Poll: Have you ever imported a phone from another country?

Between the rise of the internet and the explosion in international travel and shipping, the world today feels smaller than ever. We enjoy unprecedent access to opinions, content, and even products from markets spanning the globe — often no more than a couple clicks away. But has this also had the effect of making us a little entitled, and feeling frustrated when we can’t get access to something that people elsewhere can? Today we’re wondering about just that in the context of — what else? — smartphones.

Walk into any local carrier store or big-box retailer in the US, and you’re sure to find a nice selection of mainstream handsets: all the big flagships, plenty of budget options, and maybe even some white-label carrier phones. But if your interests lie just slightly outside the norm, finding someone selling the phone of your dreams might quickly get a lot more difficult. And when you start looking at some of the incredible hardware exclusively available abroad, like HUAWEI’s triple-screen Mate XT, the idea of just importing your new phone can start to sound pretty appealing.

Importing a smartphone is not without its risks, though. Even putting aside the question of things like whether your warranty will be valid if something goes wrong, there’s the big issue of compatibility with US cellular networks. And as we’re seeing right now with T-Mobile MVNOs, even if an imported phone initially seems to work fine, your carrier could one day decide to change the bands it supports, leaving your phone suddenly unable to connect.

After weighing all those factors, we want to know:

More than whether you went through with it or not, we’d love to hear some of the details of your experience, as well. Did you end up regretting the purchase? Was importing a really cool phone that none of your friends had ultimately a pretty slick move? This is exactly why we’ve got a comments section, so after you’ve responded to our poll, scroll down and fill us in on the rest of those details.