If you are visiting Singapore as a tourist or for a business trip and intending to buy mobile phones, gadgets, computers or computer related components, this blog post is for you. Hopefully you will stumble upon this blog post via Google before you actually visited Singapore.
First and foremost, DO NOT BUY anything from Lucky Plaza, the only thing you should go to Lucky Plaza for, is for food. You might have recently read that a Bangladeshi businessman paid S$10,103 for 2 iPhone 5 32GB with extended warranty from Lucky Plaza.
Secondly, DO NOT BUY anything from the first and second floor of Sim Lim Square because of cases like this and this.
Sim Lim Square
- Address: 1 Rochor Canal Road, Sim Lim Square, Singapore 188504
- Contact: +65 6736 2000
- Website: http://www.simlimsquare.com.sg
The most popular place to get gadgets or computer related components will be at Sim Lim Square, try to avoid buying anything from the first two floors. I would recommend Fuwell at #04-02F/G or PC Themes at #04-19. Do note that most of the prices you see are for cash payment only, they do charge about 2% – 7% extra if you are paying with credit card. The opening hours are pretty short, most of the shops don’t have official opening hours, but in general, they are open from 12pm to 7pm daily.
My favourite store would be Fuwell at #04-02F/G.
Fuwell
- Address: 1 Rochor Canal Road, Sim Lim Square, #04-02F/G, Singapore 188504
- Opening Hours: 12pm to 7pm Daily
- Contact: +65 6339 3901
- Email: sales AT fuwell DOT com DOT sg
- Website: http://www.fuwell.com.sg
PC Themes
- Address: 1 Rochor Canal Road, Sim Lim Square, #04-19, Singapore 188504
- Opening Hours: 12pm to 7pm Daily
- Contact: +65 6339 8339
- Email: pcthemes AT yahoo DOT com
Funan – Digital Life Mall
- Address: 109 North Bridge Road, Funan Digita Life Mall, Singapore 179097
- Contact: +65 6336 8327
- Website: http://www.funan.com.sg/
After Sim Lim Square, the next best place would be Funan, prices there are slightly more expensive than Sim Lim Square. Most shops accept credit cards and technically you are paying slightly more for a peace of mind as the number of trustworthy/reputable shops in Funan is more than than the notorious Sim Lim Square.
My favourite store would be Challenger at #06-00.
Challenger
- Address: 109 North Bridge Rd, Funan Digita Life Mall, #06-00, Singapore 179097
- Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm Daily
- Contact: +65 6339 9008
- Email: fc AT challenger DOT sg
- Website: http://www.challenger.com.sg
Far East Plaza
- Address: 14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza, Singapore 228213
- Contact: +65 6222 2121
- Website: Wikipedia
If you are thinking of getting mobile phones, Far East Plaza is the place to be. There are 3 shops there that are recommended, Mobile Square at #02-98, WhyMobile at #03-126 and Moby Shop #03-76A. I used to go to Mobile Square because there are not much competition at that time despite the service was not that great.
These 3 shops do sell Apple products (iPhones & iPads), but of course they are priced a little bit more expensive than Apple Online Store (Singapore) because they have ready stock (you are paying a slight premium for it).
My favourite store would be Moby Shop at #02-52.
Mobile Square
- Address: 14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza, #02-98, Singapore 228213
- Opening Hours: Mon-Fri: 1pm to 9pm, Sat: 11am to 9pm, Sun: 12pm to 8pm
- Contact: +65 6733 3747
- Website: http://www.mobilesquare.com.sg
WhyMobile
- Address: 14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza, #03-126, Singapore 228213
- Opening Hours: 2pm to 9pm Daily
- Contact: +65 6733 6881
- Email: sales AT whymobile DOT com
- Website: http://www.whymobile.com
Moby Shop
- Address: 14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza, #02-52, Singapore 228213
- Opening Hours: 2pm to 9pm Daily
- Contact: +65 6733 4110
- Email: sales AT mobyshop DOT com DOT sg
- Website: http://mobyshop.com.sg
Any more electronic shops to recommend? Feel free to leave it in the comments =)
Hey! May I know why is your fav shop mobyshop? I’m thinking of getting my phone from one of these four shops (fourth being kasia mobile) as their price are rather competitive, but not sure which one would be better. Any advice?
I used to get my phones from Mobile Square, but they changed management (no idea whether they sold the business) and I heard from HWZ that the new staff doesn’t do a good job at pasting screen protector. With regards to service, Mobile Square has always been stucked up regardless of whether it is new or old management.
I bought 1 phone from WhyMobile before, but did not paste screen protector there, service was alright.
MobyShop was introduced to me by my friend and I got my Note 2 from them. They have good service and when you trade in phones, they are not that anal (eg: little bit damage minus money) and hence I traded in my Note 2 for HTC One 6 months later. They do a great job pasting screen protector especially for Glass screen protector like https://lesterchan.net/blog/2013/10/28/spigen-sgp-glas-tr-nano-slim-screen-protector-for-iphone-55c5s/, you need a lot of skills.
Lester, where is the best place to buy a Chuwi V88 tablet in Singapore. Thanks John
I am not sure, I have not heard of that brand before.
Hi…. do you know where can I buy usb port in singapore?
You can get it at any Challenger stores, they pretty much have outlets all over the malls in Singapore. You can check out the store location at
hi, my daughter is doing a semester abroad in Singapore, and will need a cellular phone. She may travel to some other countries while there. What is the best way & place to get a cellular phone? What type of plan would work out the best? She will be making and receiving local calls as well as international calls. Thanks!
How long will she be here for, a semester I am guessing 4 months? Since your daughter will be here on a short term, I don’t recommend you PostPaid plans. I will just recommend for the prepaid plan.
You can get the 4G PrePaid SIM Cards from SingTel and a cellular phone separately from http://mobyshop.com.sg/
hey … I’m from Indonesia I heard many mobile phone price in singapore is cheaper
I plan to sell in Indonesia
which one can store recommended to me to the store who had experienced (price, quality, honest)
I searched for a long jangaka not want to be fooled or play around in this business
tank’s
You can try http://mobyshop.com.sg/ =)
Hi,
Will these phones work in the UK?
yeap
Much interesting. First pf all, thanks for the information and this could be much helpful for those who is very new Singapore. I’m planning to buy Nokia Lumia 925 Black Color. MobyShop doesn’t has 925 and WhyMobile and MobileSquare has only White Color. So, please suggest me the best shop to buy lumia 925 black ?
Both shops are reputable so you can just pick anyone =)
i want black color phone
If they don’t have black, there is nothing I can do. I recommend only this 3 shops because I bought phones from them before. You can try other shops but at your own risk.
Interesting article. How about phone accessory? I am looking for the lifeproof iphone5s case and running armband from lifeproof. Is there a cheap and trusted reseller?
MobyShop has Lifeproof http://mobyshop.com.sg/catalogsearch/result/?q=lifeproof
how much is iphone 5s, 5s, itouch 5, and ipad at lucky town plaza singapore?
Sorry I don’t know, I would not recommend getting any gadgets/electronics from Lucky Plaza
For MicroSD cards, thumbdrives and plastic phonecases for hard to get models, go to House of Mouse, a small shop at Esplanade XChange (on Esplanade MRT, directly above it) For phone cases there’s a really good one at Far East Plaza Basement floor. I haven’t seen anybody else sell cheaper than this store.
Thanks for the share! I like House of Mouse as well, every time pass by there when I go for lunch!
You know about Taj Electronics or any other mobile shop in Peninsula Plaza shopping mall? How are they? offer warranty and everything!
I am not sure, I have not heard of anybody that buy electronics stuff from Peninsula Plaza.
Is Moby Shop still a reputable shop? I see this post was made 2 years ago. I plan to buy cellphone during my visit but I have a warranty concern. Are the phones sold in Moby Shop inclusive of international warranty?
Yes they are still reliable. I will update this post (since there are a lot of visits) if necessary. MobyShop doesn’t provide the warranty, they will give you the warranty card and if anything wrong, you have to go back to the respective phone company. I doubt the phone sold in Singapore has international warranty.
Hey.. Needed some information.. I would be in Singapore for my post-graduation. I was looking at buying iPhone 5s. Would it be better to go for a contract based phone or buy an unlocked phone from one of the shops that you have mentioned above and take a sim separately? Also which is a better provider, Singtel or Starhub? Also would Postpaid be better or pre-paid? I woulld need international calling to stay connected to my family.
Hi Ritika, if you are not in the hurry, I would recommend wait for iPhone 6 which I think will be launched in Singapore on 19th September 2014. If you need the phone and have a mailing address in Singapore, I would recommend you to order online directly from Apple at http://store.apple.com/sg.
Personally I prefer SingTel, as to whether prepaid or postpaid really depends on how long are you going to be in Singapore. If you will be here for 2 years, get postpaid and if you do get postpaid checkout https://lesterchan.net/blog/2014/06/17/singtel-launches-customized-postpaid-mobile-plans/
Thanks a bunch! Actually i am in dire need of phone as my old phone (bb) wont survive for another 3 months. I would be in Singapore at the end of next month.. and was looking at buying the phone there itself as i would get the local guarantee (my course is for 17 months). So would it better to take a phone on Singtel contract? Also would you suggest any other phone for iPhone 5s. Your inputs are much needed. Thanks in advance.
Hi Lester. I am planning to buy a mobile phone in SG and I am from PH. I just want to ask if you have any idea if they also have this tax refund thing for travelers? Thank you 🙂
Hi Jan,
I don’t think you can get tax refund from those small mobile phone shops because most of them does not participate with Tourist Refund Scheme. You can get it at bigger shops like Challenger or even Telcos, but I will not be surprised if after the tax refund, it might still be cheaper at those small mobile phone shops.
The tax in Singapore is 7%, I think you can get only 5% refunded.
Hi Lester, I’m on my first visit to Singapore and am looking to buy the new model HTC for my daughter. I wandered into Lucky Plaza but decided not to buy there and came back to the hotel and searched online and found your blog. Many, many thanks for the warning. I’ll have a look at Far East Plaza instead
Cool, glad it helps you =)
Hello Lester,
I would like to ask if you could help me buy Phone in Singapore and then Shipped it to Indonesia. It’s LG G3 32GB Factory Unlocked. From Redwhite or Moby.
Will be waiting for your response.
Regards,
Yuri Rahardi Pratomo
Hi Yuri,
Sorry, I don’t do that. You can buy from Moby online, they do ship to outside Singapore.
Well yes I’ve tried to, but on the Checkout, there’s no option for International Shipping, only for Self-Collect options. 🙁
Even though the site clearly said “NOW DELIVERS WOLRDWIDE” (which they misspelled too..) :p
Contacted their support and sales via e-mail but got no response yet.
Hi , i want to ask , this september 29, 2014 i will transit in singapore for 1 day, i want to buy iPhone 6 plus, i don’t think that any istudio , nubox epicenter have enough stock on that day.
do you have any idea where the place i can get iphone 6 plus on that day, do you think any far east plaza store have stock of it ? i read at apple.com the highest spec iphone 6 plus is 1488SGD, if far east plaza have stock of it, how much the price of iphone 6plus in there?
thanks anyway 🙂
I highly doubt you can get it since the demand is still greater than the supply. Unless you are willing to pay $1.8k to $2k for the 128GB. That is market rate for that in SG right now.
Hi i just wanna ask if the iphone gadget in sim lim square is authentic? Original iphone? Thank you so much. Because it’s my first time to buy here in sg.
Hi Ali,
I would not getting any phones in Sim Lim Square because they tend to rip people off. The phones are definitely authentic but be prepared to be con into buying other stuff on top of the phones.
Do consider going to any of the mobile phones I recommended above, Mobile Square, WhyMobile or Moby Shop. They are more trustable and have a much better reputation.
Thank you for the info
Great piece of information Lester! Apart from food at Lucky Plaza, they have the best prices for Perfumes too! I get mine at the small little shop next to macs! 🙂
At Funan, do check out CH Computer for pretty competitive hardware/peripheral prices
At SLS, head to Bizgram and Best Bargain for some pretty low prices.
Bizgram has absurdly low prices on certain items sometimes and Best
Bargain has always given me the “best price” for flash memory cards. For other stuff, just check between Fuwell, Cybermind, PC Themes for whichever shop has the lowest price for the component that you want. Do not buy phones/tablets/consumer electronics from SLS on pain on death.
Game consoles/peripherals, just head to Gamescore or Gaming World at Funan for professional service or if you’re at Orchard area – go to Qisahn at Far East Shopping Centre (different from Far East Plaza).
Hey some things to take note in your article that’s not right:
Sim lim charge 2% more if using card not 7.
PC Themes is not a honourable shop either. You didn’t get scammed cause you bought n walk off. They quoted us for pcs which we enquired for a client only to raise their price by a lot after wards and say they didn’t quote the previous price.
Fuwell on the other hand is indeed a good shop to go which is also one of the few shops that sells high end quality parts.
Hmm the range varies I think? Because I heard from my friends if pay by credit card, they will include GST which is 7%.