Rob,
also keep in mind the frequencies on which your new phone can work.
For most of the world except Japan and the Americas make sure your
phone can work on the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency bands. For the
Americas you need a phone that can work on the 850 and 1900 MHz
frequency bands. Japan & Korea is a complex case explained at the end
of this email. The following URL gives a list of GSM frequencies by
country. Note that this list does not include 4G etc frequencies, and
that Japan is not there.
<http://allworldcellphones.com/gsm-frequencies-list.htm>
In Aus you need 850 for long-distance reception, and 900 and 1800 for
networks that serve higher population densities. A quad-band phone is
therefore your best international and local bet.
Beware, most phone salespeople have no idea about the frequency
capability of the phones they are flogging, and will often tell you
whatever they think you want to hear. For some inane reason, however,
they all seem to be able to tell you exactly how many megapixels
their phones' cameras are capable of.
Make sure you understand the terminology of the different mobile
phone standards in the world; especially between the terms 'mode' and
'band' when referring to handset technology.
The 'mode' tells you the technology that the phone supports. such as
GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) or WCDMA (Wideband Code
Divisional Multiple Access). Thus a dual-mode phone uses two
different types of technology in one handset.
The 'band' part tells you the number of frequencies on a single
technology that a phone uses. For example, a dual-band phone might
work on both GSM 900MHz and GSM 1800MHz. Phone handsets can currently
range from single to quad-band.
It is also possible that phones can be both multi-mode and multi-
band. For example, a phone could work on GSM 900MHz and GSM 1800MHz,
while also working on WCDMA.
In Japan mobile there are three mobile phone technologies supported
by the major networks within Japan - PDC (Personal Digital Cellular),
CDMA, and WCDMA. DoCoMo, Vodafone and TU-KA support the established
PDC, and DoCoMo and Vodafone have also introduced the newer WCDMA,
while AU supports CDMA. All three of these technologies are
incompatible with each other. Most also use non-standard frequencies.
The Korean situation is similar. Most people advise to rent a phone
in these two countries. Good luck with that one.
On 09/09/2010, at 23:42 , Rob Findlay wrote:
I want to buy an unlocked smartphone,to take overseas.
The Samsung Galaxy with Android OS looks pretty cool, much cheaper
than an iPhone 4.
Does anyone have any experience of these phones (or any Android OS
phone) compared to an iPhone?
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Regards,
Ray Forma
50 Harvest Road, North Fremantle WA 6159, Australia
Tel & Fax +61 (0)8 9335 6568
Mob +61 (0) 428 596938
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