Buy a cell phone in US or VN?

Buy in the US.  The phones in VN are made in China and are generally crap.

Buy in the US.  Cheaper and better quality.

Ditto buy in the US and make sure it is an international phone. An excellent site for comparison is gsmarena.com

I like the Vietnam's Q-Mobile phones, half the price of Samsung.

I did a short stop in Japan and could find where to get a sim card.  I could only find the option of renting a phone or a portable wifi box.  I ended up getting the wifi box so I could use the google maps & skype on my phone as well as my laptop.

Thanks everyone. I am thinking of the Sony Xperia ZR. It is pricey, but it is waterproof, and worth it to spend extra for a phone that won't die if I get it wet, especially since I won't have accidental damage insurance.

There are 2 versions. All work on 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900.

Version C5503 works on 3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100 and 4G    LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600.

Version C5502 doesn't have 4G and works on 3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100

I think I don't need 3G 1700 or 1900 in Japan or Vietnam, so I should buy Version C5503. Does that sound right?

Paddyflynn,

Can you give that to me in written English, please?

Waterproof.  Cool stuffs!  If the thing does work, that is even better, since it rains quite a bit in Vietnam.

It is waterproof, my cousin jumped in a pool with it in his pocket just to test it out... Meant to be dust proof too.

Wild_1 wrote:

Paddyflynn,

Can you give that to me in written English, please?

Those numbers are the frequency bands that the different versions of the phone work on. Different countries use different bands. The C5503 model works on the 850 / 900 / 2100 bands for 3G, and works on some 4G bands also.

The C5502 model works on all the 3G  bands of the C5503, and also works on the  1700 and 1900 3G bands, but doesn't work at all on 4G.

I am thinking since I won't need to extra 3G bands in Vietnam, and I might want to use 4G in Japan, I should get the C5503 model.

I know this is all very technical, and I don't understand it well myself, that's why I asked for help. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Paddyflynn,

OK, that looked a lot better.  Thanks.

Vietnam only has 3G.  They have been talking about upgrading to that 4LTE thing for sometimes now.  But, it does not look like that will happen anytime soon.

But, do get the waterproof phone, though.  I have never willingly stood in line for anything but, if Cupertino comes out with one this time, I think I will make the exception.  You don't want to know the length I had had to go through to make sure my phone didn't get wet, in Vietnam...

I'm not advocating iPhone here, but if you buy an unlocked iPhone with no contract from Apple in the US, it will work in Vietnam. Most GSM phones (require SIM cards) that work in US will also work in Vietnam. As others have already stated, phones are cheaper in US than Vietnam.

I bought 3 unlocked iPhone4s in the US at the Apple store for my then-fiance, her brother and her doctor in VN, and they had no problems.  Before she came to the US she sold her iPhone for a good price.

The only U.S. carrier I know of that has GSM iPhones it AT&T. S-Fone is a small carrier in VN ,but I believe they utilize CDMA. Myself I bought an AT&T iPhone because it is the only GSM phone Apple has that will work with the majority of carriers in VN.

You might be in a real jam no matter what you do. There is only one carrier in Japan that uses CDMA
(NTT) and none use GSM. You can buy a phone in the US before you leave with one or the other technologies. Maybe you will need two phones. Boy it's getting crazy isn't it. I wish they would just get one platform and everyone use it.