Galaxy A34 Unlocked Question

[flynempire]

Hello, first time posting. need some help trying to figure something out. I have a friend coming to South Florida in a few weeks.

They live in the Bahamas. Present phone is giving problems so I looked up a newer phone and I think the Galaxy A34 is right for their needs even though a year old. I studied the specs and showed them. They do not do a whole lot with the phone and agreed its fine, that’s the phone they want.

I found on Amazon an unlocked version which shows works worldwide and, in the US, only works with Metro, T-mobile etc - https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-A34-Unlocked-Worldwide-T-Mobile/dp/B0BY3HQXB6/.

I can just go to T-Mobile and get a prepaid SIM I believe and they will have service for the week they are here.

In the Bahamas their provider is called ALIV. They don’t offer 5G just 3G and 4G LTE. On their website it states the following: ALIV has an LTE network that supports Band 13 and Band 4 technology. If you have device that supports this technology, and it is unlocked, you can use your current device. To check compatibility, please search on line at www.gsmarena.com for your device’s compatibility with Band 13.

When I got to GSM Arena to look up the phone: https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a34-12074.php I do see that the phone supports Band 4. That leads me to the following Questions.

Since the phone is only supporting one of the Bands and not both, will they be able to use it once they are back in Bahamas?

Next question is if prepaid Sim works here, then once back they can swap the Sim for the existing one in old phone and should just work?

With the Prepaid Sim, I understand that will give them a new, temp number. What about WhatsApp? They use that mostly for calls and Video Chats. Will it work or do I need to do something particular to have the existing WhatsApp work in the new one as well?

This is new for me so I thank any answers that can be provided.

 

[joeldf]

I can give an initial response, but others can chime in for more detail, or even correct me if I'm wrong.

For the bands... it depends. While not common for the bigger carriers, smaller ones will only operate a few bands. But the real question is, does that carrier use both bands everywhere, or only one in one area and the other in other areas. It can be a coverage problem if they don't have both bands available everywhere because the user could end up somewhere that doesn't broadcast the one band that the phone needs.

For Whatsapp, I'm pretty sure it uses the internet for calls and video. Not using cellular at all, thus not dependant on the SIM card. It does need an internet connection. Which would require a SIM card to use mobile data (3G, 4G-LTE or 5G) and available compatible bands. Or at least Wi-Fi which isn't dependant on a SIM card, but an open available router or hot-spot to connect to.

 

[flynempire]

I can give an initial response, but others can chime in for more detail, or even correct me if I'm wrong.

For the bands... it depends. While not common for the bigger carriers, smaller ones will only operate a few bands. But the real question is, does that carrier use both bands everywhere, or only one in one area and the other in other areas. It can be a coverage problem if they don't have both bands available everywhere because the user could end up somewhere that doesn't broadcast the one band that the phone needs.

For Whatsapp, I'm pretty sure it uses the internet for calls and video. Not using cellular at all, thus not dependant on the SIM card. It does need an internet connection. Which would require a SIM card to use mobile data (3G, 4G-LTE or 5G) and available compatible bands. Or at least Wi-Fi which isn't dependant on a SIM card, but an open available router or hot-spot to connect to.

Thank you very much for your response. You answer on Bands is something I did not think about but I believe you are correct. They are located in Abaco Island / Marsh Harbor which is North of the main island most tourists visit which is Nassau. We would need to find out if that's the case just to be sure.

I knew WhatsApp uses internet and they have WIFI where they live and around, just wanted to confirm if using different Sim would be an issue. I guess they do that QR code thing to use the same account on different device.

The only thing I need to know is about swapping Sim card. Im on T-Mobile so since the listing in Amazon shows working with them I would get a pre-paid sim with T-Mobile. I know it would be a different number but if the majority of text and calls are on WhatsApp and I can get the same account on new phone with all the existing contacts and chats then things should be seamless. I got WIFI here no issues.