Title: Buying the Right GSM Cellular Phone for Europe
Headings: How to Buy a Cell Phone in Europe and Avoid Roaming Charges
How to Buy a Cell Phone in Europe and Avoid Roaming Charges
Unlocked GSM Phones and SIM Cards
Buying Ahead of Time
Where to Get Them

Content: Buying the Right GSM Cellular Phone for Europe
Destinations Europe
How to Buy a Cell Phone in Europe and Avoid Roaming Charges
Written by
James Martin
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James Martin is a travel writer and photographer who writes, photographs, and edits stories about western Europe. Tripsavvy's Editorial Guidelines
James Martin
Updated 06/24/19
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Bronek Kaminski/Getty Images
Europe has adopted GSM ( Global System for Mobile Communications) as its mobile communications standard unlike the United States, which left companies to create their own standards, resulting in largely incompatible networks. If you're traveling to Europe or most Asian countries and want to use a cellular phone but also wish to avoid roaming charges, the GSM standard makes it easy to buy a phone that works, but there are some things you need to know about getting an unlocked version that works abroad. Because you need a device that can allow for dual-band reception on a GSM and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card and most phones sold in the United States are "locked" into one carrier and SIM card, you'll need to purchase an unlocked cell phone if you hope to get reception in Europe. Unlocked GSM Phones and SIM Cards
To make cell phone calls in Europe you'll need an unlocked dual-band GSM phone and a SIM card. The countries of Europe use the dual-band frequencies of 900 to 1800 while America primarily uses 850 to 1900. When shopping for an unlocked GSM phone, you'll want a tri-band 900/1800/1900 (or 850/1800/1900) or a quad-band 850-900-1800-1900 if you intend to use it in the U.S. as well as in Europe. You may use a tri-band 850-1800-1900 unlocked cell phone in Europe, but you'll be giving up coverage in the 900 band, which is the most common band for international cell phone communications. Many companies in the US sell locked cell phones which provide only one SIM card option for use with each phone linked to one particular carrier, which means you won't be able to use these abroad. Unlocked cell phones, on the other hand, are what you need as they allow the use of any SIM card, as long as the frequency capabilities are correct.