Unlocked phones - The pains and pleasures - Android

Unlocked phones are gaining ground in the United States, even if locked devices continue to be the norm. An NPD Collected Intelligence report from late 2018 showed there were 38 million unlocked phones in the USA, which accounts to about 15% of the market.

We don’t see growth slowing down, as there are many benefits to owning an unlocked phone. Reasons to stick with carrier-locked phones also exist. Today we are giving you a rundown of the pros and cons that come with buying an unlocked phone. Let’s help you find out what kind of phone you will get next!

What is an unlocked phone?

The best way to explain this is by telling you what a locked phone is. Locked phones have been blocked from working with other networks. Carriers do this to ensure you don’t go giving your business to competitors. Try putting a SIM card from another carrier in a locked phone and you will get a message telling you this action is a no-go.

Carriers lock phones to ensure you don't go giving your business to competitors.

Edgar Cervantes

On the contrary, an unlocked phone has no network restrictions. You can pop any SIM card into an unlocked phone and get it working with the carrier of your choice (given it’s compatible).

It’s important to note carriers have their reasons for locking devices, which include ensuring customers stay with them through contracts, and avoiding theft/fraud. This is why they offer to unlock devices after your contract has ended, you have paid the smartphone off, or have spent some time using their network.

For more details on unlocked phones and how to tell if you have one (or how to unlock a locked phone), you’ll want to head here.

Unlocked phone advantages

Carrier freedom

Unlocked phone users have no restrictions, contracts, or ties to any company. They can shop around for the best deals and go to any carrier they want. Whether they want T-Mobile deals, Verizon quality, or the lowest prices the market can offer, they are free to come and go from carrier to carrier as they please. There is a catch, though! Your phone needs to be compatible with the network (more on that in the cons section).

How about two networks?!

Dual-SIM unlocked phones make it possible to use two networks at once. Say you want to use a carrier for calls/texts and another for data. Maybe you travel often and want to have a SIM card from another country. You can do it with a dual-SIM unlocked phone

Not all unlocked phones offer dual-SIM capabilities, but this is a feature you certainly won’t be seeing in locked devices.

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No monthly payments

Carriers offer phones on monthly payments, which is very convenient, but makes your bills pricier. Device payments keep you in debt with the carrier and make it harder to leave the network if you ever chose to. It’s always nice to be debt-free and keep your monthly expenses as low as possible.

You can save money!

Carriers are businesses and obviously want to earn as much money as possible. Their smartphone prices are not always fair, and they are only ever cheaper if they can hook you into staying with them for a longer period of time. Let’s take the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus as an example.

Carriers will get discount money back from you eventually, and then some.

Edgar Cervantes

As of the time of writing this article, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus costs $1,099.99 on Verizon. Meanwhile, you can get the same phone unlocked at Amazon for $1,049.99. It’s only $50, but that’s your $50, and the price difference can often be much more significant. You could save even more if you don’t mind buying a used unlocked phone!

Buying unlocked and outright commonly gets you better prices. Carriers often have deals that drive down their device prices, but they always want you to get these on device payments, or to take on a contract. This only means they will get the money back from you eventually, and then some.

Unlocked phones help avoid over-spending

See the device above? It’s a Samsung Galaxy Fold and it costs a whopping $1980. Any sane (non-rich) person would think twice or three times before forking out nearly two grand for a phone. But $66 a month? Many of us can swallow that!

Buying unlocked will not only get you lower prices on devices, it will also help you avoid overspending when not considering the full cost of a phone. These carrier device payments make it easy for us to go buying expensive smartphones we wouldn’t necessarily buy at full price.

Device payment plans make people think it's ok to spend over $1,000 on a super-phone to... check their emails and use social media.

Edgar Cervantes

Very few people take full advantage of what high-end phones have to offer, but you see people using them every day. Device payment plans make people think it’s ok to spend over $1,000 on a super-phone to… check their emails and use social media. Maybe if we had to pay our devices outright we would think twice about getting the latest and greatest smartphone the industry has to offer! After all, most people would do just fine without a high-end handset.

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Not limited to carrier selection

Carriers have a limited selection of devices. They all tend to have the most popular phones, but there are many options out there you might prefer. When buying unlocked you can choose from a plethora of manufacturers all across the world, and there are many amazing phones that have limited or no availability from US carriers. These include the Asus ROG Phone 2, the Huawei P30 Pro, the OnePlus 7T series, and many others.

When buying an unlocked phone you can chose from a plethora of manufacturers all across the world

Edgar Cervantes

No carrier bloatware

American carriers love throwing unnecessary apps on our phones. While some manufacturers are guilty of this too, we don’t need carriers pre-installing even more apps in our smartphones. Most of these are useless and sometimes they can’t be uninstalled.

Most carrier apps are useless and sometimes they can't be uninstalled.

Edgar Cervantes

Unlocked phones get quicker updates

Carriers update their own phones. This means your software needs to go through an extra filter before reaching your device. The process goes something like this: Google releases its software updates, the manufacturer optimizes it for its phones and hands it to the carrier, the carrier optimizes it for its phones and network, and then it gets to your device. All these steps could take weeks or months, and that’s if it happens. Unlocked phones skip the last step and get software updates from the manufacturer.

Unlocked phone disadvantages

Unlocked phones get no support from carriers