Use AT&T 635 in Australia?

[Ten Four]

Can I take an unlocked AT&T GoPhone Lumia 635 to Australia and just pop in a local SIM and use it successfully? My phone is the RM-975 variant?

 

[pankaj981]

Yes it should work. If you're going to use it permanently in Australia then also think about getting the phone unbranded (not necessary)

 

[Ten Four]

Thanks for the quick reply. Does the RM-975 have the correct bands to operate in Australia? What do you gain by unbranding?

 

[pankaj981]

The RM-975 does have the GSM bands for Australia. Do you know what carrier you would be using it on?

Debranding removes AT&T's dependency for software updates, the ROM does not have any AT&T branding. It does not affect performance though. If you're unsure about the process then I would suggest not exploring it since it does need some advanced rom flashing silks.

 

[Ten Four]

Not sure what carrier would make the most sense. From what little I have gathered I should find it easy to purchase a prepaid service that I can use for a week or so. Any suggestions? I'm not necessarily looking for the rock-bottom price, but more interested in good service and convenience. I guess my question wasn't clear on unbranding--I meant is there some advantage to unbranding that is specific to Australia? Some hidden feature that I would gain that is useful in Australia?

 

[pankaj981]

I meant is there some advantage to unbranding that is specific to Australia? Some hidden feature that I would gain that is useful in Australia?

Not really. I guess the unbranding process is more of an enthusiast/advanced user thing. For normal users this should not matter or affect the usage at all.

 

[Ten Four]

Thanks--I may try unbranding at some point--saw the other thread on here with information on that. By the way, I saw that Amazon had Lumia 635s at $39.95, making them a good candidate for someone looking to experiment.

 

[PepperdotNet]

There are two hardware variations of Lumia 635. The one sold in the Americas is RM-975, and elsewhere is RM-974. If I had to guess I would say the difference is which LTE bands it supports. The RM-974 is the one sold in Australia.

If you carry an unlocked RM-975 to Australia, it will work, but might be limited to 3G.