Two of Samsung’s three new phones for 2021 now have a rating that says they’re ready for use in parts of Australia that mightn’t be tech focused.
Even though we thought the battery on the Galaxy S21 could easily be better, it wasn’t a bad phone by any stretch of the imagination. It needed some work on the battery life, the chip performance, and a little bit on the camera, as well.
However if that hasn’t managed to dissuade you, and you happen to be someone that travels to rural Australia a little more than most, there might be another reason to jump on over to the Samsung S21 range this year: it has Blue Tick certification.
That’s a Telstra specific rating, however it’s something that doesn’t get applied to every phone in the world, or even every phone released in Australia. Rather, it comes to specific phones after Telstra’s Wireless Innovation Lab puts phones into a barrage of tests, working with them in Paramatta and remote locations to work out whether or not they’re ideal for both city and rural areas.
Phones carrying that mark basically tell the world they’re going to work better in regional Australia, with extended reach and range compared to models without the marking.
Optus has its own marking and rating with the purple Optus “Top Picks” program, but for Telstra, it’s called Blue Tick, obvious because there’s a blue tick on the box when something supports it. And this wee, there are two more phones carrying that logo: the Galaxy S21 5G and the Galaxy S21+ 5G.
We’re not sure why the premium model, the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, isn’t a part of this announcement, but the addition of the two S21 models means there are at present 21 models rated for Telstra’s Blue Tick certification, running across Samsung and Telstra handsets, and include the:
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
- Samsung Galaxy S20 5G
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
- Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
- Telstra Tough Max 3, and
- Telstra’s Essential phones
That’s a list that lacks models from likes of Apple and others, leaving the Blue Tick certification for Samsung and Telstra. It doesn’t mean other phones won’t work in rural or regional Australia, but more that the Blue Tick models are certified to offer improved connectivity in regional parts of Australia.
It’s a win for the S21 models, for sure. Now if we could just get Samsung to do something about the battery life…
