14 DAY TRIAL // One thing that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 arrived on shelves with last year was a region lock that created quite a buzz at the time, but which appears to have been included in the newly released Galaxy S5 handset as well, though with a twist.
The region lock was packed mainly in Samsung’s handsets in Europe and was meant to ensure that devices actually landed in users’ hands in the countries they were destined for.
This did not mean that phones could not be used with SIM cards from other markets as well – they actually allowed for such a move to be made very easily.
However, in order to “unlock” the device, one would have had to fire it up for the first time with a SIM card coming from the specific region it was intended for in the first place. Users were able to insert any SIM card they wanted after that, but the initial boot up needed to be done with said card inside.
With Galaxy S5, things appear to be even worse than that, as a recent post on SamMobile explains. Apparently, the simple boot up process is no longer enough to remove the region lock from the device.
To do so, however, one will now need to fire the Galaxy S5 up with a SIM card coming from a carrier from the region where the phone was planned for sale and then use it for about 5 minutes for making phone calls.
Only after these calls total 5 minutes the region lock will be removed and people will be able to use the handset with SIM cards from carriers outside the specified region.
As SamMobile notes, Samsung placed the following warning on the retail box of Galaxy S5 devices that started selling in Europe today:
“European Model: This product should be activated with a SIM card issued from a mobile operator within Europe. (as defined EU/EEA, Switzerland and the following Non-EEA countries Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M), Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia and Vatican City.)
To use SIM cards from other regions, a cumulative call over five minutes must first be made with the SIM card from European operators.”
Through this limitation, Samsung is trying to make it harder for grey importers to get around the region lock and sell Galaxy S5 units in markets that were not planned to have it just yet.
After all, they would have to open each retail box, activate the phones, remove the region lock, and put the devices back in their boxes before trying to sell them. And we’re pretty sure that few people would be willing to grab a new phone that has already been used, even if only once.
However, it might also become a little more difficult for some users to grab the device, especially if they are not living in a country where it is already officially available for purchase.