Travel Technology - European Cell Phones

I am going to Europe in a few weeks for my honeymoon and need to have a cell phone to get in touch with some friends we're meeting out there.

Can I just buy a cheap T-Mobile Pre-paid cellphone here and then buy a sim card once I get to europe? Maybe something like this Nokia 1661 Prepaid from Walmart (http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-1661-Prepaid-Cell-Phone/13082122)?

You can also easily buy a cheap prepaid phone with SIM in Europe - this would probably be easier, and would avoid the phone being locked to the wrong network.

Just FYI - the GSM frequencies outside the US are different, so if you buy one intended for the US make sure it supports the other frequencies used in Europe. Frequently, they don't.

The short & quick answer to yours is "no" b/c those inexpensive T-Mobile prepaid phone is Sim locked exclusively to only work on T-Mo bands, (and does not have 1700/2100 Mhz (3G)4G bands) it will work in some Euro countries but not others since T-Mo has native coverage abroad.

Assuming that you only need voice coverage & don't care for/need SMS/MMS and broadband access - you still want to get an unlocked, quadband GSM phone - with user changeable APN & other network settings accessible - so that you can just pop-in a local Sim card with good rates, activate & just "go"

Here's a GSM coverage map to reference what you will need - http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html

Chances are you can find a good refurbished or even brand new, unused classic "non-smartphone" from a good retail agent in your town (AT&T branded ones tend to be more "universal" than those from T-Mo) for a rock-bottom price, or, goggle it on eBay or local CL's - avoid generic/no-name brands (including those with AT&T or T-Mo only logos) & stick with Motorola, LG, Samsung, Nokia & Sony Ericcson - and you will do fine.

I see the SE W580i, quadband (refurbished) for $30 without contract, even it needs to be unlocked, the added cost for buying the code is as little as $10 via eBay.

I am going to Europe in a few weeks for my honeymoon and need to have a cell phone to get in touch with some friends we're meeting out there.

Can I just buy a cheap T-Mobile Pre-paid cellphone here and then buy a sim card once I get to europe? Maybe something like this Nokia 1661 Prepaid from Walmart (http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-1661-Prepaid-Cell-Phone/13082122)?

Can you? Yes, that's what I do.

Is it that easy? No.

The phone has to have the right bands to be used in Europe, which is not that much of an issue with t-mobile phones, many of them do. You would need to get it unlocked, either by finding somebody to do it for you for a few bucks or have T-mobile do it for free. However, T-mobile has conditions as to when they will unlock a prepaid phone, so if you don't meet those conditions (see this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/1317608-unlocking-t-mobile-phone.html ) like having the phone activated for at least 60 days, they won't unlock it for you.

The Nokia 1661 would work in Europe as it's a quad band phone, but you would have to get it unlocked first.

The best and least international service I have used is Call In Europe . I purchased a Motorola V197 GSM Quad phone which is compact and rich with features. I will be able to use it whenever I travel with new SIM cards. The Call In Europe has a variety of plans based on which parts of Europe you will be visiting. This made costs very reasonable compared to other plans I reviewed. I traveled by car in Croatia, Slovenia and Italy for 6 weeks. They provide you with a personal telephone number. I was primary located in Italy for 4 of those weeks so purchased an inexpensive SIM card from them which used Italy as the central communications services. Once you purchased the SIM card (which was very reasonable) you were only billed for time used. I had used Verizon previously and found it to be very expensive compared to Call In Europe as well one of the more expensive programs.

The best and least international service I have used is Call In Europe . I purchased a Motorola V197 GSM Quad phone which is compact and rich with features. I will be able to use it whenever I travel with new SIM cards. The Call In Europe has a variety of plans based on which parts of Europe you will be visiting. This made costs very reasonable compared to other plans I reviewed. I traveled by car in Croatia, Slovenia and Italy for 6 weeks. They provide you with a personal telephone number. I was primary located in Italy for 4 of those weeks so purchased an inexpensive SIM card from them which used Italy as the central communications services. Once you purchased the SIM card (which was very reasonable) you were only billed for time used. I had used Verizon previously and found it to be very expensive compared to Call In Europe as well one of the more expensive programs.

You can find cheap quadband phones on Amazon. If you are visiting multiple countries, you might be interested in a roaming SIM which is a prepaid SIM which is marketed based on cheap roaming rates rather than on great rates for a particular country. The choices include eKit, TravelSIM, Maxroam, Truphone, and others. Look at the countries you are visiting and compare rates.

I am going to Europe in a few weeks for my honeymoon and need to have a cell phone to get in touch with some friends we're meeting out there.

Can I just buy a cheap T-Mobile Pre-paid cellphone here and then buy a sim card once I get to europe? Maybe something like this Nokia 1661 Prepaid from Walmart (http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-1661-Prepaid-Cell-Phone/13082122)?

If you are staying somewhere where you trust them enough to take a package for you in advance then you could just order one from e.g. Amazon UK and have it delivered there. Or go to a store like the Carphone Warehouse (http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/shopybyprice) where the majority of the low end phones they sell are sim free and unlocked.

I am going to Europe in a few weeks for my honeymoon and need to have a cell phone to get in touch with some friends we're meeting out there.

Can I just buy a cheap T-Mobile Pre-paid cellphone here and then buy a sim card once I get to europe? Maybe something like this Nokia 1661 Prepaid from Walmart (http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-1661-Prepaid-Cell-Phone/13082122)?

No, you can't just buy a cheap prepaid phone here because usually the cheap prepaid phones you buy here like the Nokia 1661 are dual band with North American frequencies. In Europe you'll need a phone that uses European 900 and 1800 Mhz frequencies. A "quad band" phone will work there. It does need to be unlocked if you wish to use a local prepaid SIM card. You should be able to find something relatively cheap on eBay. Old Motorola Razr V3 would be a good phone to have. Even if you buy a "cheap" prepaid here that uses all frequencies it needs to be unlocked to use in Europe or you'll pay really dearly to use your prepaid in Europe. T-Mobile prepaid does work in Europe but it's very expensive.

You can find cheap quadband phones on Amazon. If you are visiting multiple countries, you might be interested in a roaming SIM which is a prepaid SIM which is marketed based on cheap roaming rates rather than on great rates for a particular country. The choices include eKit, TravelSIM, Maxroam, Truphone, and others. Look at the countries you are visiting and compare rates.

The problem with this SIMs is that they never offer good rates compared to local prepaids. It might be good if you are only planning to stay for a day or two, but if you want to make frequent calls or use mobile Internet, local prepaid for each country is a way to go.

Also, cheap Chinese cellphone models might be an answer, they even offer quad-sim quad-band models. There is whole bunch of them on DealExtreme.

I recently unlocked my new HTC Amaze 4G (T-Mobile) for 3 bucks.

It took 10 minutes to get the unlock code from UK based Ebay seller.

I've never relied on the inept T-Mo CSRs for this service.

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I've never relied on the inept T-Mo CSRs for this service.

You could have saved the $3 if you had. I've only had good experiences with T-mobile CSRs. They're always knowledgeable and professional. Calling them inept seems more than a tad harsh.

The problem with this SIMs is that they never offer good rates compared to local prepaids. It might be good if you are only planning to stay for a day or two, but if you want to make frequent calls or use mobile Internet, local prepaid for each country is a way to go.

Also, cheap Chinese cellphone models might be an answer, they even offer quad-sim quad-band models. There is whole bunch of them on DealExtreme.

My concern with quad-sim phones is that there are four radios going in the phone. That can't be good for battery life. Also read the specs closely, often only one SIM slot supports all the frequencies. I've seen plenty which are quad band on SIM1 but only dual band on the remainder.

Roaming SIMs are clearly worse for data rates, but on voice rates the difference in price is often made up for by not having to purchase multiple SIMs. The classic ten day/seven city European vacation is a good example. If you pay $10 per SIM to buy your SIMs, you are probably cheaper with a roaming SIM. There is an Ebay vendor reselling eKit for $8 a SIM. Inbound is $0.19 a minute on the US number on their basic SIM. Outbound is around $0.40. If you are only make a few calls, eKit is a better deal. Then there is the issue of spending your vacation in seven mobile shops buying SIM cards.

I do both, but often find that roaming SIMs are a better deal. Now that the EU has lowered roaming rates, a Vodafone SIM with Data Passport service might be a better replacement.

If you pay $10 per SIM to buy your SIMs, you are probably cheaper with a roaming SIM. There is an Ebay vendor reselling eKit for $8 a SIM. Inbound is $0.19 a minute on the US number on their basic SIM. Outbound is around $0.40. If you are only make a few calls, eKit is a better deal. Then there is the issue of spending your vacation in seven mobile shops buying SIM cards.

I do both, but often find that roaming SIMs are a better deal. Now that the EU has lowered roaming rates, a Vodafone SIM with Data Passport service might be a better replacement.

Well... $0.19 inbound and $0.40 outbound in Europe is not that great of a deal. With any EU prepaid SIM, from whatever country the charges will be 0.11 EUR cents/in and 0.35 EUR cents/out while roaming and much lower locally. Even lower starting July 1st.

Also most of the times you pay $10 per SIM or so, but also get the same amount in credit.

The only real advantage of "global SIMs" is that your number does not change. Although since most of my incoming calls are forwarded from our company PBX, does not make a big difference to me...

You might be right about battery life - personally I now have two smartphones and switch the SIMs based on the needs.