The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Is it hard to get an AT&T phone unlocked?

    Discussion in 'Smartphones and Tablets' started by kojack, Aug 9, 2021.

  1. kojack

    kojack Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,235
    Messages:
    4,187
    Likes Received:
    1,636
    Trophy Points:
    231
    I am looking at getting a phone for my wife that is locked to AT&T. Is it hard to get it unlocked or should I just go elsewhere?
     
  2. Reciever

    Reciever D! For Dragon!

    Reputations:
    1,525
    Messages:
    5,348
    Likes Received:
    4,332
    Trophy Points:
    431
    If its paid in full I believe they must unlock upon request, at least that is my understanding of it.
     
    kojack likes this.
  3. kojack

    kojack Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,235
    Messages:
    4,187
    Likes Received:
    1,636
    Trophy Points:
    231
    OK. Perfect. We are looking at two locked at phones on eBay. So I guess just call them up and get them unlocked
     
  4. Reciever

    Reciever D! For Dragon!

    Reputations:
    1,525
    Messages:
    5,348
    Likes Received:
    4,332
    Trophy Points:
    431
    I would just call them before and make sure, I dont buy phones often anymore so my understanding of it could be out of date
     
  5. GrandesBollas

    GrandesBollas Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    370
    Messages:
    417
    Likes Received:
    563
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Be mindful if the phones are AT&T branded. They will come with AT&T's bloatware. Keep also in mind AT&T locked phones may not be fully compatible with Canada's bands. If shopping for an unlocked phone, I would be looking for just that. I had two Samsung S7 edges: one locked to ATT and the other unlocked. The ROM was different on both phones. In my case, I wanted to turn on ATT WiFi calling on the unlocked phone and couldn't.
     
    JRE84 and kojack like this.