There are going to be different things that you’re going to want to account for when taking your regular cell phone to Europe. Naturally, the electricity side of things is an important one. If you live in a country where you use alternating current or AC, and you travel to Europe you won’t be able to plug in your charger to the wall. There are different things that you can do to side step this. We’ll go over our favorite options here shortly. Solving that issue though doesn’t necessarily answer the question, “Will my phone work in Europe”. There are a lot of different elements to consider. Even if you’re traveling to a country that is on the list of countries where your wireless service provider says you can get coverage.
Without a doubt international roaming has suffered a face lift in the last couple of years. When traveling to Europe from America just maybe 10 years back your coverage options were slim to none. Even if you had the intention of paying ridiculous roaming fees to your regular service provider. Now for the most part there are ways to get coverage. In fact virtually all American service providers offer ways to get coverage in Europe. At least, in some of the most visited countries and cities. The price tag on that coverage though can be pretty steep. That’s certainly something that you need to factor when choosing whether or not you even want to take your phone to Europe.
- Will My Phone Work in Europe – The Electricity Situation
- Will My Phone Work in Europe – Coverage
- Is It Safe To Take Your Regular Device Abroad?
- Where Are You Really Going To Be Traveling
- Local SIM Card Europe Best Option
- Cheapest Ways To Get Coverage In Europe
Will My Phone Work in Europe – The Electricity Situation
This is one of the most important reasons, if not the main reason people bring up the question, “will my phone work in Europe”. There’s an issue with the electric current. Alternating current is what’s used in the US and virtually all of North and Central America. Direct current is what they use in Europe. How is this going to affect your device? Obviously you’re not even going to be able to plug in your regular charger to the wall. The outlets are completely different. You probably want to get a voltage converter. It’s not just about the actual outlet though. You really should be looking for a converter that’s going to be able to output the right amount of electricity towards your device. If you’re going to be abroad for just a couple of days you’ll be ok.
If you plan to be abroad for longer it may be a better idea to just go out and buy a local charger. Most phones are not going to have a problem dealing with the different voltages per se. Apple for example allows just the tip of the charger to be interchangeable. They mention that your iPhone should not have a problem with the different voltage amounts. The reason why though we would recommend getting a charger that directly fits the local electric grid is because chargers that spend too much time on a converter have been known to get fried. This has happened across the board with different types of tech. A bad charger can then affect your phone directly.
Will My Phone Work in Europe – Coverage
When it comes to coverage there are a few things that you’re going to want to keep in mind. Number one, coverage from your regular service provider, if it’s from a country outside of Europe, is going to be expensive. American wireless service providers for example are going to charge you 10 dollars a day for the travel pass that they offer. You get to keep your number and use your data abroad. For the most part though, you won’t be able to navigate at great speeds. With your coverage topping out at around LTE speeds. Which is kind of that middle ground between 3G and 4G speed. Sticking with the coverage that your regular service provider can offer will a lot of times mean that you won’t be getting reliable coverage. We’ll expand on that in a bit though.
The other option that you have is to go ahead and get a local SIM card. To be able to do this though you need to make sure that your phone is unlocked. Will my phone work in Europe? If the phone is locked to a service provider it will work if the service provider offers European coverage. As we mentioned, that’s going to cost 10 dollars a day. If the phone is unlocked you’re going to have the opportunity to explore different coverage options through a local SIM card. Local SIM cards can usually give you faster speeds, and lower prices for coverage.
Is It Safe To Take Your Regular Device Abroad?
We can’t say that taking your regular device abroad is an unsafe thing to do. At the same time it may be true that you may find yourself more exposed. The reasons behind this are actually rather simple. For most people who have unlimited plans at home connecting to an open wifi network isn’t necessarily something that they ever think about. When you’re abroad though and you have limited speed and data to use your phone, connecting to an open wifi network can be a much more tempting option than it is at home. We’re not saying that you shouldn’t connect to open sources ever, but you probably want to be doing this with a bit of caution.
If you are worried about your safety on an open network then you can use different tools like a VPN to make your connection to an open network safer. Again though, this is not to say that connecting to an open wifi network is the worst thing that you can do. When it comes down to it though you could make the argument that those connections are less safe than your regular unlimited data plan that you have at home. Therefore, it may be worth your while to take steps to ensure that you’re extra safe.
Where Are You Really Going To Be Traveling
We tend to think of Europe as a group mainly because a lot of the countries use the same currency and borders aren’t as highly guarded as they are on the other side of the Atlantic. At least in certain countries they aren’t. When it comes to wireless services though we can’t try and paint each destination in the same light. According to data from 2019, (yes we’re going to try and update this data, but bear with us) the Netherlands had one of the highest rates of 4G penetration in the world. More than 90% of the country was covered under a 4G mantle if you will. Meanwhile in Ukraine the 4G penetration sat way under 70%. Where do you think you’ll be able to access better coverage? Your phone is going to work, but you may not have great coverage.
Speaking about not having great coverage, it’s also a good idea to have honest expectations when it comes to coverage. Particularly if you’re looking to travel to rural areas in any country. Are you going to have great coverage as you take a picture of the London eye or the Big Ben? Yeah, probably. Don’t expect though to have the same type of coverage on the countryside or driving through the backroads of any country in the continent. We’ve had people come to us and say that they paid their international pass for nothing. We’re sorry to tell you this, but that is a risk that you’re running when paying for that extra coverage. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get it.
Local SIM Card Europe Best Option
There are actually a couple of options that we like in this department. Of course, at the end of the day you may want to set your own criteria to make this choice. Mainly because the time that you spend in Europe is going to be a huge factor in determining how much data or minutes you really need. Therefore, you can look for different options that offer amounts of data that seem reasonable and explore a price range that you happen to feel comfortable with. Having said all of this, in regular SIM cards we like the options that Three UK offers. You can get 10GB of data plus unlimited talk and text for 30 days at 30 dollars.
That’s the regular SIM option. The problem with that is that you have to make sure that the promo is still available and that they have SIM cards that are compatible with your phone. If you want to get an eSIM card at this point we would have to recommend Eurolink. It’s just data, no calls or texts at all. In fact, the eSIM doesn’t even come with a phone number. That could be a blessing or a curse for certain apps. It’s a little bit more expensive than the regular SIM card. You don’t have to go through all of the hassle of the regular SIM card set up though. You can just download the Airalo app, buy credit and use it up!
Cheapest Ways To Get Coverage In Europe
Those local SIM options can certainly work well for people who want to make sure that they are connected at all times. We do recognize though that the price tag on these SIM cards may not exactly be what some people were hoping for. So, we have the answer to the question, will my phone work in Europe, without paying for extra coverage? It’s yes, but there’s a very specific way that you have to go about things. To make sure that you don’t get charged an extra dime you can turn your data off and just rely on wifi coverage. That may sound moronic and risky. Hear us out though, particularly if you’re traveling on a budget.
We’ve dug up an app and webpage that offers the location of free wifi spots all over the world. So what you can do is map out your trip before you go. You’ll make sure that you pinpoint all of the spots that offer free wifi coverage in the cities that you’re visiting. When you’re there just turn your wifi on and talk through apps. Other than these public places it’s very possible that you’ll have access to an internet network inside your hotel room or other spots you visit. Europe tends to have many more of these free internet locations than America does. Just wanted to throw that one out there!
Will My Phone Work In Europe – Conclusion
For the most part if your phone works locally you can almost bet that it’s going to work in Europe. Particularly if you have a recent device. Who should be worried? Well, the people that have older phones that can’t connect to a 4G network. A lot of European countries have essentially closed down their 3G networks for good. If you try to get coverage on a very old phone you may be out of luck. When it comes to charging the device itself you are going to want to be smart about the process. Don’t just go out and buy a cheap converter. Could you go the full trip with the cheap converter and be ok? Sure, but you may be risking a bit too much.
When it comes to the coverage aspect of things there are many things to consider. What type of coverage do you need the most? How much are you going to be willing to pay for that coverage? These are all real questions that you’re going to have to ask yourself before you go on your trip. We really suggest that you do, because most people that travel without a plan to get coverage come home to a massive roaming riddled bill!