When you buy a phone directly from Verizon the phone is going to come locked to the Verizon network. This is pretty much true for all of the phones that you can get from a service provider. If you want an unlocked phone your best bet may be to go get the phone either from the manufacturer or an online marketplace. Now, if you’re keen on signing with Verizon or getting a prepaid plan with them, do you still need an unlocked phone for Verizon only usage? Obviously not, but you’d be missing out on some of the freedoms that come with an unlocked phone. Therefore, we completely understand your need for an unlocked phone for Verizon. That’s why we’ve crafted this article to walk you through your options.
We’ve already mentioned some of the key spots that you can go get a phone where you can make sure that it is unlocked from the start. Some people though have some reservations about buying phones from Amazon or other places. They may be onto something. To be fair to those marketplaces though, buying a phone from Verizon or other wireless service providers isn’t always going to be safer than doing so in some of the other options that we have online. If you do decide that you want a phone from your service provider should you be scared to unlock it? What’s the worst thing that can happen if you go down that route? This is what we’re going to be covering in this article.
- Unlocked phone for Verizon – Buy A Phone Directly From Verizon & Unlock It
- Dangers of Unlocking A Verizon Phone
- Buy An Unlocked Phone
- Where You Can Buy An Unlocked Phone
- Make Sure You Trust Who You Are Buying From
- Check Device Compatibility Before Making A Purchase
- Can You Get An Unlocked Phone Verizon 5G Capable on a Budget?
Unlocked phone for Verizon – Buy A Phone Directly From Verizon & Unlock It
Photo by Tracy Le Blanc on Pexels.com
This is one of the options that you’re going to have at your disposal. You can literally buy a phone from Verizon with your plan and with a trade-in or however you want to do it. Then you can unlock the phone and enjoy the benefits of having an unlocked phone that you can pay directly on your phone bill over time. There are different ways that you can go about unlocking your phone. We have multiple articles on the site talking about this. If you’re afraid to go through the technical process of unlocking the phone yourself there are still some options on the table.
For example, if you want to unlock an older phone that you got with your service provider who may be Verizon and you’ve paid the phone off they should be able to unlock it for you right at the Verizon store. If you’re friends with the store attendant they may be able to help you out even if you haven’t fully paid your phone. Let them know that you want to unlock the phone because you’re planning on going on a trip. There are some closed minded store attendants. Also, some folks who aren’t properly trained to unlock a phone. So this strategy may be a bit hit or miss depending on who you ask for help. However, it is one thing that you can do.
Dangers of Unlocking A Verizon Phone
If you want to have an unlocked phone for Verizon and you take the first route that we talked about there are a couple of things that you’re going to want to consider. Particularly if you are trying to unlock a phone that you have some personal data on. There might be some loss of data on the phone through the unlocking process. We’ve seen people who haven’t had any trouble and find their data just as they left it when they unlocked the phone. We’ve also seen cases where folks have lost all of the data that they had saved on their phones. If you do have data on your phone that you want to keep transferring it to the cloud, use some type of external storage device. It’s better to be safe than sorry in these situations.
If you keep your data in a safe spot you should be in the clear really. There aren’t many other major dangers that you need to worry about. People have asked if their regular SIM card with Verizon would work on an unlocked phone. From experience and the many tests that we do on the subject there’s no indication that your SIM card would cease to operate properly if you chose to go through the process of unlocking your phone. If you want to be extra safe though there are things that can be done! Like literally buying an unlocked phone to begin with.
Buy An Unlocked Phone
If you don’t want to risk losing your data in the unlocking process then the best thing that you can do is go ahead and buy an unlocked phone. If you buy a phone from Verizon will they give you an unlocked phone? No, all of the phones that you can buy directly from Verizon are going to come locked to a Verizon SIM. Your best bet if you do want to buy a phone directly from Verizon is to ask someone at the store to unlock it. That may be a hit and miss formula. Not all of the people that work at Verizon store really know their way around phones. Let’s just be real about that.
The other option that you’re going to have is going directly to the manufacturer. Both Samsung, and Apple sell their phones directly from their own site. When you buy one of their phones you have to make sure that you chose the unlocked configuration. If you chose Verizon as the service provider even if you buy from the Apple store for example the phone is going to come locked to Verizon. What you would have to do to get Verizon coverage on an unlocked phone is to buy the phone then put in the Verizon SIM. You can also buy phones directly from Amazon or other market places. There are a couple of things to keep in mind there though!
Make Sure You Trust Who You Are Buying From
This seems like simple enough advice. If you’re buying from the official stores of Samsung, Apple, LG or whatever other brand you’re interested in you’re pretty much in the clear. Just make sure that you have a safe connection when you buy. That’s not advice that’s going to help you with the phone itself though. If you want to buy from Amazon, Ebay or another type of external marketplace make sure that you’re doing so from a trusted seller. We have a couple of articles about this on the site. It’s an important topic though so we’ll still share some tips here. If you find a price that’s too good to be true it’s usually because it is! There’s no logical explanation as to why any other seller would have a phone at a way lower price than the original manufacturer.
Now, you can find good prices on refurbished phones. The problem with refurbished phones is that even though most honest sellers let you know that you’re buying a refurbished phone they typically don’t provide details on what exactly it was that they fixed up. For example if it was just the display that was busted and they switched it out and because of that you can get the phone at a better price it may be worth a look. Maybe the problems were more severe though you just never know. It could be a great buy or a total nightmare. Still in these cases make sure you check the rating that the seller has.
Check Device Compatibility Before Making A Purchase
Go out and buy a flip phone and then get it on the Verizon network. That’s the cheapest way to get coverage right? Yes, and no. To many people’s surprise there are certain devices that are very early 2000s looking that are still able to get coverage on the current Verizon network. That doesn’t mean though that you’re going to be able to go out and literally find the cheapest phone on the market and have the guarantee that it’s going to work on the Verizon network. Especially if you’re going to go out and buy models from manufacturers that we don’t happen to see every day.
There’s another aspect of this that you need to watch out for. There are certain older models that are going to be compatible with the Verizon network The problem is that you’re going to be missing out on some of the key features with these devices. The most typical issue is that you won’t be able to access their 5G network. If you’re looking to get an unlocked phone for Verizon, and you’re cool with just being able to access 4G coverage that’s certainly going to open up a ton of possibilities. We are not saying that it’s a bad idea to buy a very cheap older model phone. Just make sure that you manage your expectations. There’s a search bar on the Verizon page that allows you to check device compatibility. They’re going to ask you for the model of the device to give you a result.
Can You Get An Unlocked Phone Verizon 5G Capable on a Budget?
Depends on your budget, but from the options that we’ve seen the answer is probably yes. For example, at the time of writing we went through the options on the Verizon site. Here they literally give you the models that are currently supported in their 5G network. The cheapest phone that they sold directly was a Samsung A42. That’s going to come in at around 350+ dollars retail directly from Verizon. Remember though that you don’t want to buy directly from Verizon because that phone is going to be locked. What we are suggesting that you do though is go through the list of phones that are compatible with their 5G network and find a model that you like.
From there what you’re going to be able to do is shop around and find a price that you’re comfortable with for that particular phone. We suggest the Samsung model that we mentioned before if you’re on a very tight budget. Since, it’s potentially the phone that you’re going to be able to find outside of Verizon even at the cheapest price tag. The other thing that you can do if you’re really on a budget is scroll through the compatible phones and then go ahead and look for a refurbished option. Yes, it can be a bit of a gamble. If you buy from sellers that have a good return policy you could be covered in your search for the right phone that fits your budget.
Unlocked Phone for Verizon – How To Get One
There are certainly different ways to be able to get an unlocked phone for Verizon. Before you start shopping for a phone you want to make sure that you know which phones are compatible with their network. If you bring in an unlocked phone to Verizon that doesn’t mean that the phone is going to be locked to the Verizon network once you put your SIM card in. You’ll still have that type of freedom. Now, if you want to go ahead and get into a long term contract with Verizon you’re certainly going to be able to do that. Look into what your options are and what you really get out of each of them.
We always talk about the “freedom” that you’re going to be able to get from an unlocked phone. Having said this we do understand that if you don’t travel a lot and you are a loyal Verizon customer you may not really need an unlocked phone. If some of the options that we’ve put on the table are a bit too much for you, you could just go out and buy a regular phone from Verizon really.