Phone bought in Thailand works only in some countries abroad

[ycc]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy 9 Pro in Thailand. It has accepted simcards in some African countries, but not in Turkey or my home country Sweden.

Two phone shops in Sweden does not know about this problem.

What should I do? I bought it in a reputable shop and it is not operator - locked.

 

[anon(238680)]

Sorry you're having problems, but phones are built differently for different regions and will sometimes only work on certain network types. Have you contacted a carrier in Sweden to see if the phone is compatible with their network?

 

[smvim]

Checking this site:
WillMyPhoneWork.net - Check if your phone works on a network
shows the Galaxy A9 will work with 3G in Thailand, Turkey, and Sweden on pretty any carrier, with 2G and 4G/LTE being dependent on which particular carrier. Cellular networks vary so much from country to country so it's not so just the appropriate SIM card but also the actual hardware radio chips in the phone.

 

[ycc]

Thank you. I really appreciate any further info on this. It was new to me.

I first tried at a shop of the Swedish "national carrier" Telia. They were helpful and tried different SIM-cards but with no effect. "SIM-card not found".

Phone worked in Thailand and South Africa. Not in Turkey and Sweden.

Telia is most reliable and I do not wish to change number.

Phone repair shops seem not to know. I go back on Monday if regular staff is there.

An important limitation I did not know about.

WillMyPhoneWork.net is probably wrong? My phone doesn't even recognize the SIM.

I though I had a good idea. Buy a phone which at that time was not sold in Europe. Competition is so hard in Asia that such offers would compete negatively on other markets is my guess.

But what did I get? The world's smallest and heaviest tablet. Among phones it has excellent battery time, but for a tablet it is poor.

My Note 3 was bought in Brazil, very high price. It has worked in S.Am, Europe, Africa, Asia. I think Samsung introduced this limitation to the Galaxy 9 Pro, just so people could not bring them from low priced to high priced markets. I don't mind that but they ought to tell.

 

[smvim]

As far as I know there is no cell phone that will work in every country, at best you can get some 'world' models that will work in most locales so if you want true compatibility everywhere you'll need to own multiple phones, and then mix and match to work with the carrier you're using.

 

[ycc]

My phone does not recognize the SIM cards in some countries. I am a suspicious person and I wonder if it is not a technical thing at all. The phone just blocks SIM cards from expensive countries. Maybe roaming would work, but I can't afford that, I buy SIM when I need.

I will call Samsung on Monday. I live in one of the bigger (by our standard) cities in Sweden but no repair shop here.

=======
*I suspect that Samsung may have introduced a secret block that makes it impossible to move a phone from a low-price country to a higher priced country. If they did that openly, I could act accordingly. But now I just buy a phone that I have no idea where it wI'll work*
=======

I fear this is a secret and I will get vague answers from Samsung. I am not sure it would be worth the trouble to send it for "examination'. All I use in life is in a backpack and I don't save receipts. Would probably fall on some limitation of international warranty anyway.

 

[ycc]

I can say pretty certain it is a blocking of the SIM card. In Turkey I put a South African SIM in the phone and it was still recognized (like when I was in S. Africa). But Turkish SIMs were not.

My guess is that it is a trick by Samsung. I will call them Monday in the capital of Sweden. I am afraid I may hear mumbo-jumbo about network, but I don't believe that.

 

[smvim]

If you're this suspicious of Samsung I'd recommend you stop buying their products, there are plenty of other very viable manufacturers to choose from.
Personally I think your issues are more carrier related, a corporation like Samsung cares more about selling their phones than what service you use. Carriers on the other hand do focus more on both their own cell network usage and hardware (as long as you buy from them).

 

[ycc]

If you're this suspicious of Samsung I'd recommend you stop buying their products, there are plenty of other very viable manufacturers to choose from.
Personally I think your issues are more carrier related, a corporation like Samsung cares more about selling their phones than what service you use. Carriers on the other hand do focus more on both their own cell network usage and hardware (as long as you buy from them).

Big manufacturers often use different pricing in different countries. This I must accept, but I am also entiteled to clear information about it.

I can use a S.African SIM in Turkey, but I can not use a Turkish!! Then it is not a network problem.

National carrier Telia would not block one model cell-phone selectively. They would also have to admit to their policies.

Everything definitely points to Samsung secretly blocking selected SIM-cards. But I will give them a call on Monday and see if they can solve the problem.

Edit

I found my receipt. The name of the (definitely absolutely legit) shop in Thailand is "Samsung shop at ..."

 

[smvim]

I'll still don't think your expectations for a single phone, be it Samsung or any manufacturer, to work in every country is very practical. There are just way too many different cellular networks that require different hardware radios for any single phone to be compatible with them all. Also keep in mind your situation is a unique one as most of the world's population will use their phones much more locally, with with only a few carriers that do have contractual compatibility with carriers in other nations when they both use the same type of cellular network.. Phone manufacturers target their primary market to sell product that meets the needs of the majority of consumers -- making a phone a truly universal one, with it's greatly increased number of internal components, would result in an expensive to make model that's quite sizable and hefty, and most significantly would only be appealing to a very small number of buyers. Phone manufacturers are in business to make money so mass production is the norm to fit the economies of scale, and while it would be nice if they did make phones in a hand-crafted, tailor-made process, that's just not the world we live in.

Big manufacturers often use different pricing in different countries. This I must accept, but I am also entiteled to clear information about it.

I can use a S.African SIM in Turkey, but I can not use a Turkish!! Then it is not a network problem.

National carrier Telia would not block one model cell-phone selectively. They would also have to admit to their policies.

Everything definitely points to Samsung secretly blocking selected SIM-cards. But I will give them a call on Monday and see if they can solve the problem.

Edit

I found my receipt. The name of the (definitely absolutely legit) shop in Thailand is "Samsung shop at ..."

 

[ycc]

I completely disagree

My Galaxy Note 3 has worked in every country I have visited and connected SIM in.

I have now finally found out the problem of my Galaxy A9 Pro

It is not a network problem. My Galaxy A9 Pro should also work in most countries. But Samsung has, during the last years, introduced a protection against theft of new phones and grey-zone import. - You must make one phone call from the region to which the phone was originally distributed. The phone will then open world wide.

I bought the phone in Thailand. But unfortunately I did not use the phone with SIM there. I made the first call in South Africa. The phone then only opened for Africa.

My phone accepts African SIM-cards in both Turkey and Sweden. (But not Turkish or Swedish) It is not a network problem.

If I now return to Asia and use the phone there, it will automatically open worldwide. But I am unfortunately not going that way. So I must try to contact Samsung to get an unlock code. This is difficult partly since this method of theft protection is "semi-secret". Samsung Sweden does not recognize the model. Samsung chat Thailand does not use English!! I have all necessary documentation that I bought the phone in Samsung Shop Thailand.

Modern phones work everywhere. If it has a SIM it will connect. Long time ago I lived in Japan, at that time (and maybe still?) they had a completely different system. In Japan you had to have a Japanese cell, of course.

I'll still don't think your expectations for a single phone, be it Samsung or any manufacturer, to work in every country is very practical. There are just way too many different cellular networks that require different hardware radios for any single phone to be compatible with them all. Also keep in mind your situation is a unique one as most of the world's population will use their phones much more locally, with with only a few carriers that do have contractual compatibility with carriers in other nations when they both use the same type of cellular network.. Phone manufacturers target their primary market to sell product that meets the needs of the majority of consumers -- making a phone a truly universal one, with it's greatly increased number of internal components, would result in an expensive to make model that's quite sizable and hefty, and most significantly would only be appealing to a very small number of buyers. Phone manufacturers are in business to make money so mass production is the norm to fit the economies of scale, and while it would be nice if they did make phones in a hand-crafted, tailor-made process, that's just not the world we live in.