The Best ‘SIM Only’ Plans In Australia


Smartphone hunting season is upon us, with some of the year’s best phones already in store, or soon to be released. The Galaxy S9 is awesome, and the Huawei P20 Pro, HTC U12 and the Sony XZ2 are all shaping up as worthy upgrades. But of course, a new phone is pretty useless without a SIM card inside.

SIM Only phone plans just keep getting better too. Just when you think they can’t pack more data into cheap plans, the telcos go and do exactly that. We’re at the point where if you’re paying more than $40 per month for 10GB of data, then you’re paying too much.

We’re not just talking about the small, little known telcos either. The big telcos now all have competitive SIM Only plan options, though they usually offer their best deals on 12 month contracts. This may sound like a drawback, but honestly some of these deals are too good to pass up.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/04/planhacker-using-4g-as-an-nbn-alternative/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/02/Glasses-1-410×231.jpg” title=”Planhacker: Using 4G As An NBN Alternative [Updated]” excerpt=”Just when it seemed like the NBN rollout was finally going to plan.”]

Here are the best SIM Only plans around at the moment, split into no contract and 12 month contract options.

No Contract SIM Only with at least 10GB

It really wasn’t so long ago that a data-per-dollar ration of $10 per GB was a great deal. Now you can easily get plans where you’ll only pay between $2 – $3 per gig.

You don’t get much in the way of bonuses or plan features at this price point. Impressively Spintel and Exetel both include $300 of international calling credit, and Vaya has the option to add 200 minutes of calls to 100 countries for just $2 extra.

With only a couple of exceptions (Think Mobile and CMobile), all of these plans run on the Optus 4G Plus network.

12 Month Contracts with at least 10GB

There are stacks of great deals in here, but the Virgin Mobile plan with 28GB for $40 is a real standout, and worth giving up your freedom for. The plan comes with international calls, Data Rollover and Data Free music streaming through Spotify, Google Play Music and I Heart Radio.

The Optus 12 Month SIM Plans are also worth a look if you’re keen on the extras. These also include Data Free music streaming, plus an Optus Sport subscription to watch the EPL and the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

As before, most of these plans operate on the Optus 4G Plus network, except for Telechoice and Woolworths on the Telstra 4G network, and Vodafone.

Joe Hanlon is Publisher at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website. He’s been writing about phones and plans for far too long.

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