Best phone for texting in Mexico?

September 14, 2006 11:59 AM

I'm moving to Mexico City in about a month, and from what I hear, my Motorola Razr phone won't work there, since it's the Verizon model (not GSM). What phone should I get to replace the Razr?

I've found out that in Mexico it's much cheaper to send SMS messages than it is to make calls with my mobile, so I'm particularly interested in phones that make texting easy; bluetooth connectivity would be nice, too, but it's not necessary. The Sidekick 2 looks promising, but I don't know if it will work with the Mexican cell networks.

Does anyone have any great phone recommendations for me?

posted by jacob to Technology (9 answers total)

Best place to ask is either HoFo or mobiledia forums. I read a post by a guy who said he was in Mexico City recently.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 12:40 PM on September 14, 2006

I can tell you that the SK2/3 isn't offered by any Mexican carriers, and data roaming with it would cost you an arm and a leg if you had a TMO US account.
posted by autojack at 12:43 PM on September 14, 2006

Best answer: The Sidekick sold in the US is locked to T-mobile. They'd be happy to sell you one to use in Mexico but it will be $1.50/minute in roaming charges and I think a dime for sending SMS [recieving is a nickel]. Or get an unlocked one on eBay. When I was phone shopping last time, I didn't like the Sidekick 3 I played with. I want a phone I can text with, not a text thing I can call people with.

If plan to get an account with Telcel or Movistar for local service, you could get an unlocked Sony Ericsson M600 or the Nokie Nseries, or Motorola Q with a qwerty keyboard for texting. Then, of course, you could get an Blackberry. These will probably all cost more than a Sidekick on ebay, but they are the alternatives.

I love my Sony Ericsson K800i and was texting away while in the DF last month [roaming on T-mobile]. I don't mind the multi-tap input method and was got a phone for the size [plus internets features - great built-in browser and can run Opera Mini]. Any GSM phone from Cingular or T Mobile will work in Mexico as Mexico uses the same frequencies as the US.

I saw ads for the K790i [the Americas cousin of the K800i] all over the place while I was down there so you might be able to pick one of those locked to Telcel or Movistar. But then you're stuck with a phone you couldn't use with a US carrier.

When I was down there a few years ago for a month or so, I had an unlocked phone and would swap out my home SIM [US phone number, roaming] with a prepaid Telcel SIM used for calling around Mexico. To avoid Telcel's rates to the US, I bought long distance cards and would dial the toll free number and then the person in the states I wanted. I can't remember how much SMS was on the prepaid account but it was cheap - within Mexico. The plan I had didn't include data or if it did, was obscenly expensive.
posted by birdherder at 12:55 PM on September 14, 2006

Best answer: You can get a phone in DF pretty cheap. Go to the Centro Perisur (it's a mall at Avenida Pereferico and Insurgentes) and get one with TelCel service. Stay Away from Unefon.

Keep it simple though. You probably won't have reliable internet access through your phone. Bring a laptop and make sure there is internet access where you will be staying. (If they tell you, We don't have it right now but someone's coming next week, Do Not believe them.)

And remember it doesn't cost you anything if They call you.
posted by mynameismandab at 1:16 PM on September 14, 2006

Just get a cheap Blackberry 7290 on ebay. Bluetooth, great texting ability, and email as well. If you want it to be even cheaper, get the 7230 - it still has the same great features and color screen, but no Bluetooth.
posted by aebaxter at 1:28 PM on September 14, 2006

Verizon can roam in Mexico as well.
See: http://mobileoptions.vzw.com/international/roaming/rates/Mexico.html
posted by reverendX at 1:33 PM on September 14, 2006

Woops. i didn't realize that you were moving here. I would think that some Mexican carrier would support the Verizon phone anyway since they do have roaming.
posted by reverendX at 1:34 PM on September 14, 2006

An addendum to mynameismandab's comment: Currently you do indeed pay for incoming long-distance calls. I learned this the hard way my first month here, fielding a ton of calls from the States. Monthly bill was $100 more than it should have been. The legislature passed a bill a couple of months ago giving cell carriers 6 months to make all incoming calls free, but I lost track of the story and am unsure whether it's taken effect.
posted by donpedro at 1:37 PM on September 14, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone who responded.

I've decided to wait until I get to DF to purchase the phone as mynameismandab suggested. (If I can't get a good phone/price, I'll end up buying one on eBay after all.)
posted by jacob at 1:01 PM on September 18, 2006