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Would my S8+ (SM-G955FD) from the UAE work in all Spanish carriers? + several other questions

(Topic created on: 19-04-2019 02:13 PM)
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mdealbuquerque3
Student
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Good afternoon. I will move from the UAE to Spain this year and will bring over my S8+ (SM-G955FD) with me. I have several questions regarding this topic, written below.

 

Firstly, would I be able to use all carrier SIMs in Spain and the EU? The phone is currently unlocked, as I bought it from the official Samsung Gulf store on Souq, and it is the international variant with the Exynos processors.

 

Secondly, whenever I travel and use another country's SIM card on the aforementioned phone, it prompts me to factory reset said device in order to install new carrier data. Will I be able to do this even if I switch carriers multiple times in the same device, i.e. I change it to a Spanish carrier then change it back to etisalat while still keeping the same functionality (Samsung Pay being usable in the current country and normal receiving of OTA updates (I understand that I will continue receiving said updates only from the UAE servers)?

Lastly, I wil most likely buy a new phone in September (the S10e) in the UAE as my family will remain in the country and it is cheaper there than in the EU. Will the same apply to it when compared to the S8+ mentioned above?

 

Thank you in advance for any help and replies to this thread, all consturctive responses are welcome.

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AndrewL
Moderator
Moderator
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@mdealbuquerque3: In order to use network SIMs outside the UAE you will be required to make a 5-10 minute cumulative call to a local number inside the UAE, using a SIM from that region. When you travel to Spain make sure to contact your network to obtain a SIM unlock code as this will be needed to use a Spanish network SIM. These steps will also be applicable to the S10e.

If you follow the steps above then this will avoid the need to factory reset the device when moving regions, although you may experience compatibility issues with some services such as Samsung Pay and Google Play.
mdealbuquerque3
Student
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I am aware of this. I have already been using this mobile phone since late 2017 and have already sucsessfuly used it in other carriers in the EU (mainly Spain's Vodafone).

 

Could you please clarify if my accepting the prompt to hard reset the device once I insert my new pernanent SIM card from Spain would have any adverse effects on the functionality of the device? I'm mainly concerned wherther I will be able to start using Samsung Pay with Spanish banks and continue receiving OTA updates from the UAE even once I change the device country code to the respective Spanish version. I would also like to know if it would be possible for me to switch once again to a different carrier should the need arise while still keeping the functionality mentioned earlier in this paragraph.

 

I am 100% sure that the device is not region or carrier locked; I am just worried that after doing a hard reset with a new SIM from a different country, I will stop receiving OTA updates and/or will not be able to use the proper  Samsung Pay version of whichever country I choose to move to, along with being carrier locked to whichever new carrier I decide to move to.

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