[G3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] epdm2be:
The link you provided indeed states that call-recording is allowed in EU. This is NOT a blanket statement.

You also need to understand the difference between

call-recording

(where one or both parties record their own conversation) or

wiretapping

(where a 3rd party, with or without consent, records a call between 2 other parties). The latter is prohibited unless suspicion of criminal activity allows for wiretapping when approved by court.

In fact

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws

gives this quote:

Regarding wiretapping: Telephone tapping often must be authorized by a court, and is normally only approved when evidence shows it is not possible to detect criminal or subversive activity in less intrusive ways[citation needed]; often the law and regulations require that the crime investigated must be at least of a certain severity.

Denmark: Calls and conversations may be recorded by any active participant. There is no requirement to make other parties aware of the recording, but the use of recordings, depending on their content, may be subject to various laws

Finland: In the case of private persons, calls and conversations may be recorded by any active participant.

UK: Recording is sometimes advised, as in recording business transactions carried out by telephone to provide a record. It is sometimes mandatory; from March 2009 Financial Services Authority rules required firms to record all telephone conversations and electronic communications relating to client orders and the conclusion of transactions in the equity, bond, and derivatives markets.[19] In November 2011 this was extended to cover the recording of mobile phone conversations that related to client orders and transactions by regulated firms.

Latvia: Calls and conversations by private persons may be recorded by any active participant

Romenia: The recording of a conversation by a private member to that conversation is specifically permitted.

The general consensus is that call-recording is allowed between the active participants of that conversation. In layman's terms: "it is PERFECTLY legal for YOU to record your OWN calls or the calls made to you." It is sometimes advised to actually do so (in business transactions etc...). Wiretapping or call-recording by a 3rd party (even authorities), who is NOT an active participant, is prohibited unless approved by a judge (in case of suspected criminal activity).

To note people that calls are being recorded older cellphones (e.g. SE K750i, K700i, K850i, Nokia XM5800, Nokia C7, Nokia N8 etc...) used a beep every 10 or 20 seconds. Call recording was perfectly possible with Android 1.6 (Donut) on most Android phones from that time. But has been ****ed up or removed in most following Android iterations. Many Chinese Android phones (e.g. Jiayu G4) still have call-recording enabled by default (as do Korean models). Again I fail to see why models for the European market suddenly have this standard feature omitted in 2014 while models from 200x up-to 2012 (e.g. Nokia 808Pureview) had call-recording enabled (with beep). In fact the LG Optimus 4X HD P880 (2012) had call-recording enabled by default. I contacted LG in my country with this specific question and they confirmed this officially! So why does the LG G3 in my country suddenly have this feature removed?

It's Apple and Microsoft whom generalize this prohibiting of call recording while oddly enough my Windows Mobile 6.1 Samsung Omnia SGH-i900 from 2008 was perfectly capable of recording calls. Even with the build in memorecorder!

Fact is, I had call-recording on my phone in 2008 and I still want it now 2014! I see no reason why a Korean model in 2014 has it and an European version of that same phone hasn't got it!

Double standards, perhaps?

---------- Post added at 03:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 PM ----------

1) Yes, I value waranty as much as anyone else for a +600 euro device!

2) I KNOW how to root an Android device. In fact I (still) have and use a Rooted Samsung SGS3 with modified stock dialer to include call-recording (like it's Korean nephew). And I am aware of the various call recording apps whom now finally work on my rooted device.

Whether I can root or not is besides the point here! The point is: Why have Korean models more features then their more expensive "international" siblings? Especially the features that have nothing to do with laws and legislation. Call-recording laws in Korea or no more different than in EU.

This has nothing to do with communism either! And getting apps to work is useless if the handset is hardware limited! (As proven by your S2 comment). Also call-recording has nothing to with backup! Why you bring THAT up is beyond me! You don't even need to root your device to accomplish a backup anyway! So don't just assume that I'm a noob!

My question remains: Why have features that were previously been present being removed under the disguise of being "illegal" while legality has nothing to do with it?

Again instead of picking on me you should ask THAT question yourself! Why do you have to PAY more for a device that has LESS features than that same device in another country? This is about discrimination not communism!