How Do You Buy an Unlocked SGIII for GSM?

[wicked1]

I was looking to buy an SGIII Unlocked of Note II only in White, for use on my AT&T contract, but I have no idea where you buy one from. I have a friend in the UK, who can buy one for me, but it is the international version and costs more, plus it has the quad core cpu and I am not sure how the warranty would work.

Any information would be helpful, as I am done with my IP5, but since it is under contract, I can not unlock it, and if I can not get an SGIII or Note II in white unlocked, I will have to keep it.

 

[mrhomiec]

the international versions are automatically unlocked. that's pretty much the reason they cost more, cause they can be used on almost any carrier.

otherwise, you would have to buy the phone outright from AT&T or T-Mobile (if you want new). since this wouldn't be a subsidized purchase, it will be available for unlocking.

or, buy it used from someone who had it unlocked.

and a risky method would be to buy a locked used one, and try to unlock it yourself via the carrier it came from, or thru third-party companies.

 

[SUroot]

the international versions are automatically unlocked.

I'm not sure where you heard that.

Most international are carrier locked. You can buy unbranded ones that are generally sim unlocked too but it is certainly NOT true that they are all unlocked.

In the UK, you would have to buy from carphone warehouse or phones4u. Carrier supplied are all locked

 

[mrhomiec]

my bad. that was my understanding when i was shopping for myself international phones. they were always unlocked.

 

[SUroot]

my bad. that was my understanding when i was shopping for myself international phones. they were always unlocked.

Unfortunately not. However galaxsim unlock will work if rooted.

 

[victoriamariae]

Ebay will unlock gsm IP5 for $5 USD, I just unlocked my t mobile S3 by purchasing unlocking procedure. If you need, I can send it. Only on GSM S3s.

 

[Infe]

In case it helps someone, I just bought an S3 from Net10.com to use with Net10 for $560. Honestly I'm not sure if it's unlocked, how do I check? Working great so far with Net10, of course I'm aware of the data caps and mostly use wifi.

 

[CrimsonPride]

It is now illegal to unlock smartphones in the US. You can serve up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $500k. So if you're in the US, better buy the unbranded international version.

 

[SUroot]

Jeez, talk about the law taking the side of the corporation.

 

[Hadron]

It's illegal to unlock a phone bought from this weekend locked to a US carrier. So anyone who bought their phone before Saturday is unaffected. Otherwise, if you buy it locked to a US carrier now you have to rely on them to legally unlock it.

 

[dynomot]

In the UK most phones bought with a contract are carrier branded but not SIM locked to that carrier.

For instance I can stick my O2 SIM in my Vodafone contract SGSIII and it works perfectly.