How You Know if Your Phone Is Unlocked

March 12, 2022 Post a Comment

I buy a lot of unlocked smartphones. In fact, every bit I type this, in front of me, in that location are eight smartphones on my desk-bound and every single one of them is "unlocked." Why exercise I buy them, yous ask? For a number reasons, all of which I mentioned in this lengthy piece written about a yr agone. The nuts are this, though – they give me flexibility to test different networks, they often get faster software updates than carrier phones, they tend to be less expensive, and take far fewer bloatware apps than their relatives who are attached to carriers. They are the phones I volition continue to choose time and time again.

With that in mind, I get the feeling that many of you lot are however dislocated as to what an unlocked smartphone is and may even need help in buying i. So today, allow's have a few minutes to talk through some of the things to look for when buying an unlocked smartphone.

What is an unlocked smartphone?

An unlocked phone is a telephone that isnot locked to a item carrier or network and is somewhat of a gratuitous spirit that can come and go from networks as it pleases. The idea here is that about smartphones tend to have the power to connect to a number of different wireless networks and their accompanying wireless bands (frequencies they employ to talk to wireless devices). If a phone is "unlocked," it should be able to connect to different bands and networks and jump betwixt each without hassle. If a phone is "locked," and so that means it has been locked or limited to connecting to specific networks or bands.

Phones sold through carriers (similar AT&T or T-Mobile) are frequently sold equally "locked" and will only work on AT&T or T-Mobile's networks unless you follow a bunch of guidelines from each carrier in social club to get them "unlocked."

Samples of unlocked phones would include Google's Nexus phones (like the 6P and 5X), the Blackberry Priv if bought directly from Blackberry, or the HTC 10 if bought straight from HTC. These phones exercise not accept specific carrier ties and are capable of connecting to a variety of different networks.

You may too hear unlocked phones referred to as "SIM unlocked" or "SIM free." That's in reference to the phone being sold without a SIM card. Why do yous need a SIM card? Well, a SIM card allows you to communicate with a wireless network. When you purchase a prepaid SIM bill of fare from Walmart or walk into a carrier store to setup service, the SIM card is what gets you continued.

buying an unlocked phone

How do I know if a telephone volition work on a detail network?

Ahhh yep, wireless bands and compatibility, what is arguably the near important piece to buying an unlocked phone. After all, yous shouldn't buy an unlocked telephone unless you know that it will work with your carrier of choice. Let's run into if we tin't help you lot figure that out.

There are a bunch of things to look at here, but the majority of all questions can be answered with our United states wireless carrier bands cheat canvas, which is likewise included beneath. Take a look.

CARRIER	NETWORK	3G BANDS	3G FREQUENCIES	4G LTE BANDS	4G LTE FREQUENCIES
AT&T	GSM/HSPA+	2, five	1900, 850	2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 17, 29, thirty, 66	1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700, 2300
VERIZON	CDMA	0, 1	850, 1900	2, 4, 5, 13, 66	1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700
T-MOBILE	GSM/HSPA+	2, 4	1900, 1700/2100	2, 4, 12, 66, 71	1900, 1700/2100, 700, 600
Dart	CDMA	2, 10	1900, 800	25, 26, 41	1900, 850, 2500
United states of america CELLULAR	CDMA	two, five	850, 1900	2, iv, five, 12	1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700

Still confused?

When buying an unlocked telephone, yous need to know which carriers it can work on. That cheat sheet above does and so in about the simplest way. To utilise information technology, you first observe a phone that yous might desire to buy. In that phone'due south listing (probably in the specs section), you lot will want to find mentions of network compatibility, wireless bands, wireless frequencies, and annihilation else related to GSM, UMTS, HSPA, CDMA, and LTE. Because if yous can discover mentions of any of these things, there is a proficient chance you tin can take the information there and match it up to this cheat sheet to meet if the telephone works.

Have a look at Google's listing for the Nexus 6P. Thankfully, Google says at the lesser of its network listing that the 6P is an "unlocked phone and works on major carrier networks." But if it didn't say that, yous could at to the lowest degree wait at each bullet point in that section to make up one's mind if it works on the network for you.

Nexus_6P_-_Unlocked_Android_Phones_-_Google_Store

Let'southward say you want to take the Nexus 6P to Verizon. Well, you tin see here that it supports CDMA bands/frequencies 0 and 1, along with LTE bands 2, 4, and thirteen. And so, aye, it'll piece of work on Verizon!

Now, here is an example of an "unlocked" Galaxy S7 Border over at eBay that'due south upwards for sale. If you wanted to use this on Verizon, you can see right abroad that it doesn't mention "CDMA" anywhere and can then rule information technology out equally a possible option. But if yous wanted to use it on AT&T, you can match upward with the crook sail the fact that information technology supports GSM/HSPA 850 and 1900, along with LTE bands 2, 4, 12, and 17.

Screen Shot 2016-04-26 at 1.06.50 PM

Make sense now?

Where should I purchase unlocked phones from?

Another adept question that thankfully has a bunch of answers. Unlocked phones can be purchased all over the place! Many are ofttimes cheaper than what carriers will sell you a phone for, too. For example, I bought an unlocked Galaxy S7 the week information technology launched for $599 as an unlocked phone. That's nearly $100 cheaper than most US carriers were selling it for at total retail.

For full general unlocked phone browsing, the all-time places to expect are eBay'south daily deals section for phones, Amazon's unlocked phones department, B&H Photo, Expansys Usa, and All-time Buy. eBay and Amazon most always have the best pricing, but those others are reputable plenty to take a look at for special deals.

Of grade, all of Google's phones are unlocked, so the Google Store is a practiced place to become. Motorola sells unlocked phones through it'due south online store besides, as does HTC and Blackberry.

buying an unlocked phone

How do I sign-upwards for service with an unlocked phone?

If you lot already have active service with a carrier or prepaid outfit, you may non demand to sign-up for anything. If yous bought an unlocked phone and information technology is uniform with your current network and you lot have an active SIM card from your former telephone, all you will demand to do is slap that SIM carte in your newly purchased unlocked phone and be on about your fashion. That's the beauty of unlocked phones!

But let's say you are starting fresh. With an unlocked phone, you are going to expect for plans through carriers that involve BYOD (bring your own device) or are prepaid. Unlocked phones and prepaid plans are frequently synonymous with one another, merely some carriers will allow you lot to bring over an unlocked phone and sign-upward for non-prepaid service.

At this indicate, nigh all of the major carriers offer some sort of BYOD or prepaid plan. Verizon does. AT&T does. T-Mobile does. And let'south not forget that there are dozens of prepaid services out there, like Cricket, MetroPCS, Tracfone, Ting, and Republic Wireless, to choose from.

Yous need to find the carrier that gets you the best coverage or the best value, or hopefully, some combination of both. Once you make up one's mind and have verified that your phone works with their network (crook sail to the rescue once more!), you sign-up and social club a SIM kit, because once more, yous need a SIM menu in order for your phone to communicate with a wireless network.

When you SIM card arrives, almost include instructions on how to get your telephone up and running.

What are the downsides to buying an unlocked telephone?

Honestly, I don't retrieve there are many, but here are a few things to keep in mind. When you purchase an unlocked phone, yous aren't necessarily going to get much carrier support. Certain, y'all may find a service rep that will help y'all dial in the APN settings to get the phone attached to their network, but they won't be in that location for hardware issues since they didn't sell y'all the phone. That means if your phone does have an outcome, yous can't just walk into AT&T or Verizon or T-Mobile stores and expect their service reps to make things right. That then means you will need to take upwardly whatsoever issues through the online support of the phone's manufacturer, which can certainly be a striking or miss state of affairs depending on who fabricated the phone.

You volition need to read up on the warranty for the phone yous are buying. That Milky way S7 Border listing I referenced to a higher place says that the phone comes with a 12-month Samsung warranty, but in that location isn't a guarantee that all will. You want to brand sure there is a warranty in that location should y'all run into issues down the route.

Finally, unlocked phones often have quirks considering they are often times imported from other parts of the world. You may turn on a Milky way S7 for the first fourth dimension and encounter a greeting in a language yous cannot understand. The "4G LTE" icon you are used to seeing on carrier-tied phones might say "4G" or "LTE" and expect basic. You may observe that your phone is missing apps or services that carrier-branded phones have (like Samsung Pay on imported Galaxy S6 and S7 phones).

buying an unlocked phone