Galaxy S8 Sim region lock

[rajkmohan]

Hi, 

I am staying in Switzerland. I am planning to buy S8 for my wife. But I came to know that S8 which I buy in Swiss will work only with European sim alone. but my wife will be travelling back to India in a some time so she need to use with indian Sim also. can someone sugges an option to buy S8 in switzerland that can work with any sim irrespective of region or suggest me options to overcoem this problem. 

[BandOfBrothers]

The best option is to buy a phone that’s already unlocked to all networks @rajkmohan

Which is typically phones bought direct from a Samsung Experience Store or via Samsung’s Online Shop. 

If a person purchases a phone from a Network then they are typically locked to that Network. 

Samsung won’t unlock these branded phones. 

A person usually has to meet the networks criteria which can be something like using their SIM card in the phone for a set period of time making calls, sending texts etc to be sent a unlocking code to unlock the phone and is typically achieved by filling out an online unlocking form found on the networks home page and they may / may not charge an unlocking fee. 

If for some reason a person does not meet the required networks criteria then there is only the other option of asking a stand-alone cellphone Store to unlock it but that can come with issues such as the unlock not holding etc. 

[rajkmohan]

I am not buying a network provided phone. Here we have electronic shops where I can get fully unlocked phone not linked to any network. Even after that on the box of the ohone itself it was mentioned that european sim only. I need to overcome this issue only. I see some workaround techniques mentioned in internet and the one which you also provided like making some 5 to 10 min call with european sim card. I can do this easily as my wife will be here atleast for next 3 weeks. so she will very well use local swiss sim and make calls. But what after that? after making calls, how the sim region lock will be released on the phone? do i need to enter some unlock codes or some updates need to be done? 

Please clarify here. 

[BandOfBrothers]

I'm in the UK and the box my s8 came in has the same over sticker seal tab saying the same. 

This shows the employee what market that phone is released for. 

But as it's Unlocked any countries network sim card will work in it. 

[rajkmohan]

Hi, quick update on the same problem.. i went to the shop and before I buy S8 I told the sim problem with the shop guy and told him that if the Indian sim doesnt work then i will return right there.. as expected when I put the indian sim card it says invalid sim. Then i removed and put my swiss sim card and this time it detected and working fine. Then i returned the phone right there and came..

iam reading in many places that if I use swiss sim card and make calls for some time then it will automatically unlock for all region sims. Is that correct? Has anyone done it? I am buying fully unlocked phone and even then samsung has introduced region level sim lock feature. So all I need here, whether the workaround mentioned to overcome the region sim lock is reliable and can be tried? If i go again and buy now and i cannot return the phone again. 

[MaciejTsc]

Make several calls for a total of 30 min minumum, send some text msg and connect to lte/3g ,
This will prevent the locking

[AntS · Accepted solution]

Hi all. :robothappy:

All current Samsung phones come with an active regional lock when first bought. Assuming it's not also locked to a specific network, using a SIM from the same regional origin as the phone for at least 5 minutes of total talktime will disable the regional lock and allow you to use a SIM from any other region from then on.

Hope this helps! :robothappy:

[rajkmohan]

Hi All, 

Quick update. Today I purchased S8 in the stores and as advised I initially used local swiss sim to activate, made few calls, connected to wifi and 4G, LTE. Later I put my Indian sim and it worked. 

Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions. You guys made my wedding day gift for my wife. 

Thanks again. 

[AntS]

Glad that's worked for you @rajkmohan! And awww, that's lovely. :heart::heart:

[Anonymous User]

Thanks very insightful.

Do I have to

- use a SIM from the same regional origin like the phone geographically IN the region or

- can I also insert the SIM from the same regional origin like the phone geographically OUTSIDE the region for the first calls to unlock the region lock?

Thanks for your support.