Where To Buy Unlocked Phones In Usa
An unlocked Moto G Power was available at Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy and eBay for less than $200. However, the best deal I saw was at Swappa for under $100. These are especially great deals because Clark recommends the Motorola product line for people who are price sensitive.
where to buy unlocked phones in usa
Finally, I found a great deal on a refurbished Google Pixel 6 at Walmart for $279.97. The best deal I found on a brand new device was at eBay for $379. Swappa offered the same phone for $200-$258, but keep in mind that phones sold on this site will be used.
Every listing on Swappa is reviewed and approved by a team that checks verification photos, serial numbers, criteria compliance and seller history. You can browse the approved listings for phones in fair, good and mint conditions.
When I compared prices on unlocked phones in February 2023, Newegg offered the lowest prices on a Samsung Galaxy A53 behind only eBay and Swappa. For this reason, I recommend checking out Newegg before deciding where to buy an unlocked smartphone.
If you're in the market for a new smartphone, you'll almost certainly come across the term "unlocked phone." What exactly is an unlocked phone, and how can you tell if it's unlocked? Do you even want an unlocked phone, and if so, is it secure to use? We provide answers to all of your burning questions.
A smartphone that has been unlocked can be used with any cell phone carrier. Some phones aren't unlocked, meaning they can only be used with one carrier. That is not the case with an unlocked phone. However, a phone's network compatibility is only relevant for mobile phone carriers, not wireless networks like WiFi. Any phone, whether unlocked or locked, can connect to a WiFi network as long as that WiFi is operational.
When traveling, it makes international SIM cards simple to use. Phones that have been unlocked are free to connect to any network in the globe. The instructions for changing SIM cards for your phone model will be available from most providers.
Installing a SIM card is much easier if your phone is unlocked. Unlike locked phones, which are limited to using the network carrier's SIM card, unlocked phones give you the freedom to choose your carrier. It's very simple to put a fresh SIM card in a new unlocked phone device. You can choose a SIM card from any carrier and set it up once you've chosen the proper phone model based on the cellular network frequency specs. If you're transferring an old SIM card from another phone and want to transfer SIM data, you'll need to back up the data from the previous phone first before removing the SIM. You may do this by going to your SIM settings folder and selecting "export files to SIM card."
When you have an unlocked phone, you can use any SIM card. Prior to the invention of 4G LTE, networks were split between GSM and CDMA operators. Now, since the introduction of 4G LTE phones, new iPhones and Android devices are compatible with both GSM and CDMA networks. This means we no longer have to worry about whether our phone is GSM or CDMA or whether it will accept a SIM card. Basically, every unlocked iPhone after the iPhone 5 and any unlocked Android phone released after 2013 should be SIM card compatible.
Further, a locked phone contains a software code that prevents it from being used on another network. An unlocked phone either does not have the software lock or has been able to obtain a code to unlock the program. Once a smartphone is unlocked, you can remove the SIM card and replace it with a different SIM card to continue using it.
With an unlocked phone, One advantage is that you have the freedom to choose the plan and pricing that best suits your needs. Some carriers lock you into plans at a higher price point in order to obtain a discount on a locked phone. With an unlocked phone, you will often have more freedom to add or remove services as well as switch between plans to suit your needs.
Another advantage of an unlocked phone is that it's not bound by a contract. You are not required to stay with a single carrier for more than two years or to adhere to your contract's restrictions and data allotments.
For the international traveler, another pro of owning an unlocked phone is that you may use your unlocked phone easily in other countries. By simply buying a SIM card and plan for an international provider during a trip, one may obtain service often at lower prices than the major US providers offer for international roaming. it is in high demand, especially among international visitors who simply need to purchase a foreign GSM SIM card, so you may get a good price for it if you decide to sell it.
Carriers will allow you to use unlocked phones, but they may not be able to provide as much help in the event that something goes wrong. You may be on your own if your phone stops working, the network goes down, or you have any other technical troubles. The manufacturer has a support team, but their expertise of carrier network technology is confined to their products.
Unless you pay using a credit card, unlocked phones must be paid in full. The problem is that you need to pay for the phone right away, and we all know how pricey these devices can be. It's not pleasant to see your bank account plummet by over $1,000 after purchasing a high-end smartphone. Even low-cost phones can be inconvenient at times.
By now, you should have a better idea of what "unlocked" means in the context of phones. Remember, even if you have paid off your phone and fulfilled your contact duties, the phone is yours to keep, and you should be able to swap at any time. Ultimately, the choice of a locked versus an unlocked phone is yours, and hopefully, our guide will help you navigate finding your next phone.
The best unlocked phones let you get whatever device you want while remaining free from carrier payment plans. Although you have to buy them upfront, you can then bring that unlocked handset to the best phone carrier for your needs.
Best unlocked phone overall: iPhone 14 (opens in new tab)Apple's flagship phone is the best device to buy unlocked (though you will pay an extra $30 at Apple to get an unlocked iPhone 14 instead of one tied to a specific carrier.) It's got great cameras, the best performing processor we've tested and a stylish design. Plus, the software experience is second-to-none, with plenty of apps to make your phone even more useful.
Best overall value: Pixel 7 (opens in new tab)The Google Pixel 7 offers the best value of any unlocked phone, with flagship features in a device that costs $200 less than comparable premium handsets. With the Pixel 7, you get powerful cameras that are backed up by Google's excellent computational photography for photos that stand up well against the images produced by any other phone. A Tensor G2 processor also delivers unique features like real-time dictation and call screening.
Other phones boast better battery life, but few can match the amount of high-end capabilities the Galaxy S22 offers for less than $700. And fans of compact phones will appreciate how easy it is to use this 6.1-inch device with just one hand.
Though it's been out for a while, the Nord N20 is a newcomer to our best unlocked phone list, as the phone had been tied to T-Mobile. That's no longer the case, as you can buy the N20 5G unlocked, though you will need to take it to a wireless carrier that uses T-Mobile's coverage if you want to enjoy 5G speeds. Still, the low price of the Nord N20 5G makes this phone awfully hard to pass up, especially at a time of rising costs.
When it comes to performance, we rely on such synthetic benchmarks as Geekbench 5 and 3DMark to measure graphics performance. These tests allow us to compare performance across iPhones and Android devices. We also run a real-world video transcoding test on each phone using the Adobe Premiere Rush app and time the result. (We unfortunately have to skip this test on some phones due to app compatibility issues, but we attempt this benchmark with each device we get in to review.)
To measure the quality of a phone's display, we perform lab tests to determine the brightness of the panel (in nits), as well as how colorful each screen is (DCI-P3 color gamut). In these cases, higher numbers are better. We also measure color accuracy of each panel with a Delta-E rating, where lower numbers are better and score of 0 is perfect.
Last but not least, we take the best phones out in the field to take photos outdoors, indoors and at night in low light to see how they perform versus their closest competitors. We take shots of landscapes, food, portraits and more, and also allow you to be the judge with side-by-side comparisons in our reviews.
Important: Pixel phones work with all major carriers. But not all Pixel 4a (5G) and later phones work on all 5G networks. Check with your carrier to make sure your phone works on its 5G network. See a list of certified carriers.
Our unlocked phones are affordable, reliable, and part of a growing push towards more sustainable practices. Truly built to last, our devices undergo product testing that is more rigorous than the industry average, and include years of Android upgrades and security updates, so the software stands up to the tests of time, too. Plus, our own data centers reside in Finland where they are subject to stringent European data protection laws.
The new Nokia G400 5G, Nokia G100 and Nokia 2780 Flip are now also compatible with Verizon. This means you can pair our phones with any wireless service provider in the US - so you can enjoy the complete freedom of choosing the device -and carrier- that best suits your needs.
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