Samsung’s shiny new Galaxy smartphone is officially available in Australia today with all major telcos offering a range of plans for the device. If you’re contemplating a new phone contract and have your heart set on the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, this comprehensive plan breakdown will help you make the right decision.
Following a much-hyped launch at Mobile World Congress, the Galaxy S7 And S7 Edge are officially available in Australia from today.
Here’s a recap of both products, along with a full rundown of plans from Telstra, Vodafone, Optus and Virgin Mobile.
Product recap
The Samsung Galaxy S7 comes with a 5.1-inch Quad HD AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 820 processor and a 3000 mAh battery. The S7 Edge is slightly bigger at 5.5 inches and uses a 3600 mAh battery and Samsung’s own Exynos 8890 processor.
Both phones pack in 4GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera and run on Android Marshmallow with a TouchWiz skin over the top. Samsung is also bringing back expandable memory for these models — both come with MicroSD slots.
Other noteworthy features include IP68 water resistance (up to 30 minutes submerged in fresh water), inbuilt NFC, Samsung Pay and wireless charging functionality.
Chief specifications:
Galaxy S7 | Galaxy S7 edge | |
---|---|---|
OS | Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) | Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) |
Dimensions | 142.4mm x 69.6mm x 7.9mm | 150.9mm x 72.6mm x 7.7mm |
Weight | 152g | 157g |
CPU | Snapdragon 820 Octa Core (2.3 GHz Quad + 1.6Ghz Quad) | Exynos 8890 Quad Core (2.15 GHz Dual + 1.6Ghz Dual) |
Memory | 4GB RAM (LPDDR4) | 4GB RAM (LPDDR4) |
Storage | 32GB (+ MicroSD card slot) | 32GB (+ MicroSD card slot) |
Display | 5.1-inch Quad HD AMOLED | 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED |
Resolution | 2560 x 1440 (577 ppi) | 2560 x 1440 (534 ppi) |
Camera | 12MP rear, 5MP front | 12MP rear, 5MP front |
Battery | 3000mAh (non-removable) | 3600mAh (non-removable) |
Buying outright
The Galaxy S7 will cost $1149 to buy outright in Australia, while the S7 edge comes in at $1249. There may be slightly cheaper offers available from the likes of Mobileciti and Kogan, but pricing will be largely the same for the first few months after launch.
If you pre-order either device through Samsung before March 10, the company will throw in a Galaxy Gear VR virtual-reality headset. (More details here.) The free Gear VR will also be offered through Australia’s major telcos when you pre-order.
For anyone who prefers pre-paid plans over mobile contracts, this is definitely the way to go — provided you have a wad of disposable cash on hand, of course. As we’ve said in the past, phone contracts tend to be bad value for money and they also deny you the ability of switching telcos whenever you like. With that said, here are the plans currently being offered by Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodafone.
Telstra
Telstra’s starting price for the Galaxy S7 on a 24-month contract is $79 per month. The S7 Edge comes in slightly dearer at $86 per month. As per usual, this is a bit higher than the competition although you do get slightly more data on the lowest plan.
Telstra’s top-end plans come with $150 of free international calls per month, but otherwise there’s not much joy here for expats or people with family abroad.
Samsung Galaxy S7
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Plan | Plan Features | Data | Minimum Total Cost |
---|---|---|---|
$86 | $550 standard talk credit, unlimited text | 1GB | $2064 |
$91 | $1000 standard talk credit, unlimited text | 2.5GB | $2184 |
$105 | Unlimited standard talk and text | 6GB | $2520 |
$141 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $150 international calls | 15GB | $3384 |
Our pick: The $99/$105 plan is probably your best bet. For average users, 6GB of data per month should be plenty. To be honest, none of these deals are particularly exciting, although you do get Telstra’s expansive and (mostly) reliable network.
Optus
Optus’s cheapest plan for the Galaxy S7 is $64 per month, with the Galaxy S7 coming in at a monthly spend of $69. Like the other entry-level plans of this list, both come with a paltry data allowance of 500MB a month.
The top-end plan packs in 18GB of data for $100 — that’s $30 off the usual monthly price for this specific plan.
Samsung Galaxy S7
Plan | Plan Features | Data | Minimum Total Cost |
---|---|---|---|
$64 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text | 500MB | $1536 |
$76 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, 150 international calls | 3GB | $1824 |
$85 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, 300 international calls | 6GB (+ bonus 2GB) | $2040 |
$100 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, 400 international calls | 10GB (+ bonus 2GB) | $2400 |
$100 ($30 off) | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited international calls | 18GB | $2400 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Plan | Plan Features | Data | Minimum Total Cost |
---|---|---|---|
$71 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text | 500MB | $1704 |
$83 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, 150 international calls | 3GB | $1992 |
$92 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, 300 international calls | 6GB (+ bonus 2GB) | $2208 |
$104 | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, 400 international calls | 10GB (+ bonus 2GB) | $2496 |
$100 ($30 off) | Unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited international calls | 18GB | $2400 |
Our pick: If you’ve got the cash, go for the $100 Galaxy S7 Edge plan with the $30 discount: in terms of bang for buck, it’s the best value by far. (Indeed, the “cheaper” 12GB deal is actually $4 more expensive per month!)
Virgin
Virgin Mobile is starting its pricing at $60 and $65 per month for the S7 and S7 Edge, respectively. Top-tier plans come in at $130 for both models.
New Virgin customers swapping over from a competitor will receive generous data allowances for the first three months of their contract. Bear in mind that the bonus data deal only applies to new customers on the Optus network (which Virgin runs on.) Sadly, this means existing Optus subscribers are excluded from the deal.
Samsung Galaxy S7
Plan | Plan Features | Data | Minimum Total Cost |
---|---|---|---|
$60 | $300 standard talk and text credit | 300MB | $1410 |
$65 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $50 international calls | 500MB (+ bonus 600MB) | $1560 |
$70 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $100 international calls | 1GB (+ bonus 2GB) | $70 |
$75 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $200 international calls | 3GB (+ bonus 4GB) | $1680 |
$85 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $300 international calls | 6GB (+ bonus 8GB) | $2040 |
$100 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $300 international calls | 10GB (+ bonus 13GB) | $2400 |
$130 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $500 international calls | 15GB (+ bonus 21GB) | $3120 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Plan | Plan Features | Data | Minimum Total Cost |
---|---|---|---|
$65 | $300 standard talk and text credit | 300MB | $1560 |
$70 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $50 international calls | 500MB (+ bonus 600MB) | $1680 |
$75 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $100 international calls | 1GB (+ bonus 2GB) | $1800 |
$80 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $200 international calls | 3GB data (+ bonus 4GB) | $1920 |
$91 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $300 international calls | 6GB (+ bonus 8GB) | $2184 |
$104 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $300 international calls | 10GB (+ bonus 13GB) | $2496 |
$130 | Unlimited standard talk and text, $500 international calls | 15GB (+ bonus 21GB) | $3120 |
Our pick It’s hard to go past the $85/$91 plan here — especially if you’re eligible for all that extra data. If you’ve got deep pockets and stupid data requirements, the 36GB(!) plan for $130 a month could also be worth a look.
Vodafone
Vodafone’s starting price for the Galaxy S7 is $75 per month, while the S7 Edge will set you back a minimum of $83 per month. Both come with 500MB of data. The most expensive plan will set you back $130. Across all plans, Vodafone is offering unlimited data for the first two months.
Samsung Galaxy S7
Plan | Plan Features | Data | Minimum Total Cost |
---|---|---|---|
$75 | Unlimited talk and text credit | 500MB | $1800 |
$80 | Unlimited standard talk and text, 120 minutes international calls | 3GB | $1920 |
$77 | Unlimited standard talk and text | 6GB | $1848 |
$88 | Unlimited standard talk, text and international calls | 8GB | $2112 |
$105 | Unlimited standard talk, text and international calls | 12GB | $2520 |
$130 | Unlimited standard talk, text and international calls | 20GB | $3120 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Plan | Plan Features | Data | Minimum Total Cost |
---|---|---|---|
$83 | Unlimited talk and text credit | 500MB | $1800 |
$95 | Unlimited standard talk and text, 120 minutes international calls | 3GB | $2280 |
$90 | Unlimited standard talk and text | 6GB | $2328 |
$95 | Unlimited standard talk, text and international calls | 8GB | $2376 |
$111 | Unlimited standard talk, text and international calls | 12GB | $2664 |
$133 | Unlimited standard talk, text and international calls | 20GB | $3192 |
Our pick: By and large, Vodafone’s pricing is amongst the most expensive of the four main telcos (hell, some of them even beat Telstra, which is really saying something.) We’d probably go for the $88/$95 deal, although you can get more data for the same price elsewhere.
Conclusion
If you can stomach the thought of dropping $90 to $100 per month on a mobile phone plan, there are some pretty good deals here; particularly if you’re chiefly interested in data. Optus’ discounted $100 plan for the S7 Edge is probably the best deal overall: it comes with unlimited international calls and 18GB of data.
There’s not much love here for plan hunters on a budget though: the cheapest plan is $60 per month and that nets you a useless 300MB of data. As mentioned above, our advice would be to buy the phone outright; preferably in a few months’ time when it comes down in price. Good things come to those who wait.
Comments
13 responses to “Planhacker: Every Samsung Galaxy S7 And S7 Edge Plan In Australia”
Might be worth pointing out that the Optus $130 plan (discounted to $100) does offer unlimited international calls, however not to all countries, but a selected group of 32. I switched to that plan (different phone though) because Poland which is where I call is one of the 32. Works for me, but one should check before committing… cheers
Well…I pay $20/mth with $300 call credit, 1.5GB data, and free calls to other mobiles on my account. This is with Exetel. If I buy the S7 Edge outright, I’m still getting a better deal than every plan listed here.
The S7 probably won’t drop in price too much…maybe $100 in 6 months? Unless Samsung start getting desperate. Last year’s S6 32GB (non-Edge) was released at $999, and it’s still almost $900 at JB with only occasional exceptions.
Are you sure S7 is going to have Snapdragon processor. As far as I know US is the only region going to have Snapdragon processor
The real question is… do I want the S7 or the S7 Edge? I wouldn’t mind the larger screen and battery of the Edge, but I’m concerned the curved screen is just a party trick and I’ll grow to hate it.
Without the update to Marshmallow to the S6 edge (STILL waiting!, despite the fact that the phone is unlocked..) can’t really say whether the edge screen is a party trick or not, I do use the links, but I doubt you’d grow to hate it. It just looks so nice and different. The software is the let down not the hardware. And that supposedly gets better with the upgrade to marshmallow as they’ve done more with it.
No, the real question is… how much is Samsung paying LH to keep this at the top of Page 1??? Shouldn’t it just be called an Advertorial by now?
What’s wrong with Vodafone? $77/mo for unlimited everything else and 6gb data (S7)? It’s the best midrange deal for the S7. You’ve got the plan listed there and then don’t seem to pick up on it?
I got the 6GB deal for $66 as an existing customer.
Nice Joel! Did you just ask over the phone? How’d it work?
I think you might be mistaken here. On Optus’ website it states from 64 a month however it gives no option to select a plan for that price, cheapest plan you can select is 85 a month.
Is there a plan that is unavailable until release or is there something i am missing??
I just went on there and can click the $64 option if I want to. I chose not existing customer.
Why is this thread sticky? Does it have something to do with the Samsung S7 advertisements all over the site?
Something tells me Samsung purchased the “Dress advertisements up as news” advertising package from Lifehacker.
I don’t understand the total minimum cost of the Vodafone S7 Edge, $90 plan…stated as $2328.
$90 x 24 = $2160 as quoted on the Vodafone site. What am I missing?
Hey guys i am looking at the voda samsung edge 6gb of data on the $90 plan wondering if anyone has the phone with 6gb of data cheaper looking through the plans aint much competition. Best looks to be the virgin deal with looks like it may just be better.