Are these phones unocked?

[Snareman]

I'm going to Nepal in a few weeks. Will I have any problem getting a local sim card and putting in my phone?

 

[doogald]

All Verizon LTE phones advertised as global are SIM-unlocked. So, yes, it is unlocked.

I'm not sure if the radios match what you'll find in Nepal, but they should be fine. You will likely not get LTE data, but surely that's ok. If it is GSM you should get HSPA (3G) and Edge (2G), maybe HSPA+(fast 3G), and the good news is that GSM/UMTS supports simultaneous voice and data, if that matters.

You may have better luck if you go into Settings / More... / Mobile Networks and change "Preferred network type" from Global to LTE/GSM/UMTS, but Global may work fine. I used my Droid Maxx last fall all through Europe and Global was just fine.

 

[jerrykur]

doogald,

Do you have an recommendation for carriers in Europe? I am spending most of the time in England and Scotland, but will also hope over to France.

Thanks,

jerry

 

[doogald]

No, sorry. I think the conventional wisdom is that it's best to buy a prepaid SIM from a local service when you arrive. If you absolutely want to have something before you arrive, I have used prepaidzero.com, though I bought the pan-European SIM. They have a 30 day 1 GB data SIM for about €30 or a 30 day unlimited data for about €40, and you can add call and text credit I think in 10 euro increments. Again, it may be cheaper to buy from a UK carrier directly, particularly after you get there, plus they will help you get APN settings right for texting, etc.

It may not be worth getting a special French SIM if you will only be there for a short time - you may be able to roam with the UK SIM (though it'd be more expensive when you are in France, so just check the roaming rates/tariffs.)

Just remember to get a nano SIM - that's what the Turbo uses.

 

[SSpinball]

Unlocked running T-mobile 4G, no problem

Posted with my Droid Turbo on T-mobile !

 

[jerrykur]

I have been looking at the various plans available and some have 3G and some have 4G LTE. Does anyone know if the 4G LTE in the UK is on bands supported by the Turbo?

 

[jerrykur]

To answer my own question. I got an EE sim. Plugged it in and it worked. 4g let came up immediately. It is very fast in London. The service drops back to 3G occasionally and sometimes display "E". But most of the time it is getting 4g Lte.

I did not have to play with any settings to get data and texting to work. Got 2 gb of data and lot of texts and voice for 30 pounds.

 

[doogald]

Thanks for sharing this. I've made a mental note for my next trip to the UK.

What did you do in France? Use the EE SIM or just not bother?

 

[jerrykur]

Thanks for sharing this. I've made a mental note for my next trip to the UK.

What did you do in France? Use the EE SIM or just not bother?

We ended up not going to France, so I did not try the service there. Sorry.