1y ago

Has anyone here used the international version of a Galaxy S22 or 23 in the US? If so, were there any problems or missing functionality?

Using international here as a stand-in for non US or Canada models. Specifically looking for use cases of the Europe / Africa / Middle East / Oceania model.

12 comments

Not quite the S22/23 but I used my South East t Asian variant of the Fold 3 without any issues. Supposedly there's some 5G bands that aren't supported but I didn't test 5G so I can't comment on that.
I have the international version of the S23. I got it so I could unlock the boot loader. No compatibility issues with Verizon or 5G networks.
- Great. No issues with SMS (pictures are low-res) or visual voicemail?
  
  No SMS, MMS or RCS issues.
- Which model do you have? You'd be missing out of mmWave 5g on international models according to GSM Arena. You still have low (basically 4g) and mid (~350Mbps) bands, but you're missing out on the high bands which can do > 1gbps connections and are amazing at crowded events like concerts.
  https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s23-12082.php
  
  Where on the website does it say that? I couldn't find references to what you're saying with that link.
  
  I have the SM-S918B/DS.
I do use the international dual sim version here in USA on T-Mobile.
5G almost never connects, since the version I have does not support the MM wave 5G antenna. So, pretty much stuck on 4G only.
Not an international, but I bought an unlocked S21 outright, rather than go through my carrier (AT&T).
My 'visual' voicemail won't work, but that's the only issue... and it's apparently on AT&T's side that's causing the problem. I gave up trying to fix it, cause I can still call my voicemail. But it still pisses me off sometimes when I think about it
I assume that you are talking about connectivity issues?
On a side note, I used an international base S22 and had terrible battery life when I was in the US. However, that's likely due to the chip's inefficiencies rather the connectivity issues. I had strong 4G/5G reception on T-Mobile.
- In general. Wanted to know what to expect, if there are any issues and which US carrier have the least amount of issues if there are any.

12 comments