UKC

I bought one of the above in good faith from Amazon's UK site. It was advertised as being a brand new UK phone, factory unlocked and basically good to go.
Long story short, when it finally arrives almost 3 weeks later it's come from the US and is locked to AT&T! When I power it on with my UK O2 SIM inside it asks me for a network unlock code, which I don't have.

Given the way it was advertised, and knowing Amazon's policy, it shouldn't be any hassle getting a refund, but if I can get this one to work and avoid any extra hassle and delay in buying another phone (my old one broke weeks ago and not having one is causing me significant problems) then I'd rather just do that.

I know absolutely nothing about unlocking mobile phones so I'm trying to find out, is there any way I can do it myself or will I have to pay someone? And also does unlocking it pose any risks or potentially cause problems further down the line?

In reply to Foxache:

Doesn't Samsung now region lock phones? or was that only starting with the S6?

Also is the US system compatible with the UK?

In reply to Foxache:

In terms of warranty, you'll have issues if you're using a US handset.

Only the network can unlock the phone. Well that is the case, for the iPhone at least.

As much as it sucks, you'll be better returning it

In reply to Foxache:

Return it. Likely it will be incompatible with U.K. 3g/ 4g frequencies, grey import, issues with warranty. The guy down the corner shop can probably unlock it for you but I wouldn't bother.

In reply to Foxache:

XDA-Develpoers has always been a good resource for me in the past. I'm sure they'll be some info here on it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5

In reply to Indy:

Apparently all of the network frequencies/standards are the same so if unlocked it *should* work.

In reply to Foxache:

AFAIK, UK Samsungs aren't carrier-locked. When I switched last year from Virgin to Three, mine wasn't locked. As has been mentioned already, the issue is with it being from the US, where handsets and locks are more complicated.

In reply to Foxache:

It shouldn't be a problem using a US phone - as long as its GSM, which it will be if it's AT&T. It shouldn't be hard to unlock either.
However, as the others say - sling it back. It's just a recipe for future grief.

In reply to Dauphin:


Wat. There's no frequency issues between countries. He just needs to unlock the device.

In reply to Removed User:
I emailed the seller the other day and took their silence as a bad sign, but a few minutes ago I saw an email in my spam folder saying they'd send me an unlock code if I gave them the IMEI number (which I've just done).

New question then: assuming the code they send me works, does anybody know if there will be any network incompatibility issues? It is definitely a GSM phone as Hooo said and although I couldn't find anything ominous when I had a quick search online earlier, I've since read something about there being a difference between US 4G and UK 4G (apparently US 4G is LTE or something). Don't suppose anybody can clarify either way? It's so rare that I buy a new phone and the last time I bought one it just worked!

Edited to say I'm not really fussed about warranty as I think UK-bought ones only have 12 months anyway (this comes with 6). As long as it'll work as well as a UK phone and unlocking it won't screw anything up then I'd be happy with it.

In reply to Foxache:

LTE is another word for 4G. You won't have any frequency issues. My UK S5 mini worked fine in the USA on 2G, 3G and 4G.
You might find that AT&T have put a load of unremovable crapware on it, that's often the case with the sort of networks who lock phones. It is possible to flash it with default firmware if you're brave, but if you do, double check the image matches the exact hardware you have.

In reply to Hooo:

Well the unlock code worked, but I cannot get it to pick up 4G

I tried my SIM card in a colleague's phone and it picked up 4G straight away. I then tried his SIM card in the new phone and it refused to pick up 4G.

In reply to Foxache:

Genuine Samsung UK handsets come with a 2 year warranty

In reply to goose299:

I'm sending it back. That's the last time I ever buy anything region-dependent off Amazon!

In reply to Foxache:

This might help>
youtube.com/watch?v=FG_Lv9wf7l0&