I wasn't really sure where to put this as it is a very general question about cell phones.
Does anyone have any recommendations of good burner phones (pre-paid) that work well in Ireland? I am just looking to find an inexpensive phone to buy in the US before heading over and picking up a SIM card to use while in Ireland. We are planning on a few quick trips prior to our move in the coming months and just need a way of contacting schools and Leasing Agents while we are there.
We have a few phones from our time in South Africa and Ireland but they are old and the batteries are pretty bad - don't hold a charge for very long.
Just curious if certain brands work better than others.
Basically just find a Tesco Store and pick up a basic phone for about €10/20 then €15 credit gives 1000 minutes of Irish calls and texts and still leaves the €15 for making overseas calls @ 2cent or if you just buy the sim to drop into an existing Android phone €5 gets 1 gig of data to use the phone as a satnav
We have Samsung and LG phones and a basic Nocia for when guests come over. Modern phones are much of a muchness when it comes to reception.
Your US provider probably has an international add-on plan. I think Verizon charges something like 40 bucks for the month, but there's only 100 or so minutes included with that.
Tony's option is probably best/cheapest. Especially if you just need something to make calls. Stop into any shopping centre once you get to Ireland. There's plenty of mobile options besides Tesco (O2, Vodafone, Three, Meteor).
Yeah, we have two Nokia Lumia 710s with removable SIM cards that we don't use - thinking of just bringing those along and grabbing a SIM card from Tesco as Tony said. If that doesn't work, we'll just buy a phone from Tescos as well.
Most Verizon phones that support LTE have the SIM slot unlocked for GSM. Which means you should be able to use them internationally without issue by popping in a SIM. It was a requirement imposed in the recent bandwidth auctions.
Sprint will unlock dual mode phones for international use of a SIM card.
Most T-Mobile US phones sold since they started the Uncarrier promotions are unlocked.
If you have completed your contract period with AT&T they will often unlock your phone.
An unlocked US phone should work for at least 3G access with a SIM card in Ireland (or the rest of the EU).
A little more about this.
Verizon, Sprint, and some of the smaller carriers used CDMA up to 3G. GSM was the competing technology that was used by AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. GSM was far more common worldwide.
Many CDMA phones supporting 3G or earlier have a SIM card for travelers to use when outside of the US.
LTE is a GSM technology. LTE is called 4G or LTE interchangeably in most parts of the world. In the US one of the carriers pushed the FCC to let them label enhanced 3G as 4G. All cell phones that support LTE have a SIM card slot. Even if your carrier is a CDMA carrier, they will put something in the SIM card for use with LTE.
As for charging most use a cord that either connects to a USB port. USB wall chargers are probably cheaper than a power adapter.
FYI - Most current T-mobile plans include international calling and text. If you are already on T-Mobile, check their site for details.
Wow! SO much helpful information! Thank you! We have some old Verizon phones and current ones as well but the sim card is completely blocked. Our old T-Mobile phones are unlocked so will bring those along.
Definitely go with Three. Buy a SIM with the "all you can eat" package for €20. It comes with unlimited data. I have been using that with my unlocked iPhone.