# Where to buy unlock phone in US **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681 "2007-12-30T06:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/1 "2007-12-30T06:07:47Z")
I have lived overseas for many years and will be spending time in the US for a while. If something should happen to my GSM mobile phone, where in the US can I go to buy a 4-band unlocked GSM phone? I gather all phones in the US are locked? Can you go into someplace like BestBuy and simply buy a phone with no contract as you can everywhere else in the world? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/2 "2007-12-30T06:28:07Z")
Other than eBay, the only places I have seen unlocked phones for sale were in Chinatowns – DC and New York, specifically. I would assume that other cities’ Chinatowns would have similar availability. I only buy unlocked phones. All of them except for one came from eBay sellers and the other one came from a little shop on Canal St in New York. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/3 "2007-12-30T07:06:24Z")
**Bambi Hassenpfeffer** : Are any of those phones legal? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/4 "2007-12-30T08:08:27Z")
Of course they’re legal. Why would they not be? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/5 "2007-12-30T08:12:16Z")
When companies like Apple make a big deal of locking their phones, and turning them into bricks when they’re hacked - it’s easy to see how an uninformed person may get the perception that getting one is Evil and bad, and it must be illegal… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/6 "2007-12-30T08:14:52Z")
‘Inconvenient for a particular profit model’ does not equal ‘illegal’. At the most, under specific circumstances, it _might_ be breach of contract. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/7 "2007-12-30T09:05:14Z")
And not at all a breach of contract with my provider. T-Mobile openly states they don’t care at all where the phone comes from; they’re perfectly happy to sign you to a contract and provide you with just a SIM. But I will also happily take whatever phone they’re offering for free. I have used my free upgrades with a contract renewal as gifts in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/8 "2007-12-30T09:06:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] ‘Inconvenient for a particular profit model’ does not equal ‘illegal’. [/QUOTE] At best, it means ‘not illegal yet’. In the common case, it means ‘illegal because doing it requires subverting a “copy protection mechanism” in contravention of the DMCA’. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/9 "2007-12-30T09:18:27Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] At best, it means ‘not illegal yet’. In the common case, it means ‘illegal because doing it requires subverting a “copy protection mechanism” in contravention of the DMCA’. [/QUOTE] Perhaps a better term than “unlocked phone” would be “never-locked phone”. These are phones that you buy that have never been locked to any carrier. There’s no law in the US preventing you from purchasing a cellphone that isn’t (and never has been) subsidy-locked and then using it. The question is whether your provider will permit you. If you use GSM (AT&T/Cingular and T-Mobile), then there isn’t really much they can do to stop you from using any GSM phone on their network provided it is compatible with their radio frequencies. If you are on a CDMA (Verizon and Sprint) network, then they will need to activate your phone for you – and they may or may not do so. Unlocking a phone you bought from the carrier may or may not be illegal – I’m nor current on the state of law with regards to that – but using a phone that was never locked in the first place certainly isn’t. My current phone is a Nokia I bought via eBay from a reseller in Queens who bought it from a distributor in Europe. My last phone came from Hong Kong via Singapore, again from eBay. Before that it was from Hong Kong again, but via Malaysia. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/10 "2007-12-30T11:26:24Z")
So there is no way to walk into a shop and buy a phone with no lock? Here I can pop into any phone shop and get Sony, Nokia etc. phones in the original box with no lock so they can be used anywhere. In fact it is impossible to buy a phone WITH a lock. Should I buy an extra phone here before going to the US for a few months? Surely some shops sell phones from the manufacturer in the original box without any carrier tampering/locking? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/11 "2007-12-30T12:50:20Z")
That question would be much easier to answer if you could let us know where you’re going to be while you’re in the States. Where I am, you’d probably not able to just walk into a phone store and buy one. When I was wandering around New York’s Chinatown, I couldn’t go ten feet without seeing a store selling them. It depends on where you are. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/12 "2007-12-30T13:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] At best, it means ‘not illegal yet’. In the common case, it means ‘illegal because doing it requires subverting a “copy protection mechanism” in contravention of the DMCA’. [/QUOTE] It’s legal. The practice of unlocking a cell phone is an [explicitly stated exemption to the DMCA.](http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061124-8280.html) ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/13 "2007-12-30T14:17:56Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] So there is no way to walk into a shop and buy a phone with no lock? Here I can pop into any phone shop and get Sony, Nokia etc. phones in the original box with no lock so they can be used anywhere. In fact it is impossible to buy a phone WITH a lock. [/QUOTE] The average shop doesn’t want to sell you just a phone, they want to sign you up for a “free” phone and a two-year contract. My guess is that it’s much more profitable for the shop. The exception is prepaid phones, which are cheap and can be purchased without a contract. They are often so cheap that they can be considered disposable. They can be a good deal if you don’t use the phone heavily. These phones are locked and often have been modified to only work on the carrier’s network. This is to make it difficult for someone to buy large numbers of subsidized phones, unlock them, and resell them as unlocked phones. One disadvantage of supplying your own unlocked phone is that the carriers will not give you a discount on the contract in recognition of the fact that you didn’t receive a subsidized phone with the contract. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/14 "2007-12-30T18:02:01Z")
I am going to be in Reno, Nevada. I only use a T-Mobile pre-paid plan in the US as I do not live there. But if I am there for a few months I want to be able to replace my phone if I lose it or something happens to it. Here or in Europe I’d just go into any phone shop. Are there any reputable mail order places in the US to get them? Locking a phone is a completely alien concept in most of the world - certainly I have not seen one in the last 5+ years. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/15 "2007-12-30T18:04:39Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] One disadvantage of supplying your own unlocked phone is that the carriers will not give you a discount on the contract in recognition of the fact that you didn’t receive a subsidized phone with the contract. [/QUOTE] I would think this would be the opposite - if I supply my own phone, the carrier is not out the real cost of the hardware. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-buy-unlock-phone-in-us/431681/16 "2007-12-31T19:11:45Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] Are there any reputable mail order places in the US to get them? [/QUOTE] I have (and have friends who have) used [My World Phone](http://www.myworldphone.com/) successfully. They are resellers in Queens that sell through eBay and their own website. These sites also come recommended by HowardForums, a cellphone bulletin board that is well-respected and trusted. [ul][li][Hi Mobile](http://www.hi-mobile.net/index.php)[/li][li][TimTechs](http://www.timtechs.com/)[/li][li][Popular Electronics](http://www.popularelect.com/)[/li][li][Plemix](http://www.plemix.com/)[/li][li][Overseas Electronics](http://www.welectronics.com/)[/li][\*][GSMPlus](http://gsmplus.ca/)[/ul]