Unlocked Android for use with French prepaid SIM

May 17, 2016 8:06 PM

How functional are android phones, using wifi for data, and purchasing prepaid cell service for calls in France? Previouly I had the iPod Touch, which worked very well, all the apps were available and worked as expected. A used unlocked Blackberry Bold 9900 I purchased as a replacement turned out to be useless.

Are the Android phones fully functional without a service subscription? Specifically I need:

To use a web browser with local WiFi spots;
To transfer files from a micro-SD card to Dropbox via WiFi;
And to use as a prepaid cell phone in France (with a French SIM card) for a couple of months.

The smallest and lightest model would be ideal.

posted by garboils to Technology (5 answers total)

Are the Android phones fully functional without a service subscription?

Yes, other than obviously not being able to make calls or send texts through cell networks.

To use a web browser with local WiFi spots;
To transfer files from a micro-SD card to Dropbox via WiFi;

No problem, assuming that the phone has microSD. Not all of them do.

And to use as a prepaid cell phone in France (with a French SIM card) for a couple of months.

You must ensure that the phone's radios support the frequencies used in France. Here's a listing of what they use:

French GSM frequencies

Make sure that you configure it to only update apps and itself over WiFi, or it may suck down a lot of data over the cell network.
posted by Candleman at 8:47 PM on May 17, 2016

One of the Moto G lines might be the best combinations of quality, price, and size. There's a French site for the phone, so I'm assuming it supports the needed frequencies. There's a fair number of models at this point, so make sure you buy the correct one.
posted by Candleman at 8:50 PM on May 17, 2016

Yup Android will be fine. Indeed, Blackberry phones are an odd one out when it comes to the prepaid SIMs. Android and iOS phones are fine though.

Nthing you'll want to configure it to only run updates over WiFi.
Most prepaid plans include calls and texts, you don't need to be a subscriber for those. They will, of course, be limited. They plans all show the time and number of texts on them.
posted by fraula at 10:36 AM on May 18, 2016

I do this with an unlocked Android phone when I travel abroad (Sony Xperia). To not drain the limited data that comes with a pre-paid card:

a) in the phone I select Settings/ Data Usage, and in there there's a drop-down menu in which I choose "Restrict Background Data" - I also have "Auto-sync data" turned off.
b) in the Play Store app on the phone I select Settings/ General and choose "Auto-update apps/ "Auto-update apps over wifi only".

This means I always have "some" data available for use when I'm not near a hotspot and need to use Google Maps etc.

Oh, and if your phone doesn't have a microSD slot, you can buy a microUSB to microSD adapter on Amazon for $10 (some come with an SD slot too, which is handy for transferring files from a camera).
I'd also recommend getting a file manager like Total Commander, in order to navigate the file system easily if you're going to be moving files around.
posted by 7 Minutes of Madness at 3:02 PM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

As someone who asked a very similar question four years ago, I can confirm that this works on unlocked, GSM capable phones.

Now you've made me miss my super cheap French phone plan...
posted by mollywas at 3:06 PM on May 18, 2016