S6 Taiwan model work in the UK?

[mrb30]

S6 Taiwan model work in the UK?
I have a friend working in Taiwan at the moment, I'm thinking of asking him to get me a Galaxy S6 whilst he's there as its cheaper than buying one here.

My main question is will it work perfectly ok in the UK? Or if it doesnt can it be flashed etc to look like a UK model?

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[mikedt]

Should be no problem, but what's the actual model or version number, just to be sure. And you can check it yourself anyway...
http://www.willmyphonework.net/

However while the phone should work, Samsung UK very likely will not provide warranty service for it, and it may not receive OTA firmware updates either, Asian version S6 being used in the EU, also you might have to look at and deal with Samsung's geo-restricted SIM activation feature...i.e. it's a grey import.

 

[mrb30]

Thanks for your info. Whats the geo-resticted SIM activation feature? Can you still update the phone through software rather than OTA?

 

[mikedt]

It's all explained here...this is for S5, but sure it's same for S6.
http://www.sammobile.com/2014/04/11/galaxy-s5-region-lock-worse-than-the-galaxy-note-3s/


"European Model: This product should be activated with a SIM card issued from a mobile operator within Europe. (as defined EU/EEA, Switzerland and the following Non-EEA countries Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M), Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia and Vatican City.) To use SIM cards from other regions, a cumulative call over five minutes must first be made with the SIM card from European operators."

So if it's coming from Taiwan, it will be SE Asian region, which I guess it will need to be initially activated with a Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. carrier's SIM, but not mainland China.


You should still be able to update via Odin using a PC.

Be aware though should warranty service be needed, Samsung UK either will not touch it for warranty service or they might charge you, otherwise it has to go back to Samsung Taiwan probably, or Hong Kong, etc.

 

[mrb30]

Thanks again, I wasn't aware of any of that! I'll consider my decision carefully now. Won't be to bad if I can get him to make a call on it for me!