unlocked cell phones for USA and abroad

Jan, To begin with, it would help to know which Cell network you're currently with, and what type of phone you're considering upgrading to? Also, what is the expected duration of each of the trips you'll be taking? As Paul mentioned, as you want internet capability that means you'll need to upgrade to a Smartphone. If you want to buy the phone in the near future, one option would be to buy an iPhone 4S directly from Apple rather than your network. They're supplied unlocked, so will work with any network. However, the cost is fairly "steep" since it's not being subsidized by the carrier (consumers pay the same regardless, but when buying phones from a cell carrier the cost is spread out over the term of the contract). You could also wait for the new iPhone 5 which may be announced as soon as next week (June 11) or in September. It will likely have 4G as well as a larger display. One point to make regarding "3G vs. 4G". While some North American networks are rolling out the new 4G/LTE technology quickly and now have 4G coverage in larger cities, this isn't necessarily true in other parts of the world. I've found 3G+ to be fast enough for me, so not terribly concerned about it at the moment. The speed is really only a benefit with data and doesn't affect voice or texting. Not all N.A. networks offer roaming capability for their PAYG customers. I believe T-Mobile is one of the few that does, but I suspect it's not cheap (ie: you'll deplete your pre-loaded funds more quickly when roaming internationally). You might also have a look at SIM's from the "travel phone" firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, EuroBuzz, Telestial & Mobal (although not all of them offer data plans). Good luck!

Jan, I have used many cell phones here and overseas. On the last few trips, I used a smartphone, one of the many Android varieties. You can get some Androids on a month-to-month pay-as-you-go plan from lots of carriers. At present, sticking with AT&T or T-Mobile will get you a phone that will work in most of the world. Verizon and Sprint use a different technology than that of Europe and that used by AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon will sell you a phone that has both technologies, though. Or a phone that works for Verizon or Sprint might work just over a wifi connection if you don't feel the need to connect over the phone system. I just read recently where one smaller company in the U.S. was offering an IPhone on a prepaid, no contract plan. I don't know much about that, but I'd suspect the phone is fixed so it can't be used with other carriers. The IPhone is king right now among smartphones, but I prefer the choices and flexibility of Android phones. Of these, I think the Samsung Galaxy versions have the edge at the moment. To use the Internet, you really do need to get a smartphone of some variety. I'd go to a phone store or a Best Buy and look at the offerings and see if there is one that appeals to you more than another. You can pay full price for the phone if you don't want to get locked into a contract. It may work out financially to your advantage depending upon how you use the phone. The trick will be in finding a good, low-cost plan to use it with. The carriers are getting better about making available plans, even prepaid plans, that allow you to use data, but they don't make it easy to compare or shop.

Continued . . . As for 3G vs. 4G, faster is always better, but it narrows your choices. Verizon looks like it is ahead in the game but AT&T is catching up. T-Mobile advertises 4G, but it is really a variety of 3G. They have fast transmission rates, but they may have reached the limits on speed with the technology they use and will likely be surpassed by the newer 4G standards. But if you're just starting, you may not use it enough to worry. When I want or need a fast connection, I use wifi. That is still way faster than anything over the phone system. The nice thing about a phone system connection is it is available anywhere you can make a call. Wifi isn't that ubiquitous yet.

Thanks so much Ken and Paul. Yes, I was looking for something flexible, since we don't know where we might be traveling to one week to the next. Some of this has to do with my husband's job, other has to do with just pleasure travel. Last year, my husband was working in Germany so we were living there and doing a lot of traveling of Europe. We had German pre-paid cell phone, but I really envied the smartphones some of the ex-pats had. Some even had language translation programs on their phones. That would have been nice, but I guess I got by the old school way....I learned German ;) Beyond that, I think a smartphone might help us make airplane ticket reservations at the airport...when the plane is full and we can't fly standby. I have to switch really fast to another destination that will get me close to where I want to go. Then rent a car to make it the rest of the way. I currently have a straight talk no contract phone with some internet capability, but its not fast enough, nor does it have enough data to book a ticket. I will keep looking at T-Mobile and Verizon. Eventually, I'm sure I will find something that works for me. Thanks again for your help.

You can get an unlocked smartphone on eBay, then choose what service suits you. We have an unlocked iPhone 3GS which served us well recently in England with a UK carrier using a prepaid sim. There are some reputable sellers on eBay. If you are interested, PM me and I'll send you the name of the seller we bought from. 4G is faster on data speed than 3G. We noticed the difference when we returned from England and got on our iPhone 4Ss. But it isn't enough to make a great difference at least to us. 3G was fine.

A friend of mine has a an unlocked Android phone, and uses AT&T for domestic service. Calls are $0.10 per minute. For data, he initially bought 500 MB for $25. This has to be topped up every month to avoid losing it at the end of the month. The cheapest top-up is $5, which buys a very small amount of data, but it's enough for him since he uses relatively little. What he's done is deposit a lot of credit into the plan, then set up automatic transfer from this credit into his data plan. Otherwise, sooner or later he would forget to top up, and he'd have to buy another $25 to restart. So, for $5 a month ($60 a year) after initial expenditures, he has a smartphone. This works for him because he uses relatively little data. He has WiFi at home, and doesn't do data-intensive things when not in a WiFi zone (he's not watching videos or checking e-mail, but might look at a map or Google the nearest Chinese restaurant). Of course, you're free to buy more data any time, and even $25 a month for a half gigabyte is not too expensive compared to the price of a contract. As with all prepaid plans, if you're using the phone a lot (voice or data), it becomes prohibitive; if you're just using it a little, it's a great deal. AT&T doesn't roam internationally. For that, he buys local SIM cards, and these data plans vary tremendously (he hasn't used them yet - just voice plans). For more details (and I do mean details) about various prepaid options, try the National Operators, International Operators, and Forums sections of this website: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/index.php