Cheapest SIM plans in Australia: Pay only $12.50 each month

Are you looking to save on your phone bill? We’ve rounded up the cheapest SIM plans from a range of different carriers to help you find the best price. If you’re unsure about whether a SIM-only mobile plan is what you need, our quick guide to SIM only mobile plans will get you up to speed.

Generally speaking, if you don’t want a new phone or a lock-in contract, a SIM plan is the way to go. It’s easy to get what you need without paying for excess features. Unlimited phone calls and text messages usually come standard, with data and international roaming the main points of difference. If you do want a phone, however, check out the current deals on phone plans, including discounted handsets.

We update this article monthly, so bookmark this page to keep up to date with the cheapest SIM plans. Prices update in real-time, meaning you get the latest deals available in Australia right now. You can also use a custom search to choose a plan that suits your exact needs. All of the plans featured in this article include an expiry period of at least 28 days. You can purchase a SIM plan with a shorter recharge window, ideal for travellers who only need a bit of data while visiting Australia.

Want to save on your internet bill too? Check out the cheapest NBN plans to save even more money. You can also compare the best Telstra SIM-only plans, Vodafone SIM-only plans, and Optus SIM-only plans.

Contents

• Cheapest SIM plans
• Cheapest 5G SIM plans
• Cheapest 365-day SIM plans
• What you need to know: eSIM, prepaid, postpaid
• Phone number portability
• Best network coverage

Cheapest SIM plans

Postpaid

SpinTel is once again the current cheapest postpaid SIM plan in Australia. On the Optus 5G network, new customers can get the $22 plan for $14 per month for the first six months with 25GB of data.

Dodo and Southern Phone also have a couple of good offers this month, both of which are also Optus MVNOs. Dodo’s $33 plan is down to $16.50 a month for the first six months, along with 40GB of data. Then there’s Southern Phone, which costs $19 per month for the first six months, down from its standard $29 price.

As far as the cheapest full-priced plans are concerned, $22 seems to be the monthly going rate. Tangerine’s $23 monthly plan is the cheapest postpaid SIM that uses the Telstra network (albeit 4G), coming with 12GB of data.

Comparatively, Vodafone’s postpaid options are limited. The cheapest plan comes from Vodafone directly, priced at $49 per month in exchange for 50GB of data and 5G access.

Prepaid

This month’s cheapest prepaid SIM plan is split between the usual suspects of iiNet and TPG, two Vodafone MVNOs. Both options cost $12.50 each month for the first six months, before the price rebounds to $25. Not even data separates TPG and iiNet; both include 25GB with 4G network access.

If you want access to Vodafone’s expanded 5G network, TPG’s 50GB plan is half-price at $17.50 per month for six months. Beyond Vodafone, Aldimobile’s $19 prepaid SIM plan is the cheapest Telstra option, including 4G access and 10GB of data. It recharges every 30 days, so you don’t get quite as much time as the TPG and iiNet plans. At least it’s longer than the 28-day plans.

Yomojo flies the Optus flag with its $19.90 4G SIM plan. However, it comes with a comparatively smaller 8GB allocation.

There’s more competition between the three main networks under the prepaid banner, which is ultimately good for your wallet.

Cheapest 5G SIM plans

As 5G rolls out to more parts of Australia, and compatible phones become cheaper, it’s easy to take advantage of higher download speeds. 5G SIM plans cost more, making them better suited to users who need the extra speed or perhaps don’t have reliable NBN connections.

Postpaid

Most of the cheapest postpaid SIM plans featured earlier are also 5G-compatible, so SpinTel, Dodo, and Southern Phone are right up there, with prices starting at $14 a month.

Tangerine remains the cheapest 5G postpaid plan on the Telstra network, priced at $29 per month. Vodafone is a pricey 5G postpaid option, however, with its smallest plan costing $49 per month.

Prepaid

As per usual, there are plenty of discounted starter packs, although the discount usually only lasts for the first recharge. At $17.50 per month apiece, the iiNet and TPG Medium plans are the cheapest 5G prepaid SIM plans. Both are half-price for the first six months and include 50GB of data. Download speeds for both cap out at 150Mbps, which is fast enough for most folks.

On the Telstra network, Boost Mobile’s $26 plan includes 17GB of data for the first three recharges (on a 28-day cycle). It may be a smaller data allocation than most in its price bracket, but Boost also happens to be the only MVNO with access to the full Telstra network.

Cheapest 365-day SIM plans

If you know what you need over a longer period and want to save money in the process, a 365-day SIM plan might do the trick. Simply pay once per year, and get a bank of data to use with unlimited calls and texts. It’s a cost-effective way of paying your phone bill for basic internet users who aren’t big downloaders.

Kogan is the current cheapest long-expiry SIM plan, costing $139 for 365 days, providing 200GB on Vodafone’s 4G network. As for Optus, the best deal comes from OnePass Mobile, the rebrand of Catch Connect. It currently costs $149 for its 365-day plan that comes with 200GB. That’s $51 off the long-expiry plan from the Optus MVNO, working out to be a strong dollar-per-gigabyte ratio.

Coles Mobile is also right up there at $149, albeit with a lower 140GB allocation, while Everyday Mobile’s 215GB plan is the cheapest Telstra alternative at $250.

What you need to know about SIM only plans

It’s fairly easy to change your SIM plan provider. Even more so with the rise of embedded SIM (eSIM) technology, letting you change plans almost instantly with a compatible device. Instead of requiring a physical card, eSIM stores network information directly to your phone.

Irrespective of which service provider you go with, the actual network used will be either Optus, Telstra or Vodafone. Many of the cheapest SIM plan providers are mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). This refers to carriers that use the network infrastructure of another company.

See Also

06/11/2024Adam Turner How to use

What is eSIM? All you need to know about the growing phone tech

Boost Mobile is a popular MVNO that has full access to Telstra’s network, reaching 99.5% of Australians. Not every MVNO includes a network’s full coverage, so it’s worth checking a company’s website to ensure your area is serviced.

In terms of how much data you should choose, data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found that Australians generally pay for more than what they need. On average, Aussies use 10.2GB of phone data per month, so it’s likely you could get away with a smaller allowance that costs less.

It also depends on how much you stream and download content using your phone. If you mainly use home or office Wi-Fi and don’t stream much, stick with a cheaper plan.

Postpaid versus prepaid

There are a couple of slightly different SIM plan options to choose from. Postpaid refers to plans that operate on a monthly billing cycle, where you pay at the end of each cycle. Postpaid SIM plans generally don’t involve a lock-in contract, so you can freely swap if your needs change or a better deal comes along. If you hit your data cap for a month, your telco might limit speeds until the next cycle or charge extra costs, so check the fine print beforehand.

Prepaid, on the other hand, sees you pay at the start of each cycle for a fixed number of days. Most prepaid SIM plans have a 28-day expiry cycle instead of a full month. Shorter expiries are also available if you need a SIM while travelling, making it a flexible option. The upside is that if you go over your data limit, you won’t incur extra costs. A lot of prepaid plans don’t automatically recharge by default but you can set up auto-recharge manually, with some telcos offering discounts or bonuses if you do so.

Phone number portability

The SIM changeover process takes about 10 minutes of your time or even less if you choose an eSIM. You will receive instructions to visit a website, provide your details, prove your identity (online) and then insert your new SIM.

Note you will have a choice to migrate your existing mobile number or choose a new one. About 15 minutes later, you should be up and running. However, the documentation will indicate it may take up to 24 hours and be affected by working hours.

Best network coverage

Network coverage is one of the most important factors to consider when buying any phone plan. Low prices and all the data in the world don’t mean much if you can’t get a signal. Fortunately, Australia’s mobile phone network coverage is more competitive than ever because of the TPG Telecom and Optus partnership.

Telstra still boasts the broadest network coverage, reaching 99.7% of the Australian population. Optus and Vodafone aren’t far behind, covering 98.5% and 98.4% respectively. Optus expects to rapidly expand its 5G network, so expect plenty of competition in the next couple of years.

Telco	Overall network coverage	5G network coverage
Telstra	99.7%	91%
Telstra wholesale	98.8%	75%
Optus	98.5%	80.5%
Vodafone	98.4%	Not advertised

More important than percentages is whether your location has coverage. The best way to find out is to check each telco’s coverage map:

• Telstra network map
• Optus network map
• Vodafone network map

The best way to find out if a plan suits you is to try one for a month. Lock-in contracts are largely a thing of the past, so it’s easier than ever to try one provider and swap if it doesn’t work out.

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Exetel attacks “intentional confusion” by offering just one NBN plan

In a big departure from the norm, Exetel has scrapped all of its NBN internet plans in favour of what it calls “One Plan”, a single tier at a set $80 monthly price.

Exetel’s One Plan comes with 500Mbps download speeds and 50Mbps uploads. However, to get those speeds, customers need to have either a Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) or a Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) connection. NBN Co has made it easier and cheaper to upgrade to FTTP technology, but not everyone in Australia has access.

Existing Exetel customers can stay on their existing plans, which is one option for those without FTTP or HFC connections. Alternatively, Exetel is owned by Superloop, which still has a full suite of different NBN plans.

Australia’s telco industry copped a fair whack from Mehul Dave, Superloop’s Group Executive, Consumer, saying NBN providers have “way too many plans and too much jargon”, resulting in “confusion disguised as control.”

“If you see through all the plans and promo periods and that whole game of intentional confusion and you just want fast, reliable internet – this is for you,” Dave said. “It’s 80 bucks. 500 Mbps. No gimmicks.”

It’s a similar sentiment to that shared by SpinTel CEO Liam Bal, who claimed that Australians spend too much money on internet. SpinTel’s response was to sell NBN plans at a lifetime discount, rewarding customers who stick with the telco.

What does Exetel’s One Plan include?

Beyond the simple pricing and 500Mbps download speeds, Exetel also includes a few other quirks with its new One Plan approach.

Customers can refer a friend to each receive a $1 recurring discount as long as they remain connected. If 500Mbps doesn’t cut it, there’s also the option to spend $1 to “Warp Speed” for a day, temporarily increasing the download speed to 1000Mbps.

Possibly the most useful feature for most people is “Hibernate”. If you’re going away and don’t need home internet, turning on Hibernate saves $1 per day it’s enabled. It doesn’t switch the internet off entirely; instead, it slows the speeds down to 12Mbps/1Mbps, meaning internet access remains available in a pinch.

At $80 per month, the Exetel One Plan is one of the cheapest NBN plans in Australia with download speeds above 250Mbps. SpinTel comes close at $84 per month, while many NBN 250 plans cost more than $80 after introductory discounts end.

Exetel’s modular approach may come as welcome news to Australians feeling the effects of increased NBN prices as the new financial year kicks off.

GadgetGuy occasionally uses affiliate links and may receive a small commission from purchased products.

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I broke a laptop, but cloud backup saved me from total disaster

If there’s one thing I want you to do before clicking away from this article, it’s to check your computer’s backup settings. Had it not been for cloud backup, a recent mishap involving a laptop and a flimsy water bottle could’ve ended much worse.

I think I do a pretty good job of backing up my work. Where possible, I save files locally and online so I can access them in multiple places. There’s room for improvement, like setting up a NAS fitted with multiple external storage drives, but I cover most of my bases.

My approach was put to the ultimate test during an interstate trip to see Critical Role a couple of weeks ago. After arriving in Sydney by plane, my partner pointed out that my carry-on bag was leaking. Panicked, I quickly realised my water bottle’s lid had popped open, emptying its contents all throughout the bag.

Knowing there was a lot of tech inside, I frantically took everything out, relieved that my Nintendo Switch 2 was unharmed, as was a loan camera I was reviewing. Somehow, I’d dodged a bullet. Still grumpy about lugging a wet bag around, I angrily tossed the bottle in the nearest bin, swearing under my breath all the while.

It wasn’t until we arrived at our hotel that I realised there was one gadget I forgot to check in all the panic. As I opened the still-soaked bag, I hadn’t looked in the laptop sleeve right below where the water had pooled earlier.

Shit.

My heart sank as I reached into the sleeve, only to feel a MacBook Air slick with liquid. Water was everywhere. It cascaded down the screen, dripped down the ports, and coated the keys with residue. Worst of all, the laptop refused to turn on.

Do not get your MacBook wet

Laptops do not like water. Nor do many other devices, for that matter. But especially laptops, comprised of multiple compartments and gaps for liquid to wreak havoc upon.

I cycled through all the stages of grief in the space of an hour. How could I have let this happen? Is the laptop repairable? Eventually, I took hollow solace in the fact that I’m not the first person to spill water on a laptop, and I certainly won’t be the last.

In a last-ditch attempt to salvage the MacBook Air and the work I drafted on the plane, I visited the nearest Apple Store. Fortunately, I secured a walk-in appointment to get tech support at the store’s Genius Bar. The friendly store attendant sympathised with my plight and shared that someone recently visited after spilling curry all over their laptop. “At least it would’ve smelled nice,” I thought.

Once I saw one of Apple’s technicians, it was an anxious 15-minute wait before I’d know the outcome. Try as I might, I couldn’t glean any body language cues from the young man who served me as I explained what happened.

Rest in peace, you beautiful laptop. Image: Chris Button.

He took the MacBook into a back room before sharing what would be a rather expensive diagnosis. Unsurprisingly, water infiltrated every inner component of the laptop, rendering it dead on arrival. After the technician showed me photo after photo of each water-logged part, he delivered the final verdict.

To replace each damaged component, it would’ve cost nearly $1,500. That’s almost as much as a brand-new MacBook Air, depending on the model.

Completely and utterly dejected, I thanked the technician for his time and took the laptop, now relegated to the role of a large paperweight, back to the hotel.

Cloud backup to the rescue

As bad and stupid as I felt at the time, it could’ve been worse. Much worse.

Easily the best laptop I’ve used for work, the MacBook Air had all my work on it, alongside a few personal files saved in a separate location. Every work document was saved in a OneDrive folder linked to my professional account, while iCloud took care of personal files in a different folder.

Realistically, all I’d lost was two hours of work I did on the plane with no internet connection. That, and whatever money I’d have to spend on a replacement laptop.

By sheer luck, I found a clearance MacBook Air M3 model on sale for less than $1,800. Which may still sound like a lot; the specific configuration I got typically sells for $2,400. I hadn’t planned on spending nearly two grand that week, but no one actively plans for these things to happen! At least I could claim the purchase on tax, which somewhat softened the blow.

Even though I couldn’t do a device-to-device transfer, on account of the previous device incurring Poseidon’s wrath, I recovered every file via the cloud. I didn’t skip a beat the next week back at work, picking back up where I left off. Sure, I carried with me the shame of ruining a perfectly good laptop, but cloud backup really saved my bacon.

While the moral of the story isn’t a new one, it’s worth repeating at every opportunity. Back up your device at every opportunity. I don’t care if it’s OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, or a physical storage solution (preferably both); just do it. Take the time to set up a system that works for you, and keep those files in multiple locations.

Accidents aren’t planned, so do what you can to minimise the potential damage. In my case, cloud backup was a saviour.

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New display technology marks a first for Samsung’s smart monitors

Samsung’s latest smart monitors have arrived in Australia, bringing with them a raft of similar upscaling technologies seen in its high-end TVs. Leading this new range is the flagship Smart Monitor M9, known as the M90F, which uses QD-OLED technology.

It’s Samsung’s first smart monitor to use QD-OLED technology, which is a hybrid of traditional OLED and quantum dot tech. Generally speaking, QD-OLED produces a wider colour gamut than the standard white light-based OLED technology.

The $2,499 M9 is a 32-inch 4K monitor with a 165Hz refresh rate, making it equally well suited to work and gaming. Samsung’s big AI push continues here, with the monitor including visual and audio optimisation features that rely on AI to clear things up. Another carry-over feature from the brand’s TVs is an anti-reflective coating. It’s something Samsung has used to good effect so far across its premium TVs.

But this thing isn’t just a monitor you plug a computer into. As the “Smart Monitor” moniker alludes, the M9 supports streaming media and games over the internet via its built-in Tizen operating system.

Smart monitors like the M70F can double as entertainment screens when you’re not working. Image: Samsung.

That smart functionality also applies to the new M8 (M80F) and M7 (M70F) models, a couple of 4K 60Hz monitors that use more affordable VA panels.

I’m quite partial to the M8 model, mainly because it looks like a stylised abbreviation of “mate”. The $999 32-inch display is also more adept at upscaling, making lower-resolution content look sharper on its 4K screen.

As for the M7, it comes in two different sizes: 32 inches ($699) or 43-inches ($849). It still benefits from 4K visuals, but doesn’t have the same upscaling technologies as its peers.

Samsung M90F, M8, and M7 price and availability

All three monitors are available now in Australia. Samsung’s M80F model is exclusive to its online store, while the M90F and M70F are also sold via other tech retailers.

Here’s where you can find them online:

• Smart Monitor M90SF 32-inches (Silver): $2,499
• Smart Monitor M80F 32-inches (White, Samsung store exclusive): $999
• Smart Monitor M70F 32-inches (White, Samsung store exclusive): $699
• Smart Monitor M70F 32-inches (Black): $699
• Smart Monitor M70F 43-inches (Black): $849

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Oppo A5 5G review: Built tough, but bring glasses

6.8

Built to last but hampered by lowly screen quality, the Oppo A5 5G struggles to make the grade even for Android shoppers with simple needs and a very tight budget.

Not everyone can justify spending a wad of cash on the latest flagship smartphone, but thankfully, they don’t need to when mid-range and even budget Android handsets have improved so much in recent years.

Tight competition has seen budget handsets really lift their game, and you can get a lot of Android bang for your buck around the $300 mark if you’re not too fussy about high-end specs and features.

Even so, you need to draw a line in the sand. For some people, the bare necessities might only include durability and battery life – areas where the new Oppo A5 5G stands out. For other people, they’ll draw the line at the quality of the display, which is where the Oppo A5 5G falls well short.

Table of contents

• First impressions
• Specifications and price
• Features
• Quality
• Who is the Oppo A5 5G for?

Oppo A5 5G first impressions

There’s no getting around the fact that the Oppo A5 5G’s basic 6.67-inch 720p IPS LCD screen makes a terrible first impression. Even if you don’t have an eye for the finer things, it’s immediately obvious that you’re dealing with a very budget display.

It’s not just the low 1604 × 720 pixel resolution that makes things look a bit fuzzy; it’s also that it’s a basic IPS LCD panel that offers bland colours and poor viewing angles. On the plus side, at least the 1,000 nits brightness makes it easier to read the screen outside.

That might seem a but unfair considering the price tag, but for the same money you’ll find much better displays elsewhere – such as the 2400 × 1080 pixel $299 Motorola Moto G55 5G or the 2340 × 1080 pixel $299 Samsung Galaxy A16 which steps up from IPS LCD to a Super AMOLED screen.

One positive is the phone’s bright screen. Image: Adam Turner.

The screen has long been the Achilles heel of Oppo’s cheapest A-series handsets, such as the Oppo A18 and A60 5G. But it’s becoming harder and harder to overlook this weakness as the competition continues to offer more.

It’s worth noting that there’s an Oppo A5 5G Pro for $399, but for the extra $100, you’re still looking at the same disappointing screen. Same with the $369 Oppo A80 5G, but things improve with the $369 Oppo A79 5G.

If you can look past the quality of the screen, which is a big if, then the Oppo A5 5G is a pretty standard Oppo A series offering.

The Oppo A5 5G is available in Aurora Green and Mist White. Image: Oppo.

It features the power button with a built-in fingerprint reader in the middle of the handset on the right, below the volume buttons. On the left side, you’ve got a dual SIM port, which can also take a microSD card, and it’s a sub-6 5G handset.

Flip the phone over and there’s a 50 MP main shooter alongside a 2 MP secondary depth camera, accompanied by an 8 MP punch hole selfie camera on the front. As you’d expect, you don’t get advanced features like telephoto, ultra-wide or macro lenses, or even optical zoom.

At the bottom of the handset, you’ll find a USB-C port, alongside an old-school headphone jack. The handset doesn’t feature stereo speakers (some phones use the earpiece speaker). As for Bluetooth audio, it supports the SBC, AAC, aptX and aptX-HD codecs but not LDAC or LHDC.

Oppo A5 5G specifications and price

Display size	6.67-inch, 20:9 aspect ratio
Display resolution	1604 x 720 pixel, 264 ppi
Display technology	IPS LCD 120 Hz refresh rate 8-bit colour 1000 nits
Bands	2G, 3G, 4G, 5G sub-6
Chipset	MediaTek Dimensity 6300, 8-core CPU
GPU	ARM Mali-G57 MC2@1072MHz
Rear cameras	Wide angle: 50MP; f/1.8; FOV 80°; 5P lens, AF supported
	Mono (depth): 2MP; f/2.4; FOV 89°; 3P lens
Front camera	8MP; f/2.0, FOV 78°
RAM	4GB LPDDR4X
Onboard storage	128 GB UFS 2.2
microSD slot	microSDXC
SIM	Dual SIM supported, Nano-SIM card, Nano-USIM card
Charging	USB-C 45W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge
Battery	6000mAh
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), 802.11b/g/a/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.4 BLE SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD codecs
Operating system	ColorOS 15 (based on Android 15)
Security	Fingerprint reader, Face ID
Ruggedness	IP65 Water & Dust Resistance
Dimensions	165.71 x 76.24 x 7.99 mm
Weight	194g
Colours	Mist White Aurora Green
Price	$299 RRP
Warranty	Two years
Official website	Oppo Australia

Features

The Oppo A5 5G runs Android 15, customised with Oppo’s own ColorOS UI, which adds a range of tweaks along with an iOS look and feel. Interestingly, Oppo seemingly gives you the ability to opt out of installing bloatware, yet more than a dozen unwanted apps still appear anyway.

Oppo says the handset will receive three Android OS updates and six years of security patches, which is better than I expected but still less generous than what you get with some more expensive Oppo handsets like the Oppo Reno 10 5G.

Under the bonnet, the Oppo A5 5G packs the budget MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset, accompanied by 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

As for durability, the handset has an IP65 ruggedness rating, which makes it more dust and water resistant than most Oppo A-series handsets. It’s also “military-grade” shock resistant, offering 160% better impact resistance than the Oppo A3 5G.

Water and drop resistance are some of the Oppo A5 5G’s redeeming qualities. Image: Oppo.

Oppo touts the A5 5G’s ruggedness as one of its big selling features, which might be attractive if your phone regularly tends to slip through your fingers.

The A5 5G’s other big selling point is a very generous 6000 mAh battery, with support for 45W SUPERVOOC fast charging. Of course, there’s no AC charger in the box, so you’ll need to buy a separate SUPERVOOC charger if you want to make the most of this. As expected at this price point, there’s no support for wireless charging.

Thanks to the big battery and the low-res display, the handset should easily get through a day, maybe even two, on a single charge.

Quality

Geekbench 6 benchmarks tell a likely story, producing scores of 778 on the CPU single-core test and 1,925 on the multi-core, plus 1,348 on the GPU test. It’s fine for basic day-to-day tasks, but nothing to get excited about.

They’re similar Geekbench results to the Oppo A79 5G, and a decent step up from the Oppo A18. Even so, they lag behind the Geekbench results of the similarly priced Motorola Moto G55 5G and Samsung Galaxy A16.

Device	CPU single-core	CPU multi-score	GPU (OpenCL)
Moto G55 5G	1,016	2,304	N/A
Oppo A5 5G	778	1,925	1,348
Oppo A79 5G	718	1,836	1,163
Oppo A18	435	1,454	565
Moto G24	411	1,405	549
Moto G05	406	1,352	508
Moto G15	399	1,342	950

Geekbench 6 scores.

As for the camera, the 50 MP main shooter sounds impressive, but we all know by now that raw megapixels aren’t everything. Images look a bit over-processed and overblown, although not as bad as I’ve seen on some Oppo handsets, and low-light performance is also underwhelming. Of course, it doesn’t help that you’re viewing them on such a mediocre display.

Likewise, results from the selfie camera are average, although the overly aggressive default beautification retouching seems to have been dialled down a notch.

Who is the Oppo A5 5G for?

At $299, it’s much harder to forgive the Oppo A5 5G’s shortcomings than it was with the $219 Oppo A18. Sure, it’s rugged and offers a decent battery but, at these prices, the A5 5G’s screen should at least offer higher resolution, if not a better display quality than IPS LCD.

Budget shoppers might not have a lot to spend, but they expect bang for their buck, and they’ll find more bang elsewhere.

Oppo A5 5G

All-day battery life and a rugged design can't make up for the Oppo A5 5G's terrible display.

Features

7

Value for money

6

Performance

7

Ease of use

8

Design

6

Positives

Long battery life, fast charging

Rugged

Bright display

Negatives

Very disappointing display

Underwhelming photo quality

Middle-of-the-road grunt

6.8

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Australia’s new solar battery rebate begins: What you need to know

Knocking around 30 per cent off the price of a home battery as of July 1, the Cheaper Home Batteries Program’s solar battery rebate helps Australian homes keep running on solar after the sun goes down.

Why is Australia offering a solar battery rebate?

When Australians first started putting solar panels on their roofs, generous feed-in tariffs paid them handsomely for pumping their excess solar power back into the grid. Thanks to large solar panel installation rebates, around a third of Australian homes now run on their own solar power during the day.

While the solar boom helped reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels, the downside is that – in the middle of the day – Australia now has much more electricity than it needs. So much so that some electricity retailers even offer plans which provide completely free power between 11am and 2pm – which is great for those who work from home.

As a result, feed-in tariffs for selling excess solar back to the grid continue to fall and drop even further on July 1.

These changes make it much more attractive for Australians to hang on to their excess solar power rather than sell it back to the grid. Along with further reducing household power bills and the country’s reliance on fossil fuels, the take-up of home batteries will also help stabilise the grid and reduce spikes in demand during peak evening times after the sun sets.

How much is Australia’s solar battery rebate?

Home solar batteries have been prohibitively expensive, but that is changing thanks to falling battery prices, rising electricity costs, plunging feed-in tariffs and increasing government rebates.

Starting July 1, 2025, the $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program offers around a 30% rebate on the cost of installing a battery. The rebate is available to Australian homes and small businesses, along with community facilities such as sports centres and town halls.

For batteries installed from July 1, the rebate is automatically deducted from the installation price, rather requiring people to pay the full price up front and then wait to receive the rebate.

Australians installing batteries before July 1 can still take advantage of the scheme. The catch is that they must pay the full amount upfront, leave the battery switched off until July 1 and then claim the rebate.

Solar tariffs may be much lower than before, but storing electricity generated by solar power has its benefits. Image: Vivint Solar on Unsplash

As part of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), which also offers solar panel rebates, the Cheaper Home Batteries Program is expected to save households approximately $4,000 on a typical 11.5 to 13.5 kWh home solar battery.

With installation, this brings the cost of such a battery down to between $10,000 and $14,000 depending on the brand and capacity. The discount is caculated based on the battery’s capacity and will gradually decrease until 2030, encouraging Australians to make the move sooner rather than later.

According to government modelling, households with existing rooftop solar could save up to $1,100 on their electricity bill each year by installing a battery. Those installing both solar panels and a battery could save up to $2,300 a year.

Who is eligible for Australia’s solar battery rebate?

The solar battery rebate is not means tested, meaning it is available to all Australian homeowners regardless of their household income.

To be eligible, the battery needs to be installed with a new or existing solar panel system. The battery’s capacity must be between 5 kWh and 100 kWh, plus it must be capable of connecting with a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) (although connecting to a VPP is not mandatory).

The Sungrow SBH series is included among the eligible batteries. Image: Sungrow.

A VPP connects solar batteries in an energy sharing network, allowing operators to pull power from home batteries to help meet peak demand such as in the evenings. This differs from traditional feed-in tariffs, which only buy excess solar power from homes during the day, when there is already a surplus of electricity.

Australia’s VPP providers offer various incentives such as discounts on batteries, reduced energy bills or regular compensation for taking part. This can further improve the return on investment for a solar battery, although the trade-off is that it increases wear and tear on the battery.

Can the rebate be combined with other government offers?

Yes, the Cheaper Home Batteries Program’s solar battery rebate can be stacked with some other rebates. That said, many of the state-based schemes are ending now that the federal scheme is in place.

For example, Solar Victoria’s interest-free loans for installing home batteries ended in May. Some Victorians managed to take advantage of both this and the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. The Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) scheme still offers discounts when upgrading old appliances like hot water systems.

Meanwhile, the NSW’s Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) battery discount ends on June 30 and can not be combined with the federal scheme. Queensland and South Australia’s rebate schemes have also ended.

Tasmanians can still access interest-free loans for installing home batteries, while Western Australia’s Residential Battery Scheme launches on 1 July 2025, offering rebates and no-interest loans which can be combined with the federal scheme.

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PS5 upgrade or AI workstation? Samsung’s latest SSD (9100 Pro) does both

Apart from phones, tablets, wearables, computers and myriad other things, Samsung makes high-speed memory. And in this age of hardcore gaming, 8K content creation and AI workflows, who doesn’t need more of the stuff? 

We have our hands on a stick of Samsung’s hottest, best-in-class NVMe Gen5 M.2 SSD memory, which is potentially twice as fast as its predecessor (the SSD 990 PRO). We’ll be testing it here at GadgetGuy as soon as our NVMe Thunderbolt 5 enclosure arrives in the post, which will complete our testing rig.

Until then, we’ll leave you salivating over the specs; the SSD9100 Pro gives you a choice of with or without a heatsink, and comes in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB denominations.

The SSD 9100 Pro series supports PCIe 5.0 with scorchingly-fast with up to 14,800MB/s sequential read and 13,400MB/s sequential writes. For random read/writes, Samsung says the SSD 9100 Pro manages up to “2,200K/ 2,600K IOPS”. It also has a 5nm controller for “up to 49% enhanced power efficiency compared to its predecessor.”

The SSD 9100 PRO Series sets a new benchmark for fast, powerful and reliable storage while being the first NVMe SSD capable of supporting 8TBs of capacity

Bojan Jovic, Product Manager – Brand Memory Solutions, Samsung Australia.

Samsung’s new SSD 9100 Pro range will work in compatible desktop PCs, laptops and PlayStation 5 consoles. The 8TB option will come out later this year – and this will certainly fit in nicely into my PS5!

Pricing:

SSD 9100 PRO with Heatsink

• 4TB (MZ-VAP4T0BW) RRP: $799.00 
• 2TB (MZ-VAP2T0BW) RRP: $419.00 
• 1TB (MZ-VAP1T0BW) RRP: $259.00 

 SSD 9100 PRO with Heatsink 

• 4TB (MZ-VAP4T0CW) RRP: $819.00 
• 2TB (MZ-VAP2T0CW) RRP: $439.00 
• 1TB (MZ-VAP1T0CW) RRP: $279.00 

All models come with a 5-year limited warranty.

Click here for a handy guide for installing Samsung SSD memory into laptops, PCs and gaming consoles.

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New Chromebook Plus 14 gets more power and a better battery

Google and Lenovo have teamed up to make a newer Chromebook Plus 14 with an even bigger focus on AI features and stronger hardware.

Starting at $1,199 in Australia, the latest Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 marks a few changes from last year’s CX34 model. Instead of an Intel chip, the new model uses a MediaTek Kompanio Ultra, which Google calls the “strongest ever ARM chip” in a Chromebook.

Its battery reportedly lasts longer too. Google quotes up to 17 hours of battery life, another new high for the Chromebook Plus range. The laptop also gets Dolby Atmos support, an OLED display, and a fingerprint scanner for easy logging in.

Aside from many of the AI features now considered standard across computers and phones, the upcoming Chromebook Plus 14 has a few tricks of its own. One is the ability to automatically group tabs and documents based on what you’re working on, plus another feature that lets you edit images using AI natively in the photo library app. It means you can remove subjects from backgrounds without needing a separate editing app.

Considering the more than $1,000 price tag, this Chromebook seems aimed at people who want the ChromeOS experience but with more power under the hood. It’ll be sold through JB Hi-Fi and Officeworks once the laptop arrives in Australia, which will be soon.

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Folding iPhone inches towards reality with Samsung-like design

Apple looks set to finally enter the foldable phone market, as reports suggest production on a folding iPhone will begin before the end of the year.

After years of biding its time, Apple is tipped to start producing its first foldable by Q4 this year ahead of a 2026 launch. Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman previously reported that a folding iPhone “should be on the market by 2027”. As more reports and rumours surface, it’s looking increasingly likely that Apple will debut its new form factor by the end of 2026.

In Australia, Samsung, Motorola, and Oppo have been the main drivers of foldable phone technology. Although Oppo hasn’t launched a folding phone locally since the Find N3, Motorola has kept apace with its clamshell Razr series, while Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip have become annual releases.

Based on the information currently available, Apple’s plans are similar to Samsung’s book-like Galaxy Z Fold design. Prominent insiders and analysts, like Ming-Chi Kuo, predict that the phone will have a 7.8-inch main display, accompanied by a 5.5-inch outer display.

AI is set to form a major part of the user experience. Apple famously acknowledged that its AI-driven Siri assistant wasn’t ready at WWDC 2025, but it seems that AI is a big part of the company’s future plans.

A folding iPhone isn’t the only form factor experimentation on Apple’s horizon. Apple recently revamped its SE range with the iPhone 16e, a slightly cheaper device than its core phones. It’s also widely speculated to launch a slim iPhone 17 “Air” as part of this year’s full iPhone 17 range. Samsung also released a slimmer handset, the Galaxy S25 Edge, last month, which is another arena phone makers intend to do battle on in the coming months.

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Fastest wireless NBN internet averages nearly 300Mbps speeds

Fixed wireless and satellite internet services are providing faster speeds on average, according to the ACCC’s latest Measuring Broadband Australia report.

It’s good news for Australians beyond the reach of fixed-line internet, as the ACCC’s report found that wireless services are improving in quality and reliability. Its findings include the fixed wireless plans offered by NBN Co and Starlink’s low-orbit satellite array.

According to the latest report, which uses data captured in March 2025, Starlink connections averaged 197.9Mbps download speeds across all hours. During busy hours, considered to be between 7 and 11 PM on weekdays, Starlink’s average was 170.2Mbps. It’s an increase from the previous quarter’s results, which measured at 183.9Mbps and 162.2Mbps respectively.

Last year, NBN Co launched two new high-speed fixed wireless services, with the fastest tier capable of reaching download speeds of up to 400Mbps. The ACCC’s report found that the Fixed Wireless Home Fast plan hit a 166.2Mbps median download speed, while the Fixed Wireless Superfast tier reached 283.5Mbps. Both results reflect the respective services’ performance during busy hours.

Overall, Starlink was found to load popular websites quicker, but NBN fixed wireless plans recorded fewer outages. However, the ACCC added the disclaimer that the difference between the two was “minimal” and was “unlikely to significantly impact the user’s overall experience”.

The news of faster wireless internet comes as NBN Co prepares to turbocharge its fixed-line plans in September. The fastest plans will offer download speeds of up to 2,000Mbps, doubling the previous maximum.

While wireless internet speeds won’t reach those heights, it’s encouraging to see that Australians without access to fixed-line infrastructure won’t be left behind entirely. To see what’s currently available, browse the cheapest NBN plans and save some money on your internet bill.

GadgetGuy occasionally uses affiliate links and may receive a small commission from purchased products.

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Lenovo Legion Go S review: Would you like Steam with that?

6.7

After I sent the loaned Windows 11 Lenovo Legion Go S model back after a couple of weeks, something happened that would’ve drastically changed my experience. Valve released a software update to make its SteamOS platform officially compatible with the Legion Go S.

Having tested multiple handheld gaming PCs, including the Steam Deck, the ROG Ally, and the ROG Ally X, it’s astounding how much of a difference the operating system makes. Devices such as Lenovo’s and ROG’s rely on Windows 11, which is not a user-friendly gaming platform in a portable device.

Another development in recent weeks came from Xbox. It partnered with ROG to make an Xbox-branded handheld gaming PC. On the surface, it looks like any other device in the category, except with Xbox controller grips. Easily the biggest news to come from the announcement was a commitment to improving Windows 11’s handheld gaming experience.

Several talking heads in a polished hype trailer emphasised how much better it would be. Xbox and ROG’s collaborative console would boot directly into a version of the Xbox app, designed to minimise the background processes and friction of Windows. Such a software upgrade is reportedly coming to other devices in the future, too.

There’s also the matter of where the Legion Go S fits in a post-Steam Deck world. It’s pricier and provides various points of difference, although its chipset doesn’t produce much of a power boost. A great form factor aside, it’s Windows 11 that ultimately causes the most headaches.

Table of contents

• Windows 11 gaming
• Specifications and price
• Design
• Legion Go S versus Steam Deck
• Who is it for?

Windows 11 can’t be that bad for gaming, can it?

To give you an example of how pervasive Windows’ influence is on handheld gaming PCs, let’s look at the startup process. It’s not optimised for the form factor in the slightest, launching you straight into the same setup sequence you’d see from a regular PC.

I’ve set up plenty of Windows PCs before, so this shouldn’t be a problem, right? Sure, as long as you don’t mind relying on tiny touchscreen controls and virtual keyboards. You can’t even use the Legion Go S’ gamepad to navigate these initial menus – it’s all touch-based.

Even better, the portable size means the virtual keyboard can’t fit every key on the screen. Typing in my Wi-Fi password was excruciating; finding a symbol meant tapping on a hard-to-find section on the virtual keyboard to access another set of keys easily accessible on a full-sized keyboard.

After all of that, Windows had the audacity to ask what I was using the device for! It’s emblematic of how loose the Windows integration is with handheld gaming PCs that it doesn’t even automatically identify the purpose of such a gadget.

The Legion Space software eases some of the Windows 11 friction, but only slightly. Image: Chris Button.

Similar levels of friction apply throughout the entire user experience, particularly when navigating between games. To alleviate the problem that is Windows 11, companies have come up with various software wrappers that grant quicker access to gaming-centric settings, like storefronts, power options, visual resolution and so on.

Lenovo uses software called Legion Space, and while I don’t think it’s as seamlessly implemented as ROG’s Armoury Crate SE platform, it’s much better than vanilla Windows 11 in its current form. A simple press of a button brings up different settings and your game library without delay.

Compare this experience with that of my Steam Deck, where it just works in a tightly controlled environment optimised for gaming. Windows prides itself on the flexibility of access to different storefronts – Steam, Epic Games, and Xbox Game Pass for starters – while SteamOS limits you to Steam. Unless you don’t mind a bit of tinkering, that is.

I’m cautiously optimistic about the updates coming to handheld Windows 11 devices later this year. At this moment in time, there’s a lot of work to do.

Lenovo Legion Go S specifications and price

Processor	AMD Ryzen Z2 Go
Memory	16GB LPDDR5X
Display	8-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS display 120Hz VRR
Storage	512GB M.2 SSD
Battery	55.5Wh 65W USB-C AC adapter
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 Two USB4 Type-C ports One 3.5mm headphone jack One MicroSD card reader
Size	298.5 x 127.55 x 22.6-43.4 mm 740 grams
Price (RRP)	$1,299 (Windows 11) $1,229 (SteamOS)
Warranty	One year
Official website	Lenovo Australia

Design

At long last, let’s look at the Lenovo Legion Go S. It is the most comfortable handheld gaming PC I’ve ever used. It seems that Lenovo’s engineers discovered that not everyone has the giant hands to comfortably wield the original Legion Go.

These grips are the most comfortable I’ve used in a handheld gaming PC so far. Image: Chris Button.

I love the textured controller grips and subtle contours – the Legion Go S is lovely to hold. Even so, it’s deceptively weighty. Seeing 740 grams on the spec sheet took me by surprise, considering the ROG Ally X weighs roughly 680 grams. Regardless, the comfort of the grips and weight distribution made the Legion Go S more comfortable to hold over time.

Unlike the Steam Deck, which has generously sized trackpad inputs, the Legion Go S only has a tiny trackpad just under the right joystick. Before a firmware update, it vibrated to hell and back, but it proved to be a reasonable pointer input afterwards, despite its petite size.

A Steam Deck (top) compared to the Legion Go S (bottom). Images: Chris Button.

In terms of other input methods, the Legion Go S feels adequately responsive and tactile. It uses the standard Xbox controller layout, replete with asymmetrical joysticks. They use Hall Effect technology, which is regarded as being less prone to drifting over time.

I didn’t like the directional pad, which felt muddy to press, regardless of direction. There also wasn’t quite enough space between some of the buttons. Lenovo’s positioning of the Legion Space and quick settings buttons directly above the start and select buttons (as they were known back in the day) made it easy to accidentally press one instead of the other.

Lenovo Legion Go S fights against the Steam Deck

Other than Windows 11, power is the Lenovo Legion Go’s most contentious issue. It uses an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chipset, which actually works out to be weaker than the previous-gen Z1 Extreme found in the standard Legion Go and ROG Ally devices.

Getting Cyberpunk 2077 to run at a relatively stable 30fps required using the Steam Deck graphical preset and dialling the resolution down to 800p. That’s the same resolution as the cheaper (and older) Steam Deck, which ran Cyberpunk at almost identical performance levels.

Game benchmark	Lenovo Legion Go S	Steam Deck (OLED)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Steam Deck preset at 800p)	30fps	30fps
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (High, 800p)	41fps	28fps
Forza Horizon 5 (Low, 800p)	47fps	N/A

Benchmarks measured with both devices plugged in and operating at maximum power levels.

Lenovo’s device fared a bit better when running the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, indicating that performance varies on a per-game basis. As a general rule, though, I noticed negligible differences between the Legion Go S and the Steam Deck.

Device	Time Spy score
Asus ROG Ally X	3,497
Asus ROG Ally	3,198
Lenovo Legion Go S	1,865

3DMark Time Spy benchmark with devices plugged in and set to maximum performance settings.

I think Lenovo knows it missed the mark with the Legion Go S’ original RRP of $1,299. At the time of writing, it’s on sale for $899, the same price I paid for my OLED Steam Deck. Even though it uses newer technology, the Legion Go S doesn’t produce noticeably more power than a roughly two-year-old device.

Games like Hades 2 look a treat on the Legion Go S. Image: Chris Button.

Its screen is bigger and sharper at 1920 x 1200, albeit without OLED, and has a higher 120Hz refresh rate. However, not every game will take advantage of that sharpness and smoothness. As mentioned before, big games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5 fluctuate between 30-40fps after turning down the resolution. Less demanding games, like Hades 2 and Monster Train 2, look brilliant, running without a hitch.

Depending on the game, you can expect to get between 2-3 hours of battery life, which is par for the course. Some games work the battery harder, draining it in under two hours, which is a trade-off common for handheld gaming PCs. Plugging in the Legion Go S to a power supply unlocks higher performance levels, which I recommend doing for more graphically intensive games.

Who is the Lenovo Legion Go S for?

Wrestling with Windows 11 on a handheld gaming PC is something I’d only recommend for the most patient of gamers. If you can, choose the SteamOS version instead, or install SteamOS on the Windows 11 model for a significantly smoother experience. Alternatively, wait and see how Microsoft plans on improving the Windows gaming experience with its Xbox-themed device later in the year.

Because of how close the Legion Go S is to the Steam Deck in terms of performance, wait until a sale brings it below $1,000. Otherwise, its comfortable form factor and big screen are decent enough drawcards when paired with games that make the most of handheld play.

Lenovo Legion Go S

Windows 11 is my biggest frustration with the Lenovo Legion Go S, a handheld gaming PC that flirts closely with the Steam Deck.

Features

7

Value for money

6

Performance

6.5

Ease of use

6

Design

8

Positives

Comfortable form factor

Great-looking screen

Now supports the much better SteamOS platform

Negatives

Its full price is more expensive than a Steam Deck despite near-identical performance

Windows 11 continues to get in the way of gaming

6.7

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