Optus Australia Review: Awesome But Not Flawless (+5G Speedtests)

Back in 2019/2020, I was supposed to stay in Australia for a year.

Unfortunately, things were cut short due to the pandemic.

While I intended to stay in Taiwan for only a month until my boyfriend's mom would go back home again (she decided to come to visit for just two months… and the apartment was too small for the three of us), I was in Taiwan for an entire year.

Yeah… that escalated quickly. Australia was closed off, and Europe, where I am from, was crazy.

Taiwan was kind enough to let me stay longer than my visa-exempt status would typically allow me to stay (90 days – but that was extended to 840 days if I wanted to 🤯 (read: had the savings, lol)), so I decided to stay.

And that may have been the best decision I had made in the 2020s (the Dutch government arranged a flight back home… but I declined it).

The year spent in Taiwan allowed me to test the six Taiwanese SIM cards extensively… and I have taken that experience and applied it to any other country I visited afterward.

You see, before Taiwan, I did not do extensive testing with the SIM cards I wanted to review.

I did a few speed tests here and there, used only one SIM card as my main one, and I was done

But after Taiwan, I upped my game (because I did tests at more than 100+ locations in nine counties) so that you can make a solid decision when buying local SIM cards.

As a result, I tested seven Australian SIM cards, including Optus, and five travel eSIMs to be used here.

I went to six different cities across five states.

I did more than 120+ speed tests with each SIM card and (travel) eSIM – going to tourist attractions and off the beaten track so that you can have a solid idea of how each SIM card or eSIM performs depending on your style of travel.

So I spent about 1000 AUD (Australian Dollar) for my Australian SIM card review series – who else is this crazy? 🤪

Optus is wholly owned by Singtel from Singapore, which is active in a few other countries as a (minority) shareholder.

In the title, I mention that Optus is awesome but not flawless.

But I cannot say something like that without (extensively) testing it against its competition.

And in the case of Australia, that would be Telstra and Vodafone Australia, but also a few Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), such as ALDImobile Australia (Telstra MVNO – speed restricted), Amaysim (Optus MVNO), Boost Mobile Australia (Telstra MVNO – speed NOT restricted) & Lebara Australia).

And as (travel) eSIMs are also becoming rapidly popular, I also tried out Airalo (Yes! Go! – can be used in Australia only & Discover Global – can be used in 84+ countries), Holafly, Nomad & SimOptions (3 HK).

Yeah… I went all out! But in this review, I will mostly focus on Optus.

Let's get started, shall we?

Original publication: 12^th of April 2020. Last updated: 15^th of January 2024.

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Table of Contents

Who is Optus?

Optus is the second-largest mobile operator in Australia.

It is also referred to as Yes Optus, but that is mostly by its marketing team and some staff members.

Optus is wholly owned by Singtel – a mobile operator from Singapore.

Currently, Optus has the fastest 5G NR speeds – it even won a Australia Speedtest Fastest 5G Mobile Network award.

Although not confirmed by Speedtest yet, Telstra has (unfortunately for Optus) overtaken Optus already.

But… what is a Telstra or who is that?

In Australia, you have three mobile operators and 12 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) offering prepaid services easily accessible to tourists:

• Telstra
• Optus
• Vodafone Australia (TPG Telecom)
• ALDImobile (Telstra MVNO)
• Amaysim (Optus MVNO)
• Australia Post Mobile (Optus MVNO)
• Belong Mobile (Telstra MVNO)
• Boost Mobile Australia (Telstra MVNO)
• Coles Mobile (Optus MVNO)
• Gomo Australia (Optus MVNO)
• Gotalk Australia (Vodafone Australia (TPG Telecom) MVNO)
• Hello Mobile Australia (Vodafone Australia (TPG Telecom) MVNO)
• Lebara Australia (Vodafone Australia (TPG Telecom) MVNO)
• Lycamobile Australia (Telstra MVNO)
• Woolworths Mobile (Telstra MVNO)

You have many, many more MVNOs in Australia (about 40 or so), but most offer postpaid services only, or you need to order the SIM card online (which can take some time, depending on where you are).

I tested the other two mobile operators and four MVNOs while in Australia. You can read about them here: Telstra, Vodafone Australia, ALDImobile Australia, Amaysim, Boost Mobile Australia & Lebara Australia.

Let's talk about Optus' coverage first, after these quick frequency details:

• 2G: N/A – shut down in August 2017
• 3G: 900 MHz – shutting down in 2024
• 4G/LTE: 700 MHz (Band 28), 1800 MHz (Band 3), 2100 MHz (Band 1), 2300 MHz (n40), & 2600 MHz (Band 7)
• 5G NR: 1800 MHz (n3), 2100 MHz (n1), 2300 MHz (n40), 3500 MHz (n78) & 26 GHz (n258)
• VoLTE: Yes
• VoWiFi: Yes

Here you have Optus' APN settings:

• Name: Optus Yes Internet
• APN: yesinternet

Note: leave anything not mentioned above untouched.

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Optus Coverage + My Experience

You can have a mobile operator providing you 1 Gbps download speeds.

But it will be useless if it covers only one street in Australia.

So, how is Optus' coverage?

Being expanded.

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How to Get an Optus SIM Card (or eSIM) & Prices

I would discourage you from buying a SIM card at airports in most countries.

Either becaue of (overly) expensive tourist SIM cards are sold there, or the salespeople jack up the prices with high “minimum top-ups” or because they simply can.

While getting a SIM card at the airport can be convenient, especially when you arrive late or need to be connected as soon as possible, it is often (way) cheaper to buy SIM cards in town.

In Australia, however, things are a bit different – there is often no harm in getting SIM cards at airports.

In fact, some airport deals are very attractive and only available there.

Being expanded.

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Optus Plans, Bundles & Offers

Optus has four data-featured prepaid plans:

• Optus Flex 4G (combo)
• Optus Flex 5G (combo)
• Optus Epic Plans (combo)
• Prepaid Mobile Broadband Recharges (data-only for data-only SIM card)

All Optus plans can be activated on the Optus app.

Disclaimer: these were the available plans at the time I was in Australia – the offering may have changed since then (including whether 5G NR is available to prepaid customers or not). To see Optus' current plans, check out my Australia SIM card buying guide (which gets updated regularly – at least four times a year).

I will list all the prices in AUD (Australian Dollar).

To convert AUD to your currency (let's say NZD – New Zealand Dollar) with up-to-date exchange rates, use the Wise Currency Converter tool.

Optus Flex 4G Plans

The Optus Flex 4G plans are combo bundles with data (without 5G NR access), minutes & SMS.

Optus Flex 4G can be activated on the My Optus app:

Price	Data	Local Minutes	International Minutes 1	Local SMS	Validity
1 AUD	1 GB	Unlimited	N/A	Unlimited	1 day
1.50 AUD	1 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	1 day
7 AUD	7 GB	Unlimited	N/A	Unlimited	7 days
8 AUD	7 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	7 days
14 AUD	14 GB	Unlimited	N/A	Unlimited	14 days
17 AUD	14 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	14 days
30 AUD	30 GB	Unlimited	N/A	Unlimited	30 days
35 AUD	30 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	30 days
180 AUD	100 GB	Unlimited	N/A	Unlimited	1 year
300 AUD	200 GB	Unlimited	N/A	Unlimited	1 year

¹ for local use and to 50 countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela & Vietnam

Unused data will go to your Data Bank when your plan auto-renews (enabled by default) or when you renew your plan before it expires.

You can save up to 200 GB in your data bank.

Auto-renewal can be disabled on the My Optus app.

Optus Flex 5G Plans

The Optus Flex 5G plans are combo bundles with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS.

Optus Flex 5G can be activated on the My Optus app:

Price	Data	Local Minutes	Local SMS	Validity
2 AUD	2 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	1 day
60 AUD	60 GB	Unlimited 1	Unlimited	30 days

¹ for local use and to 50 countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela & Vietnam

Unused data will go to your Data Bank when your plan auto-renews (enabled by default) or when you renew your plan before it expires.

You can save up to 200 GB in your data bank.

Auto-renewal can be disabled on the My Optus app.

Optus Epic Plans

The Optus Epic Plans are combo bundles with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS.

Optus Epic Plans can be activated on the My Optus app:

Price	Data	Local/International Minutes 1	Local SMS	Validity
10 AUD	5 GB	Unlimited 2	Unlimited	5 days
30 AUD	40 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	28 days
40 AUD	50 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	28 days
180 AUD	100 GB	Unlimited 2	Unlimited	365 days
300 AUD	300 GB	Unlimited 2	Unlimited	365 days

¹ for local use and to 15 countries:Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom & the United States
² for local use only

Unused data will go to your Data Bank when your plan auto-renews (enabled by default) or when you renew your plan before it expires.

You can save up to 200 GB in your data bank.

Auto-renewal can be disabled on the My Optus app.

Prepaid Mobile Broadband Recharges

The Prepaid Mobile Broadband Recharges are data plans (without 5G NR access)

Prepaid Mobile Broadband Recharges can be activated on the My Optus app:

Price	Data	Validity
5 AUD 1	1 GB	2 days
10 AUD 1	5 GB	5 days
15 AUD 1	7 GB	7 days
20 AUD	12 GB	10 days
30 AUD	25 GB	30 days
40 AUD 1	20 GB	30 days
50 AUD 1	25 GB	90 days
60 AUD	30 GB	90 days
70 AUD 1	35 GB	90 days
80 AUD	30 GB	186 days
90 AUD	50 GB	186 days
100 AUD 1	60 GB	186 days
130 AUD	80 GB	365 days

¹ sold as vouchers in select stores only

Unused data will go to your Data Bank when your plan auto-renews (enabled by default) or when you renew your plan before it expires.

You can save up to 200 GB in your data bank.

Auto-renewal can be disabled on the My Optus app.

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Optus Top-Up, Recharge & Balance Check

Optus top-up vouchers are sold in Optus stores, grocery stores, corner shops & electronics shops throughout Australia.

But the most convenient way to recharge (or get a (new) plan) is online or through the Optus app.

To top up your Optus SIM card, text MENU to 9999 and follow the instructions.

You can also recharge online with (international) debit and credit cards.

Text BAL to 999 to check your Optus balance.

You can also top up and check your balance on the My Optus app (Android/iOS).

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Optus Speed Test Results (in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Shepparton & Sydney)

Alright, now it is time to talk about the speeds you can expect with Optus after covering all the other essential topics like coverage.

But before I share my 128 speed test results in Adelaide (SA – South Australia), Brisbane (QLD – Queensland), Canberra (ACT – Australian Capital Territory), Melbourne (VIC – Victoria), Shepparton (VIC) & Sydney (NSW – New South Wales), I want to set the stage first and make a small comparison with Optus' competition.

Optus is regarded by Speedtest as the second-fastest mobile operator in Australia in Q1-Q2 of 2022.

With a median download speed of 75.27, Optus is ahead of Vodafone Australia (59.15 Mbps) but behind Telstra (81.57 Mbps).

When I arrived in Australia, 5G NR was already available to Optus prepaid customers (unlike its competition that took a bit longer).

So I have plenty of 5G NR results to share with you.

I did speed tests with the Speedtest app in six cities (although Australia has sub-cities (like the City of Monash in metro Melbourne), making the number of cities 17) across five states.

So I will go city to city, allowing you to just read the results of the city/cities/state you plan to visit.

For reference, I consider an average download speed of 25 Mbps and an average of 10 Mbps upload speed fast enough.

Preferably, download speeds should be 100 Mbps+ on 4G/LTE… but we are not there yet 🗿.

But why these averages?

A download speed of more than 25 Mbps is enough to video stream content @ 4k resolution.

Social media sites that allow for live streaming, like Facebook Live, recommend an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps.

So, that is why – but that does not mean that a download speed of less than 100 Mbps excited me 😏.

But Australia spoiled… everything slower than 300 Mbps is slow now 🤣.

Optus Speed Test Results in Adelaide (South Australia)

Adelaide is the capital of South Australia (SA), the second-least-populated Australian state (excluding the territories), and precisely in the middle (fifth-most-populated of nine) when taking internal territories into account.

Personally, I thought Adelaide was a boring city 🗿, and my fellow Melburnians agree (and I probably pissed off some Adelaideans – I still love y'all 🫶🏿🥹).

Luckily, my stay was short because I did not want to stay longer than an extended weekend.

Anyway, I mostly stayed in the city and did not explore the rest of South Australia (I may go in the not-near future).

Let's see how Optus performed in Adelaide:

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Optus Speed Test Results in Brisbane (Queensland)

Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland (QLD), the third-most-populated Australian state. It is also the third-largest when taking internal territories into account.

Before I went to Brisbane, I asked some of my Melbourne friends if Brisbane was fun.

They all said Brisbane is a big country town – some even said it was as boring as Adelaide.

I can tell you that Brisbane is not boring at all – they were all liars.

I confronted one of those spreading anti-Brisbane propaganda… she told me that some other friends of her had visited the city between the time she told me about Brisbane, all saying it is actually quite fun.

She herself did not go to Brisbane in 20 years 🗿 so it may have been a boring country town in the past… but not anymore!

Anyway I mostly stayed in the city and did not explore the rest of Queensland (unlike South Australia, I would be willing to go back again, to Cairns, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast).

Let's see how Optus performed in Brisbane:

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Optus Speed Test Results in Canberra (Australian Capital Territory)

Canberra is the largest city in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which, as the name implies, is also Australia's capital city.

Not Sydney or Melbourne (and certainly not Brisbane) – Canberra.

Just like how Wellington is New Zealand's capital and not Auckland… or how Toronto and Vancouver get called Canada's capital instead of Ottawa.

The Australian Capital Territory is the most-populated internal territory (ahead of the Northern Territory and Jervis Bay Territory, which often gets forgotten), but the ACT has a smaller population than any other state.

One thing I find unfortunate about Canberra's reputation is that everyone says it is boring – even the security guy at the airport asked if I thought Canberra was boring.

Honestly… Canberra is not boring at all!

Sure, it is not as exciting as Brisbane, Melbourne, or Sydney, but it is certainly pretty.

Canberra Airport used to host two international flights (after years of lobbying) from Qatar and Singapore.

The latter scrapped the flight because of COVID – the former planned to resume its Melbourne – Canberra – Doha flights in October, then December, before ultimately ditching it, unfortunately.

But I do not think you should visit only Canberra when visiting Australia… that would be disappointing 🗿.

Let's see how Optus performed in Canberra:

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Optus Speed Test Results in Melbourne (Victoria)

Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria (VIC), the second-most-populated Australian state (including the internal territories).

Greater Melbourne is also the second-largest city in Australia, just behind Sydney.

I may be baised because I live in Melbourne, but Melbourne is my favorite Australian city 😍.

The vibe, the way the city is set up & the attractions are why I, and especially my boyfriend, love (living in) Melbourne.

Sydney is not bad either – not at all. The issue is that things are too spread out… and I thought it felt a bit too corporate 🤔.

Moreover, Melbourne has the most extensive tram network worldwide (thanks to Major General Sir Robert Joseph Henry Risson) and the largest shopping mall in the southern hemisphere – Chadstone (take that, Sydney!).

Let's see how Optus performed in Melbourne:

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Optus Speed Test Results in Shepparton (Victoria)

Shepparton-Mooroopna (not to be confused with Shepperton, Surrey in the United Kingdom) is the sixth-largest city in Victoria.

While I had nothing to do there, my boyfriend always wanted to see the museum up there (Shepparton Art Museum – SAM).

Moreover, it was a great opportunity to test the mobile operators' and travel eSIMs' performance in regional Australia.

Shepparton is certainly not part of The Outback, but it is far from the metro area to call it regional.

But if you want to visit more exciting regional cities in Victoria, you are better off in Ballarat and Bendigo – both reachable by V/Line regional trains.

Let's see how Optus performed in Shepparton:

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Optus Speed Test Results in Sydney (New South Wales)

Sydney is the capital city of New South Wales (NSW), the most-populated Australian state (including the internal territories).

Greater Sydney is also the largest Australian city (just ahead of Melbourne).

Sydney is a lovely city with plenty of things to see and do.

But it is a rather car-centric city, making visiting multiple key attractions in one day a bit challenging.

Let alone how expensive everything is over there 🤑.

But I do love Sydney's doubledecker suburban trains – they are fun!

Let's see how Optus performed in Shepparton:

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My Overall Experience with Optus – Is It Any Good?

I would recommend Optus, and it would be one of my top recommendation for anyone wanting to buy an Australian SIM card.

Being expanded

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Australian SIM Card Reviews

As mentioned earlier, I also tried out Telstra, Vodafone Australia, ALDImobile Australia, Amaysim, Boost Mobile Australia & Lebara Australia when I was in Australia.

You should read those reviews too.

>>> Telstra Review | Vodafone Australia Review | ALDImobile Australia Review | Amaysim Review | Boost Mobile Australia Review | Lebara Australia Review <<<

Later, I will make a comparison post of the seven Australian SIM cards I tried… but that will take a while (I have many reviews of other countries that I still need to write, so they are prioritized).

But you can still make an educated purchased after reading the Australian SIM card reviews.

I also tried out various travel eSIMs that work in Australia: Airalo (Yes! Go! & Discover Global), Holafly, Nomad & SimOptions.

You should also read those reviews.

>>> Airalo Yes! Go! Australia eSIM Review | Airalo Discover Global eSIM Review | Holafly Australia eSIM Review | Nomad Australia eSIM Review | SimOptions 3 HK eSIM in Australia Review <<<

Check out my reviews page if you want to read all the other reviews I have written, including other Oceanian SIM cards.

Australia SIM Card Buying Guide

There are 14 other SIM cards to choose from in Australia besides Optus.

I analyze and discuss them in-depth in my Australia SIM card buying guide.