Samsung Sneakily Add Region Locking To “Unlocked” Galaxy Note 3 Handsets

Bright Side of News reports that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 has sneakily added in a region locking feature, this applies even if the handset is an “unlocked” version. This begs the question how can it be an unlocked handset if it is region locked? The report suggests that Galaxy Note 3 handsets sold in Europe are European models, and locked to European carriers only, while units sold in America are locked to the Americas and their carriers (North, South Central and the Caribbean).

After mounting evidence has surfaced it appears that this isn’t just a rumour or one-off occurrence but instead a new policy from Samsung.

British retailer Clove recently published an article explaining what the region lock meant for customers:

“We wish to make our UK & European customers aware of certain functionality limitations regarding SIM cards on the Note 3. If you travel internationally (outside Europe) and usually insert a local SIM card when in those countries, the Note 3 will NOT be able to use the local network. It will lose all mobile connectivity with the exception of emergency calls. For example, if you travel to the USA and insert a SIM card issued in the USA, you will not be able to use the Note 3 for any voice calls, text messages and mobile data connection. It will work via a WiFi connectivity only.”

If you thought this was just a problem for Galaxy Note 3 owners, then you’ll be in for a shock. The report further clarifies that Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy S3, Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note smartphones produced after July 2013 are all affected by this newly implemented region locking.

Samsung have yet to official confirm the region lock and the full details of it so we’ll have to wait and see what their response is on this one.

Prospective Samsung buyers beware.

Image courtesy of Bright Side of News (BSN)