<p>My DD is in the states for two months and needs a phone. Is there an inexpensive smart phone that can be used here, then unlocked for use overseas? ATT and Verizon said they no plan phones are for domestic use only.</p>
<p>Two years ago, my German exchange student bought an unlocked Windows phone (Lumia?) online, used a prepaidTmobile sim card here then brought it back to Germany. I just googled “unlocked phone” and there seems more choices now. Check Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart. Be aware that most unlocked phones work with GSM network.</p>
<p>Verizon will unlock your phone. All you need to do is call them. Then you can buy a sim card overseas and insert it. I’ve done this.</p>
<p>I thought verizon phones didn’t use SIM cards.</p>
<p>Buy unlocked GSM phone from Amazon. Get a SIM from TMobile – no contract.</p>
<p>I think some Verizon phones may take Sim cards as Verizon is interested in the fees when the customers travel.
<a href=“Verizon Cloud Terms & Conditions”>Verizon Cloud Terms & Conditions;
We had major pita getting a phone unlocked from AT & T.
D ended up buying a phone on the street.</p>
<p>Is this a phone for a foreign student who is coming to the US to study? </p>
<p>If so, one can buy an unlocked iPhone at an Apple store, get a pre-paid AT&T or Tmobile card and use it here for 2 month and add money as needed. </p>
<p>On ATT you can get your phone unlocked if it is old enough, you just have to call and try. If the person has their prior phone, that should work.</p>
<p>dd was overseas for a month and we avoided the issue by using WhatsApp and/or Viber - apps that can be downloaded for free. Requires a wifi connection and only works with others who also have the apps downloaded.</p>
<p>The phone has to take a SIM card. She has an in-country phone already, but was thinking about upgrading to a smart phone since she is here for the summer and hoped to just take it with her. Most of the unlocked phones in her price range have crappy reviews and we don’t have any old phones around. I’ve had 6 or 7 old phones unlocked for use overseas for two of my DDs, so am familiar with the process, but the decent phones are more than she can pay - and there is no 100% guarantee that it will work with her foreign SIM card, which is why she wants to limit her outlay.</p>
<p>The one she is most interested in at the point is the Lumia, but it has iffy reviews. Ugh. </p>
<p>I think today there are numerous choices for unlocked GSM phones. They can be purchased at steep discount from online retailers. An unlocked GSM smartphone from one of the major manufacturers should work fine with any company’s SIM card worldwide. There are several models that were introduced in overseas GSM markets that can be purchased in the U.S. A co-worker has a Motorola GSM Android smartphone that he purchased new (and unlocked) from a Canadian retailer. He’s been happy with it. </p>
<p>iPhones have sim cards. Verizon didn’t use sim cards when they were a 3G network.</p>
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<p>Unlocked smart phones are RIDICULOUSLY expensive in the States. Since u are coming from overseas, is your DD’s present smartphone unlocked? If so, she can just buy a monthly pre-paid sim card and swap the sim cards in her phone.</p>
<p>If she has a locked smartphone now. Get it unlocked before she visits the States. </p>
<p>Sprint unlocked DS existing iPhone for international use when he was going abroad for a trip. </p>
<p>Buy an unlocked phone on eBay?</p>
<p>just unlocked a sprint iphone for internationa use. I have done that with another phone before, there is no problem to accept another countries SIM card on a sprint iphone.</p>
<p>Since u are coming from overseas, is your DD’s present smartphone unlocked?>></p>
<p>New phones are expensive where she is. When she started working there two years ago, she bought a used dumb phone, but it has started acting up, which is why she is toying with the idea of buying an unlocked smart phone. But she isn’t willing to spend hundreds of dollars where there is no guarantee that it will even work with her country’s SIM cards. </p>
<p>Plus, foreign phones have to be registered and the fee varies by the type of phone, but starts around $50 I think she said. If they aren’t registered, they get cut off. The cost of an unlocked iphone and the registration fee are way outside of her budget. </p>
<p>I think she is just going to go with a $20 cheapie prepaid phone while here in the states, leave it here and try to find something reasonable when she goes back that she can resell if she doesn’t return for a fourth year.</p>
<p>Update - she bought an unlocked Nokia smartphone for $100. For the summer she is using AT&T prepaid, then will use her country’s SIM card when she goes back in the fall. She can get a talk/text/data plan for something like $10 a month there, so that evens out the device registration fee.</p>
<p>Smart move. Glad it worked out. Though this is the first time I have heard of a registration fee, i.e. user fee, for mobile phones overseas. Not surprising.</p>
<p>My son will be in Scotland for college-- 3 years. He leaves in September and we’re still not 100% sure what to do for his phone. He has a smart phone but it’s getting old. He’s hoping to get a new iPhone6 when it comes out. Do we buy him a phone in Scotland when we bring him over in the fall and just buy a local plan? I also have an iPhone, so when he’s in a WiFi hotspot-- I believe!-- we’ll be able to iText and Facetime for no charge. (Can someone verify this?) Suggestions for me/us? (We currently use Verizon here in the States). </p>