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Hi there,
Sorry if this is an obvious question - I'm a big mobile enthusiast, but probably not as technically minded as some of you folks
I'm in the UK right now but am moving to the US permanently in a few weeks. I'm getting the Note 7 and am torn between what to do - buy it here or there.
Here's my thinking: If I buy here, it will be free of all that yucky bloatware you get over there since I gather that even if I purchase from BestBuy, there's nothing quite like a sim-free unlocked phone of the type we would get here. And that carrier bloatware scares me. I don't want to have to be rooting my phone and messing about with it to make it run at an acceptable speed when it inevitably starts to slow down, down the line. Plus, I just hate the thought of having all of that rubbish on my phone. If I'm spending $900 or so, I want it to be pure as the driven snow!
I'm not sure which network I'm going to be going for in the US (as an 'Alien' new to the US with no credit history, it's not easy to get a contract) but what I'm looking at is either T-Mobile or AT&T (possibly Cricket, if not main AT&T.) Although I hear T-Mobile signal can be patchy. I'll be in Los Angeles, so I imagine signal should be good.
So what I'm wondering is - will it all work OK there? I'm assuming the GSM version we get in the UK will be compatible with those two networks, though not Verizon. Although I doubt I'll go with Verizon because their packages don't really look good for what I need and also I hear their bloatware in particular is immense!
I know we have a different processor in the Exynos edition (or is that the one you guys have and we have Snapdragon? Anyway, you know what I mean..) But would that processor make any actual difference in day to day use? Does the processor just run the software or does it have an influence on how the phone actually works with the network as a phone and data device? Am I likely to run into problems?
Also, you probably can't answer this - but worth a try.. I assume that Samsung's warranties are not international? Right now, I am on an iPhone and I know that if it breaks in the US, I can just take it to an Apple store in the US. My gut tells me if I buy in the UK and it starts playing up, I'll be on my own, unless you know different? But hey - it's a trade off. Bloatware vs warranty.
Anyway, any thoughts or advice would be gratefully received.
Thanks all.
Phil :good:
Definitely buy the Exynos International version of the phone. I live near Los Angeles and plan to purchase the international version as well because it has no bloatware. It will be my first purchase of an international unlocked phone. I'm on AT&T but my understanding is that T-mobile rocks in Los Angeles. You can't go wrong with AT&T or T-Mobile, but I would lean toward T-Mobile if I were you, they are really kicking butt right now.
The exynos version of the phone will have better battery life by just a bit and it will be only slightly faster. They both have trade-offs, but in the end, it doesn't make a big difference, just get the international version, which is what all of us Americans want. I don't know about the warranty, you might have to ship the phone off for that.
if you buy one in the UK, make sure you make a few phone calls before you move.
European Samsung phones usually refuse to accept US SIM cards unless you make a phone call for a few minutes using a European SIM.
thedicemaster said:
if you buy one in the UK, make sure you make a few phone calls before you move.
European Samsung phones usually refuse to accept US SIM cards unless you make a phone call for a few minutes using a European SIM.
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That's a very good point! I remember reading about this with my old Galaxy when it said that it locked it to the country where the first phone call was made.
But would this possibly present problems? If I made a few calls with my Vodafone sim, would that then mean that it locks it to UK networks and makes a T-Mobile USA or AT&T sim incompatible?
And bands-wise, they're all good to go, right? There's no reason a local US sim wouldn't work 100% in that model? And the processor doesn't make a difference? Just wondering why they bother to put two different processor types in the phone otherwise?
DuffmasterFresh said:
Definitely buy the Exynos International version of the phone. I live near Los Angeles and plan to purchase the international version as well because it has no bloatware. It will be my first purchase of an international unlocked phone. I'm on AT&T but my understanding is that T-mobile rocks in Los Angeles. You can't go wrong with AT&T or T-Mobile, but I would lean toward T-Mobile if I were you, they are really kicking butt right now.
The exynos version of the phone will have better battery life by just a bit and it will be only slightly faster. They both have trade-offs, but in the end, it doesn't make a big difference, just get the international version, which is what all of us Americans want. I don't know about the warranty, you might have to ship the phone off for that.
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Thanks - this is really helpful. Good to know TM are good there as had heard a few stories about bad coverage.
it's the opposite.
unless they changed it just for the note 7, you have to use the phone in the UK before you can use it in the US.
here's a quote from an article regarding the region lock in the S7 and S7 edge:
its box will be sealed with a sticker reading "European SIM card only."
The tab below this sticker explains how and why, albeit in tiny and rather verbose script. Essentially, in order for your unlocked European GS7 to be fully unlocked, you first need to make a total of five minutes worth of phone calls using a European SIM. If you don't do this, and try to use it with a SIM from outside of Europe, it won't connect to the network.
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this is to prevent shops from selling European phones in the US.
the unlocking method is so that people moving outside Europe after buying a phone can continue to use it.
thedicemaster said:
it's the opposite.
unless they changed it just for the note 7, you have to use the phone in the UK before you can use it in the US.
here's a quote from an article regarding the region lock in the S7 and S7 edge:
this is to prevent shops from selling European phones in the US.
the unlocking method is so that people moving outside Europe after buying a phone can continue to use it.
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Got it - just been reading up on it. Thanks for this.
Well, that all looks simple enough. Shouldn't be an issue.
In fact, my only fear is warranty now. If I smash or crack it (which I will try not to obvs, but heaven forbid, it happens), I may be spannered.
I doubt my insurance will cover it if it is an international model and Samsung look like they don't do international warranties.
That's the only thing stopping me sitting here pressing 'order' when I'm on the verge of it.
Also, I wonder if Samsung Pay will be affected, If maybe, somehow, that's region specific.
It's a big risk.. Eeek!
Screw it, I've ordered.
So just to clarify - the bands on the international (UK) unlocked version will be compatible with ATT/Cricket and T-Mobile?
Hi everyone,
I looked around the internet/XDA and couldn't find anything on this, so I figured I'd make a post. I recently bought a Pixel 2 XL from Verizon. I'm a US student traveling to South Korea this summer and didn't know if anyone has had any luck taking their Pixel abroad with them. Verizon has expensive plans for overseas, so I was hoping to just grab a SIM card from another carrier in South Korea when I get there. However, I don't even know if that's a viable option with this phone. I know a lot of the times, phones have to be unlocked to use a different SIM card and I thought I read somewhere that Pixels are carrier unlocked by default. Can anyone point me in the right direction or share their experience? Thanks!
blalonde729 said:
Hi everyone,
I looked around the internet/XDA and couldn't find anything on this, so I figured I'd make a post. I recently bought a Pixel 2 XL from Verizon. I'm a US student traveling to South Korea this summer and didn't know if anyone has had any luck taking their Pixel abroad with them. Verizon has expensive plans for overseas, so I was hoping to just grab a SIM card from another carrier in South Korea when I get there. However, I don't even know if that's a viable option with this phone. I know a lot of the times, phones have to be unlocked to use a different SIM card and I thought I read somewhere that Pixels are carrier unlocked by default. Can anyone point me in the right direction or share their experience? Thanks!
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Hey I live in France and i bought a pixel 2 xl verizon variant when i went to usa.. and yeah my french sim card works perfectly
blalonde729 said:
Hi everyone,
I looked around the internet/XDA and couldn't find anything on this, so I figured I'd make a post. I recently bought a Pixel 2 XL from Verizon. I'm a US student traveling to South Korea this summer and didn't know if anyone has had any luck taking their Pixel abroad with them. Verizon has expensive plans for overseas, so I was hoping to just grab a SIM card from another carrier in South Korea when I get there. However, I don't even know if that's a viable option with this phone. I know a lot of the times, phones have to be unlocked to use a different SIM card and I thought I read somewhere that Pixels are carrier unlocked by default. Can anyone point me in the right direction or share their experience? Thanks!
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Verizon units are not carrier locked and will work in South Korea. See the LINK for the best carrier.
Thanks to both sabi95190 and v12xke for the information! Hopefully others will find this info useful in the future, too.
Been using Moto X (2013) for 6 years, finally decided to upgrade. As a fan of smaller phones instantly fell in love with this on amazon. Does anyone know if I can unlock it to work with a local carrier (in Azerbaijan)? Looking at question and answers on Amazon got me really confused.
Edit: Also, how much would it cost to unlock it?
Edit2: After "researching" what unlocked means (haven't used carrier plan phones ever), seems like it can get locked after an update. Does anyone have experience with the phone I linked? Also, I found this which says "T-Mobile GSM Unlocked". Wth does that mean? Is it usable worldwide/any carrier, or only with T-Mobile, or is unlocked by T-Mobile officially and is somehow more reliable or something? Sorry but I'm completely uneducated in this matter. Hope I'll get some help before it runs out of stock.
Thanks!
I am looking to get this phone and needed some advice. I haven't bought a cellular branded phone for a long while. I usually go with the USA Factory unlocked version. On this phone is the cellular named stamped on the back of the phone? I know the model for the USA Unlocked version is G820QM (with a 7 at the end at times) but it is honestly harder to find. What does everyone recommend on this phone in regards to getting the cellular branded one or should I keep trying to find the USA Unlocked version? What about bloatware with the different cellular branded ones? How is that? Can you get rid of the bloatware? I also like what I call the LG Branded ones as they get the updates faster do they not? Please help me. I am looking for a phone and this one stuck out at me unless someone suggests a different phone with similar specs to this one? Thanks so much! :good:
alias4ever said:
I am looking to get this phone and needed some advice. I haven't bought a cellular branded phone for a long while. I usually go with the USA Factory unlocked version. On this phone is the cellular named stamped on the back of the phone? I know the model for the USA Unlocked version is G820QM (with a 7 at the end at times) but it is honestly harder to find. What does everyone recommend on this phone in regards to getting the cellular branded one or should I keep trying to find the USA Unlocked version? What about bloatware with the different cellular branded ones? How is that? Can you get rid of the bloatware? I also like what I call the LG Branded ones as they get the updates faster do they not? Please help me. I am looking for a phone and this one stuck out at me unless someone suggests a different phone with similar specs to this one? Thanks so much! :good:
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Unsure where you're from, but stay away from the AT&T unlocked model (my model G820UM), I'm from the UK and ordered one, big mistake, AT&T does not send any update to their phones if they are not using an AT&T SIM card in the US, some users have been successful in updating they're OS, by just using a AT&T SIM card outside of the US, some haven't and I haven't tried it, because I don't want to waste more money on a SIM card when the results are not 100% guaranteed.
There is no way of cross flashing a different ROM, so you will be stuck without updates, until someone finds a way of cross flashing a ROM from an unlocked model. I'm checking this forum regularly hoping some has found a solution, but nothing so far
If you are in the US and on AT&T then it will fine, bloatware (which is a lot) can be removed/disabled easily
Honestly, for the price I paid (£280), I think the Xiaomi Mi9 would have been a better option, similar specs, updates every 2 months and you're able to unlock bootloader, not the best process to unlock the bootloader, but still possible (just need to wait for permission from Xiaomi which could take a few weeks), you'll be missing out on the best headphone jack, better cameras (not by much) and better battery life, for a similar price I think this is the best deal for snapdragon 855 phone.
If you don't mind paying a bit more and want the same features as the G8, go for the Samsung S10.
hugoprh said:
Unsure where you're from, but stay away from the AT&T unlocked model (my model G820UM), I'm from the UK and ordered one, big mistake, AT&T does not send any update to their phones if they are not using an AT&T SIM card in the US, some users have been successful in updating they're OS, by just using a AT&T SIM card outside of the US, some haven't and I haven't tried it, because I don't want to waste more money on a SIM card when the results are not 100% guaranteed.
.
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Have you tried updating after taking out the SIM card?
ChrisAG said:
Have you tried updating after taking out the SIM card?
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Yep no luck, I've sold the phone, I was wasting too much time trying to find a solution, so just sold it and claimed my sanity back xD
Going back to the trusty Xperia 5, timely updates and great software and they are going for around £260 so easily recommended.
That's too bad, AT&T must be interfering, because I just purchased an unlocked G8 in Canada, and it updated to 10 over WiFi, before I inserted a SIM from my carrier (Bell Mobility). Phone was not on Bell originally.
ChrisAG said:
That's too bad, AT&T must be interfering, because I just purchased an unlocked G8 in Canada, and it updated to 10 over WiFi, before I inserted a SIM from my carrier (Bell Mobility). Phone was not on Bell originally.
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Yep, this a AT&T "feature", want updates? Buy at AT&T SIM card and use it in the US, guess they don't want anyone outside the US to use their products, unsure why, but it is what it is...
hugoprh said:
Unsure where you're from, but stay away from the AT&T unlocked model (my model G820UM), I'm from the UK and ordered one, big mistake, AT&T does not send any update to their phones if they are not using an AT&T SIM card in the US, some users have been successful in updating they're OS, by just using a AT&T SIM card outside of the US, some haven't and I haven't tried it, because I don't want to waste more money on a SIM card when the results are not 100% guaranteed.
There is no way of cross flashing a different ROM, so you will be stuck without updates, until someone finds a way of cross flashing a ROM from an unlocked model. I'm checking this forum regularly hoping some has found a solution, but nothing so far
If you are in the US and on AT&T then it will fine, bloatware (which is a lot) can be removed/disabled easily
Honestly, for the price I paid (£280), I think the Xiaomi Mi9 would have been a better option, similar specs, updates every 2 months and you're able to unlock bootloader, not the best process to unlock the bootloader, but still possible (just need to wait for permission from Xiaomi which could take a few weeks), you'll be missing out on the best headphone jack, better cameras (not by much) and better battery life, for a similar price I think this is the best deal for snapdragon 855 phone.
If you don't mind paying a bit more and want the same features as the G8, go for the Samsung S10.
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Is 10 really that big a deal from 9? I have 9 on my phone i could care less if it gets 10 and I am pretty sure it wont , lol
I feel like if we have temp root then it's only a matter of time before we get TWRP and roms. I just picked up an AT&T model for $178. Not sure if it's unlocked, but fairly easy through AT&T. Just worried if we have an exploit, updating to 10 might invalidate it.
I come from PS3/xbox 360 hacking, haha.
I have a Note 10 Plus N975U1 that was sold as a Consumer Cellular device through Target. The phone came with the N975U1 unlocked ROM installed on the phone and there is no carrier apps or Consumer Cellular identification anywhere. The only reason I know it's Consumer Cellular is because of a message that popped up for something, can't recall what now.
Anyway, the phone acts just like an unlocked model. Put in various sim cards and the phone reboots through the blue recovery screen to update carrier software for the sim you are using. APN settings are available and can be edited. Everything is just like an unlocked model.
Except, it connects to the network for a couple minutes or so and then stops working. It acts like the Verizon versions do before they are unlocked by Verizon. Except the Verizon versions give you a little pop up stating the phone can't be used on another network. This model has no message.
I am guessing that they are locked using the same mechanism that Verizon uses for locking their devices now except they just are not showing anything to let you know.
Is anybody aware of exactly how this is done and any third party who can unlock it? I have tried a couple different unlocked ROM s as well as an AT&T and Verizon just to see what happens. Same problem.
Thanks
Have a link from the target site to the phone you bought?
I have a feeling that the phone is not actually unlocked or it may not be as what it appears exactly. You can run the IMEI number using swappa and see if the phone is indeed an U1 variant or just the normal carrier N975U.
It maybe possible (not sure how exactly) that your using an international variant that was flashed and configured to look like a N975U1. For example the phone listed here is an international variant that is compatible with US LTE, but I have some serious doubts with how compatible it really is. From past experiences with a local store that sells unlocked Note 10+ units for Net10, I discovered they are not actually US models and are really international models. They were flashed and configured in a weird way (best I can describe it) that it would work for the most part, work with Net10, but it would not work with the other providers here locally. It would at first appear to work but then fail all together.. It wasn't until I started digging into the IMEI number and what it belonged too that I discovered the truth of what the model actually is, and I then promptly returned the phone to the store I bought it from.
If the phone is just network locked and a genuine N975U1 model it would just seem that you only have to use the phone with the service for a certain period of time before they will unlock it. Consumer Cellular would be the best place to go to get (and ask about getting) the phone unlocked.
https://www.consumercellular.com/Help/phones-and-services/5
I resell used phones and specifically phones from Consumer Cellular. All the previous Samsung models used to come unlocked, but about the time the S10 was released, all their Samsung phones came with this unusual lock. I've tried working with countless unlockers and no one has been able to remove it. Once it connects to the internet, it downloads some google update and the phone loses voice/data service. I've wondered how they do this too. A few other models I have that have the same lock are the A10e A20 J7 S10/+ S20/+ Note 10/+. Really really frustrating as I've been searching for a long time now. If anyone knows anything, please let me know. I have hundreds of these that need to be unlocked. Also to clarify, yes they are all the U1 factory unlocked models.
Edit: Apparently when a carrier locked device is flashed to U1 firmware BEFORE unlocking, there is no software prompt to unlock the device. It probably was a carrier locked N975U originally. Maybe on Consumer Cellular firmware, there would be a prompt to unlock it?
These are the guys but they only do commercial work. I am pretty sure they never fail unlock.
https://www.swiftunlocks.us/
Guyinlaca said:
Edit: Apparently when a carrier locked device is flashed to U1 firmware BEFORE unlocking, there is no software prompt to unlock the device. It probably was a carrier locked N975U originally. Maybe on Consumer Cellular firmware, there would be a prompt to unlock it?
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These are not the U versions. I've sold CC phones for years and they are and have always been U1 models. Not only does it say it in the software, but even on the back glass. They are locking these things with an update somehow.
I'll reach out to swiftunlocks, but I would put a big bet up that they can't unlock it either. I'm connected with some of the top unlockers in the world as this is my business and no one has any idea. If anyone is reading this and wants a phone to test, I'll even send you one if you think you can unlock it. It's worth a lot of money to me to find a solution. The worst part is that these phones are all paid off and eligible to unlock through the carrier, but since "I'm not the original owner" they won't help me.
Shatter65 said:
These are not the U versions. I've sold CC phones for years and they are and have always been U1 models. Not only does it say it in the software, but even on the back glass. They are locking these things with an update somehow.
I'll reach out to swiftunlocks, but I would put a big bet up that they can't unlock it either. I'm connected with some of the top unlockers in the world as this is my business and no one has any idea. If anyone is reading this and wants a phone to test, I'll even send you one if you think you can unlock it. It's worth a lot of money to me to find a solution. The worst part is that these phones are all paid off and eligible to unlock through the carrier, but since "I'm not the original owner" they won't help me.
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My friend, did you finally find a solution to unlock samsung phones locked to consumer cellular, i have a few phones locked to them and i would like to know if theres a way to unlock them
seth81 said:
My friend, did you finally find a solution to unlock samsung phones locked to consumer cellular, i have a few phones locked to them and i would like to know if theres a way to unlock them
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I personally use samkey.org