Need a new verizon phone that will work in Russia

feeshta

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Mar 22, 2011
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Hello all. I am looking into some details to help my gilfriend find a new smartphone. She is on Verizon, and has an upgrade available which is a good thing because her old phone has a cracked screen and is nearing it's last legs.

Now, here is the catch. We want to find her a phone that will work in Russia on one of their prepaid carriers, such as Megafon or MTS. She is Russian, and her family is still back in the old country, so she goes to visit them once or twice a year. Sometimes I can come with, but I don't have that much leave time from work, so we need a way to stay in touch during the times when we are seperated.

It's extremely difficult to find good information on what phones are and are not unlocked, and will work with which carriers with a new sim, etc. I've been looking through forums and news articles for the better part of three days and still don't feel like I actually know for sure what is up.

So, there are three phones she likes. The Iphone 5, and Samsung Galaxy S3 and 4. Which of these three is capable of using a prepaid sim from Megaphone or MTS for cell, SMS, and Data? Are there any hacks I would need to execute to make this possible, because she is not willing to do that herself once there. thanks for any help you can provide.
 

Apanzee

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Dec 17, 2012
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The Nexus 4 is also an option, it's available unlocked from Google.

All the phones listed should be compatible with their carriers. I'd recommend maybe making a couple calls to the different carriers there to be 100% sure, but I don't see any issues arising.