Review of Reward Mobile phone plans
If you’re looking for a new mobile plan provider, have you considered going for a Mobile Virtual Network Operator? MVNOs are frequently on a SIM-only, BYO mobile basis and savings are often passed onto the consumer. One such MVNO is Reward Mobile, which has plans on both a SIM-only basis as well as phones on a plan. It operates on the Vodafone 4G wholesale network, ensuring a quality connection in most metro areas.
Reward Mobile promises to deliver “simple, affordable and quality communications”, with a focus on customer service. Reward Mobile is a subsidiary of the Pivotel group, a company that specialises in satellite phone solutions. So for a company specialising in communications for rural and remote areas, Pivotel’s Reward Mobile has some big shoes to fill. Let’s see how Reward stacks up in this review by Canstar Blue.
Reward Mobile Phone Plans
Reward Mobile has a total of 10 phone plans, with varying prices and inclusions starting from just $9 per month.
| Plan Type | What’s Included | Price Per Month |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate | Unlimited calls and texts, 5GB data | $42.95 |
| Unlimited calls and texts, 3GB data, phone bundle choices | $54.95 | |
| Unlimited calls and texts, 3GB data, premium phone choices | $64.95 | |
| Connect | $40 value, 50mb data | $9 |
| $100 value, 200mb data | $19 | |
| $150 value, 512mb data | $29 | |
| $200 value, 1GB data | $39 | |
| Mobile Data | 500mb data | $9.90 |
| 1.5GB data | $15 | |
| 4GB data | $30 |
Source: Reward Mobile
Ultimate Plans
The key to these Ultimate plans is that they all come with unlimited calls and texts. In a peculiar fashion, Reward in its two dearest Ultimate plans sacrifices 2GB worth of data in the name of providing a mobile phone at no extra charge.
- With the $54.95 plan you get either a Huawei GR3 or a Huawei Y5II
- On the $64.95 plan you either get a Huawei GR5 or a Motorola G4 Play
Generally speaking, with the dearest plan you are essentially paying $10 a month extra for phones that may be considered more ‘premium’. All phones are $0 upfront, so if you don’t fancy yourself using 5GB data but need a new phone then these plans may be worthwhile. It should also be noted that the $42.95 plan comes on a month-to-month contract, while with other two will have you locked-in for 24 months.
Connect Plans
Connect plans aim at connecting people at low prices. All plans are on a 24 month contract, and you a have a choice of bundling it with a choice of eight different phones. These phones are generally mid-tier smartphones including the likes of the Samsung Galaxy J1 and the Huawei GR5. As for call and text rates, they are billed at:
- Calls 99c per minute plus 40c flagfall per call
- SMS 30c each
- Extra data 2.5c/MB
So with the $39 plan you could feasibly make around 84 two-minute long phone calls that will use up most of your credit. 5c per megabyte of data is also pretty much an industry standard, so it is promising to see Reward offering it for a fair bit less.
Mobile Data Plans
If you have a tablet or only have a desire for data then Reward’s mobile data plans may be up your alley. All of these plans come on a month-to-month basis, meaning no lock-in contracts. Additional data costs 2.5c/MB, which is a solid feature. Arguably the best value can be had with the $30 plan in which you get 4GB of data. It’s a pretty simple set-up and you can leave after the month is up with no ramifications.
How does Reward Mobile compare to other providers?
Arguably the plans that standout most with Reward Mobile are its Ultimate plans where unlimited calls and texts come as standard, with mobile bundles not costing any extra per month. However, the rest of its plans leave a little to be desired, so let’s see what the other providers are doing.
Reward Ultimate Plans Compared
Reward’s Ultimate plans are a little peculiar because on the one hand you have a SIM-only plan, and on the other you have two bundled options. In this case it’s only fair to compare apples with apples. In the SIM-only sphere Reward compares pretty well with its $42.95 plan. $40 for 5GB seems to be about the benchmark these days, but there are a handful of providers all offering double the data or more. In this case keep an eye out for Jeenee Mobile, Optus, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone. However, keep in mind the latter three come with a 12 month contract.
As for bundled plans, you pretty much have no option but to choose the big 4 – Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodafone. As for the mobile phones, the Huawei and Motorola models are not widely available on bundled plans so it pays to shop around. In the bundled sphere, 3GB for $50-odd seems to be about standard, but what varies wildly is the cost of the phone repayment. In this case it’s promising that Reward offers these phones for nothing extra, but keep in mind that you won’t get the trendy iPhones or Galaxies here. Here’s how competitor plans look with a Samsung Galaxy S8, keeping mind the phone price fluctuations between carriers.
Reward Connect Plans Compared
If you’re after a cheap mobile phone plan, Reward at face-value offers one of the cheapest monthly plans out there – the $9 one – but what you get included seems to be a little lackluster, and the call and text rates a little expensive compared to other barebones providers. At around the $10-$20 mark, there are a few providers offering more ‘bang for buck’ straight from the start. Southern Phone seems to be a pretty cheap option, but for not much more per month you can hop into a Dodo plan, which is one of the cheapest unlimited plans out there. TeleChoice and Bendigo Bank Telco also offer interesting plans with 2GB data for under $20.
Reward Mobile Data Plans Compared
Reward generally fares pretty well in the mobile broadband sphere in the grand scheme of things. However, other MVNOs all seem to offer around 5GB for about $20 a month, and this is something that Reward generally can’t hold a candle to. At the absolute cheapest end of the spectrum, keep an eye out for providers like Jeenee Mobile, Vaya, SpinTel and Exetel.
Will you be rewarded with Reward Mobile?
Reward Mobile is a telco that promises to provide great customer service, so this alone may be able to sway some people. However, if you’re like a lot of people, then you probably don’t need much help or service and instead just want the most bang for buck. In this case, it may be worth hunting around for other MVNOs. A lot generally offer a fair amount more data for your money. Even the big guys such as Telstra, Optus and Vodafone are pretty competitive these days, and it seems Reward Mobile struggles to keep pace. However, you may still find some of its plans to be worthwhile. You should always compare a wide range of offers before signing up with any carrier.