Sending a phone to the UK?

Hi,

So I'm wondering if I send my phone from Verizon (I would get it unlocked of course) to my friend over in England if he would be able to put a SIM in it and use it as his primary cell phone. He needs a new phone pretty badly and this is the only way I can offer him something nice, rather than selling the phone for its current worth. Is this possible or is my phone not equipped to do so? Its a Galaxy Note 8.

https://willmyphonework.net/

Thank you so much!

If you live in the same country, you can give a phone to your friend and if your friend live another country then you can face some problem. 

The frequencies are different so the phone would have to be quad-band.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g34515-i19-k2906632-Will_a_cotract_free_American_cell_phones_work_in_the_uk-Orlando_Florida.html

The article TsVk! linked to is somewhat out-of-date. Just the other day, OFCOM - the UK telecoms 'watchdog' - announced that from the beginning of 2021, it will henceforth be illegal for providers to 'lock' handsets to the network.

It's a long-overdue move that will be welcomed by many, although more and more 'unlocked' handsets have been available on the market over here in recent years. Why should you have to buy another handset, simply because you want to switch providers?

There is a caveat to all this, of course. 'Older' phones, using removable SIMs or microSIMs wouldn't be such a problem. The incoming new standard, however - the "iSIM" - could prove to be more problematic, given that these are soldered to the phone's mobo, and have to be 'reprogrammed' instead.....which can only be done by your provider, so that kinda brings us back to the original issue!

It should be 'do-able' if the phone supports the right frequency bands (as others have said). I wish you luck, but don't be surprised if issues DO crop up.....

Mike.