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11-27-2023 09:29 PM in
Galaxy S23I've ordered an unlocked S23 ultra but am being warned on various Google fora that it's "tuned" to US bands and won't work with a foreign sim in a foreign country when I travel (which I do regularly for work). The connection is much better with a local sim. I checked with Samsung tech support and they told me not to worry, but some people are adamant that my new phone won't work abroad. Does anyone have relevant experience or knowledge? Thanks
Solved! Go to Solution.
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11-27-2023 10:30 PM in
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11-28-2023 12:10 AM (Last edited 11-28-2023 12:16 AM ) in
Galaxy S23There was no official announcement on those regional restrictions, but this was quietly implemented to deter bad actors from circumventing the region locking system. To clarify this, the region locking mechanism only applies to the SIM cards and eSIMs being used, NOT roaming.
What do those bad actors do when they import those devices? They use tools like Samkey to remove the region locking. It isn't fair that those people have access to those tools and many others like us do not.
(Those SIM restrictions only apply to US variants. International variants will still be able to use foreign SIM cards as usual, including those from Canada and Mexico, except 5G support may be limited in unsupported countries.)
Here's what's changed for One UI 6 for US Galaxy S23 and newer devices.
1. A new carrier called Open is added. We don't know what this means. We thought it may refer to Open Mobile in Puerto Rico, but this carrier was defunct a long time ago. Others may think Open is a subset for all other US carriers and MVNOs not on this list (excluding those outside the US and Puerto Rico).
2. Cross-platform eSIM transfers, as well as the legacy eSIM transfer feature (US, Germany, and Sweden) are no longer supported on US variants. Only wireless eSIM transfers are supported.
3. The ability to manually enter an eSIM activation code is no longer available on US variants. In the past, when a QR code was scanned, the phone might have asked you to enter the activation code manually (depending on the carrier). Going forward, eSIM QR codes that ask for an activation code will result in an error.
Those restrictions apply to both physical SIM cards and eSIMs. Roaming is unaffected and will continue to work as usual with no regional restrictions. Hope this helps.
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02-04-2024 12:55 AM in
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02-04-2024 07:36 AM in
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02-04-2024 07:40 AM in
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11-28-2023 02:54 AM (Last edited 11-28-2023 02:55 AM ) in
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11-28-2023 02:56 AM in
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11-28-2023 08:58 AM (Last edited 11-28-2023 08:59 AM ) in
Galaxy S23@userGPvFu4n2Gt It should work but the different bands may mean that coverage is limited in some areas.
Before you purchase a foreign SIM, have you checked with your US carrier? Many offer service in other countries for a reasonable rate. When I traveled to South Korea earlier this year, I just enabled international on my AT&T service. It is a flat $10/day for all the calls and SMS that you use. I used my unlocked Fold 4 anywhere that I needed it.
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11-29-2023 07:16 AM in
Galaxy S23