Using UK phones in the US?

littly_kitty

MSE's guide to using mobile phones is excellent, but I have a few questions

I'll be going to the California, USA with my family.

Will our UK handsets work over there? They are android phones, but they are quite old (e.g. T-Mobile pulse from 2009, ZTE Blade from 2010, Xperia Play 2011)

I've found this site which lists US Mobile carriers:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/GSM-and-CDMA-Guide-/10000000009189079/g.html

This site lists supported GSM frequencies for each phone:
http://www.gsmarena.com/

Is it simply a case of checking that the phones GSM frequencies match the US providers? There seems to be a lot of US providers, so I was wondering if there was a more universal way.

Also, is it better to get one of the sims on the MSE guide. Or should I pick up a pay-as-you go sim in the US?

The phones will just to be keep in touch with each other, via SMS and voice. We won't be ringing back to the UK or going online.

Finally, because our phones are so old, would we be better getting new ones in the US, where the exchange rate will make them cheaper than UK prices? Or will they not work when brought back to the UK?

grumbler

littly_kitty wrote: »

Is it simply a case of checking that the phones GSM frequencies match the US providers?

Yes. I think all UK smartphones support one of GSM 850 or GSM 1900.

Also, is it better to get one of the sims on the MSE guide. Or should I pick up a pay-as-you go sim in the US?

The phones will just to be keep in touch with each other, via SMS and voice. We won't be ringing back to the UK or going online.

Local sim will be cheaper than any special sim. However, for what you want the easiest way is to get a UK '3' PAYG sim with £10 bundle that includes 100 minutes and 3000 texts, as well as 500Mb.

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home

Note: you must buy a bundle for this to work, and only calls/texts to UK numbers are covered (and data).

dkmercer

Hello - What if you also want to make calls w/i the USA/Canada, along with ringing home in the UK. Do you also know if you can receive phone calls. I am going to be in the USA/Canada for about 3 months.
Thank you

grumbler

If you mean Three, then just follow the link.
Yes, all incoming calls are three.
Calls to US/Canada cost the same as if you called from UK, but you can use UK geographical landline access numbers for calls from UK abroad:

• International Callchecker
  

Roger1

dkmercer wrote: »

What if you also want to make calls w/i the USA/Canada, along with ringing home in the UK. Do you also know if you can receive phone calls.

Think about Toggle in an unlocked phone.

Rather than cross-post (which I don't think is allowed), here is my response to a similar query today.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=67201898&postcount=7

Receiving calls is free in the US and Canada.