[Q] Using US 920 in UK/Europe

[elyl]

So, I see Best Buy are going to be selling this for $600 SIM-free, a good £100 cheaper than the UK.

What sort of issues will I see using the device in the UK if I buy it in the US? Will HSPA+ work? What about LTE?

 

[psalmu]

Careful there: if it's the AT&T model, full price doesn't mean it's unlocked; it's just the price without the 2 year contract.

 

[edgedemon]

It is still alot cheaper buying it this way if you want a SIM free phone, the only issue is whether it will be possible to unlock it. I have found 1 site where they 'claim' to be able to unlock it for $79.99!!!
Im considering this as I really really want the cyan version, how likely do you think it will be that there will be a hack to unlock this?

 

[elyl]

Careful there: if it's the AT&T model, full price doesn't mean it's unlocked; it's just the price without the 2 year contract.

Well, that's just terrible.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

 

[foxbat121]

It is still alot cheaper buying it this way if you want a SIM free phone, the only issue is whether it will be possible to unlock it. I have found 1 site where they 'claim' to be able to unlock it for $79.99!!!
Im considering this as I really really want the cyan version, how likely do you think it will be that there will be a hack to unlock this?

If it is like Lumia 900 of AT&T, you will have to wait 6 to 8 months to get any unlock code from anyone, regardless how much you paid.


Also, AT&T itself is selling 920 for $449 without contract. 3rd party retailer will always sell for higher prices than AT&T because they don't get paid otherwise for contract free phones. But there is a slight chance that Best Buy can price match AT&T price for you.

On the other hand, Rogers version of 920 from Canada is selling for not much more and is known to be unlocked.

Both probably won't work with EU's LTE bands.

 

[Tsury]

If it is like Lumia 900 of AT&T, you will have to wait 6 to 8 months to get any unlock code from anyone, regardless how much you paid.


Also, AT&T itself is selling 920 for $449 without contract. 3rd party retailer will always sell for higher prices than AT&T because they don't get paid otherwise for contract free phones. But there is a slight chance that Best Buy can price match AT&T price for you.

On the other hand, Rogers version of 920 from Canada is selling for not much more and is known to be unlocked.

Both probably won't work with EU's LTE bands.

So you are saying it will not support LTE 1800Mhz?

 

[foxbat121]

So you are saying it will not support LTE 1800Mhz?

Att here only uses 700Mhz for lte. Att phones typically come with 700Mhz and 1700Mhz bands. Even my dev version of 920 which supports more bands than att version only has 700/850/1700/2100 lte bands.

 

[tai4de2]

The RM820 (North American model) also has support for LTE 1900 (doesn't help anyone in Europe though).

 

[c0705]

so... is unlocking a cell phone tough?
the price is really very low.
pay extra 79.99$ is still cheaper than buying one in Europe. (but i hate the logo ._. )
but as edgedemon said, they just CLAIM that they can.


unlocking a phone must do this way?
or can jb the phone and install something to unlock?
or.. flashing the ROM?

 

[elyl]

Any idea how I'd go about getting a Rogers phone when I'm in the US? They're Canadian, right?

I'm not so concerned about LTE if it does HSPA+ on European frequencies.

 

[Slaybz]

What about flashing a US Device with a EU's Rom ?

I'm a real noobie in that domain !

In France LTE bands are 800 and 2600 ...

thx for advices !

 

[elyl]

Well, the rumour goes that all the 920s have all the bands available, but only the certain ones for that region are activated in software.

If that's true, then some day someone might work out how to flash the Radio ROM. But I doubt flashing the software ROM (which you can do just now) will make any changes to the radio ROM, so we'll need to wait until/if someone cracks it.

That goes for the 3G bands... I don't know if the phones come with all LTE bands available (and it's still a rumour that they even have all 3G bands)

 

[Slaybz]

Well, the rumour goes that all the 920s have all the bands available, but only the certain ones for that region are activated in software.

If that's true, then some day someone might work out how to flash the Radio ROM. But I doubt flashing the software ROM (which you can do just now) will make any changes to the radio ROM, so we'll need to wait until/if someone cracks it.

That goes for the 3G bands... I don't know if the phones come with all LTE bands available (and it's still a rumour that they even have all 3G bands)

Many thanks for your answer... I think I'm gonna buy it into my country ...

 

[tai4de2]

What about flashing a US Device with a EU's Rom ?

I'm a real noobie in that domain !

In France LTE bands are 800 and 2600

AT&T device (a) can't be unlocked, so you can't use it with anything other than an AT&T SIM and (b) won't have European LTE frequencies.