The HTC U11 has now been on sale for about a month, and in case you missed it, we’re fans. I was surprised by HTC’s return to form in my review, and Ausdroid’s very own Jason is very much in love. HTC may or may not be sending in a swat team to pry the U11 out of his cold dead hands.
Outright the U11 retails for $999 and you’ll find it in the usual places: JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, and direct from HTC online. If you’re after it on a contract, Virgin and Optus have been ranging it since launch, and Telstra’s joined the party this week. In addition to undercutting a lot of the other flagships outright, buying the U11 on a contract will also save you at least a couple of bucks a month compared to a device like a Galaxy S8.
If you want the U11 on the cheap, Virgin is maintaining its new found reputation as the bang-for-buck telco. $65 per month gets you the U11, 4GB of data, unlimited talk and text, and a $100 Visa gift card. That works out to $1,560 over two years, which is less than $600 more than the phone outright. Not bad.
If you’re after a little more data, Virgin’s $75 plan is my pick. 9GB of data, unlimited talk and text, and a $100 Visa gift card are the key inclusions.
Don’t like Virgin? Optus is second best, with an $85 per month plan that gives you 10GB of data, unlimited talk and text, and up to 300 international minutes to select countries. This plan also comes with an Optus Sport subscription, and unmetered music streaming through Google Play Music and Spotify.
Telstra has a similar deal: $95 per month with 8GB of data, unlimited talk and text, and six months of free Apple Music. There is a catch though – on this plan, you’re leasing the phone, which means you’ll have to give the phone back at the end of the 24-month period. Or alternatively, pay a $99 upgrade fee after 12 months, sign a new contract for a new device, and return the phone. While this might be a tempting proposition, Telstra’s and Optus’ phone leasing options tend to work in their benefit, rather than yours. As in, they’re a bit shit.
If you actually want to own a U11 on a Telstra contract the $105 per month plan is the comparable deal. You’ll get 8GB of data plus 4GB of bonus data for a total of 12GB, unlimited talk and text, and six months of free Apple Music.
If not of these catch your eye, here are all of the plans you can get a HTC U11 on in Australia:
Telstra HTC U11 Plans
Optus HTC U11 Plans
Virgin HTC U11 Plans
It looks quite good , I’d probably give one a run as a second device , i wouldn’t swap it for my S8+ though.
I think I’m going to get the HTC U11 because my iPhone is bricked. Since the Virgin plans are so cheap, it’s not worth it to unbrick my iPhone. I would rather just get a new one for cheap and make the switch to Android.
Hey guys, just a heads up. Using Optus as an example, if you go on the $40 sim only plan (unlimited calls, 12gb data) and buy the HTC u11 outright, over 2 years the cost is $1959. While on plan the price is $2040. And this is going by the full price of $999 of the U11, you can buy for a lot cheaper elsewhere.
This helps especially if you don’t want to be locked in for 24 months, and you might be able to apply other discounts at certain stores etc where you buy the HTCu11 from.