Would-be Samsung Galaxy Note 3 owners were thrown for a loop when it was revealed that the highly-anticipated phablet would be region locked. Here's what that really means and why it's not that big of a deal.
First off, there's a difference in the type of "locks" that a manufacturer will put on its handsets. Essentially, they boil down to two main categories: a phone that will only work with a certain carrier, and a phone that will only work with a certain type of SIM. It's mostly the latter that region locking refers to.
Soon after initial shipments of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 went out, buyers began discovering a sticker on their Galaxy Note 3 boxes stating that "this product is only compatible with a SIM-card issued from a mobile operator within..." It's not something brand new that Samsung is trying out, but the out-of-nowhere nature of the sticker sent many buyers into a panic.
Samsung has been doing this with devices manufactured after July 2013, according to Android Authority. The popular South Korean electronics giant is most likely trying to curb buyers from purchasing a cheaper Samsung Galaxy Note 3 from overseas to use in their respective homelands. What Samsung wants is for you buy the Galaxy Note 3 model intended for your slice of Earth.
It's not all dire news, however. Soon after the intense public backlash, Samsung clarified that the region lock only applies to devices purchased from a region that are activated in another part of the world. In other words, as mentioned above, Samsung is trying to prevent somebody from buying an Asian Galaxy Note 3 and activating it in the United States. It's alright to activate it in Asia and then bring it over to the United States, but that's about it. Anybody looking to have their foreign Galaxy Note 3 activated will have to ask Samsung.
Other than that, there's not much to worry about. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is scheduled to release throughout the United States at the beginning of October. Let us know if you're planning on picking one up and why in the comments section below.