is it a trustworthy site?

[auntarie]

Hello, beautiful people of Tom's, how are you this fine day?

So I stumbled upon this site in my search for a smartphone. The site is phone-debate.com. Have you used it? Are the articles any good? I'm a real noob when it comes to phones so I'd really appreciate it if you could give some feedback.

Just so it's clear- I have no affiliation with phone-debate and I'm not trying to spam, just looking for an honest opinion.

Thanks in advance.

 

[auntarie]

@Apanzee Bulgaria (small country in eastern Europe), moving to Germany. I hope there won't be a problem with coverage, since both countries are in the EU, but you never know. And thanks, I try to keep my English "in form", so to speak

@HyNrgy you didn't bust my plan, don't worry. It's much better to know about such issues now than later, when I have already paid for the phone.

 

[HyNrgy]

As long as you get answers that help you make a successful and working purchase then all is good.

Any chance you know someone going to the school you will be attending? Maybe they could tell you the service provider they use or ask around for you? Are you going to visit the school before attending? If you find the carrier and a phone where you are, maybe you could price compare to where you will be at?

Also, now that I have a distance graph, you may want to check on warranty, insurance, return, etc policy. Say you get the phone in Bulgaria but no where in Germany you can take it for warranty. If you buy out right you would only have manufacture as you can only get (at least here in US) "insurance" through a contract service....at least as far as I know you cannot get that on a purchase/prepaid plan.

 

[Apanzee]

Alright I did a little research on German and Bulgarian carriers. The big ones in Germany, it would seem, are: E-Plus, T-Mobile, and Vodafone. The big one in Bulgaria, would be Globul.

Both Globul, and T-Mobile, 100% for sure use GSM networks. If you were to purchase an unlocked device from Globul you could use it where you are now until you move, then buy a T-Mobile SIM card.

As was pointed out by HyNrgy, the warranty is something to consider. But, if you take good care of your devices it shouldn't be much of an issue anyways. And, if anything did ever go wrong, you could mail the phone and your purchase receipt to a relative in Bulgaria to claim the warranty for you. That's what I would do, anyway.

Or you could just wait until you move, and buy a phone in Germany.

It's entirely up to you where you go from here, but hopefully this is more than enough to make an informed choice.

 

[auntarie]

I'm usually very careful with my electronics, that's why my current phone has lasted me 6 years now and only has 1 scratch on it. So I think I'll just take really good care of it, I don't know how good the services are in Germany, but if your phone breaks down in Bulgaria, you might as well just get a new one
As for carriers, there are 2 in Bulgaria- Globul and M-tel. Globul is in the Cosmote group and M-tel works with Vodafone. Do you think this will help me with the coverage issue?

 

[Apanzee]

As I said, both Globul and T-Mobile are GSM carriers and use SIM cards. As long as the phone is unlocked you shouldn't have any issues getting it hooked up when you get to Germany. I'm not 100% sure how they do it there, but over here, if you buy the phone outright (no signing of a contract, phone paid in full) the retailer is legally obligated to unlock the device for use on any carriers network.

Call Globul and ask them what their stance is on unlocking devices for international use. If it comes to it you can always order an unlocked phone from an online retailer like Amazon.

As long as the phone is unlocked and GSM (if it takes a SIM card it's GSM) you shouldn't have any issues with coverage.

 

[auntarie]

Then I might just do that. Buy a device without a contract, I mean. And there are plenty of local retailers that will do the job, so I may not even need to deal with Globul's sh*t. I know it's their job and that this is how they make a living, but those guys can get really annoying with their constant contract offers.

 

[auntarie]

Sorry, I just have one last question- can I get an unlocked phone from an online retailer like eBay? I know about Amazon, but it seems that most of the stuff for sale on sites like eBay has been used at least once before...

 

[HyNrgy]

that is always a possiblity, if unsure you should be able to call the vendor you are going to try to use and ask them something like ....Vendor, i am about to purchase Phone X that is unlocked and used, will it work on your network and do you need anything in advance to verify phone would be allowed on your network?

I say that because her in the states some companies will run the IMEI or ISDN to verify phone is not listed as stolen and if so they will to turn it on with their service. Yes, there are ways around it but I do not know if you want to go that route.

also depending on location of seller and you...remember "caveat emptor" (means buyer beware).

 

[auntarie]

So I should ask before I buy. Pretty much common sense, but I didn't think of it Thanks a lot, man.

 

[HyNrgy]

no problem