Our Blue Tick means that a mobile device has been thoroughly tested and delivers superior voice coverage in rural and regional areas. Devices are tested for receiver sensitivity in a laboratory under controlled conditions and in rural areas on the Telstra Mobile Network, ensuring optimal call quality for customers.

It came about in 2007, when we shut down our CDMA network. We wanted to make sure we could recommend the right handsets to our customers in regional and rural areas. The new “NextG” network operated in a different way, and as a result, we needed to know which phones were best.

Since then, we’ve tested hundreds of devices for their performance on the 3G 850MHz and 4G 700MHz bands to determine their voice call performance

The best of these receive a Blue Tick.

A Blue Tick comes down to how a phone performs on a voice call when you’re holding it in your hand to your ear. It’s the most common way we use a phone to make a call. For that reason, we used the same bloke’s hand to test the performance of a phone for a period of over a decade.

We now have more staffers whose hands are used for signal benchmarking. These hands work hard to run phones through a range of coverage tests to ensure you get the best coverage possible.

And now that we’ve been at this for a while, device manufacturers are working with our technicians to figure out how to maximise their coverage on networks like ours.

It doesn’t matter if you’re after a device on a budget or want the latest flagship device, you’ll find Blue Tick devices right across the board – including the Telstra Tough Max 3, Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

There are heaps more in our range which you can find on our mobile devices page, just look out for the Blue Tick! And find out more on Blue Tick here.