G981U1 vs G981B in the UK

[captain_tinker]

Hello, I have been trying to find an S20 5G International version (G981B) to use while in England. It's been hard to come by in the US and have so far been unable to get one. I do have a G981U1 factory unlocked from Samsung already, would it be possible to bring that and have it work properly with UK mobile carriers? I don't know if it supports the same bands etc. I've looked at comparison websites and it looks like it's different enough that there may be an issue. Has anyone successfully brought a factory unlocked S20 5G to the UK and used a UK mobile carrier SIM and have it still work well?

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

I am actually wondering the same thing the other direction. My mum and I are going to Dallas and she only uses Samsung Note 8s (although she has a Pixel 4a5G as well that's hold work). Not sure if she will get the USA bands on her Exynos Samsung's.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[captain_tinker]

That's a good question too. Not sure if this helps or not, but several years ago I purchased an international factory unlocked version of the S7 Duos (SM-G930FD) with the Exynos chip meant for the UK. I wanted it partly because the Exynos version was said to be faster and better than the AT&T version in the US, it was octa core where the US version was only quad core, and most importantly at the time, it was pearl white color. I used it for several years on AT&T in the US. It worked, mostly. I could tell that it struggled a little more than the US versions that my kids had. I figured it was just AT&T's poor service and not wanting to support a non AT&T branded phone. I've since moved to T-Mobile and am now using my factory unlocked S20 quite happily. I wonder now if some of the issues I used to have were not just simply AT&T being screwy, but rather dealing with a unit that wasn't designed for the US carriers? I honestly can't say for sure.

 

[captain_tinker]

I contacted Samsung support via text. I'm not sure they fully understood what I was asking, but they claim that if the phone is unlocked that you should be able to use a SIM from any different carrier. They were unable to answer the question of if all the right bands would be supported.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

Thanks for the input.

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