Hello Mobile mobile phone plans

Hello Mobile sells prepaid mobile services for those looking for mobile plans on a budget.

From its humble origins selling international calling cards back in the '90s, Hello Mobile has since shifted its focus to the prepaid mobile market with a wide selection of plans catering to both regular chatterboxes and those who prefer the a la carte approach of pay-as-you-go plans.

Powered by Vodafone's 4G network, Hello Mobile's prepaid plans all include 30-day expiries except for the Supa pay-as-you-go plan – it lasts for 90 days.

Hello Mobile Unlimited prepaid plans

Hello Mobile offers plenty of prepaid plans with unlimited calls and texts, though confusingly they're not all branded as "Unlimited" plans. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a prepaid plan with the freedom to make as many calls as you want, Hello Mobile has you well and truly covered.

Here are the unlimited plans you have to pick from:

• VIP 25, which comes with no included data for $25 every 30 days
• Unlimited 30, which includes 2GB of data for $29.90 every 30 days
• Unlimited 40, which includes 4GB of data for $39.90 every 30 days
• Freedom 500, which includes 500MB of data and 500mins of international calls for $40 every 30 days
• Combo 40, which includes 2GB of data and 250mins of international calls for $40 every 30 days
• Unlimited 50, which includes 5GB of data for $49.90 every 30 days
• Unlimited 60, which includes 6GB of data for $59.90 every 30 days

For plans with included international minutes, those minutes can be used when calling landline numbers in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK and the USA. Those international minutes are also valid for calling mobiles in Canada, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the USA.

When calling international numbers not covered by included minutes on any of the above plans, you'll enjoy 0c flagfall. Excess data usage, meanwhile, is charged at 5c/MB.

One thing to note if you're interested in the VIP 25 plan: you have to enable Auto Top-up, which automatically adds extra credit to your plan when you're running low by charging your preferred payment method. This doesn't bind you to any contract, though, so you can still cancel your plan at any time without penalty.

Hello Mobile capped prepaid plans

For those with simpler communication needs, Hello Mobile offers two low-price capped plans:

• Combo 10, which includes 10c/min national calls and 50 international minutes for $10 a month
• Eazy, which includes 8c/min national calls and 3c/MB data for $20 a month

The 50 international minutes included with the Combo 10 plan can be used to call landlines in Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK and the USA as well as mobiles in Canada, China, India, Singapore, Thailand, the UK and the USA.

Hello Mobile's capped plans come with no flagfall for both national and international calls. Both plans also enjoy discounted call rates to other Hello Mobile numbers.

As with most capped prepaid plans, you can choose to recharge more than the minimum amount if you intend on making more calls or using more data within a particular month. However, larger recharges are still limited by a 30-day expiry.

Hello Mobile pay-as-you-go prepaid plans

If you don't like the idea of credit going to waste, Hello Mobile's pay-as-you-go Supa plan gives you recharge options from as low as $10, with 90 days to use your credit before it expires. National landline calls are charged at 0c/min with a 30c flagfall, while national mobile calls are charged at 12c/min with the same 30c flagfall.

How does Hello Mobile compare?

Hello Mobile's diverse range of prepaid plans pit it against other Aussie telcos on three different tiers: unlimited plans, capped plans and pay-as-you-go plans.

How do Hello Mobile's unlimited plans compare?

There's plenty of competition in the unlimited prepaid plan space, especially at the budget price tier. Providers like amaysim, Boost Mobile, OVO and Vodafone all offer plans with generous data caps at affordable prices, and Hello Mobile's offerings sadly suffer in comparison.

For instance, here's how Hello Mobile's Unlimited 30 plan stacks up against competing plans in the same price range:

Hello Mobile only falls further behind at higher price points, with its 4GB Unlimited 40 plan seeming rather meagre against the 8GB+ offered by the likes of OVO and Boost Mobile:

Even Hello Mobile's Combo 40 plan, which bundles in 250 international minutes with its unlimited calls and 2GB of data, struggles to justify itself in the face of OVO's Mobile Large plan and its 8GB of data plus 300 international minutes. This makes Hello Mobile's unlimited offerings tough to recommend.

How do Hello Mobile's capped plans compare?

Hello Mobile's capped plans fare even worse than its unlimited plans. While the call rates on both the Combo 10 and Eazy plans are certainly competitive, you could do even better by signing up to one of amaysim or Boost Mobile's similarly priced plans for unlimited calls plus a quota of data every month. The only caveat there is the shorter 28-day expiry on both amaysim and Boost's plans, but if that's an issue, you could opt for OVO's Mobile Small plan and still receive significantly more value for your money than Hello Mobile's capped offerings.

How does Hello Mobile's pay-as-you-go plan compare?

Pay-as-you-go plans have become less common in recent years, but there are still enough kicking around that Hello Mobile has competition to compare it against. Vodafone, Telstra and amaysim are the biggest contenders, while GoTalk serves as a useful benchmark for what smaller providers can offer.

Call and data rates are the most relevant factors for pay-as-you-go plans, and here's how they compare across the key players in the market:

Hello Mobile's Supa plan stacks up quite favourably, especially if SMS is your primary means of communication. Its national call rates are solid, too, placing it ahead of Vodafone, Telstra and amaysim for calls longer than two minutes. Vodafone's Prepaid 365 Plus beats it for cheap data, though, and if you only use your phone on occasion, the 365-day expiries on Vodafone, Telstra and amaysim's plans could work out significantly cheaper in the long run.

Why should you consider Hello Mobile?

If you're after a cheap unlimited prepaid plan, Hello Mobile's Unlimited 30 and Unlimited 40 plans aren't terrible, but there are plenty of superior options out there from providers like amaysim and OVO. Similarly, Hello Mobile's capped prepaid plans offer little to distinguish themselves from the better-value offerings on the market.

Where Hello Mobile does succeed is with its pay-as-you-go Supa plan. For calls greater than two minutes in length, the Supa plan offers some of the cheapest rates available, along with cut-price 10c texts throughout Australia. With a $10 buy-in, this makes the Supa plan a compelling option for those who use their phones infrequently but still want to get decent mileage out of their dollar.

Hello Mobile recharge options

To get started with Hello Mobile's prepaid plans, you'll need to purchase a Hello Mobile SIM pack. These are available at a variety of retail stores like Australia Post and Big W, or you can order one online from Hello Mobile's website.

Once you've purchased a SIM, recharging it can be accomplished in a number of ways:

• Online: Top up your balance using a credit or debit card at the Hello Mobile website
• In-app: The My Hello Mobile app supports recharging via credit or debit card
• Phone: Call 126 999 from the phone you want to recharge and follow the prompts
• In-store: Find an eligible retailer using Hello Mobile's search tool and purchase a top-up voucher

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