Current Cell

Greetings,

Can anyone tell me the best way to maintain cell use in VN, i.e., should I buy a new phone when I get to HCMC, or can I just get a new SIM card for my current phone?

Cheers!

Roger
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Greetings,

Can anyone tell me the best way to maintain cell use in VN, i.e., should I buy a new phone when I get to HCMC, or can I just get a new SIM card for my current phone?

Cheers!

Roger
- @RTLisSB
It depends on your current phone type and the carrier.

T-mobile will give you limited service in Vietnam.

Ideally, have a dual sim phone that works in Vietnam, because if you plan to be in country any length of time, you'll want a Vietnam phone number.

It would definitely be required to work with the ministry of health app.

Having said all that, WiFi is ubiquitous in urban Vietnam, and before COVID (and the ministry of health app) many people got by with communication apps such as Skype, Google Voice, Face.book Messenger and Zalo.
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Greetings,

Can anyone tell me the best way to maintain cell use in VN, i.e., should I buy a new phone when I get to HCMC, or can I just get a new SIM card for my current phone?

Cheers!

Roger
- @RTLisSB
It depends on your current phone type and the carrier.

T-mobile will give you limited service in Vietnam.

Ideally, have a dual sim phone that works in Vietnam, because if you plan to be in country any length of time, you'll want a Vietnam phone number.

It would definitely be required to work with the ministry of health app.

Having said all that, WiFi is ubiquitous in urban Vietnam, and before COVID (and the ministry of health app) many people got by with communication apps such as Skype, Google Voice, Face.book Messenger and Zalo.
- @OceanBeach92107


When I first downloaded the ministries health app a few months ago  it required a vn telephone. When I went to vn last month I noticed the app was updated to accept a phone number or email.


Once I saw that I could use an email, I didn't need a vn phone number and got by fine with Wi-Fi and hot spots.
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@OceanBeach92107

Thanks! I'm currently using a Samsung Galaxy 7. It's in great shape and I'd like to use it, but my carrier, Roger's, is notoriously expense when used outside of Canada. I think a VN number, as you suggest, might be the way to go.

Any idea how much I'd likely pay for monthly service in country?

Roger
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@garymon

Good to know, thanks!

Roger
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@OceanBeach92107

Thanks! I'm currently using a Samsung Galaxy 7. It's in great shape and I'd like to use it, but my carrier, Roger's, is notoriously expense when used outside of Canada. I think a VN number, as you suggest, might be the way to go.

Any idea how much I'd likely pay for monthly service in country?

Roger
- @RTLisSB



Depends how long you are staying. If you are only there for a few months get a prepaid sim. You will need to register the sim using your passport. Viettel and Mobifone offer the best system.
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@RTLisSB from my more 3 years living in Vietnam experience- choose mobifone. They have packages offer including 4g internet (from 1 gb up to 30 gb per month), phone calls, sms.


I use package for 90,000 vnd (it is about 4 usd) per month with 7 gb traffic.
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@colinoscapee

Two months. Thanks for the great advice!

Roger
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@Aleksey Gorodulin

Thanks, Aleksey.

That sounds like a great price compared to here.

Cheers,

Roger
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@Aleksey Gorodulin

Thanks, Aleksey.

That sounds like a great price compared to here.

Cheers,

Roger
- @RTLisSB



I presume that package he mentioned is a 12-month contract. Therefore, you will be paying for  12 months and only using 2 months.
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The recommendations for Viettel and Mobiphone are well founded.

Just check and see if you can get an initial sim with a text/minutes/data package and then pay as you go, refreshing whenever you want.

I had a sim like that with Vinaphone and the package also included some global minutes to call back home, all being good for 30 days.

I'm pretty sure it was ₫200,000 VNĐ (about $8.66 USD currently).

I was able to load extra money towards text/minutes/data whenever I wanted AND I was then able to go 2 or 3 months without needing to add more while the number remained active.

However, I have read about people getting similar sim cards that would go inactive/expire if they weren't refreshed at least once a month.
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In 2019/20 the Viettel 4G in VN was the best I've ever used, including S Korea, certainly better than anything in the UK/Europe. Hopefully this remains true in 2022. I was paying about £4 for 28GB/month.

Biggest tip I can offer anyone is install Zalo (everyone uses it for everything) and use your credit for a pure data plan, unless you actually speak Vietnamese. Any credit you have left over can be used for texts/voice calls if needed. If you go to a Viettel shop they'll do everything for you but you'll need your passport, but you can buy a VN SIM at the airport or pretty much anywhere else and it'll work just fine, the pretty girl you buy it from will sort you out with some credit etc.

Top up with a scratchcard as needed, available everywhere.
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@RTLisSB same goes with Telus too. Horribly expensive outside of Canada.

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@OceanBeach92107

Great info!

Cheers,

R
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@colinoscapee

Understood. I will have to look into a "pay as you go" plan.


Roger
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@Brick23

Very good to know, Brick! I take it Viettel shops are easy to find?
Cheers,
Roger
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@Brick23

Very good to know, Brick! I take it Viettel shops are easy to find?
Cheers,
Roger
- @RTLisSB

After you exit the terminal start beating back the sim card sellers :) I got one from Vinaphone still using it 4 years later, pick any with data so you can look at google maps as you walk around and get a grab car etc,,,  you can get a re charge card just about any corner shop along with a beer, food or ice cream, when you book in to hotel just ask front desk where you can get a recharge card,,,
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Another thing to keep in mind:

The last time I was in a Viettel cell phone store in Hanoi, they would only sell me a 5G Viettel sim card with my new Samsung phone, so I kept my 4G Vinaphone sim and that worked fine.

Pretty sure a 5G card would have been sucking up the data quicker and costing me much more in the long run.

Any techies want to weigh in on that?
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@OceanBeach92107

Ref extra data usage, that does make sense.


Roger
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@Andybris2020

Fantastic!

Roger
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@OceanBeach92107 when I was last in Hanoi, in 2021 my iPhone 11 or 12 pro switched to 5g quite often especially in one area where the old water tank is close to the old quarter. This was on Viettel. I noticed no faster use of data but I did notice the downloads and internet access were much improved. I bought viettel services every time I came back or just kept the SIM card and put a bit on it each month using a reload service.


Comparatively speaking when I was in the US in 2021, I had an E-sim from T-Mobile which was pretty nice but it did seem to run the battery down faster than a physical sim. it is very convenient though and I'd never go back in the US to a regular SIM card. The T-Mobile app installs the e-sim from the app and sets it all up. it also will switch to 4g when it needs. This happened in Houston Texas every so often earlier this year.

I just bought a SIM card at Hanoi airport and topped it off online when I needed. There are many global sites to top off any mobile provider. I do that now with TelCel in Mexico.
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@mikesplaces

Thanks, Mike.

So any SIM bought in country should work?

Roger
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@RTLisSB I always opted for the easiest option so I would get the Viettel SIM card at the airport. I would tell the person I would be in country for X number of days and I wanted to be sure I could top up the card. I think I would get a 6gb plan. The cost was not something I worried about too much. I wanted the connectivity and it always seemed reasonable. Once you have the prepaid plan, topping it up by the month is very easy.

I meant to ask about this though. You are sure your phone is sim unlocked? I don't know how Canada does things. In the US it has been the case where the carriers would sell phones that are sim locked. it means you cannot just put in a sim but have to go through the BS of getting the phone unlocked. I bought the iPhone 12 Pro in Hanoi last year and also the iPhone 11 Pro in Saigon before that. They come unlocked.

I probably tried all the Cell services but Viettel always seemed to be the best. It is easy to find a store as well or if you need to get the little scratcher cards.  I rarely did the cards. For me, I just used one of the top up services online.
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@mikesplaces

Thanks, Mike. Yes, the phone is unlocked and I made sure of it before I got it. I take it finding a mobile store at arrives at HCMC airport, with English speaking staff, is easy?

Roger
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@RTLisSB yep. I'm not so familiar with Saigon but I remember there being stores that sell the cards if I remember right outside baggage claim or perhaps I'm confused with Hanoi. I never had problems with the staff not speaking English. I think you'll be fine. I'll see if I can find one of the posts maybe on TripAdvisor about SIM card shops in Saigon and post it here.

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@mikesplaces

Thanks, Mike. Yes, the phone is unlocked and I made sure of it before I got it. I take it finding a mobile store at arrives at HCMC airport, with English speaking staff, is easy?

Roger
- @RTLisSB
If you are staying at a halfway decent hotel and dealing with day shift front desk staff, just ask them to help you.

The manager of my first hotel in Hanoi walked me down the street a few steps to a woman selling cigarettes and fresh produce and bottled water (probably his aunt).

She sold me that first Vinaphone "Global package" sim which was fine for almost 3 years till I had to leave VN last June.

The manager then helped me register my number with my passport.

When I moved to Vũng Tàu, I started buying Vinaphone scratch cards from the lady at the little "tạp hóa" (grocery store) where I also got fresh veggies from her sidewalk stand.

You can go out of your way to purchase a sim card at an official store (Viettel, Mobiphone, Vinaphone) or refresh at a major mobile store such as "Thế Giới Di Động" (located just about everywhere) or look for the ubiquitous cell phone company signs at myriad business types, but just about everyone who works in your local neighborhood, including your landlady, will be happy to help you get a sim card and/or with refreshing your balance.

It's just one of the ways I like to "Buy Local" in Việt Nam.
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I have a Mobifone prepay for calls and messages and pay 70,0000/mo for a 6GB data plan. No long-term contract, and the 70,000 each month has pushed the inactive date many years into the future.
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Another thing to keep in mind:

The last time I was in a Viettel cell phone store in Hanoi, they would only sell me a 5G Viettel sim card with my new Samsung phone, so I kept my 4G Vinaphone sim and that worked fine.

Pretty sure a 5G card would have been sucking up the data quicker and costing me much more in the long run.

Any techies want to weigh in on that?
- @OceanBeach92107

"5G" is mostly marketing gibberish, it's actually a variety of different standards, most of which are implemented in very limited areas currently.

And you need a "5G" phone, a "5G" SIM card will have zero benefit in 4G spec'd hardware. There isn't really any such thing as a "5G" SIM anyway, except for the sticker on it.

In short, ignore it, it makes no difference unless you are in one of the few areas it's supported and have compatible hardware, in which case you'll get better download speeds, but that wont directly affect your bill unless you use it more, you get billed per MB regardless of how fast it arrives.
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...you get billed per MB regardless of how fast it arrives.
- @Brick23
In theory that's correct.

In reality, when I have better service at faster speeds I wait less and do more.

I'm more likely to watch more videos when quality and speed of signal is improved.

Maybe everyone else will use exactly the same amount of data, but I'm currently using 5G continuously (5G phone and 5G signal) and I know I'm definitely using my phone more when I'm out and about instead of waiting to do a lot of tasks when WiFi is available.

My fiancée has an unlimited Viettel plan on her iPhone in Vũng Tàu and she never even turns on WiFi anymore.
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@OceanBeach92107

Sounds like money well spent then! I happily pay for lots of bandwidth so I don't have to fiddle with dodgy wifi hotspots. And I'd be stuck without translation and maps. Well worth the minimal expense.
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@OceanBeach92107

Great advice, thanks.

Roger
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@Brick23

Cheers!

Roger
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