G Plus MiFi supports up to 16.

But ten should be plenty. You could for example connect your tablet and your laptop and still have eight connections left to share with friends, family, or colleagues.

Alternatives

The main alternative to the Huawei E5573bs-322 – especially on Three where they’re both sold – is the Huawei 4G Plus MiFi.

That latter device is an upgrade in many ways – its top download speeds are twice as high at 300Mbps, and while its battery is the same size, it can last significantly longer in use (up to 6 hours).

On the other hand, it’s marginally more expensive (though typically only by £1-2 per month), and a little larger and heavier.

	Huawei 4G Plus MiFi (E5783B-230)	Huawei E5573bs-322
Download Speeds	Up to 300Mbps	Up to 150Mbps
Upload Speeds	Up to 100Mbps	Up to 50Mbps
Maximum Connected devices	16	10
Dimensions	108 x 62 x 16mm	96.8 x 58 x 12.8mm
Weight	87g	75g
Wi-Fi	Dual-band 2.4 and 5GHz	Dual-band 2.4 and 5GHz
USB Model	Yes (micro USB)	Yes (micro USB)
Battery Size	1500mAh	1500mAh
Standby Time	300 hours	300 hours
Operating Time	6 Hours	4 hours
	Huawei 4G Plus MiFi review	-

For most people, the Huawei 4G Plus MiFi is probably the better device, but if you place price over speed then the Huawei E5573bs-322 could still be a solid option.

Conclusion

The Huawei E5573bs-322 is a solid, simple, affordable mobile Wi-Fi option. If you’re planning to need mobile Wi-Fi regularly for long periods you might want to look elsewhere and spend a little more, but if you just want the ability to get laptops and tablets online for a few hours at a time this is a decent option and good value for money.

Whether to keep your kids entertained in the car, or get some work done on the train, or even for use abroad thanks to Three’s Go Roam service, the Huawei E5573bs-322 could really come in handy.

It’s no longer brand new and no longer quite the instant recommendation it once was, but it remains one of the very cheapest options, and very solid for what it costs.

Dimensions (mm): 94 x 58mm

Weight (g): 75.00

Modem: 4G

Battery capacity (mAh): 1500

Colours: White

Expandable storage up to (GB): 32GB

Speed: Up to 150Mbps download, up to 50Mbps upload

Launch date: Out now

Price: £39.99