We have an old T-Mobile Motorola Razr v3 which is unlocked and use it in Thailand. My wife has a T-Mobile iPhone 5s and wants to use the Razr here in the United States. Basically, she doesn't like the iPhone, too many bells and whistles. Is it a simple matter of removing the SIM card from the iPhone and putting it in the Razr? Yeah, I know the SIMs are a different size and I have an adapter. Then if at some future date she could just swap the SIM card back to the iPhone. Anyone have any ideas on this? Thanks!
Hi there, I believe your idea will work fine for the time being. One thing to keep in mind is rumor has it that T-Mobile is planning to shut off their 2G network in 2019. If that happens, the RAZR will no longer work. Hope that helps. PS: Welcome to WA
Thanks for your input. I was not aware that T-Mobile was planning to shut down their 2G network in 2019. Maybe you could recommend a 3G simple phone for her. She does not text, email, or browse the internet. She uses it as a phone only. Thanks for the welcome.
The references I've seen about T-Mobile 2G shutdown said "2G & 3G". Granted it's only a rumor and I don't believe an official announcement has been made, but I would expect that by 2019 some sort of 4G feature phones would make an appearance. In other words, since you have the RAZR handy there's no need to look for alternatives right now. I recall being quite satisfied with the Sony Ericsson K850i & Z750 phones (simple 2G/3G devices, candy-bar and flip style). Not as stylish looking as the RAZR perhaps but they worked quite well.
Thanks, Dmapr. My thought was to get her a phone she could get comfortable with and not have to go to a different phone at a later date. We both used the Razr back in the day when they were popular and had no problems with them. A few years back I consolidated our cell phones and moved her from Trac Phone to T-Mobile. I will need to look up the specs on the Razr and see what GSM bands it covers. Thanks for the info, it was very helpful.
I know that familiarity is paramount, but coverage may be lacking with that old device. Depending on the location, the phone won't work in all places; some places require a 3G phone at a minimum. New basic phone options are skimpy and will remain that way; the T-Mobile site has only an Alcatel Go Flip basic phone... however, it has most of the frequencies needed to work on the network and it is only $75.
@45Otto I think that @QLR is absolutely right. The Alcatel phone is future proof as it includes the LTE bands and even if the rumors don't pan out and 2G is here for a while longer a lot of the spectrum is being re-purposed for the 4G service at the expense of 2G/3G coverage.