Cannot get 4G/LTE on my A3 2017, only H+ - Samsung Galaxy A3, A5, A7 (2017) Questions & Answe

So far, I really like my A3 2017. But I am noticing that it doesn't have quite the same reception as the J7 it's replacing. I'm using T-Mobile in the US and the network mode only has LTE/3G/2G (auto connect) but no 4G. I've read that H+ and 4G/LTE can be the same thing so maybe I'm wasting time, worrying?
Meanwhile, T-Mo's support for manual settings could be better, and, despite them supposedly supporting "foreign phones" they don't support the "A" series at all.
So why am I abandoning my J7? It's too darn big! Hardly fits in a pocket, and I've destroyed 2 protective cases so far (because Otterbox doesn't make a Defender for it). The A3 is far more compact and my old eyes are just fine with the AMOLED screen. T-Mo is selling the J3 as a downsized version of the J7, but it's nothing of the sort--it can't run Wi-Fi over 2.4ghz!
Haven't launched the fingerprint recog, and not yet ready to root it (so I can get rid of bloatware). But so far so good.

Related

[Q] Is this phone worth T-Mobile coverage?

On paper (or browser) the Z1 Compact looks almost perfect for me. I'm a normal sized person, so the S5, HTC One M8, LG G3 and OnePlus One are a bit wide for comfortable one-handed use. I don't care about the reduced resolution; there's still plenty there. But... no 700MHz band, so no LTE on AT&T.
I'm on Verizon (which I despise) currently, and will switch off it. Does this phone work well with LTE on T-Mobile, and has T-Mobile's suckage reduced enough for it to be a usable carrier now, or should I stick to a phone that will work well with AT&T? (And if you think it's worth T-Mobile, how much and where has your T-Mobile experience been?)
If you ask me this strongly depends on which region you live in.
So I dont know if anybody can help you in an international forum.
For me LTE works like a charm but I live in Germany so....
Wotta said:
I'm on Verizon (which I despise) currently, and will switch off it. Does this phone work well with LTE on T-Mobile, and has T-Mobile's suckage reduced enough for it to be a usable carrier now, or should I stick to a phone that will work well with AT&T? (And if you think it's worth T-Mobile, how much and where has your T-Mobile experience been?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i switched from verizon to t-mobile in philly when i got this phone. 4g works fine. also, there's an internet-only $30/month unlimited data and text with 100 minutes plan: you'll have to order an activation kit from the t-mobile website.
Wotta said:
On paper (or browser) the Z1 Compact looks almost perfect for me. I'm a normal sized person, so the S5, HTC One M8, LG G3 and OnePlus One are a bit wide for comfortable one-handed use. I don't care about the reduced resolution; there's still plenty there. But... no 700MHz band, so no LTE on AT&T.
I'm on Verizon (which I despise) currently, and will switch off it. Does this phone work well with LTE on T-Mobile, and has T-Mobile's suckage reduced enough for it to be a usable carrier now, or should I stick to a phone that will work well with AT&T? (And if you think it's worth T-Mobile, how much and where has your T-Mobile experience been?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using this phone on T-Mobile for about 5 months now. LTE works fine, but H+ is adequate for my needs so LTE is switched off most of the time. As far as the T-Mobile network, coverage around populated areas has been fine. However, once you get out in the un-populated areas, coverage often drops to 2G or nothing at all. Verizon is superior in this regard. For me, it's not a huge deal and I'll take the $ savings over coverage everywhere. But if coverage outside of the cities is important to you, then I would not recommend T-Mobile.
A better question would be: Is T-Mobile worthy of being on the awesome Xperia Z1 Compact?

Bands and LTE Coverage

I got the phone 3 days ago ....
I love the design, the Concept .... Hardware seems solid ... very fast and responsive .... faster than my Note 7.
However I have a big issue ....... *(
Even though on the official ASUS webpage it says the phone supports LTE Band 12, 700MHz for T mobile, the phone refuses to see and connect to anything else except Band 4, 2100MHz.
I live in an area where Band 4 LTE sucks ..... I dont live in the City ...
LTE Coverage seems to suck for me at the moment ....
On top of the LTE issues ..... It seems that this phone does not get very good cell signal for making phone calls ....*(
All metal design ??
Any thoughts on the LTE issues ??
You may need to bring this up to support and find out what is going on with it (otherwise t-mobile). I have metor pcs, and i know that goes with t-mobile, just might be certain bands not connecting to it.
Update:
OK .... so after further testing and use of the phone, I have verified that the phone does connect to ALL of the T-mobile LTE bands ...... both 4 & 12.
But the phone it self seems to have Terrible signal / reception ....... *(
I have been carting around with me 2 phones ...... this phone and the Note 5.
it seems that this phone is just having a very hard time holding a good solid LTE connection.
Not even good enough for a Messenger call or Whatssapp call ...... *(
when the Note 5 had great LTE, this phone couldn't even hold a connection long enough for a 30 second Whatssapp call.
its very frustrating ........
I think it has to do with the all metal body of the phone.....
Any input ??
Are their tmobile APN settings the same?
Do you have a case on it?
xda_geekman said:
Update:
OK .... so after further testing and use of the phone, I have verified that the phone does connect to ALL of the T-mobile LTE bands ...... both 4 & 12.
But the phone it self seems to have Terrible signal / reception ....... *(
I have been carting around with me 2 phones ...... this phone and the Note 5.
it seems that this phone is just having a very hard time holding a good solid LTE connection.
Not even good enough for a Messenger call or Whatssapp call ...... *(
when the Note 5 had great LTE, this phone couldn't even hold a connection long enough for a 30 second Whatssapp call.
its very frustrating ........
I think it has to do with the all metal body of the phone.....
Any input ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I believe you are right. I don't own this phone, but thought I'd give my two cents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTsg7EyYKFM
Yes, this is not your phone, it's the ZTE Axon 7. Watch from around the 4 minute mark. Much loike the Zenfone Deluxe 3, the mostly all-aluminum body without much field testing is always going to be a drawback for wifi strength and certain radio frequencies on LTE.
The Axon 7 is arguably more plastic than the Zenfone 3 Deluxe (at the top and bottom at least) meaning there should actually be incremental differences for the ability to hold a frequency with good strength in the favour of the Axon 7, however it's receiving a few poor real-world reviews for those who have bothered to test. From that assumption, the more 'sleek' all-aluminum body of the ZD3 is going to have the same problems, so its no surprise that you are reporting it.
I'm considering getting this phone up against the LG v20 H990DS dual sim. But Wifi strength and reliability on 4G LTE is a huge considersation, as it's really a basic expectation of any flasgship - dont bother making a phone of all-alluminum if the drawback is poor performance. This is why the design of the v20 is 10x better, for instance.
RoOSTA
roosta said:
Yes, I believe you are right. I don't own this phone, but thought I'd give my two cents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTsg7EyYKFM
Yes, this is not your phone, it's the ZTE Axon 7. Watch from around the 4 minute mark. Much loike the Zenfone Deluxe 3, the mostly all-aluminum body without much field testing is always going to be a drawback for wifi strength and certain radio frequencies on LTE.
The Axon 7 is arguably more plastic than the Zenfone 3 Deluxe (at the top and bottom at least) meaning there should actually be incremental differences for the ability to hold a frequency with good strength in the favour of the Axon 7, however it's receiving a few poor real-world reviews for those who have bothered to test. From that assumption, the more 'sleek' all-aluminum body of the ZD3 is going to have the same problems, so its no surprise that you are reporting it.
I'm considering getting this phone up against the LG v20 H990DS dual sim. But Wifi strength and reliability on 4G LTE is a huge considersation, as it's really a basic expectation of any flasgship - dont bother making a phone of all-alluminum if the drawback is poor performance. This is why the design of the v20 is 10x better, for instance.
RoOSTA
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Click to collapse
I can assure you all just based on the quality of the display compared to the V20 this phone is a thousand times better. The blues are very apparent on the V20 and side by side it doesn't even come close. The V20 just looks awful. If you're browsing webpages and playing games I'd much rather do it on the Zenfone. I wonder what it's like up against one of the newer Samsung's. Maybe I'll test it out, but the sales people in most stores are so pushy to help and get in your way. Some people really need to learn the best way to a sale isn't by being pushy but feeling out your customer.
I think people's mileage is going to vary on signal strength. I noticed identical WiFi strength between this phone and the Moto G4 I have. I often get poor signal at work and this phone drops signal way less. I haven't really tested out LTE other than to check that it works and I get the same number of bars as the G4 in my house.
pacattack81 said:
I can assure you all just based on the quality of the display compared to the V20 this phone is a thousand times better. The blues are very apparent on the V20 and side by side it doesn't even come close. The V20 just looks awful. If you're browsing webpages and playing games I'd much rather do it on the Zenfone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AmOled wins every day over IPS, however limiting the display to 1080p on a flagship is... so 2014. You can get the V20 with same screen size and bigger battery. On top of that, it's removable. The best feature is repairability. Take off the back cover, 20 small screws and it's easy to lift out the plastic cover, motherboard cameras and screen with ease. Even the 3.5mm jack pops off easily. It's one of the last flasgships yo keep the FM radio and have a more than useful IR blaster.
Zenfone doesn't even advertise Nfc despite some deluxe owners saying their phone had it, but in a very awkward position. I can see you have a preference but I find it hard for there to be any comparison. Comes down to your requirements in the end.
RoOSTA
roosta said:
AmOled wins every day over IPS, however limiting the display to 1080p on a flagship is... so 2014.
RoOSTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same can be said with putting an IPS display in a flagship phone. They chose 1080p vs 1440p because it's a well known fact 1080p gets better battery life. Put the phone side by side and pull up the same webpage and the text has the same clarity as the V20. Many will say the eyes can't tell the difference. Resolution aside, I can't express how much better the screen is than the V20. The phone is also lighter and smaller because it doesn't have the secondary display. At the end of the day, the Verizon's store rep owned the V20 and we both laughed at how awful the display on V20 looked compared to this phone.
Bottom line it's nice to have a removable battery, but it's the screen you look at most. I'd rather have a phone with the better display.
There's tonnes of IPS still used in non-amoled flagships. 1080 p does in fact get a better battery life, probably why LG increased the battery capacity. 2nd display is also very handy. A few grams/ounches weight isn't going to bother me when comparing both of these phones. Anyway, getting off topic. I think the design of this phone is the reason why you may be experiencing issues, or your radio could be faulty if it's happening everywhere, even in places you'd normally get good reception. See how the resulrs vary at inner city, more outer-suburban locations and compare to what you were getting previously (on this phoine or another 4G LTE).
RoOSTA
I got the phone to finally to replace my SG Note II N7100 version (I don't like newer Notes. I was hoping for same features past Note 4. Finally gave up replaceable battery feature for Asus ZF3D 64GB) Also I could finally use Tmobiles 4G LTE and add Freedompop H+ networks as secondary. I notice something with Tmobile LTE. At first Tmobile's 4G LTE had 1/4 bars and data speeds seem to fail a lot and if it pass it would read it as 0 kbps. But I kept using it for few days more. I'm starting to get 2 or higher on signal and data speeds hit around download 8/upload 1 mbps at 38 ms ping and this is at the same area. Not sure what happen in those first few days. Signal got boosted good if you disable secondary SIM. I get about 3 or 4 bars.
If I did get into good place I would hit around 10/25 speeds still better than Tmobile's H+ with Note 2.
^as long as lte signal gets better instead of few bars! What part of the USA?
snkchaos said:
I got the phone to finally to replace my SG Note II N7100 version (I don't like newer Notes. I was hoping for same features past Note 4. Finally gave up no replaceable battery feature for Asus ZF3D 64GB) Also I could finally use Tmobiles 4G LTE and add Freedompop H+ networks as secondary. I notice something with Tmobile LTE. At first Tmobile's 4G LTE had 1/4 bars and data speeds seem to fail a lot and if it pass it would read it as 0 kbps. But I kept using it for few days more. I'm starting to get 2 or higher on signal and data speeds hit around download 8/upload 1 mbps at 38 ms ping and this is at the same area. Not sure what happen in those first few days. Signal got boosted good if you disable secondary SIM. I get about 3 or 4 bars.
If I did get into good place I would hit around 10/25 speeds still better than Tmobile's H+ with Note 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same exact problem on my phone. It cleared up after a few days as well. My Sim2 slot is still enabled, so I don't know how mine fixed itself. Maybe something with the cell towers, not sure
galaxys said:
^as long as lte signal gets better instead of few bars! What part of the USA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in Tracy, CA.
snkchaos said:
I live in Tracy, CA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should usually have a good signal there. I'm in Vegas and have full bars with T-Mobile...
Hi all, I posted part of this message in another forum as it was part of a bigger posting. Here I am only posting issues with the Bands & LTE Coverage.
So I also upgraded my wife's phone (S5) to the Zen 3 deluxe (ZS570KL / 256gb hd / 6gb ram / 821 chip) and she hates it... calls keep dropping signal is low and it does not even say LTE. I did a speedtest comparison between her Zen 3 and my Zen 2 (rooted and running CM13) and mine is way faster. Hers is also disconnecting from cellular (AT&T) data and does not show 4G anymore along with no push notifications of emails. I get strong bars and the phone displays LTE, hers only shows 4G+.
Anyone else having these issues? Oh and she does have a plastic / silicon clear case.

4.5g

Hi Guys
Just got my Note 10+ 5G. Whilst I wait for sleepy Kettering to get the 5G coverage, I was wondering about 'LTE Advanced' (4.5g 4g+?). I'm with the UK network '3' and on my previous phone - the Huawei Mate 9 - it supported LTE advanced (I knew this because I got a '4g+' icon instead of the normal 4g icon in the status bar).
Since putting the same sim into my Note10+ I've never seen the the 4g+ icon! It might be a coincidence (as the signal has always been a bit patchy round these parts) but I'm curious! I'm well out of my depth, technically speaking, so is there anyone who can advise me. I tried calling 3's helpdesk, but they seemed less clued-up than me.
Thanks ?
I get the same on 3, but then in areas where I've had 4G+ with the 5G phone a speed test has shown sub 5meg download speeds while near my house where it shows standard 4G I see speeds up to 120meg, I'm thinking there is just a reporting issue between 3 and this phone, or something is very wrong. It's the same as the volte icon never shows up but 4G stays active in calls so it has to be active, it just seems strange.
But then where I live is getting 5G this year, so that will be interesting to see.
Cheers! Good to know I'm not the only one! :laugh:
Just heard back from 3 who said they'll reset the phone from their end, but I'm not holding my breath for it to make any difference.
Off to London next week to check out 5G!?

Mate 20X 4G or 5G - real life use

I have a P30 Pro that I'm thinking of swapping for a Mate 20X.
I know the differences between the 4G and 5G models, particularly the smaller battery in the 5G.
Whether its 4G or 5G doesn't really make much difference to me, I'm more interested in how they stack up as daily drivers.
Any input is appreciated.
4G is fantastic...battery very very incredible
Yeah, from most reviews I've seen the bigger battery on the 4G does last a lot longer, but I've also seen that the 5G can still go an entire day.
I don't want to pay cash for another phone, so if I'm not successful getting a swap the best contract deal I can get is for the 5G model, there are no longer any 4G phones in UK networks stocks.
Anyone have a 5G they can give some input on?
I have 5g now, in past I had 4g.
Battery is really worse lot, I am heavy user and ofter charge a little during day. For low or mid-level or usage it is not necessary. 8gg is very useful on 5g. Also signal strength of 4g (no 5g in Serbia yet) and specially wifi is best I ever seen (I really had many models, mostly high end).
In many situations, in some areas, I am only who sees wifi signal and can use 4g. Useful for me. Sound is probably worse on 5g but I don't use it extensively for music.
Thanks, that's excellent feedback.
Great 4G and WiFi reception on the 5G model is interesting, and I know it doesn't have a true top speaker but I listen to music on a BT headset so it's not important.
I realise the smaller battery doesn't last as long, I'd expect that, but if it lasts a full day on average use that's also good.
With the overwhelming advice and experiences of other users here, I've bitten the bullet: I'll have a Mate 20X tomorrow. I remember just a few years ago these forums were so busy, but I think a lot of the inactivity now is down to OEMs keeping bootloaders locked and stifling development and custom ROMs.
I've already done a lot of research, read many reviews and watched numerous YT vids so I've a pretty good idea what to expect when it arrives.
It's the 5G EVR-N29 International version on Vodafone UK. My present P30 Pro is on Three UK and tbh the reception at home sucks but I'm pretty sure Vodafone will be much better.
I'll update this thread once I've set it up and used it for a while.
@ivanox1972 Thanks for your input, the info about 4G and WiFi reception being really good helped me decide on the 5G model :good:
Cheers buddy
Where u from? 5G Mate 20X will be useless for EU because it support N78 but in future we need N1 and N28.
I'm in the UK. The 5G model I have is already working here on 5G NR Band n78. Although as I said in my OP, 5G isn't an important factor in my choice of the Mate 20 X.
For now there is only N78, almost worldwide but N28 will be the new B20 4G.
Really?
Thanks for the input, that helps a lot.
So far I'm really pleased with my phone, the screen is a pleasure to use. I'm still getting used to handling it, it's quite a lot bigger than my P30 Pro. Using it one-handed is possible, I just need to refine my technique.

Question A52S signal strenght?

I'm seriously considering replacing my moto G8 power with the A52s 5g.
I sometimes work in areas with low signal strength so I want a phone with decent antenna. Samsung traditional did pretty well in this area but I have seen some reports about poor signal with the A52 (none s version).
Most reviews claim that a52 and a52s is identical except for the updated soc. But a52s have lower sar values indicating better antenna.
So I would basically like to know how people experience the signal strength with the A52s?
I know user experience isn't scientific but I think experience compared to other phones could provide usable information, so any info would be highly appreciated...
It's not very good for me, not better than my old S4 and both haven't great signal strength (at my locations). Sometimes I haven't any signal in buildings that are high and have glass walls.
gvamp said:
It's not very good for me, not better than my old S4 and both haven't great signal strength (at my locations). Sometimes I haven't any signal in buildings that are high and have glass walls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for replying. So your experience signal strength about equal to S4?
Allan_Hun said:
Thank you for replying. So your experience signal strength about equal to S4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I would say it. But I can only promise this for my location and provider.
Allan_Hun said:
I'm seriously considering replacing my moto G8 power with the A52s 5g.
I sometimes work in areas with low signal strength so I want a phone with decent antenna. Samsung traditional did pretty well in this area but I have seen some reports about poor signal with the A52 (none s version).
Most reviews claim that a52 and a52s is identical except for the updated soc. But a52s have lower sar values indicating better antenna.
So I would basically like to know how people experience the signal strength with the A52s?
I know user experience isn't scientific but I think experience compared to other phones could provide usable information, so any info would be highly appreciated...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, I got an A52s 5G, also come from an S4 I9505 and I'm amazed by this very fluid A52s, the signal capture is excellent, even in extreme conditions it keeps the signal stable, but it all depends on the operator and location, I'm in Portugal the coverage of operators here is good.
In the rest, the A52s doesn't disappoint for the range where it is inserted, very good screen, automony even in extreme use lasts more than a day, the gps is quick to detect, wifi, bluetooth, it works perfectly, in normal calls, video calls , social networks, and numerous other applications that I use so far 5 stars, the cameras are very good for those who are not very picky they draw pretty good spells, video is not something I use regularly, but it is within acceptable limits for this model, better just going to other more expensive ranges.
in the end it turns out to be an excellent phone for the price it costs in the mid-range.
samsungblower said:
Hello, I got an A52s 5G, also come from an S4 I9505 and I'm amazed by this very fluid A52s, the signal capture is excellent, even in extreme conditions it keeps the signal stable, but it all depends on the operator and location, I'm in Portugal the coverage of operators here is good.
In the rest, the A52s doesn't disappoint for the range where it is inserted, very good screen, automony even in extreme use lasts more than a day, the gps is quick to detect, wifi, bluetooth, it works perfectly, in normal calls, video calls , social networks, and numerous other applications that I use so far 5 stars, the cameras are very good for those who are not very picky they draw pretty good spells, video is not something I use regularly, but it is within acceptable limits for this model, better just going to other more expensive ranges.
in the end it turns out to be an excellent phone for the price it costs in the mid-range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is nice to hear. It seems Portugal use same LTE frequencies as my country so antenna efficiency should be identical.
Thank you.
I have been using my a52s for 2 weeks and find the antenna quality average -just about equal to my previous phone a moto g8 power.
But the moto g8 had problems reconnecting when I moved from an area without signal back to a location with fine signal, requiring toggling airplane mode to regain a signal.
The A52s doesn't have this problem. So that is good.
Allan_Hun said:
I have been using my a52s for 2 weeks and find the antenna quality average -just about equal to my previous phone a moto g8 power.
But the moto g8 had problems reconnecting when I moved from an area without signal back to a location with fine signal, requiring toggling airplane mode to regain a signal.
The A52s doesn't have this problem. So that is good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it worth to buy this phone? It would be my first premium phone. Right now using 5 year old LeEco Le 2
I like it a lot!
It is pretty fast, battery easily last a day with 8 hours screen on time. (I'm a power user -on a normal day I stream tidal hifi and run google maps while driving 3 hours). 120hz screen is very smooth -my first high refresh screen so didn't really know what to expect. Compared to my previous phones from Motorola and Xiaomi everything just seems to work out of the box on this Samsung. And because of the physical similarity with regular A52 accessories like screen protector and cases are very easy to purchase.
Only slightly negative is Samsung's apps -I'm used to google contacts, calendar and calc. Samsungs browser is kind of nice but the other Samsung apps seems pretty redundant to googles stock apps.
I wanted an affordable and snappy phone with dual sim (it serves double purpose as work and private phone), flat screen, 5g and plastic back. For me Snapdragon soc and water/dust protection was also "nice to have" features. So the A52S is pretty perfect for my usage.
That said I got this phone cheap (with a 6 month contract). If I had to pay full retail I probably would have kept using my (painfully slow) moto g8 power. I honestly don't know any cheaper phones that would meet all my demands...
Signal reception is good where I live, Sweden, Europe, for the A52s. I have tested it with some of the major networks and it does well on par with most other current models. I can't really detect any substantial, real-world difference between the newer phones. They all perform the same under the same circumstances.
I have the A52 5G (none s) version.. I'm with T-Mobile, and have absolutely no issues with signal strength.
Allan_Hun said:
I'm seriously considering replacing my moto G8 power with the A52s 5g.
I sometimes work in areas with low signal strength so I want a phone with decent antenna. Samsung traditional did pretty well in this area but I have seen some reports about poor signal with the A52 (none s version).
Most reviews claim that a52 and a52s is identical except for the updated soc. But a52s have lower sar values indicating better antenna.
So I would basically like to know how people experience the signal strength with the A52s?
I know user experience isn't scientific but I think experience compared to other phones could provide usable information, so any info would be highly appreciated...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my A52s, GPS signal is little weaker than previous J5 2017 and wifi much weaker than J5 2017. And USB OTG don't recognized by phone. (That is check in Samsung Service).
gvamp said:
It's not very good for me, not better than my old S4 and both haven't great signal strength (at my locations). Sometimes I haven't any signal in buildings that are high and have glass walls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makes sense considering wave reflections on mirrors and attenuation because of the wall thickness/height.

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