Best phone that will work in europe

[DoubleHelix]

My little brother is in the US Army and stationed in Germany. He currently has a contract with T-Mobile. I was going to buy him a phone since his current one is no longer functioning.

My brother has a tendency to break phones so I was hoping to get a rugged gsm compliant phone (unlock it if it's at&t though I dont want him to have any issues with is 3G) and send it to him.

Or would breaking his contract and getting a European carrier be more efficient (he'll be stationed in Europe for 4yr but might be sent to Africa).

Thanks for any input,
Devin

 

[chanchan05]

Getting one in Europe would be more efficient. The tendency is that the rest of the world has compatible phones, but North America isn't complying with them. So the one he buys in Europe os more likely to work in Africa, or anywhere else he may get stationed, than one you get in the US.

 

[mikedt]

My little brother is in the US Army and stationed in Germany. He currently has a contract with T-Mobile. I was going to buy him a phone since his current one is no longer functioning.

My brother has a tendency to break phones so I was hoping to get a rugged gsm compliant phone (unlock it if it's at&t though I dont want him to have any issues with is 3G) and send it to him.

Or would breaking his contract and getting a European carrier be more efficient (he'll be stationed in Europe for 4yr but might be sent to Africa).

Thanks for any input,
Devin

Breaking or defaulting on a contract may not be a good idea, because that will more than likely adversely affect his credit score. If he's going to be out of the US for four years, and doesn't want to be paying for the contract, best thing would be to pay the ETF, and then it's done with. And roaming with a US carrier in Europe can be horribly expensive.

I suggest buy a phone in Europe when he gets there along with the SIM, then he knows it's going to work.

 

[DoubleHelix]

Sorry I meant paying the ETF when I said breaking his contract.

 

[DonB]

Moved here for more support and help and advice.

 

[EarlyMon]

Just looking at the rugged requirement - Samsung offers some good stuff.

There's the high end Galaxy S5 Active -

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Samsung-Galaxy-S5-Active_id8665

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SM-G870ADGEATT

You can buy it unlocked from Amazon -

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-S5-Active-Titanium/dp/B00KHXZXDY

It's a quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS, meaning it's going to work in a lot of places -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System