WhistleOut Awards 2019: The best phone plans, internet plans, and devices

Choosing the right plan can be hard. There are SO MANY providers, and it can feel like the market changes on a day-to-day basis. To help, every month our expert team picks out the best phone and internet plans across a wide range of categories.

This gives us a whole lot of info on which telcos consistently offer great value plans, which leads us to the WhistleOut Awards.

The WhistleOut Awards recognise and celebrate the companies that have consistently provided the best plans across the last 12 months (July 2018 to June 2019) across a whole range of categories. In addition, the WhistleOut awards have also been expanded to include phone manufacturers, highlighting the best devices to have been launched in Australia across the last financial year.

The 2019 WhistleOut Award winners are as follows:

Best Phone Plans

• Best SIM-Only Provider, Value Plans: Spintel
• Best SIM-Only Provider, Large Plans: Jeenee Mobile
• Best Prepaid Provider, Value Plans: Catch Connect
• Best Prepaid Provider, Large Plans: TPG
• Best Provider, iPhone Plans: Optus
• Best Provider, Samsung Plans: Optus
• Best Provider, International Calls: Belong
• Best Provider, Plans for Kids: Belong
• Best Phone Plan Promotion: Optus

Best Internet Plans

• Best Unlimited NBN Provider: Exetel
• Best Premium NBN Provider: Click Broadband
• Best Fixed Wireless NBN Provider: Exetel
• Best Satellite NBN Provider: SkyMesh
• Best Mobile Broadband Provider, Everyday Use: Jeenee Mobile
• Best Mobile Broadband Provider, High Use: Optus
• Best Home Wireless Broadband Provider: Exetel
• Best Internet Promotion: Tangerine

Best Devices

• Best Phone Camera: Huawei P30 Pro
• Best Phone Design: OPPO Reno 5G
• Best Smartwatch: Apple Watch Series 4
• Best Value Phone: Google Pixel 3a
• Best High Performance Phone: Huawei P30 Pro
• Phone Manufacturer of the Year: OPPO
• Phone of the Year: Google Pixel 3a

The WhistleOut Award categories for phone and internet plans were judged by awarding 3, 2 and 1 points to the providers of the three best plans in each category on a monthly basis, between July 2018 and June 2019. The award winners are the providers with the highest number of points at the end of the 12 month period. In case of a tie, winners are chosen based on the number of 1st positions, then 2nd positions, then 3rd positions they achieved in that category over the course of the year.

The two exceptions to this judging process are the Best Promotion awards for Mobile and Internet. These awards are given to the single best promotion over the 12 month period as judged by us.

The WhistleOut phone awards were judged by our editorial team, considering price, performance, battery, screen, camera, design and the overall user experience.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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