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What do I need to watch out for when buying an unlocked phone on the used market? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I want my next phone to be "unlocked" so I can use it w/ any carrier - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Mint, etc. I'm based in the US, but if I travel internationally, it would be nice to be able to just pop in a local SIM card and continue using my phone like normal.

What gives me pause is, I see used phones listed as "US Version," and reviewers claiming the phone was not unlocked (for example, this Pixel 7a on Amazon).

Questions:

What am I missing here? Do these reviewers just not know what they're doing, or are they buying from shady resellers?
Does "US Version" imply I would not be able to use the phone internationally by just popping in a local SIM card?

Thank you!

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[–] dan@upvote.au 26 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Verizon deliberately conflates the term unlocked to mean not locked to a carrier (can use a non-Verizon SIM)

This is what "unlocked" usually means to the general population though. If you search your favourite search engine for "how to unlock phone", most (if not all) results will be either about carrier locks or about getting into the phone if you forget your PIN/password.

Someone knowledgeable enough to even know about the bootloader would usually explicitly say "unlocked bootloader" to avoid the ambiguity.