We should probably point out that this is nothing new, and has been going on since July 2013. However, readers are still having issues with Samsung’s region lock, particularly with its dual-SIM phones. To our knowledge Samsung does not region-lock its dual-SIM phones, but even if it did you could use the advice below to remove the region lock. You’ll also like: Samsung Galaxy S8 rumours
How to remove Samsung’s region lock
First off, the region lock really isn’t as scary as it sounds. European Samsung smartphones are region-locked, but only to the UK and countries within Europe (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Croatia), plus a few non-EU countries (Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia and Vatican City). If you’re going anywhere else, say the US, and you need to use your Samsung phone with a local SIM, you can deactivate the region lock by first placing (or receiving) a five-minute call within one of the approved countries. The US version, incidentally, is region-locked to the North, South and Central Americas and the Caribbean. To use it outside those areas you can remove the region locking by first placing (again, or receiving) a five-minute call within one of those territories. Should you have any problems removing the region lock Samsung can do it for you through one of its support centres. In the UK you can discover your closest support centre by visiting https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/servicelocation/. Marie is Editor in Chief of Tech Advisor and Macworld. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she’s worked in tech media for more than 17 years, managing our English language, French and Spanish consumer editorial teams and leading on content strategy through Foundry’s transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.
