You want an unlocked phone. To ensure compatibility worldwide, pick quad-band GSM phones over the other types. Make sure its GSM and not CDMA technology. One easy way to tell is that GSM phones use SIM cards and CDMA phones don’t.
Regular phone or smartphone?
The answer to this is easy, get both! Use a smartphone as your main phone, and keep a regular phone as a backup.
Smartphones are extremely versatile and should be considered as your main phone especially if you use one right now.
My favorite choice is an unlocked iPhone because its like a portable computer in your pocket and I have an app for everything already. For instance, here is a link to what I used abroad with my iPad last year.
Android based phones are easier to get and work with when looking for unlocked phones. This is primarily because Apple has a history of locking down their devices to carriers and making it more difficult to purchase the unlocked phones and usually at a higher price.
The main advantages of the a regular phone are not to be overlooked:
- Inexpensive to purchase, inexpensive to operate
- Battery life
- It always works
That’s it in a nutshell. Let me know if you have any questions!