Better to obtain a temporary smartphone in the US or in Europe
Upvote:2
Is there a reason you cannot have your current smart phone unlocked? (Not owning one for example)
It's certainly possible to buy unlocked phones in the UK, where your journey apparently starts. The costs are normally quite considerable for a smart phone, although there are some budget options. Carphone Warehouse would be the chain most likley to suit your needs. A better option may to be buy a second hand phone. There are independent shops doing this everywhere, as well as the chains CEX and GAME. Ensure that any phone you buy second hand is unlocked (most will be, if not they'll do it for a fee). Ensure that any second hand phone has not been blocked, or showing any other signs of being stolen.
The biggest problem you are likley to face however is that you will be travelling to different european countries and hence subject to roaming charges there. (Note that this includes the Republic of Ireland for UK based networks). If you're staying somewhere long enough, then you can get a local sim - otherwise you may find it worth just paying the inflated rates.
Upvote:4
I'm also planning my first trip to Europe towards the end of this summer. From what I've researched you can buy unlocked GSM phones in Europe (See this answer), but I wouldn't think that's the best way to approach this, after all, I've heard electronics are more expensive in Europe...
If you're in the US, like me, you could just try to buy online cheap, used/refurbished unlocked smartphone (I bought a refurbished (unlocked) Nexus 4 from woot) and also buy a SIM card adapter kit (in case you need to adapt to different SIM card sizes). This way you can just use your keepgo SIM on your unlocked phone, and mix and match with local SIM cards, if needed. Also, your US cell service might actually have pretty good data roaming abroad... I know for Colombia T-mobile had free data and unlimited text, and voice at a 0.20USD/min rate... which is not bad, considering.
I did something similar when I went to Colombia, which works the same way as Europe. I swapped around a local SIM with an international data SIM when needed.
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