US import work in the UK?

Won't the US version come with AT&T firmware possibly? I don't know if it'd be possible to delete it or how it would work with our carriers over here? The Atrix is coming out sim free and on cotract with Orange over here within the next couple of months, it might be easier/ less hassle to purchase a UK spec Atrix maybe? Sorry I can't be of more help.

Ian

Ad_87 said:

Can anyone please confirm whether i'd have problems with the phone imported from the states?

Thanks,

Ad.

Click to expand...

AT&T i sa GSM network, it uses SIM cards in its phones the same as providers in Europe.

Motorola Atrix 4G has exactly the same bands as the one to be sold in Europe soon and if you can unlock the phone you should be perfectly fine.

Motorola ATRIX vs. Motorola ATRIX 4G - GSMArena.com

From this it looks like these are the same. 4G is just the AT&T branding.

So the next question is i guess, how do you unlock an Atrix 4g for use in the UK? Would you have to get it rooted possibly?

Ian

Unlocked ones from Ebay should be fine, providing the seller is reputable.

Its possible to unlock yourself, but involves purchasing an unlock code from one of several businesses that provide unlock codes. Its rather fraught, because there are a high number of fraudsters advertising phone unlocking. XDA developers Atrix section has a thread on it for more info.

It will work fine in the UK, since it has the bands used there. The one you buy here will be locked to AT&T, unless you get an unlocked one on eBay. You may just want to wait till it comes to the UK.

mrcamp said:

It will work fine in the UK, since it has the bands used there. The one you buy here will be locked to AT&T, unless you get an unlocked one on eBay. You may just want to wait till it comes to the UK.

Click to expand...

It will take some time. This post got me interested too, but I bought Milestone 2 a few months ago and am thinking it might be too early for an upgrade, but it will be just in time when it comes to the UK.

I was looking for someone to answer this problem and couldn't find anyone!

So I became the guy who's done it

1. Don't buy from Simply Electronics, they gave me the round-a-round and owe me my money!

Mobile Phones MP3iPodMobiles - Motorola Atrix MB860 (Black) Android 2.2 with Logo SIM Free / Unlocked

2. I purchased from these guys!
eBay My World - techno.trading.house

They still have 2 at the moment:-
Brand New Unlocked Motorola Atrix 4g - eBay (item 270710913913 end time Apr-24-11 10:51:01 PDT)

You get to track the phones by Fedex and it all just happens!
I ordered on the Wednesday and had the phones on the Monday (yes, I ordered 2)...

3. How to root (you don't need to, but do decrapify the AT&T sh1t that comes on the phone)!
SuperOneClick v1.7
[APP]SuperOneClick v1.7 (Root, Unroot, Enable Non-Market App) - xda-developers

Your anti virus may go nuts for "rageagainstthecage" but everyone assures me this is normal as the s/w cheats to get past ADB!

I've done it on both phones and I'm very happy! I'm using T-Mobile UK, everything works a treat!

BTW - If you don't want your phone feeling so "American", download from "market" the
MoreLocale2 app (telephone number display, it may not look as though it worked, it has, it's just the history of the current numbers)...
Top right, hit "Custom Locale" on top right
then enter settings (ignore quotes)...
Language - "en"
Country - "GB"
Variant - ""

Good luck!

hairy-cheese said:

I was looking for someone to answer this problem and couldn't find anyone!

So I became the guy who's done it

1. Don't buy from Simply Electronics, they gave me the round-a-round and owe me my money!

Mobile Phones MP3iPodMobiles - Motorola Atrix MB860 (Black) Android 2.2 with Logo SIM Free / Unlocked

2. I purchased from these guys!

eBay My World - techno.trading.house

They still have 2 at the moment:-

Brand New Unlocked Motorola Atrix 4g - eBay (item 270710913913 end time Apr-24-11 10:51:01 PDT)

You get to track the phones by Fedex and it all just happens!
I ordered on the Wednesday and had the phones on the Monday (yes, I ordered 2)...

3. How to root (you don't need to, but do decrapify the AT&T sh1t that comes on the phone)!
SuperOneClick v1.7
[APP]SuperOneClick v1.7 (Root, Unroot, Enable Non-Market App) - xda-developers

Your anti virus may go nuts for "rageagainstthecage" but everyone assures me this is normal as the s/w cheats to get past ADB!

I've done it on both phones and I'm very happy! I'm using T-Mobile UK, everything works a treat!

BTW - If you don't want your phone feeling so "American", download from "market" the
MoreLocale2 app (telephone number display, it may not look as though it worked, it has, it's just the history of the current numbers)...
Top right, hit "Custom Locale" on top right
then enter settings (ignore quotes)...
Language - "en"
Country - "GB"
Variant - ""

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. I have been thinking about doing the same thing, but since I bought my MS2 ust a few months ago I am in no rush. I am waiting for the EU release and maybe info from Moto on upgrading Atrix to 2.3.

the spec of the US 4G version is very slightly different:
Motorola ATRIX 4G vs. Motorola ATRIX - GSMArena.com

I found a post elsewhere which said that the 4G won't do European 3G (properly known as UMTS or W-CDMA) at 900MHz*, but for all intents and purposes the Atrix 4G will work just fine in the UK.


* Some of the UK operators are "refarming" old GSM frequencies to run 3G, something still sort of in dispute with those who spend a fortune on the 2.1GHz band.

I suspect though that the 4G simply has a slightly better radio module in it to run a higher data rate, and is perfectly capable of running UMTS-900, it just needs to be enabled.

The issue is probably moot seeing as how Atrixes are easily available in the UK now. I am hoping that Motoroogle will make it easier to unlock them and install custom firmware, e.g. ice cream sandwich.