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What do I need to watch out for when buying an unlocked phone on the used market? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I want my next phone to be "unlocked" so I can use it w/ any carrier - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Mint, etc. I'm based in the US, but if I travel internationally, it would be nice to be able to just pop in a local SIM card and continue using my phone like normal.

What gives me pause is, I see used phones listed as "US Version," and reviewers claiming the phone was not unlocked (for example, this Pixel 7a on Amazon).

Questions:

What am I missing here? Do these reviewers just not know what they're doing, or are they buying from shady resellers?
Does "US Version" imply I would not be able to use the phone internationally by just popping in a local SIM card?

Thank you!

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[–] poweruser@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Unique to the Pixel line, you actually can re-lock the bootloader. So if you can manage ADB fastboot (that is, follow the install process) then I wouldn't worry about the security risk in this case.

The GrapheneOS installation process is exceptionally easy to follow. It's much faster and easier than the old Cyanogenmod days

[–] yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

The GrapheneOS installation process is exceptionally easy to follow. It's much faster and easier than the old Cyanogenmod days.

That is comforting to hear.

As for whether or not I can flash a custom ROM, if the boot loader is locked, then I’m SOL, right? (hence your original comment)

[–] poweruser@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yes exactly. Before I got my current Pixel 7a I tried to flash a used Pixel 6a (Verizon variant) and ran into the problems above.

Without an unlocked bootloader the install process will fail at step two, Enabling OEM unlocking, of the install guide at https://grapheneos.org/install/web.

The OEM unlocking setting in developer options will be grayed out on all Verizon devices, even if you paid full price for an unlocked phone (not on a payment plan - some OEMs also lock phones while under contract so you can't steal the phone and stop paying. Verizon just locks them all regardless).

There are numerous websites with dodgy software that claim they can bypass the restriction, but in my experience 100% of them are scams. Sometimes well meaning redditors will tell you they got theirs working, but they're conflating OEM unlocking and carrier unlocking (which, so I've read, Verizon employees are specifically trained to conflate)