Pitfalls of a grey market phone (sold under false pretenses)

[GT85PTFE]

I just bought a S20FE 5G off Amazon. It is listed, and the enclosed paperwork confirms, as;

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G Mobile Phone; Sim Free Smartphone - 256GB - Cloud Green (UK Version)

It turns out to be a Malaysia version, not UK. For information, the Amazon marketplace vendor is EL Marketplace - you might want to avoid them!

Otherwise, the phone is as described, 256GB 5G version.

So, what difference does it make?

• Is the software experience the same? For example, I don't see the Samsung Email client, which I do have on all my other UK Samsung mobiles.
• Will I get adverts on the Malaysia phone?
• Will Samsung Pay work here in the UK or EU?
• Will the phone receive all the Android version and security updates on the same frequency as for a proper UK phone
• Will the phone receive One UI updates?
• Will there be any Samsung warranty or product support here in the UK or EU?

Is there anything else I should look out for or be aware of if I decide to keep the phone for use in the UK/EU?

I'm assuming the vendor has initialised the phone using a Malaysian SIM - the phone has clearly been used as it shows a last Software update check date (Dec 2021), and the phone did not run the full initial startup routine at first power-on.

[xSteveuk]

Check if the phone is certified

Go playstore
Settings
About

[Pugs1957]

Samsung manufactures phones in Malaysia so that's not unusual.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @GT85PTFE 

Some sellers do deal in grey market imports and as far as I can remember some have been fine with recieving updates etc.

However if the phone has been used even to remove the region lock by inserting a sim card from the region of source my gut feeling would be to seek a return.

[antikythera]

Was it sold 'New'? If so, demand a refund and send it back. I wouldn't recommend anyone buy a high value device from Marketplace vendors because of this exact grey import issue. The fact your phone even appears to have been used rings more alarm bells as it could even be stolen or previously returned by another customer who found it's a Malay region ROM instead of the retail UK ROM. It will also affect how you update the phone yourself going forward should you decide to keep it. Smart Switch for PC may be the only route to get monthly ROM updates and newer versions of Android

[Kay717]

Hi there,

Did you ever find out the answers to your questions? I am in a similar position ☹️

If Samsung Pay doesn't work, does GPay?

[GT85PTFE]

I've still got the phone, and no issues. It is certified in the Play store, gets the regular UK updates every month.

I don't use my phone to pay, so I've never tried any of the Samsung or Google Pay things. I've also not needed to try the Samsung warranty