- Mobile Provider of the Year - TPG
- Best SIM-Only Provider, Value Plans - Moose Mobile
- Best SIM-Only Provider, Large Plans - iiNet
- Best Prepaid Provider, Value Plans - Catch
- Best Prepaid Provider, Large Plans - TPG
- Best Provider, iPhone Plans - Vodafone
- Best Provider, Samsung Plans - Vodafone
- Best Provider, International Calls - amaysim
- Best Provider, Plans for Kids - Catch
- Best Mobile Promotion - Tangerine
- Sustainable Mobile Provider of the Year - Felix
- Phone of the Year - Google Pixel 7a
- Best Camera Phone - iPhone 14 Pro Max
- Best Phone Design - OPPO Find N2 Flip
- Best Value Phone - Motorola Moto G53
- Best High Performance Phone - iPhone 14 Pro Max
- Phone Manufacturer of the Year - Google
Welcome to the 2023 WhistleOut Awards, where we recognise the service providers and phone companies that presented the best telco plans, products & promotions to Australians over the last year.
In today’s competitive telecoms industry, our winning service providers stand out for their consistency in offering consumers great value, with the winning phone companies delivering devices of the best quality and value.
You can find the winners of WhistleOut's Mobile Provider and Phone categories below, or check out the winners of WhistleOut's Internet Provider categories!
Further details about the awards and how they are judged can be found here.
2023 Mobile Winners
Mobile Provider Of The Year
TPG is WhistleOut's 2023 Mobile Provider of the Year. TPG has consistently offered Australians great value across its phone plans, particularly in the prepaid area. If you're looking for an affordable mobile plan for yourself or your kids then TPG has got you covered with its range of no-frills options. It's a great place to start your search in this budget-conscious time.
Best SIM-Only Provider, Value Plans
Queensland-based Moose Mobile has made it three-in-a-row winning the Best SIM Only Provider, Value Plans award once more. The budget MVNO runs on the Optus network and prides itself on low costs and great customer service. This is something Moose Mobile has delivered in spades over the last few years.
Runner Up:Dodo
Best SIM-Only Provider, Large Plans
iiNet and Circles.Life have been trading places for this award over recent years and it was another tight contest this time around with iiNet edging it, largely thanks to the value packed into its 40GB plan. It's definitely worth a look if you like a big data bang for your buck
Runner Up:Circles.Life
Best Prepaid Provider, Value Plans
Catch positions its plans towards the budget-conscious user, with a set of prepaid plans that offer plenty of bang for your buck. Catch and TPG were clear front runners in the prepaid space this year and Catch is a deserved winner of the Best Prepaid Provider, Value Plans category.
Runner Up:TPG
Best Prepaid Provider, Large Plans
Some people might know TPG best for its cheap internet plans, but it's also a great option if you're in the market for a prepaid plan. Last year saw a particular return to form for TPG with its no-frills prepaid offerings, winning the Best Prepaid Provider, Large Plans award, and it has done so again this year.
Runner Up:Lebara
Best Provider, iPhone Plans
Vodafone has done it again and made it three in a row. Vodafone has set the bar for competitive pricing and inclusions of iPhone contracts over the last few years and is the place to go for people looking to buy an iPhone on a plan.
Runner Up:Optus
Best Provider, Samsung Plans
It's perhaps no surprise Vodafone has mirrored its iPhone Award performance in the Samsung category as well, making it a third win on the trot. If you want to buy a new Samsung phone on a contract plan then you could do a lot worse than checking out what Vodafone has to offer.
Runner Up:Optus
Best Provider, International Calls
amaysim has made the Best Provider, International Calls category its own, now winning the gong four years in a row. Lebara ran amaysim close this year but the inclusions packed into amaysim's $30 Unlimited Plan were hard to beat.
Runner Up:Lebara
Best Provider, Plans for Kids
Catch takes home a second award this year, adding this year's Best Provider, Plans for Kids award to its Prepaid Value Plans win. When buying a plan for your children low-cost prepaid options are high on the shopping list and Catch excels in that area.
Runner Up:TPG
Best Phone Plan Promotion
Tangerine takes home the gong for Best Phone Plan Promotion for the amazing deal where it offered double data for six months on selected plans plus two months free on all mobile plans as part of a Black Friday sale.
Sustainable Mobile Provider of the Year
felix mobile has followed up last year's performance by winning WhistleOut's Sustainable Mobile Provider of the Year award once more. Sustainability is at the heart of the felix mobile business, running on 100% renewable power, using eSIMs and planting trees for every customer. Guided by its principles of being simple, digital and sustainable, felix mobile encourages people to think more about the environmental impact of their telco choices.
2023 Mobile Phone Winners
Phone Of The Year
Google Pixel 7a
The Pixel 7a is a great affordable phone that doesn't feel like an affordable phone. It's the mid-tier phone to beat in a year that could use more devices like it.
Google has played to its strengths with the Pixel 7a, kitting it out with the best camera in a mid-tier phone and the same high-end processor you'll find in a Pixel 7 Pro. It's the kind of device that makes you question whether you need a $1,000 plus flagship phone.
Best Camera Phone
When it comes to the upper echelon of phones, you're not going to get a bad camera. After all, when you're spending over $1,000 on a handset, you're really paying for photo quality.
In a crowded market, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max edge out the competition thanks to their reliability. They’re the fastest-shooting flagship phones on the market, meaning you’re less likely to miss a moment you’re trying to capture - whether it’s a child, a pet, or a concert.
Coupled with a best-in-class macro mode and video capture, speedy low-light photography, and a much-improved selfie camera, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are incredibly capable cameras.
Highly Commended:Google Pixel 7 Pro
Best Phone Design
OPPO's Find N2 Flip marked a big step forward for flip-style foldable phones. The folding display is still undeniably novel, but OPPO succeeded in making the device feel surprisingly normal, sanding away the quirks typically associated with the form factor.
The Find N2 Flip beat the competition to a zero gap hinge, it all but got rid of the crease, and offered up a more practical, larger external display. These innovations were coupled with the best battery life and cameras we saw on a flip-style foldable phone during FY23.
Highly Commended:Nokia G22
Best Value Phone
Motorola's Moto G53 over-delivers on expectations about what a budget phone can offer. Priced at under $350, the Moto G53 offers a two-day battery life, a snappy processor, 5G, a high-refresh-rate display, and a surprisingly premium feel.
If you don't want to spend an arm and leg on a phone, there's nothing quite as compelling as the Moto G53 in its category. It's for these reasons and more we've named the Moto G53 the best budget phone of FY23.
Highly Commended:Samsung Galaxy A34 5G
Best High Performance Phone
If you're after a phone that doesn't make any compromises, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is as close as you'll get.
You get best-in-class performance, a fantastic versatile camera system, and a gorgeous OLED display. While plenty of the competition can contend in these areas, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is unrivalled when it comes to battery life. It's a small step back from last year, but you'll still get at least two hours of extra screen time when compared to its closest Android competitors.
If you're looking for a truly premium phone that does the lot, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is the device to beat.
Highly Commended:Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Phone Manufacturer of the Year
Google's Pixel phones have typically represented great value, and in a year where almost everything has gotten more expensive, we're especially impressed at the restraint Google has shown with its pricing.
The Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 7a all launched at the same price as their predecessors, bucking the industry-wide trend. Of course, there's far more to the Pixel family than a comparatively affordable price tag.
No matter which phone you buy, you're getting an excellent camera, snappy performance, and some clever AI features. Google is selling great phones at a great price. If you're considering bang for buck, it's hard to go past a Pixel, which is why we've named Google our phone manufacturer of the year.
Highly Commended:Motorola
About the Awards
About the Awards The WhistleOut Awards recognise the telco businesses that have consistently provided Australians with the best plans over the last year. The awards also highlight the best promotions and phone products released during that period.
WhistleOut’s mission is to help Australians find better phones and internet, and make better telco decisions. We know it can be a complicated and confusing industry with so many providers, plans and products that it’s easy to get lost and difficult to know who to trust.
That’s where the WhistleOut Awards come in. They aim to cover the different types of phone and internet use cases that apply to most Australians, and show which providers have most consistently offered the best plans over 12 months (July-June). The awards also acknowledge the best phones that have been brought onto the market over the year, and provide a great starting point for anyone looking to make a smart telco change.
Judging Criteria
The WhistleOut Awards are aimed at finding the best providers for different phone and internet needs on a national level.
We have reviewed the biggest cross-section of providers possible, including the top 10 service providers in each category, many smaller providers, and the full range of phone manufacturers available in Australia. The top ten service providers typically cover 80% or more of Australia’s phone and internet plans.
The WhistleOut Award categories for phone and internet plans are judged by awarding 3, 2 and 1 points to the providers of the three best plans in each category on a monthly basis, (July 2022 - June 2023). 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. A provider can receive points for multiple plans in a category if their plans best match the award criteria.
The exceptions to this judging process are the Best Promotion and Sustainable Provider awards for Mobile and Internet. The Best Promotion awards are given to the single best promotion over the 12-month period as judged by WhistleOut’s in-house panel of experts. The Sustainable Provider awards are entered by written submission and assessed by WhistleOut's in-house panel.
The WhistleOut phone awards are judged by our team of editorial experts who have reviewed the majority of new phones brought out over the last 12 months. Key judging considerations include price, performance, battery, screen, camera, design and the overall user experience.
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