https://www.techradar.com/phones/outside-the-us-then-youll-be-getting-worse-versions-of-the-google-pixel-8-and-iphone-15
An unequal approach
An unequal approach
The missing features are software based. They’re not selling inferior phones. The article even mentions that getting this to work in other countries involves different issues such as regulation and legality of the features. This really is not new.
And sometimes missing "features" are a good thing. Like when you see people complaining about annoying ads on monitors / system apps, etc. in the US but not elsewhere
There were examples when the same phone was released with different hardware in different regions, but it's not mentioned in the article...
E.g. in 2022, Samsung S22 European version had Exynos 2200 SOC, while in other regions it had Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, IIRC there were some performance differences between them.
For S23 there is only one Worldwide version with Snapdragon. They had separate versions since S7.
Since the S7? Not at all - they've been doing that much earlier. The Galaxy Note 3 was Exynos based in India and some other regions, but Snapdragon based in the US and Europe.
It's been a common thing for years from all major phone manufacturers, as far as I know. It was the reason I careful when buying a One Plus 7 Pro back in the day.
Ehh. For iPhone you are only missing out on “Live Voicemail”. I can’t remember the last time I even got a voicemail so don’t think I’m missing much
I get 5 Chinese spam calls a day… since turning on live voicemail they’ve mostly stopped, and the ones that make it through get deleted without me listening to them.
I LOVE the feature.
It happens on device before your carrier. So you don't have to pay for voicemail. Big unexpected surprise for me (as I don't have vm). Otherwise it's on the fly and instant. Thought I wouldn't care but sending unknow callers there is slick.
Yes. Often an add on. In Canada, it's especially the case with koodo (telus' "discount" brand) or lum (sasktel's).
E.g., https://www.koodomobile.com/en/rate-plans
Pick 1 FREE Perk (available in Self Serve) Premium Voicemail Unlimited International SMS (from Canada) Rollover Data
Where the roll over data is the much better choice that would hurt to give up for roll over data
This isn't a thing on any carrier I've personally used (in the US). Voicemail is just expected. Visual voicemail, however, is a paid feature.
They charge you to be able to use voicemail in America? (I'm guessing that's where you are since you didn't specify)
TIL Americans get tons of spam calls and get charged by their providers for voice mail.
I’m cool missing out of the feature if I also miss out on the rest.