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Unlocked phone

Kvetch

Lurker
Jul 12, 2010
1
0
I currently don't have a phone and am I am thinking about getting an Android and am leaning towards the EVO because it seems to be currently the most powerful and Sprint is the cheapest in my area. I am not opposed to the Droid X but Verizon is a little more expensive and this would be more of a toy/gadget than anything else so the cheaper the better. Probably like most I don't want to be locked in a contract if I can help it.

What does an unlocked phone get you? If I bought an unlocked EVO off ebay or wherever can I use it on any carrier and avoid getting a contract? So would I be able to take my unlocked EVO and go to Sprint and get a contract? Can unlocked phones have their OS upgraded and still work on carriers? So could I upgrade to 2.2 Froyo and still have a working cell phone?

What features do I lose getting an unlocked phone?

Thanks for any help.
 
Im no expert on this, but I think the EVO has only a CDMA radio, so you would be restricted to the Sprint network. With and unlocked Verizon phone, you might have more options on the GSM networks since more providers use that.

Someone confirm this?

Verizon is also CDMA... No such thing as an unlocked CDMA phone...

Buying a CDMA phone outright makes no sense unless your intention is to avoid having a contract. Only GSM phones can be unlocked to be used on different providers.
 
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Bingo, both Verizon and Sprint networks are CDMA.

But the 'locking' comes not from something on your phone, but that each carrier will not activate a phone designed for the other carrier, and they know who the phone was designed for by it's unique ID.

There are other countries in the world that use CDMA. You could probably take a Sprint phone to one of them and have it registered on their network.
 
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But the 'locking' comes not from something on your phone, but that each carrier will not activate a phone designed for the other carrier, and they know who the phone was designed for by it's unique ID.

There are other countries in the world that use CDMA. You could probably take a Sprint phone to one of them and have it registered on their network.
Bah, I meant to remove the last part of that quote too. I was referring to Verizon also being CDMA in response to the post above about being restricted to Sprint due to CDMA.

There is truth in the part about carrier locking though. All carriers do this with their phones for the most part, so in reality those phones are locked in that sense. That probably won't change anytime soon either, although some potential class action lawsuits that were just approved to continue involving Apple and AT&T may have a impact on this later on down the road.
 
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But the 'locking' comes not from something on your phone, but that each carrier will not activate a phone designed for the other carrier, and they know who the phone was designed for by it's unique ID.

There are other countries in the world that use CDMA. You could probably take a Sprint phone to one of them and have it registered on their network.

In addition to that, 3G on the EVO would be non-functional on Verizon since Sprint uses a different freq. for 3G.
 
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Bah, I meant to remove the last part of that quote too. I was referring to Verizon also being CDMA in response to the post above about being restricted to Sprint due to CDMA.

There is truth in the part about carrier locking though. All carriers do this with their phones for the most part, so in reality those phones are locked in that sense. That probably won't change anytime soon either, although some potential class action lawsuits that were just approved to continue involving Apple and AT&T may have a impact on this later on down the road.
As others have pointed out to you, cdma phones are not locked. The reason you can't use a Sprint phone on Verizon or vice versa is "not" because the phone is locked to their respected network. Do some more research and you will find your answer.
 
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If you plan to travel and use your phone outside of the united states you are better off getting a GSM based phone which come w a SIM card. These phones can be unlocked to work on other networks around the world. In the US you can use a GSM based phone on either ATT or TMobile - but the 3G networks from those carriers are not compatible so you would only be able to utilize the 3G on the carrier you buy the phone from.

Verizon and Sprint phones only really work on their networks and unless they are specifically built as world phones (w GSM radios as well) they will only work in the USA.
 
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