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I am planning on buying a cell phone soon in the US. Preferably, I would want a phone that has dual SIM card slots and quad frequency capability (850/900/1,800/1,900 MHz). Is this all I need hardware-wise for a phone to work in the UK (and possibly Europe in general)?

Other than that, I would need the appropriate phone plan. Are there more requirements I need? Such as: do the WiFi bands in the US work with WiFi in the UK (that phones use, laptops, etc.)?

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  • Are you after a 3g or a 4g phone? (Bands used often differ)
    – Gagravarr
    Apr 15, 2017 at 10:10
  • The bands you list are 2G GSM bands. Those aren't a particularly important consideration any more, partly because it is hard to find phones that don't support them these days but mostly because no one wants to actually use 2G GSM any more. It is the 3G and LTE/4G band support that matters more.
    – Dennis
    Apr 15, 2017 at 17:54
  • I wonder if this question might not be better suited for the Travel SE?
    – ouflak
    Apr 17, 2017 at 10:44
  • Definitely does not belong in Expats
    – Scott Earle
    Apr 17, 2017 at 13:39
  • @Dennis do you know which frequencies are the 4G/LTE bands?
    – magnetar
    Apr 17, 2017 at 22:25

1 Answer 1

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WiFi should not be a problem.

The only thing to watch for is that your phone needs to be GSM not CDMA, and needs to support at least the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands.

The phone's manufacturer should have a website listing compatibility across carriers around the world. Example: here is Apple's page listing iPhone compatibility with LTE bands around the world.

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