Telstra Essential Plus

Useless battery – I just have a Telstra Essential 2 for emegencies and receiving confirmation numbers for access to services - it's not even connected to the internet. Even so: with NO use whatsoever: the battery is flat within days! Show details

Just don't. You'll prematurely age trying to get the phone unlocked – The phone itself is okay (just okay) but I've been in an eighteen month special circle of Hell trying to get the phone unlocked. Offered to pay the $25 at six months (6-24 months ownership) but the process l was given didn't work electronically/via phone. Tried to pay at my local (52km round trip) Telstra shop (where I purchased the phone) but… Read more

they no longer accept payments. Gave up. At the two year mark (free unlock) I called Telstra. Advised the unlock code would be sent to my email address (supplied) within seven business days. Called them back on the eighth business day. Advised it would be 8-10 business days. On the thirteenth business day I called the Ombudsman. To compare: I had an inkling this was going to be difficult so, on the day I called Telstra (at the two year mark) to unlock my phone, I purchased a $199 Olitech unlocked phone from the manufacturer. That arrived within FOUR BUSINESS DAYS. In short, do not buy a Telstra branded phone. They will advise you that you need a 'special code' to unlock the phone but fail to deliver it. I now have an expensive plastic paperweight.

False advert re Essential Plus 2 Mobile – My paid for Essential Plus 2 is locked & am unable to use. At first thought it because of faulty SIM card & obtained replacement SIM but this is not the reason. So, no joy at all with either Telstra or Belong. Why is this so ? Show details

Downright Terrible Phone – So i bought this phone recently, and honestly it has only gotten worse and worse, i bought this about a month ago, and out of the box, the phone has been intermitently restarting itself at random times. Apps run kinda terribly, and coupled with the fact that it sometimes restarts while i'm doing things (or even while sitting idle) it tends to ruin… Read more

the experience quite a lot. Personally i find the Battery Life to be alright, and is probably the only thing that for me is beneficial, is that it at least won't die from a day of inactivity. That said, it also won't actually recieve text messages while inactive a lot of the time, and also only occasionally recieves my emails. EDIT: As an added Kick in the teeth, this phone is now dead and not turning on as of September 2020, it didn't even last a year.

Why did I bother to upgrade? – Very sorry I brought this unit appears to be impossible to communicate with a PC to download anything. Also formats the SD card with a non compatible format, shame if they stuck to a standard. Show details

No good – Now this phone is good when u get it but over time it reduces better life and slows down on the data and takes a while to get on website Show details

Can't live without better than the other phone's I had its sends text messages Fast – Great can't live without it it's the best phone I ever I had its also really cheap as well and that you will love so much it's great for photos Show details

Standard – Brought it for my mum when they come visit its bit slow than the other phones but it only suit for the age people not suit for young group people to play the game with it Show details

Cheap and cheerful – Fast, decent battery life. Apps can stutter and lag on occasion but for the price it's a nice phone. Camera is complete crap, looks like its straight out of 2007. Show details

Nice cheap flights phone – It's a cheap phone and you get what you payed for. Pretty impressed with the accuracy of the GPS and Google maps. Signal strength is good with Telstra in rural areas. Show details

Horrible – The worst signal only get 2bars, calls drop out, internet slow, cant receive call screen when browsing, cheap and nasty phone, buy anything but alcatel and zte. When browsing page reloads, the brightness seems to go dull quite often, so how do these phones get passed, quality control dont exist in china, all up a disappointing phone and watch out keyboard close to function buttons.  Show details

Good value cheap phone for moderate use – Purchased mostly to use on home wi-fi for emails, web browsing, Facebook, ebay, Gumtree and Carsales. Despite it's low specification, it does all that fine. Cons: *Sometimes a little slow to open apps, but never annoyingly so *Screen is hard to see from some angles (not great when watching full-screen Youtube) *Battery needs charging every day with a couple of hours of heavy use *Battery takes a long time to charge (several hours)  Show details