Now that all of the major and minor carriers have announced their pricing for the Galaxy S II superphone, we thought we’d do what you guys seem to enjoy – or at least enjoy arguing over – and that’s to do a brief comparison of what each carrier will offer you at a certain price. Since carriers are always changing their standard plan prices, we’re basing this comparison of $59 caps or a close equivalent if there is no $59 cap. You follow? Good, hit the break.
All plans are over 24 months. What we think is the better deal in each area is highlighted in green, feel free to discuss it in the comments.
| Voda | Optus | Telstra | CJ’s | Virgin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan Cost | $65/mo | $59/mo | $59/mo | $55/mo | $59/mo |
| Repayments | $5/mo | $5/mo | $15/mo | $0 | $0 |
| Cap Credit | $65 | $750 | $550 | $750 | $700 |
| Total Cost (24mths) | $1,680 | $1,418 | $2,256 | $1,320 | $1,416 |
| Data | 2GB | 2GB | 1.5GB | 2GB | 3GB |
| Calls (flagfall) | Unlim std national | 90c/min (+30c) | 90c/min (+35c) | Unlim VHA – 99c/min (+40c) | Unlim Virgin – 99c/min (+40c) |
| SMS | Unlim national & int. | Unlim national | Unlim national | Unlim national | Unlim national |
| Video Call (ff) | Unlim national | $1.50/min (+35c) | 90c/min (+35c) | $1/min | 99c/min (+40c) |
| MMS | Unlim national | 50c | 50c | 50c | 60c |
| Int. SMS | Unlim int. | 50c | 50c | 35c | 45c |
| Int. MMS | Unlim int. | 75c | 75c | 50c | 50c |
| Link | Vodafone | Optus | Telstra | Crazy John’s | Virgin Mobile |
Big props to Telstra for being competitive as always. As you know, I buy phones outright, but I’m interested to hear who you are/will/have going/go/gone with. I’ll see you in the comments.
My house has poor reception for every network … except Telstra. But I just CANNOT justify such a massive premium pay over the others. C’mon Telstra, try a little harder!
Telstra prepaid is great value, as long as you can afford the upfront handset cost.
I spend $40 a month of prepaid for 2.4gb data and all the calls and text I need. Also allows me to tailor my spending to my usage, and change phones whenever I want to
hi there i have a samsung galaxy s 2…… i wood love to no if u can change the
status bar color to green network,wi-fi,bluetooth, and clock all in green well
look very good so how come there is no setting for it ………and is there a
way u can do it ..for the next up date for android 2.3.5 ok …
I have an Import Unlocked S and looking at upgrading. Has anyone had any problems with GPS as per Original S device.
Hey! Suits me: Galaxy sII. I don’t use phone much, mainly apps. Use TPG broadband, $30/mo for 15Gb, split 5/10. Phone cost $1/mo plus usage, $41 to start. $.20 connect, $.20/min I think. Data included 150Mb. Cost: $1/mo.
The missing column is retrieving voicemail – 90c per msg for Telstra, 30c for 30s at Optus and 25v per 30s at Voda. the real diff then is the network credit. Voda’s credit would be absorbed by msg bank in a few days. Optus and Telstra give much higher credit and are book entries.
I’m in eastern suburbs of melbourne, I escaped vodafone (at the loss of my HTC DHD) and now have the galaxy 2 on optus. Data can still tend to be a bit funny, slow or just not connecting, but it’ll work 9 times out of ten, unlike vodafone. Also, call quality is fantastic, never droped a call, always have coverage. The staff were really helpful, over all really stoked. I dont care if vodafone say they have fixed their network, the customer service I received from them was appalling, never again!
i much prefer my own plan
HTC Sensation $499 outright…TPG $15 plan (no contract), $700 calls, 1GB data
1 year cost $679
2 year cost $859
I’m with you on the TPG $15 plan, except the cheapest HTC:S i ever saw was $550 on eBay or $560 on Becextech. Where did you get the phone for $499 from? I am looking at getting an Xperia Arc when it drops to ~$450 on ebay..
Seeing as though I have purchased this handset outright, I will be going for a BYO Optus Cap when I’m out of contract. Purely for their TV Now service that I mentioned a month or so back.
I usually buy phones outright but this time I needed to buy on contact. I was a 3 customer and agonised waiting for Telstra to release the SGS II. In the end I decided that what I really needed was a 12month plan and Vodafone were the only one’s offering that. I have been completely surprised with the coverage, which I was expecting to be crap but is fine. I can only assume that the new 850 towers are helping in the areas that I travel.
I plan on going with Optus. They called and offered to pay out 6 months of my current Vodafone contract, if I return to them.
My daughter is with Vodaphone HTC Desire HD, I am with Telstra Samsung Galaxy S 11, She is always complaining about data coverage, to prove a point we swapped sims, I had no coverage and she had a good signal, so it is not the phone, Vodaphone might be cheap, but at the moment their data coverage is poor! and with more people going onto it, it is going to get worse.
I actually got a 12 month contract with Vodafone for $80/mth. In my opinion that’s the best deal since I only pay an extra $15/mth over the 24 months option.
Optus & co currently charge $90+ to get the Galaxy S2 on a 12 month contract.
I bought 2 of these from CJ’s on Saturday after doing some cost comparisons. We are hardly ever out of the city area and if we are then not having the phone bothering us is great. While I can see the benefit with Telstra I can’t see the value, yes agreed a higher premium for a premium service but seriously it’s almost twice the price…..the service/network is not twice as good. My 2 cents worth.
I got my SGS II with Optus because I get faster speeds in Melb CBD. For a few months now I have been testing all 3 networks in the CBD and Docklands where I work and the Outer Western Suburbs where I live. Telstra is miles better once you get 5-10 kms out of the CBD. Their network is much faster and has better coverage than Optus or Vodafone in the Suburbs. However, in the last month Telstra has been absolutely appalling in Melb CBD and Docklands. Despite a strong signal I often cannot connect to data at all! I… Read more »
I’m not defending Telstra but I believe the reason why its not fast in CBD’s is that it still uses the Vodafone 2100mhz for 3G as telstra doesn’t have a 3G network but a 3.5G 850mhz UMTS one. As of Jan 2012 the deal with Vodafone will expire and Telstra will fully expect everyone to use 850mhz UMTS towers in CBD’s
Actually aug 2012 the deal will expire
Don’t forget the power of negotiation. I am with Virgin, and was able to negotiate a $45 a month with $0 for the handset. This includes $400 and 2GB,which more than covers my monthly usage.
So following on from that – this what you get for the extra $580 – is it worth it? Certainly interested in your views From http://exchange.telstra.com.au As a result of Telstra testing, a number of improvements will appear on the Telstra variant Samsung Galaxy SII. These include: Better UMTS 850 RF sensitivity reducing instances of call drops and improved data speeds. This was achieved by asking Samsung to tune the calibration of the antenna based on Telstra’s test results.Improved UI performance/responsiveness.Improved data throughput rates when used as a tethered modem on some operating systemsImproved attachment handling when using the e-mail… Read more »
another comparision goes like this – buy the phone from mobicity for $730 and go on a $39 BYO Telstra plan which gives you the same as above (1.5 GB, $550) and you will save $580 (or $940 if you don’t qualify for MRO)
Trevor, dont know if it was a typo or not, but Telstra’s BYO plans start at 49$ with the credit you mentioned..
Hey guys,
apparently vodafones towers will be outside the metro area by end of decemeber.
Im kinda of 70/30 keen on a switch from optus to vodafone as optus is absoluting disgusting in reception and service.
Doesn’t surprise me Telstra doesn’t have any green squares. The pricing was ridiculous! I dunno how I survived on it compared to what I get with Virgin!
I’m a former Telstra customer, who has now been with Crazy Johns for 24 months and I will never, ever, ever go back to Telstra! I get service more place’s than anyone except telstra, better deals, better choice of phone, and better customer service!
You must clearly never leave the metro areas…. Vodafone coverage outside the city areas is next to nothing….. as in nothing! Before you reply, pull up the coverage maps and compare
actually i travel all over melb and country areas, melton ballarat etc and get good voda coverage, was with optus before and non existent
Was out fishing with a mate near Inverloch, he’s on Telstra using his phone checking news and footy results (3g), whilst me on another carrier unable to get any reception..
I’m switching..
its a shame tel$tra haven’t got a single green square, i want to go with them on my next contract cos of the better coverage
Is the Telstra pricing correct in the table?
The 24-month figure looks wrong to me. ($59+$15)*24=$1776, not $2256.
I won’t try to pretend that Telstra’s offering is the best bang-for-buck. On the other hand, if you really need decent coverage that’s your only option right now and it’s not an entirely awful deal.
I’m probably not going to pick up an SGSII — going to wait until later in the year when the next generation come out — but if I were, I think I’d get it on Telstra just for the network. “Unlimited” is meaningless if you can’t make a call in the first place.
Huh. It gets better. Looking at the Telstra page, it’s $59+$20, not $59+15. So that’s $1896 over two years.
Their silly “here’s the handset repayment, now deduct the MRO” thing does complicate this stuff. If you want a $15/month handset payment then you’ll have to pay $79/month for the service.
The $1896 figure is the correct one – need to update the table.
Still represents a 33% premium over Optus, arguably it’s closest competitor from a network point of view.
In fact the Optus figure should be $1536 ($64 x 24) minimum. That actually makes it a 23.4% premium to go with Telstra.
I think a 15-20% premium on Telstra would actually be fathomable for the improved coverage; anything more just smacks of price gouging.