Smartphone for Europe travel?

[Travtabb]

Hi,

Going to Iceland for two weeks. (Camping around island). Then will have to be in UK (Scotland), France and New Zealand for work for a few weeks a few months later. My current CDMA phone will not work there so I was going to look at buying a GSM phone and getting a SIM card in each country. I do want a Smartphone but don't need S9 or the like. Something simple will work as I want access to email, maps, weather info and the like.

Looking at the GSM and LTE networks in Europe I see that LTE bands 1,3,8,20,28 will be used. However when I look at basic unlocked phones at Amazon nor B&H I don't see too many devices that cover all them. Usually missing band 20 as an example. I think the Moto G6 is one of the few that cover them all.
Would I be amiss getting something cheaper like a Nokia2 or Samsung J5 which lack some of the LTE bands? Or am I better off ponying up the extra for the Moto G6 to have them all?

Will it even make a difference when I am in Iceland or the Scottish Highlands?

Thanks for your help!

T

 

[Rukbat]

If you're where there are few people, there's probably no signal to begin with. Cellphone companies don't put up towers where sheep can use them. So I'd look for coverage maps to see how much of your trip will be covered. (You've already done most of the work - finding out what bands are used where you'll be.) But you'll probably find that the highlands and the back country in Iceland aren't covered. (I haven't looked, but I know how carriers calculate where to put towers - it's on a people-per-tower basis, not a cover-the-most-geography basis.)