Buying a Mobile Phone from the USA.

[GasoLane]

I'm looking at a new Mobile that will only be sold in retail outlets and not through a Carrier like Telstra, Optus etc.

Seeing as the US price of the phone I want to buy is about half of the OZ price this seems like a good idea.

I believe the frequencies are the same so, has anyone done this, if so what are the drawbacks, if any.

And yes I realise that the warrant probably wouldn't cover here.

[Bushbasher]

If you're going to do that, why not just buy a good used one off of Ebay, that way you'd know it would work here and if it turns out to be dodgy then just get your money back through Ebay or Paypal.
And here's a tip, my cousin is a Nokia rep and works through Telstra, and he tells me that all the Telstra network phones have a modified aerial to let them pick up NextG, not just 3G, which is why they tend to have better coverage and a stronger signal. I'll have more info on that next week as he's throwing me a bone , his old Xperia as he gets them for free and is now using the Xperia2. He tells me if I put my Virgin card in it I should get better reception and a stronger signal than in the Galaxy S4 I just got 3 weeks ago. I'll know next week I guess and I'll let you know.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Do they use a sim over there? When I had some American friends visit about 3 years ago they were a little confused about what the sim does, I think certain carriers at the time didn't use them?

I guess if you are buying new the spec sheet will say what sim it takes anyway, perhaps be wary of it doesn't state any sim type?

Same with some phones in the UK when I was there come to think of it, didn't take a sim.

[a-total-tool]

You would need to know the actual model of the phone, and ensure that the frequencies match what your network operates on here. You can't say the Samsung Galaxy S5, you would need to know the technical model.
Telstra for operate on GSM 900, 1800 / UMTS 850, 2100 / LTE 1800. You would need to make sure that the handset can at least operate on UMTS850 if you want 3G, and LTE1800 if you want 4G (and to future proof yourself, you would want something that can also run on LTE700, as mobile networks are trialling services on this band)

[devilcv8]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

And here's a tip, my cousin is a Nokia rep and works through Telstra, and he tells me that all the Telstra network phones have a modified aerial to let them pick up NextG, not just 3G, which is why they tend to have better coverage and a stronger signal. I'll have more info on that next week as he's throwing me a bone , his old Xperia as he gets them for free and is now using the Xperia2. He tells me if I put my Virgin card in it I should get better reception and a stronger signal than in the Galaxy S4 I just got 3 weeks ago. I'll know next week I guess and I'll let you know.

It's scary when sales reps believe their own rubbish...... Nextg is 3G. It's just Telstra's name for their network.
Is the Xperia a quad band device? Because if it isn't you won't get 900 which is what you need for Optus/virgin. While Optus also has 2100, the coverage isn't as good.

[Simple6]

Yeah as above - if it's unlocked and supports the 850 range in 3G or the above mentioned 4G ranges then you'll be fine.

With regards to the non-sim phones, in the USA there is still one company (Verizon pops to mind) that uses a CDMA network which has no SIM cards. These phones will obviously not work in AUS as Telstra shut down their CDMA network 10(?) years ago now.

[cram_it_frog]

Telstra shut down their CDMA network and that was a sad day for people in remote areas even today I still do not have as good a service as CDMA

[Jastel]

Our 4G is not the same as what they use, was in the states last week with AT&T sim in an unlocked Telstra SG5 and all worked except for 4G, which was exactly what I expected.

[GasoLane]

I forgot to mention in my first post that it's a Motorola Moto X

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

If you're going to do that, why not just buy a good used one off of Ebay,

They have only just been released in Oz this month so I doubt that there would be any 2nd hand ones yet

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Do they use a sim over there? When I had some American friends visit about 3 years ago they were a little confused about what the sim does,

Yeah, it's a nano sim.

Originally Posted by a-total-tool

You would need to know the actual model of the phone, and ensure that the frequencies match what your network operates on here.
Telstra for operate on GSM 900, 1800 / UMTS 850, 2100 / LTE 1800. You would need to make sure that the handset can at least operate on UMTS850 if you want 3G, and LTE1800 if you want 4G (and to future proof yourself, you would want something that can also run on LTE700, as mobile networks are trialling services on this band)

Whoa, too many tek-nick-all numbers there..........the Advert states....

Network Generation.........4G
Network Technology.........EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HSPA+, LTE, WCDMA (UMTS)
Band ............................GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) WCDMA (UMTS)/HSPA 850/900/1900/2100

Originally Posted by Simple6

Yeah as above - if it's unlocked and supports the 850 range in 3G or the above mentioned 4G ranges then you'll be fine.

It's not unlocked but thats not a problem, as for the 4G. Out here in the bush we don't get 4G, we're lucky we have 3G

[Bushbasher]

Originally Posted by devilcv8

It's scary when sales reps believe their own rubbish...... Nextg is 3G. It's just Telstra's name for their network.
Is the Xperia a quad band device? Because if it isn't you won't get 900 which is what you need for Optus/virgin. While Optus also has 2100, the coverage isn't as good.

Don't know from quad band but as near as I can figure, it's the Xperia Z and is good for GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900, LTE 700, 1800, 2100 and HSDPA 850, 900, 1900, 2100. From what I just read, HSDPA is basically a step up from WCDMA but is backwards compatible with WCDMA. The S4 is WCDMA and the Xperia is HSDPA so maybe this is what my cousin was alluding to...... and he told me if I put my Virgin sim into the Xperia it'll work and get a better signal, I'll find out next week if he knows what he's talking about.

[2011G6E]

I've got a little cheap phone we bought at Walmart in Vegas. Exactly the same as the cheap Telstra ones you get here for about forty bucks (except in Walmart it was only $13). It takes a normal SIM card.

It's not locked to any network so maybe I should dig it out of our travel bag and chuck a SIM in it and see if it works here...

[devilcv8]

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

Telstra shut down their CDMA network and that was a sad day for people in remote areas even today I still do not have as good a service as CDMA

I remember when there was a big press announcement about the range of CDMA. Press and big wigs were on a boat off shore and were getting a signal from Peak Alone just west of cobargo, a distance of 120 odd kms. Pity it was only for show. Telstra swapped the gear out and the range dropped way back.

[Bushbasher]

Ok, well the Xperia Z turned up and I put the Virgin card in it, and yes, it did improve the signal but only marginally and not in any significant way. Having said that, I think we'll send the virgin phones back and cancel the contracts. I've already hit the cuz up for another phone for the missus.
The Xperia looks and feels pretty good I reckon and his next cast off is a Z2 which surpasses the Galaxy S4 for kit and speed, so it should impress the missus enough that she'll give up the S4, (that she's only just gotten used to and now really likes). I hope so anyway otherwise I'm going to have to go buy her a Galaxy which I really don't want to have to do.

[Falcon_Crazy]

Guys US LTE 700MHz is not the same as ours here in Oz which Optus an Telstra are rolling out so you will never get full LTE range. Need an Asian Pac class LTE 700MHz phone. I had pleasure of telling one of our corporate clients who bought 15 which are now useless for their intended purpose