US phone in Europe

[Deleted]

Hey there,

I'm going to buy a nexus 5!
I live in Europe where it costs €399 (32gb version) but the end of the month my brother in law will come visit and in the states it costs $399, around €100 cheaper! Before I ask him to order it over there I would like to be sure that it will work fine in Europe.

The phone will work fine and it will accept my simcard no prob for calling/texting. But I think there might be a problem for the data network.
For me it will be fine if the phone works with 3g, 4g is not necesarry since I use wifi for bigger data usage.

My carrier is Belgiums Mobistar network.

phone stats:
http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-5705.php

carrier stats:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...etworks#Europe
(as said, mine is Mobistar Belgium)

thanks in advance for any info !

edit: plz mod move this post if it's in the wrong forum

[BicycleMafioso]

It should work, since they both seem to be using the 2600 MHz frequency. I'd recommend you buying it from the play store in the US or others where you can verify it's not a carrier-locked phone.

[Deleted]

thanks for the reply and for confirming what I was thinking. my brother in law lives in the US and he will order it from the play store!

thanks !

[Deleted]

Keep in mind that prices in the US often exclude tax and that your brother in law will have to declare the phone and pay VAT if you want to keep things legal.

So the overall savings might be less that you expect and possibly not worth it considering warranty might be an issue when purchasing in the US.

[Zogarth]

Keep in mind that prices in the US often exclude tax and that your brother in law will have to declare the phone and pay VAT if you want to keep things legal.

So the overall savings might be less that you expect and possibly not worth it considering warranty might be an issue when purchasing in the US.

This can be avoided by simply opening the phone and not having it in original package. Used items can't be valued and taxed the same way.

[Puri]

But don't let it bring you in the original package. Best idea would be for him to use his sim card and take it as his own phone with him.

EU customs are very specialized in finding those packages in suitcases, and if they do you will not only have to re-declare it, but you also will have to pay a fine.

And if the device should be/get defect, you might not be able to use the LG Europe support, but have to send it (on your costs) to LG US.

[Deleted]

You'll have to provide a proof of purchase for a used phone and its value or they can and will look up the new price and possibly reduce the value if it shows age and signs of usage - otherwise they'll treat it as new.
Of course you can simply lie about the phone being a gift - however that was my point about keeping it legal.

Edit: I'm not going to judge anyone for smuggling a phone through customs but I'd feel awkward making someone else take that risk for me.

[Deleted]

This can be avoided by simply opening the phone and not having it in original package. Used items can't be valued and taxed the same way.

MMO-Champion forums, teaching tax evasion since 2007.

[Deleted]

To finish this, phone arrived yesterday and everything works fine! What an amazing phone compared to my former sgs2

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

MMO-Champion forums, teaching tax evasion since 2007.

Not just tax evasion, but smuggling (which lands you in even more trouble).

[Zogarth]

Not just tax evasion, but smuggling (which lands you in even more trouble).

A grey-spot in the danish law. Not my fault. It is not illegal. No court ruling has been made against it yet.