Sim free mobile phones

I have to be honest, Sim Free does seem like an overengineered term but in essence it does describe exactly what it is. When you buy a phone Sim Free you do essentially buy a phone without a Sim card.

The term Sim free can be distinguished from unlocked as sim free tends to refer to a phone that has never been locked to a particular network whereas a unlocked mobile phone usually has been assigned to a network and is then unlocked. Unlocked can refer to both a never locked phone and a phone that has been unlocked.

This means you can buy the phone you always wanted and not be locked to a network you don't like or doesn't offer the deals you want.

Unlocked is another name for Sim Free Mobile Phones but can often be confused with unblocked as the terms are very similar in spelling but in reality they are quite different.

Unlocked Mobile Phones
Phones are locked for one main reason to keep you on a particular network. It would make no sense for a phone company to let you buy a phone on one network but make it simple to switch from one network to another. It is locked to encourage you to stay on the network. Therefore an unlocked phone is a phone that is not locked to any particular network or has been unlocked from the particular network it was locked to.

Unblocked Mobile Phones
Phones are blocked when they have been lost or stolen, to prevent a theif been able to use the handset for their own use. To unblock a phone is illegal.

The plus points

• Free choice of Network


• Acess to the latest phones


• Uprade your phone without changing networks or phone number

The minus points

• Handsets can cost slightly more