Has anyone used cellphones they purchased in Asia?? I know a lot of people who do but my question is, are the phones compatible with the networks here?? (given they have sim cards) Seems to me that Europe and Asia always get the newest gadgets that we in Canada get months after or not at all. More importantly, is it cheaper to buy phones in Asia?? That's my main question. If so, I will be taking advantage of that!

yeah. id LOVE to buy a phone from asia. i usually go on ebay, and they say what services the phone would work and stuff. there so much cheaper than here and nicer. but some phones when you use them a couple of times, the reception goes down

Yes, they have the newest gadgets in Asia, the phones are cheaper & best of all, they're not locked to a particular network like Rogers & Fido (zZz !) !

Thanks for the input so far! My grandparents are in Asia so for sure Im going to get them to bring back a few cellphones. Im not really worried about the quality of the phones because I want Motorola cellphones., brands that I know. Beats paying $300+ for the phones here.

One of my friend has one from Hong Kong (I think). She's on Fido. I think those phones only works on Rogers & Fido, so make sure you have the right provider.

Yes they are compatible and I think their quality is good. even tho something seems to be weird with my phone but it doesnt happen all the time. only thing is that if it breaks u cant fix it here..

We are like 3 years behind on technology compared to Asia. Lol

i'm using a phone from asia with Fido
i think it only works with sim cards and apparently Telus doesn't use sim cards but Rogers and Fido does

It sucks how we dont even get some of the phones they get in Europe and Asia, so forgot us being behind lol. Im so excited now! I want to find out some prices though, just to compare. But I definetely know what I want so...Telus really needs to get updated with their network. Good thing Im with Rogers.

For phones you buy from Asia, I believe you have to make sure the network is compatible. I think that it's GSM 900 or 1800 or 1900. Just check before you buy, otherwise it's usually a better deal to purchase an unlocked phone from Asia than here.

i was planning on getting the nokia 7360 from taiwan from my for under 200, but when I went to metro today, I saw it for 399 @ celluar baby and that fido cell store right across from winners!
wow!

Probably the same phone that you saw in Taiwan. Over 100% markup!

phones in taiwan are dirt cheap! anyhow, the only downside of having purchased a phone overseas, no warranty. i would rather pay the extra money to buy a phone here and know that i have warranty. unless it is a huge price difference (not all phones are cheaper ie, motorola krazr) within a year i've gone through 2 phones (one vodaphone and the lg choco bar) which i absolutely regret buying. both went dead on me and i am not about to fly back to asia for warranty. i know a friend the asked me of the same advice and i warned her to pay a little more and buy locally. of course she didn't listen and now her phone of 1 month is starting to go faulty on her! no warranty!!

yah it works, the phone im using right
now is from asia, works perfectly
and make sure its a card type phone
im fido and i slipped my card in
and it worked

Cell phones are sometimes cheaper, but not always, it really depends where you buy it from. Sometimes it's about the same (just save on tax) but like some of the other people have mentioned, it might be worth it to buy it here in case anything goes wrong.

The ones that are not from authorized dealer are cheaper of course but one shold always buy from those stores at their own discretion, or unless if you know the people who own the store. Because Rogers and Fido use sim card, you can get phones from other places to use for those 2 networks. Telus and Bell are CDMA so they can't use other phones. There are different networks for Rogers & Fido, you should check what the phone has (out of 850, 900, 1800, 1900). The number of networks the phone is compatible with determines what "band" phone is (most are triband or quadband nowadays). I forgot which networks Fido/Rogers uses so I can't tell you guys right now.