Cell phone help, please.

[catmandu]

Due to my deep woods main residence, I have Verizon as they are the only reliable signal throughout the house. Also, only have 3.0 dsl available, so I use the Verizon LTE to supplement my bandwidth via FoxFi hotspot (grandfathered unlimited data). I now spend a decent amount of time in the US Virgin Islands, where AT&T is the right answer (they consider that domestic, unlike Verizon). I left my Galaxy S4 in the USVI, and it seems to have disappeared in the USPS, and two weeks of the backup Droid 3 hell is enough, time for a new to me phone.

I would like to keep Verizon and my hotspot at home, then pop in an AT&T sim in the islands. After doing some frequency and band research, as well as looking at some questions and answers others had in cell phone forums (where they ignored this question from me), I believe that the right answer for me is an HTC One M8, that is either Unlocked or Developer (any advantage one vs. the other?).

I think this will work, looking at the specifications of the M8 since it is full up compatable with Verizon, and AT&T uses band 4 in the USVI.

Can someone deeper into this stuff than me QA this for me?

 

[SkyHog]

Any Verizon phone that has LTE is already unlocked. Newer ones will have the right radios to use AT&Ts spectrum.

 

[catmandu]

Any Verizon phone that has LTE is already unlocked. Newer ones will have the right radios to use AT&Ts spectrum.

Right, after Feb 1st of this year, as I understand it, but buying a new phone to go with my old cars would cramp my flying budget, so looking at Amazon Warehouse deals for the last generation of HTC One.

 

[TazzyTazzy]

Wait for the asus zenfone 2 to come to the US. Dual SIM: cdma, gsm, lte. It will work with both verizon, tmobile, att, etc etc. It'll pretty much work nearly anywhere in the world.

Great specs, decent price. $320 something for off contract price. Having dual SIM slots will save you from swapping them out. Won't hit the US for another month or so.

 

[SkyHog]

Right, after Feb 1st of this year, as I understand it, but buying a new phone to go with my old cars would cramp my flying budget, so looking at Amazon Warehouse deals for the last generation of HTC One.

I think Verizon phones have been that way for a while (unlocked). You will still be able to use 3g/Edge with the Sim Card, but not LTE unless it has the right radio.

 

[catmandu]

Wait for the asus zenfone 2 to come to the US. Dual SIM: cdma, gsm, lte. It will work with both verizon, tmobile, att, etc etc. It'll pretty much work nearly anywhere in the world.

Great specs, decent price. $320 something for off contract price. Having dual SIM slots will save you from swapping them out. Won't hit the US for another month or so.

That does look like a great answer, thanks. Maybe I can get someone to pick one up for me in Beijing.

 

[TazzyTazzy]

That does look like a great answer, thanks. Maybe I can get someone to pick one up for me in Beijing.

You want to buy it in the country that you use it most. The Asian and Europe version have different radio bands. They will cover the US, but you'll have less bands = less service quality.

Buy a US based model and have better service as it'll have more common frequencies. It'll work ok over seas.

There's a new radio chip out that hasn't been widely adopted much, it covers more number of radio bands than most other chips - looking forward to it becoming more prevalent as their name builds.