Telstra's blue tick phones

By Joseph Hanlon on 16 April 2009

Telstra's blue tick (Credit: Telstra)

The announcement of Telstra's CDMA network shut-down in April 2008 certainly ruffled the feathers of rural customers who had been concerned about losing their existing network coverage.

To counteract these concerns, Telstra established the "Blue Tick" as a way of indicating to its customers which Next G capable handset has superior reception in regional areas, as per Telstra's own in-house testing procedures. These tests include practical handset trials both in the labs and on the ground in remote areas, emulating typical usage where possible.

Because we haven't tested these claims ourselves we suggest that you don't consider the blue tick a guarantee of clear reception, but more a recommendation to help start the conversation with your local mobile phone dealer about which handset will best suit your needs.

As with all mobile phone technologies, this list fluctuates; with phones being added and subtracted as they become available or are superseded. Below is the current list of blue tick phones reviewed by the editors at CNET.com.au.

Telstra T6

The T6 is the phone we never expected to see from Telstra. The price tag on the T6 is spot on for a phone with this feature set, and the Telstra Blue Tick should offer those in remote areas some peace of mind.

Editor's rating:6.8 User rating:5.6
     • Full Review • Specs • Images • Video • Where to Buy

  • Good: Small, lightweight and attractive • Next G compatible • Telstra Blue Tick
  • Bad: Low-res display • Poor media components
  • Specs: Candybar • Bluetooth, Next G, 3G, HSDPA • 2-megapixel • See more specifications
  • RRP: AU$129.00

Topics: coverage, mobile phones, next g, telstra, tick, blue, handset

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Comments (30)

  • Arkaydan commented on 16/08/2009 15:45 Report abuse

    We used a Samsung A412 with Telstra Next G.... and toured Tassie. Ppl with us were using 3 and Optus and they hardly ever had a signal anywhere. We had a signal 98% of the time and they couldnt believe it. In Hobart they both bought Next G plug ins for their computers and are going to change their phone providers as they both want to travel around Australia.

  • Karl commented on 05/08/2009 23:34 Report abuse

    Bought a next g ZTE 165 because we regularly go bush have an external aerial on my vehicle. Would class the coverage as ok not exceptional. Will upgrade to the next phone to ensure compatibility with other devices. What would make more sense is an affordable satellite phone network, for everyone to use that wants it.

  • ruralnurse commented on 09/05/2009 03:28 Report abuse

    I live 300 k's northeast of Hedland WA.My Samsung SGH-A411 next g phone is streets ahead of my old CDMA.Not really flash in the summer but adequate in cooler weather. However my next g broadband plugin is scratchy in the middle of Hedland. Why don't you people having trouble get a satphone? They are now relatively inexpensive and never fail, provided you get a Telstra one. I have one for when mobile is out of range.

  • ken commented on 07/05/2009 19:58 Report abuse

    I've traveled from east to west across the top and nth to south down the middle and down the east coast...Unless you are on the east coast, next g is pretty pointless unless you live in a town or..(when you get way out west)...live in an aboriginal comunity or in a town with a large population of them. you might as well have gsm

  • Adlar commented on 02/05/2009 23:46 Report abuse

    no choice in country areas paul telstra is all we have next g is a joke we had no choice but to switch over to it

  • bennas commented on 29/04/2009 19:52 Report abuse

    excellent point paul good to see someone with their head screwed on every comment here has been a gripe and whinge yet no here so far has commented on any other carrier. look around and you will see telstra is the only one with any commitment to australia and is rural areas

  • Paul commented on 22/04/2009 23:09 Report abuse

    Nobody is forcing you to use telstra.

  • AB commented on 21/04/2009 11:25 Report abuse

    I live in Goondiwindi QLD and the coverage by Next G is not as good as the old CDMA. I live in a house on the outskirts of town and have to walk outside to get reception. Thought next g was meant to be better inside buildings.also have digital Vodafone that has comparable reception. Not good enough for the extra costs in using Telstra!!

  • Elie commented on 20/04/2009 22:22 Report abuse

    There are 2 versions of the W705.
    The W705a (sold through telstra) is NextG compatible. The W705 (sold through Optus) is not NextG compatible, but is compatible with optus' and vodafone's new networks.

  • johnfarnham commented on 20/04/2009 18:37 Report abuse

    i wouldn't be caught dead with any of those phones.

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