• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Will a UK N5 D821 work in USA?

M

MrMister

Well-Known Member
Thinking of getting a nexus 5. Live in UK so it will be an official UK model D821.

Will this work in the USA as I believe they have a different model? I want to use for holiday so calls, texts and mobile data.

Thanks
 
Yes, it will work. It will not work as well as a comparable D820 will, but for short term use it should be just fine.
 
What do you mean it will not work "as well" please.

Will I be able to use 4G in the USA on it? Or because of the LTE bands will I only get 3G?

Thanks
 
MrMister said:
Will I be able to use 4G in the USA on it? Or because of the LTE bands will I only get 3G?
Click to expand...

The D821 supports LTE Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20 (D820 supports LTE Bands: 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41)

You'll need to check with the carrier you are planning to use, but a quick search found http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2014/09/what-phone-works-with-which-operator.html

For LTE AT&T uses bands 2 (1900), 4 (1700), 5 (850) and 17 (700). Band 17 is AT&T's primary LTE band. Bands 2, 4 and 5 are used in areas where AT&T doesn't own any band 17 spectrum and also in combination with band 17 in urban areas to increase capacity and speeds.
For LTE, T-Mobile uses bands 2 (1900), 4 (1700) and 12 (700). T-Mobile's primary LTE band is band 4. Band 2 is being deployed in former 2G only non-urban areas where T-Mobile doesn't have any band 4 spectrum. In some, maybe all, of these band 2 only LTE markets, 3G is not offered, only 2G and LTE.
So, it is likely that you will not get LTE speeds with your phone.

(Don't expect to use D821 on Sprint/Verizon - or any of their MVNOs).
 
I won't know who tbh as it's going to be 3 network in UK so whoever they would use for the roaming in USA I'm unsure.

At the moment 3 in UK allow you to use your UK allowance roaming, so I have unlimited data so they allow this when roaming in USA (think it is 25Gb tbh but enough for 2 weeks for me!)

So unsure if I'll get 4G or 3G, and more important is if the D821 will work to get any data in USA?

Thanks
 
While it is unlikely that you'll get LTE connectivity for data, you should be able to get data (albeit at lower speeds - think 3g, or Edge in some areas).

Check with your carrier to see who they partner with in the US, and what speeds to expect. (here, in the US, one of the carriers is T-Mobile, and they offer free data coverage when traveling overseas, but restrict it to 2g speeds. Yes, better than no connectivity overseas, but sssssllllooooowwwwww)
 
Found this on the 3 site, so looks like AT-T or T-Mobile but unsure if it's 4G, expect not but be happy with 3G as just for general browsing, maps etc, no video

Roaming Partners in United States. Services available to Three Customers:
Voice. Text. Data.
AT&T
T-Mobile USA
 
I live in the UK and researched this before I bought, because I was looking to see if I could buy an N5 in the USA. The phone will work fine, but you will only be able to get 3G data and not 4G/LTE, because the bands are incompatible.
 
peterc10 said:
I live in the UK and researched this before I bought, because I was looking to see if I could buy an N5 in the USA. The phone will work fine, but you will only be able to get 3G data and not 4G/LTE, because the bands are incompatible.
Click to expand...
Great thanks for confirming. 4G would be nice, but happy with 3G, It s just to use in US for browsing in between WiFi, for maps etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom