SIM restrictions on unlocked European Note3

dionysos77 said:

So here is the question, if I buy one N9005 from Spain, will I be able to use it in turkey with a local carrier sim card.

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Turkey is in Samsung´s EU-Blocklist
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=46018692&postcount=584
And as we learned from a lot of users here, pre-activation with a valid region SIM is a fake.

dionysos77 said:

as you may know Turkey is NOT a member of Eurpean Union (EU)
but a member of European Economical alliance(EEA).

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FYI, I believe Turkey is outside the EU and EEA (European Economic Area) albeit it is a candidate to be a member of the EEA - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Area.

thank you for your answers
I'm very upset about what I learned : (
I'll wait N 9005 to be sold in TURKEY

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

senectus said:

Calm down.. all this is designed to do is screw over the Grey Market players.

The phone will work with other sim cards once you have activated it in the correct country's sim card.

This wont stop authentic buyers, only buyers that import the phone.

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Quoted for shame.

First of all, WE ARE the buyers who import. They simply don't sell the unbranded unlocked phones we need here and in many of the places we live.

Second, how are we not "authentic" buyers? Third, even if we did buy them from official retailers for use in the country it was intended, the second-hand market is a big deal for unsubsidized phones and they ruined my resale value when they did this.

Third, it's been demonstrated repeatedly that certain SIMs still don't work even after the phone has been activated in the correct region, which screws over any owner who travels to those places, "authentic" or not. Just because the region restriction was removed and I can travel between US/EU doesn't make the problem with Asian SIMs go away.

The market has an expectation for how an unlocked, unsubsidized phone operates and they violated our trust.

Purchasing a phone out-right is supposed to solidly assert our ownership of the device to use how we see fit, which is why some manufacturers let you unlock bootloaders (Sony) and all let you use freely without SIMlock. This is an affront to everything consumers deserve from their own property. It may just be a SIM blacklist instead of a SIMlock, but who are they to tell us what SIMs we can use or not once we fully own an unlocked phone?

I have one more question. If I buy n9000 from.Turkey, Will I be able to use it in EU or USA with local SIM cards

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

CZroe said:

Quoted for shame.

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And quoting this for GLORY.

CZroe said:

First of all, WE ARE the buyers who import. They simply don't sell the unbranded unlocked phones we need here and in many of the places we live. How are we not "authentic" buyers?

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Exactly. I'm in the U.S. I go to amazon.com. I see many entries for devices that I want that I cannot get in the US - the most notable examples of which are the Galaxy Note Tablets in 4G, with phone capabilities. Those are simply not sold by carriers or retailers here - we can only get Wifi-only versions.

So I go on amazon, and I see the item. I see it's available from 33 sellers. I pick my seller of choice (FGS Trading, usually), and I pay with my credit card and I buy the device. They're in the U.S. They send it to me. Done deal!

Nowhere during this process do I see anything like "Warning: Grey Market seller. We are not allowed to sell this phone." Nowhere on Samsung's website do I see, "Warning, if your seller isn't listed on this page, don't buy this device!" or even "We won't support your device if you don't buy it from a legitimate seller in your country." Samsung makes it, my seller sells it, Amazon enables it, my Amex pays for it. It's all in my country, it's all, as far as I can tell, totally legitimate.

Oh, sure I know it's an import, I know there's no warranty, but it's open market. I assume US customs and duties have been paid, I make no attempt to be anonymous or hide my identity, I have a legitimate right to purchase this device, as a citizen of my country, being sold inside my country.

CZroe said:

Third, it's been demonstrated repeatedly that certain SIMs still don't work even after the phone has been activated in the correct region, which screws over any owner who travels to those places, "authentic" or not. Just because the region restriction was removed and I can travel between US/EU doesn't make the problem with Asian SIMs go away. The market has an expectation for how an unlocked, unsubsidized phone operates and they violated our trust.

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Samsung violated our trust. THIS IS EXACTLY IT! I am - or rather, was, a huge Samsung fanboy. I loved their products, their designs, whatever. As do many people out there. Samsung has lost a fan today. I've started ripping out their software, installing custom ROMs, and dropping the Samsung experience. I'm preparing amost all of my devices to be donated to schools or otherwise given away. I'm purging myself of Samsung, and I will never buy another Samsung device. Why? Because I feel violated by this. As stated perfectly in the quote...

CZroe said:

Purchasing a phone out-right is supposed to solidly assert our ownership of the device to use how we see fit, which is why some manufacturers let you unlock bootloaders (Sony) and all let you use freely without SIMlock. This is an affront to everything consumers deserve from their own property. It may just be a SIM blacklist instead of a SIMlock, but who are they to tell us what SIMs we can use or not once we fully own an unlocked phone?

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And this is just one step. If they're willing to do this, What else are they willing to do? What else are they already doing? What have we not yet discovered?

If I could requote that post a thousand times, I totally would. Excellent summation. Samsung violated us, and lied about it to the world. And they will continue doing so, and could well lead other manufacturers to do the same. It's an eroding of our rights as consumers.

That is why this is all so important!

---------- Post added at 09:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 AM ----------

Hmm... I wonder if this could have something to do with it...

Since the new iPhone 5S went on sale last week, the smartphone trade-in market has been in full gear. But all those used phones flooding the market could actually hurt Apple and its rivals in the long run.

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Full story here: http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/25/technology/mobile/smartphone-trade-in/

confirmed

I purchased 2 x 9005 from clove.uk,
both device boxes have stickers say the regional lock
however, I plug in my at&t sim, NO LOCK at all

Onepagebook said:

confirmed

I purchased 2 x N9005 from clove.uk,
both device boxes have stickers say the regional lock
however, I plug in my at&t sim, NO LOCK at all

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Click to collapse

US are not in blacklist of EU-N9005. Blocked countries are:
China, Hong Kong, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, Thailand, Philipines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Urugay, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Belarus

This all gets too confusing. It we buy an unlocked sim free phone, we shouldnt need to be thinking which country is blocked, will it do this or that or not.

Not that I travel overseas a lot so problem isnt a problem for me really, as it wouldnt be for most people unless business travellers.

Most of the users here have focused (rightly) on how it affects individual users, on vacation etc, but I think there is another side to this which is interesting and potentially damaging to Samsung.

The other side of the coin is how it will affect businesses. Samsung is making a big play for enterprise use with their Knox security (which most of us here hate and will remove as soon as the devs give us a chance).

Individual business users will be racking up amazing roaming charges when they travel and won't care but at some point their bosses will and go whoa! And the word will get around to corporate IT departments.

This is not really a global business friendly decision (only telecom friendly). I'm wondering if they have really thought it through? Everything they can potentially gain with the Knox initiative can be undone by the region locking one.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

I'm sure their intention was not to prevent people from using foreign local SIMs, it's probably an issue of their region-lock software not correctly working, I can't believe that they would intentionally lose the business from international travelers. But they are definitely two steps behind on the communication front with this issue.

All this confusion has put me off buying a Note 3 as I will be traveling to India and Vietnam in the next three months and I use local SIMs. I'll get the Nexus 5 when it is launched in October.

CZroe said:

Quoted for shame.

First of all, WE ARE the buyers who import. They simply don't sell the unbranded unlocked phones we need here and in many of the places we live.

Second, how are we not "authentic" buyers? Third, even if we did buy them from official retailers for use in the country it was intended, the second-hand market is a big deal for unsubsidized phones and they ruined my resale value when they did this.

Third, it's been demonstrated repeatedly that certain SIMs still don't work even after the phone has been activated in the correct region, which screws over any owner who travels to those places, "authentic" or not. Just because the region restriction was removed and I can travel between US/EU doesn't make the problem with Asian SIMs go away.

The market has an expectation for how an unlocked, unsubsidized phone operates and they violated our trust.

Purchasing a phone out-right is supposed to solidly assert our ownership of the device to use how we see fit, which is why some manufacturers let you unlock bootloaders (Sony) and all let you use freely without SIMlock. This is an affront to everything consumers deserve from their own property. It may just be a SIM blacklist instead of a SIMlock, but who are they to tell us what SIMs we can use or not once we fully own an unlocked phone?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

+10000000

I think Samsung was flying too high & it's time for them to fall down. Ridiculous that I pay full price for an unlocked genuine phone manufactured by Samsung and they control the SIM.

I bet it's a big time for Sony, LG and HTC to come up and capitalise on the stupid mistake Samsung has made.

I had every flagship from galaxy s1 to note 2. Never going to buy Samsung again.

Sent from my GT-N7102 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Sammy, you will gonna down big time. Htc, Huawei, Sony, LG, here we came. Adio Sammy.

I have one question. If I buy n9000 from.Turkey, Will I be able to use it in EU or USA with local SIM cards


Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

bye bye samsung

What if i install rom from another regions.....do i need to activate again

Bye bye samsung , nice 4years

its time to for me to try another brand ,htc ,sony ,lg

Onepagebook said:

confirmed

I purchased 2 x 9005 from clove.uk,
both device boxes have stickers say the regional lock
however, I plug in my at&t sim, NO LOCK at all

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Please spend more time to read more post please. USA Sim card with EU phone or EU Sim in USA phone is not a problem now. This been prove already for first 5-10 page in the thread.

Now what are we try to fight for or try to prove that Samsung is lie and all thier PR is know nothing is. You can use Sim Card from Thailand or Vitenam or more in the phone.

You can say it is not your problem. I agree with you but I just hope you never go to travelling in other region in the world (Thailand, Vitenam). Or you could can pay for the Roaming when you are in Asia.

Health warning: the message below is worrying.

I spoke yet again to the Samsung UK customer service team (+44 330 726 7864) this afternoon (at 5:40pm GMT) as I had not received the email I had been promised this morning with a statement on the region lock. A different rep spoke to me and had the following news to report to me:

- the Samsung UK telephone staff have had problems sending out emails today and therefore have not sent out the statement to me - which was fine by me as these things happen.

- the SIM limitation sticker really is meant to mean what it says - the N9005 is not meant to be compatible with SIMs issued by operators outside the European region - I believe at least some owners are using the Note 3 with SIMs issued by operators outside the EU but the rep was adamant that the Note 3 was not intended by Samsung to be used with SIMs issued by operators outside of the European region, even following first activation.

- the European region Note 3s are only meant to be compatible with SIMs issued by operators from the European region, and this applies equally after activation - I asked repeatedly her to confirm this which she did each time. I tried practical examples too and it got worse: So if I go to Australia I must use a European region SIM in my Note 3 even if I buy the Note 3 SIM-free for £620? Yes according to the rep. So I asked if I go to Florida on vacation, I have no choice but to use a European region SIM in my Note 3? Yes again according to rep.

- it makes no difference if here in the UK I buy the Note 3 from Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4U, EE or Clove.

- I could buy another phone if I wanted to use a SIM from an operator outside the EU in my mobile - the rep volunteered this to me as it never occurred to me that they might seriously suggest such a policy.

- the rollout of Kitkat is to extend the regional lock to existing SGS3s and Note 2s - I asked if my existing unlocked SGS3 bought unlocked over a year ago is to be subject to the same regional lock if I upgrade. Yes according to rep. So I would not be able to use a SIM from outside the European region in it when travelling? Yes according to the rep.

- no statement can be sent in an email to me by the Samsung UK telephone team to confirm this in writing.

- I can email uk.help@samsung.com with any questions but it might take up to 24 hours to respond. When I pointed out to the rep that I had already done just this, emailing uk.help@samsung.com on Friday evening (27th) and not had a response in over 50 hours (including after checking my spam folder), I was told that sometimes the email team are very busy and she could not say for sure when I would receive a response to any question.

I have asked to get a call back from the Tier 2 rep who I spoke to on Friday (27th) but in the meanwhile I can only stand gobsmacked by the apparent madness of this corporate policy. For example:

- Samsung cannot even implement a draconian region lock policy (if that is what they really intend) properly and consistently - given that some European Note 3s with the European regional lock sticker are reported to be being activated and then successfully used outside the home region with SIMs issued by operators outside the home region - while others are able to activate with home region SIM but not then able to use out of region SIMs when travelling.

- Samsung (whether through its local offices, PR companies or employees) can brief against itself so that some Samsung offices will say one thing and others possibly within the same office, something completely different, on the same day, and day after day.

- the utter, utter lack of leadership from Samsung Global (Electronics) to coordinate and communicate their own policy (whether that policy is good or bad is almost irrelevant) clearly, consistently and transparently - or to communicate it at all.

- complete confusion among retailers, and among Samsung reps talking to retailers, here in the UK as to Samsung's region lock policy, to the extent they are even aware in the first place of the region lock policy and how it operates - which, from first hand exerience, I can say many are not.

So... To recap... We paid full price for an unsubsidized phone that is region locked right?
Big brother us showing from behind the curtain.

Well in my case, from the moment I confirmed with my own eyes that sticker I knew this was the last samsung "anything" that I will buy ever.
I have totally lost trust in this brand and it is now in my blacklist, and I will use all means necessary to let all my circles know about this and to steer away from evil samsung.

Enviado desde mi SM-N9005 usando Tapatalk 2

Here's another proof for all who want to see it in a hands-on

/youtu.be/ri_tz6HlsKo