Using UK purchased A40 in China

[PaperPauper]

My daughter recently bought a new unlocked Samsung Galaxy A40 64 GB in the UK as she is going to be studying in China for a year and didn't want to be tied into a UK contract that she couldn't use. She only used it in WiFi mode (i.e. without a SIM) before leaving as she'd heard that people who had installed WeChat in the UK against their UK SIM had quite a few problems when they switched to a Chinese SIM.

Now that she's there, she tried to buy a SIM but the phone rejects it. I'm now reading that it may be required to put a UK SIM in the phone in the UK for 5 minutes prior to taking it abroad and using it with a foreign SIM. I don't know why this process is necessary or what it does. Can anyone advise me?

She does intend to use the phone in the UK but not for at least a year and is not returning for at least 6 months. My only option seems to be for her to send the phone back to me in the UK so I can put a SIM in it for 5 minutes and then send it all the way back to her which seems long winded and expensive. Is there a way that she can work round this process so that she can use the phone there with a Chinese SIM?

Many thanks,

Robin.

[AndrewL · Accepted solution]

@PaperPauper: If the A40 is a UK device then your daughter would have been required to make a 5-10 minute cumulative call to a local number inside the UK, using a SIM from a UK network. This process unlocks the phone for use with networks in other regions, and is in place to prevent grey market imports. Sadly there are no workarounds for this process so it won't be possible to unlock the device while she is in China. Apologies for any disappointment this may cause you.

[PaperPauper]

Thank you for confirming. I'm dissapopinted by this but I see the logic. It's a shame that there isn't the capability for  override in reasonable circumstances. I'm also a bit frustrated that I didn't learn this before she went out despite trying to research it. Looks like she'll have to ditch her phone.

[strawberry cake]

Hello! 

@PaperPauper 

"Is there a way that she can work round this process so that she can use the phone there with a Chinese SIM?"

I know Samsung love all their customers.

Instead of sending back the phone to UK which will cost an arm and leg, feel free to get in touch with Samsung UK support (via call, chat, etc... ) so they can possibly process/provide you the region unlock code.

https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/

Thanks ^_^ 

[PaperPauper]

Many thanks for this advice. I called Samsung support just now. The guy I spoke to wasn't aware of this issue and had to go speak to someone. He told me eventually that if I send her a UK SIM and she makes a  5/10 minute call to a UK number from over there, that would regionally unlock the phone aand then it could b used (I was previously told by Tesco Mobile that this won''t work)

He also told me that there is no regional unlock override code.