I have a friend in Germany that wants me to buy an in expense smartphone for him to use primarily in Germany but also in Europe. He is thinking the phone would be less expensive purchased in America. The phone would need to be unlocked and use a SIM card. I am thinking this is not such a good idea however I wanted to hear the opinion of others. Here are my questions:
Is this a good idea given the warranty will be linked to America?
Which smartphone to buy?
Where to buy?
Are there other problems / suggestions?
Thank you for all the replies.
Whatever you wanna buy: keep in mind that we dont have a 4G WIMAX network like Sprints. Also here in Germany 4G LTE usally uses other frequences 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz instead of 700 und 2100 MHz like in the USA. So buying a 4G smartphone in america for Germany is not an good idea
Get an International Motorola,they put all the major network bands.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA
Related
Hey All
I'm on Telstra in Australia - a network which needs 850mhz 3G. I am REALLY interested in buying the sensation, and from what it looks, the Vodafone UK model supports UMTS 850?
I've got very close relatives who live in the UK, so I can get them to buy it for me. Can someone possibly tell me:
- Does the Vodafone UK one definitely support 850mhz 3G?
- Does it come network unlocked?
- Is there any way to buy it outright without a plan? (eg. PAYG or something)
I can get it shipped to my relatives in the UK or they might even go buy me one in the store. But for now, it looks like the VodaUK one is the only 850mhz capable one.
Thanks
guys could you please update me on the subject
i need to clarify the fact that there are two versions of sensation in north america
1) 900/1700/2100 MHz (tmobile)
2) 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (att)
because that would explain the price gap between two of them (~200$) as the first one is useless in rest of the world/europe and thus lacks export demand........
as far as i know there is no sensation for at&t at the moment. Maybe your thinking of the Bell version in Canada? Also the price should be the same except maybe the t-mobile one is the price after the 2 year contract subsidy.
not sure which one is it but it is very clear on ebay that prices on second version are higher
....
just need some guru to confirm the fact that there are two versions for UMTS band 4 and 5 ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands
the outcome is probably lack of 3g speed data transfers in europe with us tmobile version of the phone...
Yes, the T-mobile version is umts band 4 and the Bell wireless one is umts band 5. Gut if your using it in Europe why don't you just get the Europe version of the HTC sensation?
i am just asking to make sure...
-=knop=- said:
guys could you please update me on the subject
i need to clarify the fact that there are two versions of sensation in north america
1) 900/1700/2100 MHz (tmobile)
2) 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (att)
because that would explain the price gap between two of them (~200$) as the first one is useless in rest of the world/europe and thus lacks export demand........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm confused. While I was in England, I thought I used my T-Mobile Sensation for calls (although, most were through WiFi).
Hey guys,
Excited on getting my Nexus S.
Gonna buy it from the Chinese behemoth Taobao.com
I found out the Nexus S isn't officially available from Samsung China. So it looks like I will be getting an Asian or Euro model. I will get the i9020 (S AMOLED).
I will be moving to Canada soon.
My question is: are all unlocked Euro/Asia models the same in that their frequency bands and features will work in Canada? I don't want to get shafted by getting the wrong 3G band or something like that.
Also, is there region-specific software on the phone that cannot be removed?
It won't have any region specific software, and the radio should work anywhere in the world. If you find you have any issue with it when it arrives, post again, people here are very helpful!
Sent from my SNES
lchazl said:
Hey guys,
Excited on getting my Nexus S.
Gonna buy it from the Chinese behemoth Taobao.com
I found out the Nexus S isn't officially available from Samsung China. So it looks like I will be getting an Asian or Euro model. I will get the i9020 (S AMOLED).
I will be moving to Canada soon.
My question is: are all unlocked Euro/Asia models the same in that their frequency bands and features will work in Canada? I don't want to get shafted by getting the wrong 3G band or something like that.
Also, is there region-specific software on the phone that cannot be removed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're not region specific per se, but radio specific. Here's the models:
GT-I9020 or GT-I9020T
900 / 1700 / 2100 MHz UMTS, Super AMOLED
GT-I9020A
850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz UMTS, Super AMOLED
GT-I9023
900 / 1700 / 2100 MHz UMTS, Super Clear LCD
Thanks bedalus and polobunny, will post again once I buy it in the next week or so. =)
If you're coming to Canada, then depending on which carrier you're going to, you'll need a specific version.
Bell, Telus and Rogers use the 9020A
Wind and Mobilicity use the 9020T
Wind and Mobilicity are only available within some urban centres, but are much cheaper. Some complain about quality, but I doubt it's that big a deal so long as you're in their 'zone'.
Keep this in mind when buying.
bloomfield9000 said:
If you're coming to Canada, then depending on which carrier you're going to, you'll need a specific version.
Bell, Telus and Rogers use the 9020A
Wind and Mobilicity use the 9020T
Wind and Mobilicity are only available within some urban centres, but are much cheaper. Some complain about quality, but I doubt it's that big a deal so long as you're in their 'zone'.
Keep this in mind when buying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bloomfield for that.
I went to the cell phone mall today, went there to find the actual store of one of the guys off taobao. Anyways they all have it but one I saw was from Spain it looked like (inside the battery area) with an Australian manual (could be fake cuz of the paper and the folding was off)
And of course no warranty.
Another came in a Galaxy S box! and again a fake Chinese manual for another model. I was like wtf happened from getting it from overseas to here. They say blah blah blah old phone, etc. now the phone may be legit but why risk all that **** for 300+ bux when I can just get it new/used in Canada for around that WITH warranty.
Dear all,
I d like to buy a phone that has 3G in USA with Tmobile (on the 1700 Mhz freq) and 3G 900Mhz in Italy. I am italian now in USA for a 1 year job and I bought a phone that only has 1900/2100 so I have trouble with the 3G on Tmobile, it only gets the signal sometimes in some refarmed areas, overall it sucks here in PA. What is the best pentaband phone you would suggest? I was looking for Nexus IV, but it does not have the the sdcard. What about the Samsung SIII? I did a search online but it looks that the tmobile version misses the 900 frequency and the international version misses the 1700, so there is not such a pentaband Samsung SIII? Any pentaband alternative to the Nexus III that has the SDcard?
thanks
A.
go for the nexus 4, you will not miss the external sdcard,
sent from a detached proud nexus 4 user
There are 2 threads devoted to questions about devices, please repost your question in one of these two threads: The what should I buy thread or The Device Suggestion Thread.
Thanks!
Im wondering if anyone has gone from the Desire Z to the Galaxy S Relay 4G in Europe.
I ask for Europe to make sure it is compatible with most networks over here.
I see there is even ROM development over here with 4.4.4 running I imagine codename "Android L" will probably run as well
Thank you for the comments.
A few have had posts in the q&a or maybe general section, there aren't many posts at all here so I'm sure with minimal effort you'll find the ones I'm referring to
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
riahc3 said:
Im wondering if anyone has gone from the Desire Z to the Galaxy S Relay 4G in Europe.
I ask for Europe to make sure it is compatible with most networks over here.
Thank you for the comments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went from Desire Z to Galaxy S Relay, it works well in Norway.
You need to unlock the phone from T-Mobile, see this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2255892.
Be aware that this phone is not enabled for 4G (LTE) network, only 3.75G (HSPA+). HSPA+ is marketed as 4G in USA, not in Europe.
raphaelcno said:
I went from Desire Z to Galaxy S Relay, it works well in Norway.
You need to unlock the phone from T-Mobile, see this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2255892.
Be aware that this phone is not enabled for 4G (LTE) network, only 3.75G (HSPA+). HSPA+ is marketed as 4G in USA, not in Europe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3G works in Norway too?
I think by frequencies sadly 3G wont work here where Im at A shame.
900 MHz 3g doesn't work!
I upgraded too from Desire Z to Relay, didn't even realize any 900 Mhz problem. I get always an H or E icon (HSDPA or EDGE), so 900 MHz should be working.
According to specs, the phone should work with these networks:
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
I have it in Telekom in Slovakia and in the meantime I travelled to NY and got no problem at all (I had it set to manual network selection to save roaming charges).
The phone I bought via ebay was locked (even the seller described it as unlocked) but after firmware downgrade I easily unlocked it. I recommend LiquidSmooth ROM, you'll fall in love with that phone!
My other finalist was Moto Photon Q, it supports GSM but lacks SIM card slot. If you want, there's a guy in Prague, the author of the sim card mod instruction post on xda, that can do it for you. But I chose the easier way. Now I have a small problem with display flex cable (probably too much openings/day) so I'm considering buying another Relay before they're gone with no decent qwerty phone around. And I can leave the current one for spare parts. I had to put away my DZ because of the keyboard. Some keys started to write several characters instead of one and there was no easy way to fix it.
FYI ebay deals in your name with customs, so they charge you immediately and the phone is delivered to your door without customs holding it for a week.
If you wish to
T699 in the UK
Hi.
I did not owed the HTC, I used an Xpreia Pro prior to my S4 Relay. However I have the S4 relay for almost 1 year and I had no problems using it in the UK. I have traveled in Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania) and I was able to use it without any problems. AFAIK it works just fine on 900 Mhz but in 2G. The big question is what freq of 3G is your network provider using. For example, in UK I'm on EE network which is using 2100 Mhz for 3G and 1800 Mhz for 2G so the device works perfectly. Ifyou are on Movistar Spain than your phone will work fine, since the company is offering 2G on: 900/1800 MHz (both supported by S4 relay) and 900/2100 MHz UMTS ( from which 2100 is supported by the device). In very simple translation 2g will work everywhere without any problem, it might happen that is some places you will not get 3G signal.
Hope it helps.
Emil