Google Nexus 5 use in Europe

[kgash]

I am going to buy a Google Nexus 5 (Sprint USA) and plan on using it in Spain during March. I will be staying at rental apartments where there will be no phone and I will need to make calls within Spain and, if necessary to USA, on occasion. I will have ample WiFi for my tablet so simple voice calls on the N5 is all I need.
Is there anything special I need to do to use a Sim card purchased in Spain for the purposes I mentioned? Any recommendations where to purchase one in Madrid?

I am not a real savvy mobile phone user so any tips or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Rxpert83]

You'll just pop out your sprint Sim and pop in the one you purchase overseas


Easy as pie

 

[Ranhead]

I go to Germany frequently, but I have no experience in Spain. Europe in general has great rates for pay-as-you go SIMs. I would expect that you can get a SIM loaded with the money that you paid for it. So basically free. Calls and texts in Spain should be pennies, but data costs are likely to be expensive.

For free calls (on Wi-Fi) to US phone numbers, I use Google Voice and GrooveIP.

 

[kgash]

I go to Germany frequently, but I have no experience in Spain. Europe in general has great rates for pay-as-you go SIMs. I would expect that you can get a SIM loaded with the money that you paid for it. So basically free. Calls and texts in Spain should be pennies, but data costs are likely to be expensive.

Thanks, that gives me confidence to bring the phone to Spain.

 

[kgash]

You'll just pop out your sprint Sim and pop in the one you purchase overseas


Easy as pie

Thanks for your quick, terse and accurate reply.

 

[Ranhead]

Thanks, that gives me confidence to bring the phone to Spain.

No Problem.

FYI Google Voice is rumored to be changing or even ending in May. (History has shown that Google seems conflicted with what to do with Voice. So who knows what's going to happen with it.) For an alternative you can look into setting up some other VOIP before you travel. My wife uses Viber and Skype to talk to friends and family in Germany. Google voice is a lot nicer since the person back in the States doesn't need any special app, but you may consider a back up plan incase Google leaves you hanging.

 

[jj14x]

No Problem.

FYI Google Voice is rumored to be changing or even ending in May. (History has shown that Google seems conflicted with what to do with Voice. So who knows what's going to happen with it.) For an alternative you can look into setting up some other VOIP before you travel. My wife uses Viber and Skype to talk to friends and family in Germany. Google voice is a lot nicer since the person back in the States doesn't need any special app, but you may consider a back up plan incase Google leaves you hanging.

Groove IP and other services that rely on the XMPP interface will stop working if/when Google disables the XMPP interface (currently scheduled for May 15, 2014. Google voice using a chrome browser on a computer should still work.
Google is supposed to bring VOIP calling over WiFi to Android devices after the XMPP interface is taken down, but there is no ETA for that yet

 

[Fox123]

I am going to Spain in September with my nexus 5, which was bought in Canada. Were you able to use your nexus 5 in Spain?

 

[svenfran]

Good info in this thread. Also headed to Spain soon with my US spec Nexus 5. Vodafone offers a prepaid SIM card for voice and data there that I plan to buy: http://www.vodafone.es/particulares/es/descubre-vodafone/ahorra-con-vodafone/tourist-in-spain/

Question: Is it likely the phone will roam and access LTE, at least in the cities where it's available, using that card? The US Nexus 5 specs say it operates on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 for voice and LTE bands 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41. But I don't know how to find out if Vodafone supports those bands in Spain. Thanks!

 

[nx1977]

No you won't be able to use 4G as European LTE uses different bands