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international version of phone

dmbcanada
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I am looking at some unlocked phones on Ebay and am wondering if it is safe to purchase a phone that is an international or latin america phone?  I have heard that sometimes the phones wifi will not work in Canada.  

8 REPLIES 8

dmbcanada
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Ended up purchasing Moto G Fast from Costco, very happy so far.

dmbcanada
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

It is actually from ebay from a Canadian seller:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Motorola-Moto-G8-Power-Lite-XT2055-2-64GB-4GB-DUAL-SIM-UNLOCKED-6-5-SMARTPHO...


I found the same phone on amazon, and saw a review by a PM user that could not get it to work, so that is why I am weary:

https://www.amazon.ca/Battery-Unlocked-Canada-International-XT2055-2/dp/B0887WBNN4#customerReviews

 

LurganIeUk
Mayor / Maire

@dmbcanada wrote:

I am looking at some unlocked phones on Ebay and am wondering if it is safe to purchase a phone that is an international or latin america phone?  I have heard that sometimes the phones wifi will not work in Canada.  


You might want to ask for the IMEI number and do some checks on it. It may be blacklisted in the country of origin...thus no value in that country......but apparently blacklisted phones from another country will work in Canada. Some countries have regulations that all phones are to be unlocked.....what if the one you buy is locked and is from Siberia or wherever....what is the cost to unlock....what carrier do you contact?

 

My my gut says.....don’t buy a phone on eBay. Buy one locally from Craigslist.....but do your IMEI checks for blacklist, description, carrier locked or unlocked. 


@Staliger wrote:

@dmbcanada if you want to be 100% safe, select International version.


I would say that it's the other way around. Phones meant for use in Latin America usually have UMTS 850 and 1900MHz.

Staliger
Mayor / Maire

@dmbcanada if you want to be 100% safe, select International version.


@dmbcanada wrote:

I am looking at some unlocked phones on Ebay and am wondering if it is safe to purchase a phone that is an international or latin america phone?  I have heard that sometimes the phones wifi will not work in Canada.  


It's not a mater of Wi-Fi not working. I do know that some phones sold specifically by some U.S. carriers have the hotspot feature disabled.

 

When sourcing a phone  that was meant to be sold in other parts of the world, you may find that available language selections to be different. Also, they might support different types of network, either technology-wise or different frequencies.

 

Make sure that any phone that you get has at least UMTS 850MHz and 1900MHz.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@dmbcanada wrote:

I am looking at some unlocked phones on Ebay and am wondering if it is safe to purchase a phone that is an international or latin america phone?  I have heard that sometimes the phones wifi will not work in Canada.  


Hmm. I've not heard of wifi not working. Wifi is wifi. 2.4 or 5 ghz.

I have an "international" phone from United Arab Emirates of all places. Bought from a little reseller in Richmond BC.

Some features may not work here or not be present. I had a tough time this summer trying to get a dual SIM NFC phone.

Let us know the model(s) you're looking at.

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