Pixel 8a GKV4X vs. G6GPR vs G8HHN vs G576D for US based world traveler? (noob)

grace

I apologize if this question has already been answered a bunch of times previously. I looked around on the internet a lot but didn't find enough information to figure it out.

Never installed or even used GOS before. I decided the best way to go is is to buy a factory-unlocked and carrier-unlocked 8a, probably used or refurbished, from ebay or similar online.
According to this page
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7158570?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-a
Looks like there are 4 different models:

GKV4X (the "US & Canada" model?)
G6GPR (the "Rest of the World" model?)
G8HHN (the "Verizon only" model?) (if true, I've been advised to steer clear of Verizon phones)
G576D (the "Japan only" model?)

From that page it looks like the only variations are shown in the "Connectivity and location" section and the "Network" section.

Does it matter which model I get? I'm not super knowledgeable about radios and cell frequencies etc but the variations look to me like they could be significant and important. But maybe I'm wrong about that - I'm sure a lot of people know a lot more than I do.

I'm thinking that if the variations in the connectivity, location, and network specs are just due to variations in OEM OS software, maybe it doesn't matter. But if those variations are due to variations in hardware, maybe it matters a lot which model I get.

I'm mostly in the US but I travel to other lands and would like to travel even more and to places I haven't been to before. So the ideal would be a "truly global" phone that will work anywhere in the world where there's a cell signal. That might be a lot to ask (even though the phone I'm replacing claims to be truly global and I've never gone anyplace where it didn't work on the local cell networks)

Thanks for helping me - I know just enough to cause myself problems so I appreciate learning from people who know more than me

de0u

grace It isn't currently practical for manufacturers to ship a cellular phone that works equally well everywhere, because different parts of the world allocate spectrum differently. That said, most LTE phones will work ok everywhere. The Japan variant supports a Japan-only payment-card system, which is not a requirement even in Japan (it's possible to carry a physical card instead).

Absolutely do not get the Verizon variant if you want to run GrapheneOS. If you live in the U.S., probably get the U.S. & Canada variant.

grace The phone I'm replacing claims to be truly global and I've never gone anyplace where it didn't work on the local cell networks.

You could look up the technical specs for that phone to find out which LTE bands it supports and then compare that list to the lists for Pixel variants.