About an unlocked smartphone

[davidhk129]

Presently I am using Huawei Ascend Y300 smartphone.
It is tied to Virgin.ca
I am using a PREPAID Virgin sim card for the phone.

I want to continue using that prepaid Virgin sim card but I want to buy a new unlocked smartphone.
The new unlocked smartphone may or may not be a Huawei.

Question :
Can I just take the Virgin prepaid sim card from my Huawei phone and insert it to a new unlocked smartphone without having have to activate.
Will the new unlocked smartphone work this way ?

P.S. I know about the different sizes of sim cards. I have the "adaptor".

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

That's all you gotta do. Just make sure your new, unlocked phone uses the same signal bands as your old phone. Also, just to make sure, I'd contact Virgin.ca and make sure that they allow you to bring your own device.

 

[davidhk129]

That's all you gotta do. Just make sure your new, unlocked phone uses the same signal bands as your old phone. Also, just to make sure, I'd contact Virgin.ca and make sure that they allow you to bring your own device.

Thank you.

What do you mean "the same signal bands" ?
How do I check that ?
I am ignorant on this subject.

 

[meattray]

Thank you.

What do you mean "the same signal bands" ?
How do I check that ?
I am ignorant on this subject.

You'll have to look to see what type of device you're doing. Each one is usually manufactured for a certain location which means they'll have certain bands they connect to in that area which means they may not get lte etc in some places. You can usually do a quick search for it about the device and compare to what your carrier uses to ensure compatibility.

Also with those adapters make sure you're careful with those as I have heard several times of people wrecking sim slots because of it.

 

[davidhk129]

You'll have to look to see what type of device you're doing. Each one is usually manufactured for a certain location which means they'll have certain bands they connect to in that area which means they may not get lte etc in some places. You can usually do a quick search for it about the device and compare to what your carrier uses to ensure compatibility.

Also with those adapters make sure you're careful with those as I have heard several times of people wrecking sim slots because of it.

Thank you.

I have been checking out at eBay.

What does the following mean ? My last question, I hope.

................Verizon GSM unlocked..............

I don't have to use the same carrier, do I ?

Thank you.

 

[meattray]

What phone are you looking at? You need to search for the bands for that device to see if they're available on Virgin.

You don't have to have the same carrier. I'm with Rogers in Canada and have found success with phones from AT&T. Some Verizon models are strictly for their Network I believe while others are unlocked for other gsm networks.

 

[davidhk129]

What phone are you looking at? You need to search for the bands for that device to see if they're available on Virgin.

You don't have to have the same carrier. I'm with Rogers in Canada and have found success with phones from AT&T. Some Verizon models are strictly for their Network I believe while others are unlocked for other gsm networks.

I am referring to this one I saw at ebay.ca

Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900V 4G LTE 16GB (Verizon GSM Unlocked) Smartphone | eBay

I am at a tight budget. That's why I chose cheaper model.

 

[meattray]

The sellers notes say it's compatible with all international carriers so you should be safe. If not you should have recourse through eBay.

Are you locked into an Android or a particular phone?

 

[davidhk129]

Are you locked into an Android or a particular phone?

No, not at all.
However, I would not want Windows Phone.

Android is stable and reliable.

 

[meattray]

No, not at all.
However, I would not want Windows Phone.

Android is stable and reliable.

Absolutely. There's just lots of good phones popping up now that are very budget friendly, especially with android. Just might be a slightly better option than the S5 at that price point at this point. You could check the sister site Android Central to get an idea of some of these. Completely up to you though! That device should work it just may be nearing the end of it's update life through Samsung.

 

[davidhk129]

Absolutely. There's just lots of good phones popping up now that are very budget friendly, especially with android. Just might be a slightly better option than the S5 at that price point at this point. You could check the sister site Android Central to get an idea of some of these. Completely up to you though! That device should work it just may be nearing the end of it's update life through Samsung.

OK. Thanks for your time.