Looking for a GSM Phone...

Y

yankee fan 0308

New member
Okay; so I am looking for a new phone but know very little about phones these days... Can anyone help me out? I have five requirements I'm trying to satisfy with the product...
It must work with my current non-data AT&T family plan. I need to be able to just drop that SIM card in the slot and have a working phone.Quad-band GSM; I travel a lot and need to be able to easily swap out SIM cards from other countries (and then swap back in my AT&T SIM card when I?m back in the States).MP3 playback through standard 3.5-mm audio jack. I?d like to load it up with at least a couple gigs of audio so I can use it as an MP3 player. Having a microSD card slot or Bluetooth capabilities would be ideal for transferring the files.Small/thin. Smaller than the iPhone would be nice.Good battery life; a couple days between charging would be ideal.
From what I?ve read, the Sony XPERIA X10 Mini comes the closest to what I?m looking for. I think it satisfies requirements 1-4, but fails at #5. If no one has any other ideas, I may give in and get it? Thanks in advance for your help/advice!
 
The LG Optimus is small but up to the weight of an iPhone. It is, however, reported to have excellent battery life. An unlocked Optimus T from T-Mobile would get you EDGE on AT&T and Euro/Asian EDGE/3G. *Or*, an unlocked Optimus One from Telus (Canada) would get you both 3G and EDGE on AT&T, and global EDGE.
 
DubDub: Ahh; so I need an unlocked phone! I don't have any preference on the firmware/OS. Any ideas?

cmstlist: Thanks for the info. I don't have any interest in a data plan; given that, would you still recommend the LG Optimus?
 
Most Android 2.2 phones (including the Optimus I think) can easily shut off mobile data, and you can put it on wi-fi to download apps. It's still a decent phone and will last even longer with data off. But I do still recommend getting a CDN version (Telus Optimus One or Bell Optimus Chic) that supports AT&T 3G if that is the most common SIM you'll be using in it. Even if you don't want data on AT&T, there are some coverage areas where 3G is better than EDGE. Unfortunately most of the places that sell unlocked phones in the US are hawking Euro versions with Euro 3G.

Another option is to go for a Nokia, as they are often sold unlocked direct from Nokia USA with compatible bands for AT&T. Yes the Symbian OS is dying but maybe you don't care =) And the battery life is great on many of them. GSMArena says there are 25 Nokias with AT&T 3G, 3.5 mm jack, microSD and wi-fi. I'm sure many of them are cheap now.
 
Wow; thanks for all the info!

The LG Optimus looks nice but is a little big; if I could get a smaller phone, that would be great... It would be nice to have Android, but it seems the phones that run it have fast processors that eat up battery life. (maybe I'm not looking in the right places).

Do you know of any small Android capable phones with good battery life?

Are all Android phones automatically unlocked?

What is CDN? I looked on Wikipedia and found a page on "content delivery network" but it didn't seem right...
 
Keep in mind that, since you are on AT&T, if you do not add a data plan when you activate, AT&T will do it for you at some later date. The periodically scan all of the IMEIs on their system and add data plans to those devices that "require" them but don't have that feature. So you will most likely get one even if you don't want it.
 
The Motorola DEFY fits all of your requirements (battery life is currently excellent) but AT&T is like someone said above automatically adding data plans for IMEI's they recognize.
 
Ha; I'm glad I posted this topic - definitely didn't know that about AT&T and IMEIs... Is there any work-around for that? Hm... maybe I'll be getting a data plan afterall...

Well, here's a thought... I've heard some people talk about unlocking phones which are originally purchased as locked. If I were to do that, would I run into the same IMEI issue?
 
CDN means Canadian. Most Canadian carriers sell AT&T compatible phones, which can be unlocked, and AT&T won't recognize the IMEI numbers. If the phone was bought straight from AT&T they'll always be able to recognize it.

In regards to Android phones, the Optimus One family is probably the best battery life in a smaller Android.

I wonder if AT&T recognizes the IMEI of unlocked Nokia phones bought straight from the source?

Sent from my Nexus One
 
Unlocking has no affect on the IMEI. If the device and IMEI is in the AT&T database as requiring a dataplan, you will get one "as a service to our AT&T customers" as the text message goes. The device doesn't have to be sold by AT&T either, it just has to be in their database. How the IMEI gets there is anyone's guess.
 
Thanks for all the info! I think I found the phone I've been looking for - the Nokia C3-01 (http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Unlocked-Phone--U-S-Version-Warranty/dp/B0046RE9DC). But before I make the purchase, can someone help me answer two questions?

1. Is there a way I can be sure that if I get this phone, I'll be able to simply drop my current AT&T SIM card in the slot and use it regularly, without finding that I've been upgraded to a data plan?

2. Amazon says it's "unlocked". Can someone verify that if I take this phone overseas, I can simply drop a SIM card from that country into the phone without any issues?

Thanks again for all your help, everyone; I've learned a lot in the last couple days!
 
According to Nokia USA, the C3 has:
Quad band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100

So it should work globally on nearly every EDGE and 3G network. Seems like a pretty solid feature phone. Enjoy
 
Awesome; thanks, cmstlist! Does anyone know about my first question? - "Is there a way I can be sure that if I get this phone, I'll be able to simply drop my current AT&T SIM card in the slot and use it regularly, without finding that I've been upgraded to a data plan?"
 
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