typically all prepaid handsets are locked…
Samsung Galaxy A20 Vodafone $169 with $30 Sim Starter Kit (Free Pick-up Expired, Now with $7.90 Delivery) @ Big W » All Comments
Hmmmm.. that sucks. Anyone know the unlock fee??
A Vodafone rep told me that if you recharge at least once a month for 3 months, they unlock it for free. I work at a Big W.
Dabell I just joined ozb hope to contact you tomorrow if I can incase I can ask you to help unlock a phone thank you
Yeah, I’d like to know too! I’ve just ordered one, so I can update when delivered.
If it is locked, Vodafone have unlocking fees of $50 within 6 months, or $25 after 6 months.
There may be cheaper places through eBay etc that provide unlocking, but I can’t vouch for any… would be good if anyone here could.
Wow that's quite cheap. We get these at work through JB corp for 250. They are quite nice but the CPU seems a tad slow. Wonder how much an unlock code costs?
Yes, very cheap for a phone that is quite new, and packs a lot of features in for that price range of phone.
It appears to have 3GB of RAM, which if correct is very good for this price range.
Only a 720p screen and the CPU is a little on the slow side. Still better to have more RAM, particularly with the Samsung bloatware.
NFC!😍
the bag man use to unlock them on this site, Is he still around?
Most new prepaid phones made these days are harder to unlock without going through the official telco. the days of buying $2 codes from ebay are numbered…
most phones now require a physical device to unlock like the free telstra essential plus everyone got. I have helped a few ozb members unlock those phones through meet ups and postage back and forth.
This Galaxy A20 phone is quite new and most hardware unlocking devices havent updated yet to support it. If it becomes available I'll gladly unlock these phones for free for OzB members.
someone give this man a beer or beve of his choice!
Can you let us know? if so ill buy one. Thanks dabell.
Galaxy A20 is currently its not available/not updated yet….
I can do the following phones
telstra essential plus
Telstra alcatel 1X
Huawei Y5 2018
Alcatel U5/U3
most prepaid phones you buy from woolies and coles.
@Aerith-Waifu: "most phones now require a physical device to unlock" so sounds like you need to have the hardware first, then training on how to use it.
Wow, that's good to know matey, very kind of you indeed. Thanks! Will shout you one at the next meet!
"diabell" Just wondering if your using the device supplied to you by Telstra/Optus/Vodafone, or did you source your own. If so are the expensive?
Is it single Sim?
Local stocks have NFC but single sim. Imports have dual sims no NFC. Choose your poison…
Single Sim NFC. at this price you'd just get a 2nd unit for your other sim.
Or spend twice the single purchase price on a beefier unit from overseas with dual sim and NFC
Yes, like my as new moto G5 Plus that has dual sim + micro sd slot And NFC, but stuck on 9.1 Oreo if that it enough for you. Better performace but smaller screen,
Are you sure there is NFC?
https://shop.vodafone.com.au/mobile-details/samsung-galaxy-a…
Not listed above.
Prepaid version might not be the same as the normal retail.
Yes, very sure. I came to a Vodafone store myself. I checked the phone. It has NFC and Samsung Pay.
Am using one right now, yes has nfc
plus 7.90 shipping for non plus
free shipping for eBay plus members
All gone at their eBay store
"This item is out of stock"
Bummer!Damn, that was fast.
Damn…got one for my mum last month at $278 i think…Grrr
Are they huge phones? 6.4 wow
I'm pretty clueless when it comes to mobiles. How does a phone like this compare to either the galaxy s4 or s7 ? I need to replace the wifes s4 as it constantly comes up with no sim error and restarts so assume it's on the way out as it's done it on 2 different sim cards.
Just want a cheap phone to get her out of trouble. She is on optus through exetel so guess I need to go the optus route? Assume as long as a 3rd party reseller such as exetel supports optus then a optus locked phone would do the trick?
Did you try resetting the phone? Maybe one of the recent software updates might have broken something.
No i havent. To be honest its probably more hassle than its worth given the age of the phone now. Its a good 6 years old and pretty slow so think its time to upgrade her. Was hoping to move my s7 onto her and get something new but given how expensive the never S9 and 10 are now under plan i cant justify it. Will just stick with my S7 for now and get her something cheap and functional.
The regular SG10s have come down in price recently to the $700s. Received an email from Samsung last week. Believe someone posted on OzBargain recently too. I also have a SG7 after passing my SG5 to son. Both still work fine with no issues at all, so I cannot justify buying an SG10 atm … rats!
With your SG4 problem it may just be the sim card has gone faulty. Ring Optus and get them to transfer wife's sim card account onto a new sim card. They can do that for you over the phone or store staff may help. Good luck! Either that or maybe the brassy sim card connectors, wiring faulty? I feel your wife may be better off with an unlocked SG5 (16 GB) or SG7 (32 GB) than this advertised Vodafone mobile. I purchased my SG7 from Kogan and think it is unlocked.
@JediJan: Never hear of that faulty sim issue before, although dirty sim/battery contacts ( for those great phones with replaceable
batteries of old lol ), sounds like it could be an issue though so will look into it. As I'm a sim slut, never hang on to sims
for more than 3 months ( used to be up to 6 months for prepaid data for the $50 Vodafone deals, but no more )-:
@ozhunter68: Did have a faulty sim card many years ago but the telco (3 I think) transferred everything over to a new sim which worked fine. Had removed and reinserted the old sim a few times with no luck, unless the final time cleaned the points!
Have accumulated several unused Kogan sims, some over a year old at least. I rang about a month ago, gave the sim numbers, and they advised all still viable.
@JediJan: Nah doubt its the sim as this is the 2nd sim to have this same issue. First was from Jeenee but they wanted $15 to replace the sim, so ended up moving to Exetel as their deal turned up at the same time. That sorted the issue for the most part but she tells me it still regularly says no sim found and that it has to reboot. That mostly fixes it but i think she is due for a upgrade. Also trying to convince her to let go of the landline but she wont do that without a reliable mobile.
@hazzad: Yes, sounds like it is dying then. Replacement sims should not cost at all; bad move Jeenee. Have had no complaints about the SG5 I passed to son, but if you can a SG7 is best I would think (I still don't use half the features). We always buy those phone wallets; cheaper and lots of designs on eBay. Never had broken screens etc. after dropping them … several times.
For sure I agree to ditch that landline if you can! We have not had a landline for over 12 years now; simply no need with all these unlimited call plans with our mobiles. (We buy Kogan Mobile 365 day plans now. "Small" is $152 with 3GB data each month but there is a 7 GB offer at the moment; expires soon). So long as you receive good Kogan/Vodafone reception where you live, like us.
They are locked. I have just tested them.
I just had a chat session with Vodafone and they say their phones are unlocked. Why would they still charge an unlocking fee?
They might have been talking about phones with plans as opposed to prepaids.
https://www.vodafone.com.au/support/device/unlock
Prepaid phones are locked.
"If you purchased your device outright to use with a prepaid service, there'll be a fee to unlock it from the Vodafone network." (50 or 25)Plan phones are not locked.
"There's no fee for unlocking a device purchased with a plan………. If you purchased your device after 1 August 2013, it won't be network locked."
If I bring this phone to another country (as a present), will I still need to unlock it?
Yes
Thanks
Really? I've done this before and that wasn't the case. Unless things have recently changed.
Lucky you. When, which country and telco and which model prepaid phone?
@ozhunter68: Ahh is it just a prepaid phone thing? Mine was a S6 edge, post paid locked to Optus. Two years ago, various local sims from Malayisa, Singapore, India, Nepal, Thailand.
Man this shit should be against the law, I mean I get you have to lock when you're in the country, but to lock it when you're out of the country is a bit ridiculous. What if you have to move overseas, or just go on a trip, then you have to pay to have it unlocked? Jeez.
@la838: Thanks for reply. So your phone was a post paid locked to Optus, and it worked overseas without getting it unlocked?
I agree about the law should be more in the consumers favor, but unfortunately the law favors corporations and big business.
@ozhunter68: Yeah exactly. Post paid locked to Optus, it worked fine without having to unlock it. I had a friend who took a used phone that had the IMEI blocked in Aus but that worked overseas as well.
@la838: IMEI lock is only network/country specific.
Post paid are typically unlocked, especially more recently. Even if they say its locked. In the event that they are locked, it typically free to unlock from the provider.
Pre paid are typically locked, and they have always been clearly marketed as locked. On the odd occasion where the prepaid is unlocked, its typically because the stock was originally made for postpaid.
It has always been this way for the last couple decades.
Pre paid phones are subsidized by the carrier, so they lock the phone to keep you on their network.
They don't care about post paid, because you are paying for it via the contract (or out right)
@ozhunter68: We have had "3" and Vodafone mobiles work overseas with no problems. In those days we didn't have to pay an extra daily fee for overseas calls or texts, like now. There was some international mutual "3" arrangement back then. I don't know if other telcos did this also. Was on post paid plans back then so we didn't call often as we really expected to be billed extra.
My mother called and messaged from Dubai, London etc.
Out of stock? Damn! I was just out to get coffee!
Hopefully they get more stock soon.
It seems there is no HEVC playback. There’s always a catch…
I just checked 1 left on eBay store. Get in quick
Shame its not 5.8 , 6.4 is a monster!!!!
Its not super huge, with the new displays the phone is more taller than wider. About the same size as nexus 5x which is a 5.2 inch just much more taller
I got the same feeling from the Nokia 5.1 when I went to look at it when JB had it on sale for $199. It just felt like my old 4.7" 720x1280 screen with a few extra pixels on top. In the end I spent more time playing with the 6.3" phones as they felt like more of an upgrade. Each to their own, I could see people wanting to go smaller.
interesting. I guess that means like A40 etc will feel like 4.5 :O
Are we still talking about screen sizes here?
Yes as I have one, which I order3d online, I was not expecting such a massive phone, one problem is a lack of cases on the market. But got one from eBay for cheap which works well.
So you think massive?? what did you use before.
Lots of different ones, but my current work phone is an iphone8 and I like that size.
out of stock… still means a chance in person at big w on Thursday though, yes?
Would Lebara sim (Voda reseller) work in a Vodafone locked mobile?
don't rely on it but yes I say it would
Works without any unlocking. I have this phone.
???
Lebara and Kogan sim would work on this device without any network unlock.
Vodafone customer service told me if you buy a mobile phone on a Vodafone mobile contract plan it is unlocked. If you buy mobile from any shop (like this one) though it is locked to Vodafone. (Of course ask BigW or whatever shop first to clarify).
Why don't people just ring them and ask them first before purchasing though?
Number I found on my contacts list is:
+61414141414.If a mobile device is locked it costs $50 to unlock within the first 6 months of activating. However, after 6 months etc. it will cost $25 to unlock.
I once bought a Vodafone prepaid Sony XA when on sale at Woolworths, but before I paid I Ran the EMEI through the Vodafone unlocking website to check status, and low and behold it came up with $25, so I bought it.
I was reading the posts and some people said it was free/unlocked already, and some were locked/$50 within 6 months or $25 after. True story. Probably fixed those older issues with this new model though.
That threw a spanner in the works lol.
I've got the sony XA too and i can confirm it's free to unlock it after 2 years of purchasing. I've just unlock mine and sold it last month.
You are a stirrer lol! I actually rang Vodafone yesterday and quoted the info provided.
Buy phones outright and unlocked these days as works out cheaper without committing to any plans, and just buy those Kogan 365 day prepaid deals.
Previous mobiles were purchased from Vodafone on plans, but I recall the last one of those was unlocked by the Vodafone store using a code they gave me. I didn't pay for the unlocking code as I had just finalised the contract.
I have this phone from Vodafone. Lebara/Kogan etc works without any unlocking. Optus/Telstra needs unlocking device.
Had NFC and wifi calling. Has separate slot for micro sd card. Overall not bad for the price.
Kogan and Vodafone seem to be interchangeable. I wonder how this Kogan mobile would compare with the above:
https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/samsung-tab-70-t285-8gb-cellula…
https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/samsung-tab-a-70-t280-8gb-wi-fi…
Only thing is … to buy a mobile phone from Kogan and you have enquiries about it you have to complete an online form to get any answers! Kogan and Kogan Mobile are separate entities. I have had no issues with Kogan Mobile services though.
I have Samsung tab 7 as well. I won't recommend it because it has slow and sluggish OS. This phone has One UI which at least feels snappy.
You want to use that as a phone??
Any obvious negatives with this phone?
Screen is 6.4 inch 720p OLED panel. So texts may not be super crisp (ie; you will see jagged edges sometimes).
What about the processor - does it lag much with normal tasks?
@King Tightarse: No, I use this many to watch Netflix, and browsing. I never faced lag. You won't regret this phone for this price.
Under $200 or even $400 there is no perfect phone. I think for this price for people using the Vodafone network and who like a big screen, this A20 provides great value with good up to date O.S. generous 3GB ram and 32GB ROM with memory slot, NFC, Amoled screen with teardrop notch, and even has the B28 for people who want to use it on Telstra/Optus.
Main weak points I can see is most likely won't get any major Android updates ( but should get some system update improvements and security updates ) and a mediocre CPU but ok for the price.
I don't know, start splitting hairs and find your poison.
P.S. One major weakness from what I read is they are kind of following the Huawei path for cheaper phones and not providing a Gorilla Glass scree, they seem to shatter easy,so put on your protection lol.
Only CAT4 LTE. So download speeds are limited to single frequency - theoretical 150Mbps.
true. But the hugely popular Nokia 5/5.1/5.1+/6/6.1 all have Cat 4 and at a higher price point, so within expectations.
One reason why I prefer using my old Moto G5+ ( cat 6 ) and an older faithful HTC 10 ( cat 9 ).
Even doing Android App updates via wifi is painfully slow on the Nokia 6.1 compared to other two phones mentioned above and a few other phones I have tested such as the Sony XA, Sharp Aquos S2 and a Xiaomi Mi A2.
P.S. One more big plus I forgot to mention is that this has full 24 Mnth local warranty and can see it in a shop in the flesh, and then bring it home same day.
Oh,….it also hasthe usb c too.
And supports fast charge (15W)
Also don't expect fast face/fingerprint unlock if that's your thing. I don't use any of those, not even a password or pin unlock as I find that annoying and cumber-son, but I only use cheap prepaid sims and have no secret private stuff on my phones. Never had an issue.
Surprisingly both face unlock and finger print unlock works pretty fast on this device.
Received my phone from Big W today. I'm so pleased- it's fantastic value for this price range.
Also, confirming it is definitely locked to the vodafone network. I checked by putting the IMEI number on their website. $50 to unlock, or $25 after 6 months.
If anybody finds a way to unlock it for cheaper or for free, I would love to know :)
Do you need to activate the phone with a Vodafone sim before you can unlock or can you use other providers sim? Or can you unlock the phone straight away without having to activate the phone first?
From reading others comments, they are able to use Kogan SIM straight away as it is on vodafone's network.
I asked vodafone about unlocking to use on other networks, and they told me to just go to their webpage and pay the unlocking fee, they didn't seem to know if i needed to use their SIM first to activate the phone.
Ok thanks. I might pop into a store and ask if need to use a vodafone sim to activate the phone first before unlocking
@ilovefullprice: I was planning on doing the same later this week as their call centre people were unhelpful. Please report back if you can, would love to know. Thanks
@BigMac2000: Went into a store and asked. Was told the steps to unlock is:
- enter IMEI no. into the Vodafone unlock website. You can get the IMEI no. on the box.
- pay and get the code from the website.
- put in any non-vodafone SIM card into the phone, switch on and you will be prompted to enter the code in the phone.So you don’t need to activate the phone first with a Vodafone sim. Apparently, because this is done on a website you can do the unlocking overseas too.
Was told I could do it myself or Vodafone store could do it. Will be bringing mine to a store to do it in case anything else comes up.
@BigMac2000: Was at a Vodafone store again this arvo. Can confirm the store guy followed exactly the steps above to unlock my phone. Too easy!
@ilovefullprice: That's good to know!
I was hoping for a cheap Kogan deal so i can try the vodafone network for 6 months before unlocking, but i think i'll just pay the unlock fee online and use amaysim or boost instead.
The phone is a bargain even if you factor in the unlocking fee of $50.
Might hold onto that vodafone SIM starter pack for when i go away and need a whole lot of data.
@BigMac2000: Yeah even with $50 unlock this is a good deal, albeit having to delete Vodafone apps and there is no earphones which I am fine with.
I unlocked my phone at the store with an amaysim sim :)
@ilovefullprice: Cool. Amaysim is what i currently use. I'm on the $10 plan as i don't use much data. The vodafone plans are too expensive for my needs.
I plan on unlocking it tomorrow when i'm more awake!
@BigMac2000: Should be pretty straight forward unlocking but you can pm me if you run into any issues.
Do Vodafone-locked phones have a Vodafone splash screen on startup?
I'm asking because you can't remove it, even after you get the phone unlocked (unless you flash ROM), at least that's the case with Optus (I hate the Optus splash screen after I unlocked it to use on another network.
Actually I cannot recall about my old Vodafone mobiles, but I think the word is there but that was about it. Bought my last one outright from Kogan Mobile (unlocked) and the only thing I sometimes see is a little KOGAN in far left top corner. (wondered if this is because I subscribe to their emails though). I tend to download a theme online for my mobiles so perhaps I just have not noticed. Sorry I cannot be more helpful, but perhaps my prompt a reply from someone who actually is.
Thank you, it was actually very helpful.
The Optus splash screen isn't so bad, it's the loud tune it plays at start up along with the Optus splash screen that annoys me.
Knowing that it's probably just a logo or some other image with no sound is good news for me.
Ps. I had no idea Kogan put their own logo at start up, especially since their phones are unlocked.
On start up it is only the usual Samsung gizmos, but just did a restart and found the tiny Kogan word (top left) is there on the time screen after. It is not there on the home screens though. Does seem odd it is there at all, but actually it is possibly because I have a Kogan Mobile sim (and app) inserted? That would explain it.
Plenty back in stock now.
Most stores are showing low stock or no stock. Picked one up this morning and there was only two in the cabinet.
So go get them fast or pay the delivery fee.
OTOH, it will be back on discount soon enough. Many of the 199 prepaid phones gets down to mid 100s every so often.
Someone mentioned above, this phone would work overseas once it’s unlocked.
Silly question, does that mean once this phone is unlocked it can be used overseas with any overseas phone carrier?
This is quite an impressive phone…
Picked up today, it has some Vodafone apps pre-installed (appears to come from Samsung store so I should be able to remove them) but otherwise no branding on the device or shutdown / startup screens.
Did you managed to delete the pre-installed Vodafone apps?
Vodafone bloat isn't a problem.
Samsung bloat is.
Think the Samsung bloat is pretty standard as if you got a non-locked Samsung phone, the Samsung bloat will still be there
Yes - I uninstalled both MyVodafone and Easy Recharge… Now to try my Kogan sim on it.
Did Kogan work?
Can't tell if this has b28 or not? Anyone can confirm? Also can you use the vodafone credit to as partial payment to unlock the phone?
Yes to B28, no to credit AFAIK
Awesome phone for the price and works with Kogan out of the box.
Weirdly they don't seem to include headphones - at least there were none in mine.No headphones for me either.
None with mine either. I wonder if it's just the vodafone version that doesn't have headphones.
Well good to know it wasn't left out of mine then.
The unboxing vids do show them. I am guess that the prepaid versions don't get them
This appears to be out of stock..
Some stores in Qld metro area still have stock.
Hopefully they will update the website soon back to in-stock
The Vodafone prepaid SIM appears to support VoLTE…
Anyone noticed slow 4G speeds with the A20 vs other phones?
I just bought it , most store got no stock : D
Its a bit of a joke with the stock levels.
First, they only had 12 in stock on their ebay store. This is for a national chain. Not sure how many was on their website, but I doubt it was much better.
Then, on Thursday morning before opening, the stores were showing either low stock or no stock. Only 3/5 of the stores in my area had stock.
Finally, showed up to the store at 8.20 in the morning, 20 minutes after opening, and they only had TWO in the almost empty cabinet in their lonesome.
Remember, this is a product nationally advertised in their catalogue for the Toy Mania specials that supposed to run until 10th of July.
No wonder they are losing money and stores closing.
yeh, I was planning to go all the way to Newcastle from sydney to get during the weekend, before managed to find stock in Bankstown store.
I had issues with stock too and caused me a lot of hassle. Agreed with what you said, a joke!
Showing online big W here in Adelaide
@Koalabeer: Lucky you in SA. Big W doesn’t do interstate deliveries as far as I know, so too bad for states where stock has run out.
@ilovefullprice: If anyone interested but no stock in your state…I can help if you're willing to pay extra for delivery cost.
Did anyone try a Lebara SIM?
I read here that is should work but did anyone try it?if u plan to buy it, don't bother, no stock anywhere despite what the website says
Back at Big W ebay but limited stock:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vodafone-Samsung-Galaxy-A20-Blue…
They did last long last time so move quick if you want one!
I'd really like to know if this locked. Typically, Vodafone phones aren't locked…