Bijgewerkt: 16/12/2018 | 6 november 2018
Dave Dean van te veel adapters geeft ons tips en advies over reistechnologie en uitrusting. Hij is onze resident -expert, probeert nieuwe producten uit en ziet wat werkt, zodat je niet eindigt met uitrusting die breekt en een laptop vol virussen! De kolom van deze maand gaat over hoe je de beste telefoon kunt kiezen voor wanneer je reist.
Als schrijver van reistechnologie wordt mij gevraagd om smartphones te gebruiken wanneer we reizen. Op het moment dat we naar het buitenland gaan met onze telefoons, worden we getroffen met een verwarrende puinhoop van technisch jargon, dure roaming -overeenkomsten, conflicterend advies en niet -werkende uitrusting. Proberen om de nuances van GSM -frequentiebanden of iPhone -ontgrendelingscodes met een mobiele verkoper in een stoffige Cambodjaanse stad te bespreken, is ook niet mijn idee van plezier, en ik betwijfel of het ook van jou is.
Omdat we allemaal willen dat onze smartphone werkt wanneer we reizen, heb ik deze gids samengesteld over alles wat u moet weten over hoe u uw smartphone in het buitenland kunt laten werken, evenals de beste smartphones voor reizen. Het is gedetailleerd, maar niet te ingewikkeld en zal u geld, tijd en veel frustratie besparen (en heeft aan het einde extra middelen).
Hoe u de beste reistelefoon vindt
Om u te helpen de beste reistelefoon te vinden, heb ik dit artikel verdeeld in 3 hoofdsecties. Als u niet alles wilt lezen, klikt u op de onderstaande links om vooruit te springen.
Deel 1: Inzicht in uw en ontgrendelende huidige telefoon
Deel 2: Tips voor het gebruik van een vergrendelde telefoon
Deel 3: De beste reissmartphones
Deel #1: Inzicht in uw huidige telefoon
Het gebruik van een telefoon in het buitenland is relatief eenvoudig. Je kunt een goedkope oude telefoon krijgen (denk aan een oude Nokia uit 2000) of een nieuwere smartphone krijgen die je kunt ontgrendelen en gebruiken. Er zijn veel telefoons – van goedkoop tot duur – daarbuiten. De tips over het gebruik van uw telefoon hebben betrekking op u, waar u ook ter wereld bent!
1. Zal uw huidige telefoon in het buitenland werken ??
Het eerste wat u moet controleren, is of uw telefoon fysiek in het buitenland werkt. Verschillende landen en celbedrijven gebruiken verschillende technologieën en frequenties, en uw telefoon moet met hen compatibel zijn om te werken.
De meest voorkomende mobiele technologie is GSM en wordt over het grootste deel van de wereld op grote schaal gebruikt. CDMA komt minder vaak voor, maar het wordt gebruikt door Verizon en Sprint in de Verenigde Staten, en een paar vervoerders elders – als uw telefoon alleen CDMA ondersteunt, is het zeer onwaarschijnlijk dat het internationaal werkt.
Zelfs als u echter een GSM -telefoon heeft, moet u er nog steeds voor zorgen dat deze de frequenties ondersteunt die in uw bestemmingen worden gebruikt. Voor de mogelijkheid om oproepen, teksten en 3G -gegevens in het grootste deel van de wereld te verzenden en te ontvangen, zoek dan naar de woorden “Quad Band” of de specifieke banden 850/900/1800/1900 MHz in de specificaties. Als uw telefoon alle vier ondersteunt, zult u niet veel problemen hebben tijdens het reizen. Deze pagina geeft de exacte GSM -frequentiedetails voor vrijwel elk land weer.
Maar maak je geen zorgen, omdat er tegenwoordig telefoons worden gebouwd om in meerdere landen te werken, dus er is een kans van 99% dat je telefoon in het buitenland werkt.
2. how do you unlock your phone?
Als het gaat om reizen, hoor je veel gepraat over ontgrendelde telefoons, wat niet veel nut is als je niet weet wat ze zijn en of je er een hebt.
If you got a free or discounted smartphone by signing up for a service contract, there’s a chance it’s network locked (this is especially true for Americans). This means your phone company prevents your phone from being used on anything other than its own network. In a particularly shady move, some companies in the us even lock phones that you paid full price for unless you specifically bought the unlocked version.
With a locked phone, you’re stuck with paying your cell company’s roaming rates from the minute you land in your destination until you arrive back home.
Locked phones are common if you’re from the United States, Australia, and new Zealand but less so in Europe and Asia, where paying the full price for unlocked devices is typical. (On the bright side, more and more companies are willing to unlock your phone if you pay full price these days. This especially true for Android devices. Google phones come unlocked already!
An unlocked phone is a phone that you can use anywhere in the world and where you are allowed to replace the SIM card as you travel the world without having to deal with your phone company or pay roaming fees.
The good news is that it’s easy to get your phone unlocked.
The first step is always to ask your cell company. Policies vary widely but cell companies in the us are at least legally required to unlock prepaid phones after a year, and contract phones after they’ve been paid off.
If your carrier refuses to unlock your phone, you can always try to find the appropriate unlocking code yourself. companies like Unlock Base sell such codes for a few dollars. They aren’t guaranteed to work for every device, but the company says it’ll return your money if there’s a problem.
The best way to unlock your smartphone is to go toindependent phone stores and specialized unlocking places and have someone unlock your phone for you. You can find unlock stores all around the world (especially in Southeast Asia).
3. What to do After Your Phone is Unlocked
Once you have an unlocked phone, you simply buy a local SIM card in your destination. The price, approach, and difficulty varies a lot, but you’ll typically end up paying between $10 and $50/month for a useful amount of calls, texts, and data. daily and weekly plans are sometimes available if you’re in a country for a shorter period.
This is an inexpensive way to stay connected with phone and data service while you travel. The downside is that you’ll have to change SIM cards every time you change countries, so you may end up carrying a stack of SIM cards around the world with you (though I like being reminded of all the places I’ve been!).
4. Is roaming really that bad?
Yes, almost always. Your existing cellular plan doesn’t usually apply overseas, and you’ll typically be charged much higher rates every time you make a call, send a text, or use cellular data. Not every company is out to gouge their customers, but stories of people returning home to a bill of several thousand dollars after a short international trip are far from unusual.
There are a couple of rare exceptions – T-Mobile in the us includes free SMS and (slow) data in 120+ countries as part of its simple choice plan, and three in the UK extends your calls, text, and data package to 16+ other countries. If you’re not with carriers like these, roaming is an option best left for those with corporate expense accounts, as even the “special” international packages are expensive and a poor value.
Part 2: tips for using an Unlocked Phone
If your phone won’t work overseas, or you can’t get it unlocked, you still have a few options for using it when you travel! You can do the following:
Only use Wi-Fi — Your smartphone will still connect over Wi-Fi just fine, so replace calling with Skype or Google Voice, SMS with WhatsApp, and download a bunch of offline travel apps to use when you’re away from a signal. You’ll be surprised how well that approach can work, and not getting notifications all the time is quite refreshing.
Buy a budget smartphone — While there’s a lot of junk at the bottom of the smartphone range, there are a few decent phones for travelers under $200. My current favorite is the Motorola Moto G — you’ll want to buy a microSD card for some extra storage, but other than that it’s a reasonably speedy smartphone, with a battery that lasts all day and a 5″ screen you actually want to use. Tip: grab the “Global” version for maximum compatibility overseas. You’ll still need to buy local SIM cards to put in it.
Rent a phone — You can rent phones at airports and from various companies before you leave home, but I’d only consider it for a short trip to a specific country where my usual phone didn’t work. For anything other than that, it’s cheaper just to buy a new one.
Rent or buy a portable hotspot — Portable hotspots are small gadgets that create a wireless network and share a cellular data connection over it — you can typically connect 5 or 10 devices to the network you create. You can rent one for short trips at an inflated daily or weekly rate, or you can buy an unlocked hotspot and stick a local SIM card in it, just as if it were a phone. Your smartphone will treat this like any other Wi-Fi network.
Use a tablet with cell capabilities — If you already own a 3G/4G tablet, there’s a chance it was unlocked when you bought it. If so, you can use this when you travel instead of a phone — just buy a data-only SIM locally, and use Skype and WhatsApp for your phone and SMS requirements. You can also use the tablet as a hotspot, to share the connection among your other devices.
Buy a disposable phone — If you’re in a country for a while and all you need are calls, texts, and maybe some light web browsing, just buy the cheapest prepaid phone you can find at the local mobile store. Sure, it’ll probably be complete rubbish, but you can often pick these phones up with a bit of credit for next to nothing and they’ll do the job for a while. The upside? You really won’t care if you drop it in the hostel toilet. If it does survive the length of your trip, just pass it onto to somebody else when you leave.
Deel 3: De beste reissmartphones
If you’re looking to get a smartphone, here are the best ones for travel right now:
1. Samsung Galaxy S9 plus – This is essentially a cheaper version of the note 9. The battery life isn’t as long as the Galaxy note 9 but it’s a couple hundred bucks cheaper, so if you’re on a budget this might be a better option.
Weight: 189g
Dimensions: 158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5mm
Screen size: 6.2-inch
Resolution: 1440 x 2960
Camera: rear camera: dual 12MP (rear), 8MP (front)
Price: $749
3. Google Pixel 2 XL – The Pixel 2 offers one of the best smartphone cameras on the market. if photography is the main reason you’re looking for a new smartphone, this would be a solid choice.
Weight: 175g
Dimensions: 157.9 x 76.7 x 7.9mm
Screen size: 6-inch
Resolution: 1440 x 2880
Storage: 64GB/128GB
Camera: 12MP (rear), 8MP (front)
Price: $805
4. OnePlus 6 – This is a budget-friendly phone with decent battery, improved storage capacity, and decent low-light photography.
Weight: 177g
Dimensions: 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.8 mm
Screen size: 6.28-inch
Resolution: 1080 x 2280
Storage: 64GB/128/256GB
Camera: dual 16MP (rear) 16MP (front)
Price: $535
5. LG G7 ThinQ – With an incredibly bright screen, great audio quality, and improve AI for photography, this is a great middle-of-the-road travel phone.
Weight: 167
Dimensions: 153.2 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm
Screen size: 6.1-inch
Resolution: 1440 x 3120
Storage: 64GB/128GB
Camera: dual 16MP (rear), 8MP (front)
Price: $725
6. Samsung Galaxy note 8 – While the note 9 made some improvements, the 8 is still a perfectly reliable model if you want to save some money. It’s a fast phone with great cameras and a useful stylus, and while the battery life isn’t as good as the 9 it is a lot cheaper, which is a fair trade off.
Weight: 195g
Dimensions: 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6mm
Screen size: 6.3-inch
Resolution: 1440 x 2630
Storage: 64GB/128GB/256GB
Camera: dual 12MP (rear), 8MP (front)
Price: $589
7. iphone 8 – The iphone 8 has a great camera and improved speed, so if you’re an Apple fan but find the X and XS too pricey then this is your next best bet.
Weight: 148g
Dimensions: 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3mm
Screen size: 4.7-inch
Resolution: 750 x 1334
Storage: 64GB/256GB
Camera: 12MP (rear), 7MP (front)
Price: $699
8. LG V30 – The LG V30 has a great camera, fast processor and the battery life is great. It’s also waterproof, which can be helpful when you’re on the road. The camera autofocus is a bit slow, but for the price you likely won’t find better.
Weight: 158g
Dimensions: 151 x 75.4 x 7.3mm
Screen size: 6-inch
Resolution: 2,880 x 1,440
Storage: 64GB w/ microSD
Camera: 16/13MP (rear), 5MP (front)
Price: $539
9. Moto Z2 force – This is a durable phone that’s budget friendly. If you have a tendency to drop your phone or are traveling off the beaten path then this might be a good choice. The battery life isn’t great, but that’s a fair trade for a shatterproof screen.
Weight: 143g
Dimensions: 155.8 x 76 x 6.1 mm
Screen size: 5.5-inch
Resolution: 2,560 x 1,440
Storage: 64GB w/ microSD
Camera: 13MP (rear), 5MP (front)
Price: $359
10. HTC U11 – another great middle-of-the-road phone with reliable performance and a big, water-resistent screen.
Weight: 169g
Dimensions: 153.9 x 75.9 x 7.9mm
Screen size: 5.5-inch
Resolution: 1440 x 2560
Storage: 64GB/128GB
Camera: 12MP (rear), 16MP (front)
Price: $649
***Getting your smartphone to work overseas without coming home to a huge bill isn’t always a straightforward task. but with a bit of time and effort up, you’ll know exactly what options you’ve got when you’re on the road and you’ll be able to use your phone overseas. Do your research, avoid the rip-offs, buy one of the above best smartphones when you travel, and you’ll be able to stay in touch, stay connected, and stay Instagramming when you travel!
Dave runs Too many Adapters, a site devoted to technology for travelers. A geek as long as he can remember, he worked in IT for 15 years. Now based out of a backpack long term, Dave writes about travel and tech from anywhere with half-decent Internet and a great view. You can also find him talking about the life of a long-term traveler at What’s Dave Doing?
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