Everything you need to know about prepaid mobile phones

One of the best ways to control your mobile bill is to opt for a prepaid plan, either monthly recharges or even long-expiry prepaid plans with up to a full year. There’s just one catch: you need a mobile phone to use a prepaid (or SIM-only plan). You may have an older fit-for-purpose one sitting around or maybe you’ve splashed out on a new model iPhoneor Google Pixel.

The cost of a new smartphone, though, can throw out the overall first-year value of a prepaid plan. Thankfully, there are a few mobile providers in Australia that also offer prepaid mobile phones, which are generally cheaper ways to stay connected.

Before we get into prepaid mobile phones, here’s a look at today’s most popular prepaid mobile plans from our comparison engine.

There’s typically one big difference for prepaid mobile phones vs other mobile phones: prepaid handsets are network-locked. While you may be able to, say, take an Optus prepaid plan and use it with a telco that offers prepaid plans via the Optus network, you won’t be able to take a network-locked handset to any plan on another mobile network. Well, not unless you unlock it first.

Outside of that key difference, prepaid handsets are typically cheaper, especially if you’re comparing outright costs. That lower price can lead to great first-year savings, but the cheaper entry point generally means fewer features. At their cheapest, prepaid mobile handsets are effectively feature phones (aka “dumb phones”). But if you up the budget a bit more, you can expect to be dealing with entry-level smartphones. Grab a prepaid mobile phone at retailers like Big W, Kmart or Target. Alternatively, scroll on for a breakdown of mobile providers that sell prepaid mobile phones.

Optus offers just under 10 options for prepaid mobile phones, from as cheap as $59 for the 4G-capable Optus X Lite 4G up to $229 for the Samsung Galaxy A05s or $259 for the Oppo A60 5G. All of these Optus prepaid mobile phones come with a SIM card. If you’re in the market for an Optus prepaid plan, check out the popular picks below.

Telstra has more than a dozen prepaid mobile phones to choose from. The Telstra T-Lite ($59), Telstra T-Essential ($79) and Telstra T-Inspire ($99) are all available for under $100. If you have a bigger handset budget, the third-generation iPhone SE is available for $529, which is 5G capable and supports eSIM. There are also prepaid mobile phone options from Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, Motorola and HMD. If you’re looking for a Telstra prepaid mobile plan, here are some popular picks from our database.

For comparison, here’s a daily updating list of popular prepaid plans on the Telstra network.

At the time of writing, Vodafone had ten prepaid mobile phones to choose from. The V One 4G is the cheapest one, which typically retails for $59. Vodafone’s priciest prepaid mobile phone costs $229 for the Oppo A60 5G. There are also other Vodafone prepaid mobile phones from HMD and Motorola. Vodafone prepaid mobile phones come with an included prepaid starter pack that has 25GB of data. Check out the list of popular prepaid plans below if you’re after something from Vodafone.

Alternatively, here’s a list of popular Vodafone prepaid plans.

Unlike other prepaid mobile providers, Amaysim offers an extensive range of mobile phones, which was just over 40 at the time of writing. Like postpaid SIM-only plans paired with a handset, Amaysim lets users pay off a mobile phone from $10 a week. Amaysim’s handset selection includes familiar faces like the Optus X Lite 4G on the cheaper side, but also stretches all the way up to the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max for $2,000+. There are other mobile phones from Samsung, Motorola, Google and Nubia, too. Check out today’s most popular prepaid plans from Amaysim.

For comparison, here’s a list of popular prepaid plans on the Optus mobile network.

Boost Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that operates on the Telstra network. If you want to pair a Boost prepaid plan with a mobile phone, Boost Mobile offers 70+ refurbished options across iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel models. The telco also sells refurbished iPads if that’s more your speed. Boost refurbished mobile phone prices range from $200+ for an iPhone SE 2020 model and go up to just under $1,500 for a refurbished iPhone 15 Pro Max. Check out the Boost Mobile plans below if you’re interested in a prepaid plan.

And here’s a look at popular prepaid plans on the Telstra mobile network today.

Woolworths owns Everyday Mobile, and while you technically can’t buy a prepaid mobile phone directly from Everyday Mobile, you can get one from Woolies. For under $100, you’ll find familiar prepaid mobile phone options like the Telstra T Lite, Optus X Start 4 or the Telstra T Essential. Alternatively, there are dozens of other options that stretch all the way up to the $2,500+ outright price for a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5. Check out the popular prepaid plans below if you’re in the market for something from Everyday Mobile.

For comparison, here’s a look at today’s most popular prepaid plans on the Telstra network.

Coles Mobile is a similar story to Everyday Mobile in that you can’t technically purchase a prepaid mobile phone directly from the telco. That said, there is a selection of prepaid mobile phones to buy from Coles. There were 20+ options at the time of writing, with multiple options for Telstra, Optus and Vodafone-branded prepaid mobile phones. And if you want to pair any of those with a Coles Mobile prepaid plan, check out the popular picks below.

If you want to see what other plans are popular on the Optus network today, have a look at these alternatives.