theshaun

Hi all,

I'm not very tech savy so going through all the travel phone threads was making my head explode.

What I need is a phone for travel in the US and Europe. I am Canada based.

What should I be looking for in terms of specs? I would need the phone mainly for data usage and the occasional phone call. I'm picturing arriving in a country, going to a mobile phone store and buying a prepaid SIM and plan.

I would like to be in the $100 price range.

Thanks

Calliopeflyer

It will be difficult in Canada to get an unlocked phone for that price in retail -- unless you know someone who is upgrading and will give you a great deal on their older model phone (I sold my old iPhone 5 to my sister for $200). Do you have a smartphone already? If you do, you can probably get it unlocked and then take advantage of just buying the SIM cards for travel.

theshaun

The phone will be purchased in the US, likely online.

speedy_j

Either an unlocked Motorola G or E would fit your need and budget.

IsleOfMan

Moto G can be had from Sears.com for $99... it's locked to Consumer Cellular, but a $3 unlock code from eBay can fix that pretty quickly. Most people are reporting getting the International version, though a few have received the US version so there's a small risk of that (though it can be returned fairly easily if you do get the US version). Otherwise, Moto E is a solid phone for the price.

theshaun

Looking at the Moto G and E, there are US GSM, Global GSM and UNiversal 4G LTE. what's the difference?

Also, are the BLU phones any good?

cargueiro

US$100 or C$100?

Please be concise.

IsleOfMan

The difference in the Moto phones are the bands they support... you would want either Global GSM or Universal LTE to use abroad. The US GSM version has AWS support for TMobile bands in the US, but lacks most of the European 3G bands.

Most of the Blu phones lack the bands necessary to use in both the US and Europe (haven't looked at the bands supported on the newer LTE models).

theshaun

But the Global or Universal would work in the US too?

Tizzette

I bought the Moto G US version after working through these options you are considering about six months ago and it worked fine in Hungary, Poland, Austria and Portugal. I bought it on Amazon and I use it with the TMobile Simple Choice with an add on of $10 or maybe it is $15 per month for international calling at 20 cents a minute. 20 cents from anywhere to anywhere, just about. You can discontinue the international add on if you don't need it every month. The phone detects partner networks from country to country, no hassles. Unlimited data for email and internet. The free data allows use as a hotspot, which I have not tried in Europe but works fine at home. TMobile does slow it down if you are a huge data hog but that's not going to happen unless you are gaming and streaming. No buying SIM cards for different countries, no bother.

The TMobile deal is great for being able to answer your calls anywhere you are without worrying about running up a big bill. That said, for the outgoing calls I make, whenever it is convenient I wait until I am back at the hotel on wifi, since it is even cheaper to use Skype on the ipad.

IsleOfMan

You'll miss some of the 3G/3G+ bands in Europe with the US Version of the original Moto G, leaving you with only 2G data. With ATT MVNOs finally catching up to TMO in terms of value in the USA, I'd go Global or LTE for the OP and stick with ATT MVNOs. Also, TMO is rolling out more and more repurposed 1900 mHz spectrum, so the Global version will work much better with TMO than it has in the past.

dtsm

There are several versions of the Moto G, the 1st gen and subsequent upgraded models to work on LTE. Each has a US GSM and Global GSM model respectively.

If you do a wiki search, they'll explain better than I can do in this post, the major differences between the various models. Here's a link to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moto_G

I have the 1st Gen Moto G US GSM model, purchased when first launched. I have used it on TMO stateside and when I travel in Asia. Depending on the network provider overseas, I get anywhere from 2G, 3G and on occasions faster download. It is sufficient for skype, Line, FB, firefox [light browsing] and can even download torrentz files using WiFi. This model can be had on eBay for around $80-120.

A good alternative when launched was the Moto E, slightly cheaper but still very workable smartphone. Good luck in your search.

Cloudship

I have been in a very similar boat as you, except I live in the Us and also want a phone that works in Canada, the US, and the UK. I don't have an answer for you,, but I can tell you what I have figured out so far.

The problem is that the bands that work in the Us (and mostly in Canada) are not the same as those that work in Europe, or the rest of the world. Not only that, but different carriers use different bands. Not all phones get all bands. For that matter, there may only be one or two phones that get most of the bands you want. So you have to make some choice.

Complicating matters even more, the same phone often comes in different versions, with different bands. I use the GSM Arena site to check on the bands each model and each sub model can work with.

I think one big decision is what you want for data speed. I still don't get the differences between 3G, 4G, LTE, LTE+, 4GEE, etc. And I am really confused on what different carriers refer to when they say they offer high speed roaming data.

Personally, I would choose what plans/vendors you are likely to use, and then find a phone that fits. Keep in mind int he US that automatically limits you to one of the GSM carriers, and no one else uses CDMA in the world.

If you want just one phone, I would check out Arena, and then find a used model off of Ebay or amazon. I have an Xperia T that got at least 2G in the UK, 3G here in the US, but I dont think it can get LTE. It is dying on me, so I need a new phone and am looking at the oneplus 1, which will work with SOME 4G and LTE services in the UK. I don't think there is just one phone that works universal, though - so you might be more interested in picking up two cheaper phones, one for NA and one for Europe.

Tizzette

When I researched the Moto G, it seemed that going with the Global aka International version was not the best range of bands if your primary use is in the US. I am a tech dummy too, that 's why I chose the TMobile Simple Voice plan and the Moto G.
But things change fast in the world of cellular and most FTs are more savvy than me. Sometimes more savvy than dummies can follow.

Jay71

I've seen the odd deal in Canada where you can get a phone they are trying to clear out for around $150 net pretax. Check out redflagdeals.
The best deal that comes to mind is a Koodo deal for a Samsung Galaxy S2x where you ended up putting out $250 but get a $100 gift card. But you would still have to pay about $20 to get it unlocked.

As for prepaid sims, I'm currently using a prepaid Tmobile sim using their $3USD daily plan. For calling in the States, the daily plan has unlimited calling. To call back to Canada, I configured my Tmobile number with a Google Voice Number.
However, Roam Mobile's updated plans are very competitive now. They have a $4CDN (+tax?) daily plan with similar usage parameters. I believe Roam runs on Tmobile's network.

For Europe, the best prepaid data sim we found was from Europa Sim which just resold a Vodaphone sim with a very good plan. I don't think we made any local calls but to call back to Canada, we used Skype.