I want my next phone to be “unlocked” so I can use it w/ any carrier - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Mint, etc. I’m based in the US, but if I travel internationally, it would be nice to be able to just pop in a local SIM card and continue using my phone like normal.
What gives me pause is, I see used phones listed as “US Version,” and reviewers claiming the phone was not unlocked (for example, this Pixel 7a on Amazon).
Questions:
- What am I missing here? Do these reviewers just not know what they’re doing, or are they buying from shady resellers?
- Does “US Version” imply I would not be able to use the phone internationally by just popping in a local SIM card?
Thank you!
Look up the exact model of the phone then check GSMArena or a similar site to see which bands it supports - then check to see which bands your carrier requires.
Also, in the US I usually recommend eBay or swappa for phones - their buyer protections are robust and it’s almost trivial to return the phone if there’s an issue that isn’t disclosed in the sale listing. Buying used/refurbed things on Amazon is a crapshoot in my experience.
Is this thing with unsupported bands ever an issue outside USA? It isn’t a problem I’ve ever encountered in using any phone abroad or heard people of any other could try talk about.
Not to my knowledge. The US is it’s own special flavor of carrier-specific phone hell.
The US is fucking weird. I’d honestly suggest you just buy a ready-out-of-box phone from the EU. EU laws make the device a whole lot more functional than what you’ll get in the US.
If you travel to the EU it’s easiest just to buy it in person over here - there are plenty of retailers that’ll just sell you a new phone in box same day.
Gotcha, and then is the protocol to just sell it back at the end of the trip?
You certainly can if you’d like, you won’t get a full refund of the value you spent. I ended up just buying my phone in the EU and bringing it back to Canada with me. An EU phone can run a US or Canadian SIM without issue - the problem only happens in the other direction.
So, like, my suggestion is just buy your phone in the EU then it’ll work everywhere with any SIM.
I see. Thanks for clarifying.
Plenty of options for dual SIM phones here, too.
Which makes it even more convenient to just pop in a local SIM while traveling.
I had not considered that. Thanks for the tip.
I’m not an expert but my guess is this is more of a signal band issue rather a carrier-lock issue if it’s truly unlocked. Some phones only support specific bands that won’t work with certain carriers. That’s just my guess though.
People like to steal phones, and then sell them.
Gotcha, so would you say this comes down to buying from a reputable store (e.g. Best Buy)?
I would. Or buy from someone you trust.
Granted, people can’t tell if a phone is unlocked when they’re stealing it so having an unlocked phone doesn’t make it more likely you’d be targeted for theft.
Yeah, no one stealing a phone is going to ask what it’s status is.
