I paid about $17 for a little Samsung phone, a pay as you go, in the USA. I thought it would work in China. Further, knowing the expertise of Chinese technicians, I thought if it was locked, that a Chinese technician could unlock it and allow me to use it. No. Even though it was a prepaid phone, the ATT Corporation locked it as if it belonged to them. I couldn’t get it unlocked in China.

Imporant lesson – If you buy a phone in the USA, make sure that the provider you choose unlocks the phone before you bring it to China.

The Iphone is recognized as about the best phone, but it is pricey. It also doesn’t have an open system. If you want to use your phone like another flash drive, connecting to your computer, or add memory with and extra sim card, you may want to pass on the Iphone. Android phones are probably better. The top end Androids are probably better than the Iphones.  The Iphones won’t permit expansion, but the best Androids will accept SIM cards that can expand your memory to 128 Gigs. Iphones don’t accept Micro SD cards.

Most android phones are good around the world. You need to make sure that the frequency of the phone will work.  The GSM is a 2G phone and will work everywhere, but internet is limited. The most flexible Android phones are WCDMA. These will usually work in the USA, Europe, and China.

Android phones are not all the same.  Many companies change the Android system with proprietary user interfaces.  Sometimes this interferes with access to the local system. Accessing Google is a hassle in China.  There are VPN programs that allow the cell phone to connect to Google, but these are added after purchase.

When you buy a phone in the USA, it should have 3G and 4G frequencies that will work in China and elsewhere. When you buy a phone in |China, it needs to support WCDMA or CDMA2000 in order to work in the USA.