Smarter to Buy a Smart Phone in Chile??

Hi lsonday and welcome to Expat.com!

Francesca

Hi Lsonday,

Based on my experiences, I'd recommend buying a smartphone in the US as it will be cheaper than in Chile.  Go with an iPhone, and get it unlocked so that you can swap out the SIM card once you're in Chile.  If you're not happy with the iPhone or find that you can't really use it for internet in Chile, you can always sell it in Chile for a bit more than what you'd paid for it in the US.

Also, that said, I haven't had any luck being able to purchase a phone plan and therefore use my smartphone (a BlackBerry I brought with me to South America in 2010) as a smartphone.  Although there are plans available from the major phone companies   in Chile, such as Entel, I've found that they don't let you purchase an actual plan if you're a foreigner.  Perhaps other expats have had better luck...Anyhow, it's easy to buy prepago minutes to make calls and send texts from any phone, but actually using the "smart" part of your smartphone may be a bit more of a challenge.  You can always consider buying a cheapo phone to use for texts and calls, and bringing an iPad with you for internet access as there are plenty of wifi hotspots in Santiago.

Good luck, and enjoy settling into Chile.  I've kept track of some of my experiences with the cultural differences and generally what it's like settling into Southern Chile on my blog, please feel free to drop in as it may answer other questions you have as well! 

-Jennifer
Living in Patagonia