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I have one broken touchscreen smartphone and one used normal button-operated phone that I don't use anymore. I also have another smartphone that I use.

I want to take them home from Poland to Bangladesh for possible repair and then give away to my relatives for free.

Will airport authority create problems?

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  • Three of them, sure. Twelve, hmm. Four hundred still in their boxes? No
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 4 at 18:05
  • I once went home with 3 laptops. There was nothing unusual, simply a work laptop, an own laptop and a bad laptop (to repair at home much more cheaply). It was an intra-EU flight. Airport security has called me in and I needed to open my bag for them, and I explained what is it about. They let me away. If you fly in Bangladesh, I think it is about multiple transfers, with multiple planes. I would suggest some care, possibly in Riyadh or Dubai you might get questions. But probably you won't.
    – Gray Sheep
    Commented Oct 5 at 21:07

2 Answers 2

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Will airport authority create problems?

Similar to this question, airport authority couldn't care less. Customs might care, probably Bangladesh customs since that's where you're importing something. You can check the Bangladeshi customs exemptions rules here, I assume you can read it (the English part only covers tourists, you've mentioned Bangladesh is home). Generally, if you're not importing commercial quantities, I'd expect broken phones to be within exemptions limits, but confirm that.

Another aspect is security - at the departure airport the security personnel may want to confirm these are in fact phones. If they don't turn on and the security personnel cannot verify that they are in fact phones, you might not be allowed to board with them. So if the screen is completely broken and shows nothing when you turn it on, that may be a problem from their perspective.

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    Is any difference expected between checked luggage and carry-on? Commented Oct 4 at 8:38
  • If you only have one phone, I've never seen them bothering to check whether it works. For a time I regularly traveled with two phones, one smartphone and one button-phone (as they weren't dual sim phones), and they never bothered to check them either. However, more then two phones might be suspicious and they might check whether they are indeed phones. Or they might not. I'm sure if you arrived with ten phones they would check. From my personal experience, I sometimes traveled with electronic spare parts, and they swabbed them, but I did not need to prove them what they are or if they work.
    – vsz
    Commented Oct 4 at 11:20
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    @EugeneRyabtsev Technically you should not (or are not allowed) to put cell phones in checked luggage due to the risk of battery fire. See here for example. Although hopefully you shouldn't be anywhere near the FAA
    – Peter M
    Commented Oct 4 at 13:21
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  • They say cellphones are generally allowed, but I'm sure there's a number of cellphones where they'd change their mind. What that number is, I've no idea.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Oct 4 at 14:42
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Bringing those old phones back shouldn't be a problem. I've seen it done plenty of times without issue. Just be sure to declare them honestly on your customs forms to avoid any confusion at the border. Be mindful of the phone batteries. Airlines have rules about transporting lithium batteries in luggage, both checked and carry-on. It's smart to look up your airline's policies beforehand.

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