Sim Free or Unlocked? That is the question?

What is the difference I hear you say? Why are some phones Sim Free and some unlocked? And why does it matter at all?

Well, I’m about to explain.

When a mobile phone is sold by a particular network provider, such as T-Mobile, Orange or O2 they will lock the phone so it can only be used on their network and nobody else’s. This means, if you bought the new Samsung Soul from T-Mobile the chances are that it would have some form of network branding or logos on it such as a big T-Mobile logo on the front of the phone. As if this wasn’t enough, the network provider will usually add there own software to the phone. So there will be T-Mobile logos all over the menus. And finally they will lock the phone to only be used on T-Mobile. If you want to use this phone with your Vodapone sim card it will not work, however, it can be unlocked. This will allow you to use the Vodapone sim card (or any other sim) but it doesn’t get rid of the network branding logos or software from the phone. So you will have a phone with a Vodaphone sim card but T-Mobile logos and branding all over it!

One more important point, to unlock the phone the software has to be tampered with. This then voids the warranty so if you have problems with the phone at a later date, the manufacturer will know it has been tampered with and will not fix the problem under the warranty.

So what is best? The best way is to buy a Sim Free Mobile Phone. This is a phone which has never been locked to a network and has no network branding. These phones come straight from the manufacturers. They have full warranty and will work with any sim card you wish to use, regardless of which network provider it is from.

Another advantage of having a sim free phone is when you come to sell the phone, they tend to be more valuable than an unlocked phone. This is because the warranty is still valid and the phone can be sold to anyone on any network to use with any sim card

At Elite Gadgets we stock the full range of sim free phones available in the marketplace today. All our phones are fully sim free with no network branding and full warranty.