Develop Bugs

International Note 5 N920i on AT&T

Because I hate the idea of having a neutered AT&T Note 5, I bought an international variant (N920i). It appears the LTE bands are all compatible between the two. I will let everyone know how it turns out. If you already have experience with this, let me know.
EDIT: Yes, N920i works without any modification on AT&T

When does it arrive?
Thats very interesting.
from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using XDA Free mobile app

First half of this week hopefully!

Please keep us posted.

@alaskajoel Le us know if you have any signal issues.
The T Mobile S6 Edge on AT&T network gave me some issues. Calls would take 30 seconds to dial out and phone did not ring a bunch.

martinezma99 said:
@alaskajoel Le us know if you have any signal issues.
The T Mobile S6 Edge on AT&T network gave me some issues. Calls would take 30 seconds to dial out and phone did not ring a bunch.
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Will do. Should be in my hands tomorrow.

Here goes. N920i 64GB
EDIT:
LTE Working with attnextgenphone APN. Made a few phone calls, received one, and so far no odd problems.

I don't see the LTE on the signal bar are you sure it's on LTE?
---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:48 PM ----------
May I ask where you purchased this version?

eroracing said:
I don't see the LTE on the signal bar are you sure it's on LTE?
---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:48 PM ----------
May I ask where you purchased this version?
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LTE showing up on the signal bar is a Domestic device visual. International versions Show E (edge) 3G, H+ (Faux G) and 4G for LTE.
If you are still unconvinced, my service mode presently shows I am on LTE Band 4. Download speeds at 40mbps this evening. No carrier aggregation unfortunately, but I also didn't have it on my Nexus 6 or the GS6.
I purchased the phone from a seller in Hong Kong via Ebay.

Awesome! Enjoy!

Yep, just like the International S6 G920I that supported AT&T LTE
Sent from my SD4930UR using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

This is excellent news. How much did you pay for that bad boy? Please go to dev settings and see if "allow OEM unlock" is in the options. Thank you.

seh6183 said:
This is excellent news. How much did you pay for that bad boy? Please go to dev settings and see if "allow OEM unlock" is in the options. Thank you.
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~$900 USD. OEM Unlock is an available option in Developer Options.

I thought I'd give this thread a small bump as I'm about to pull the trigger on an international N920I as well.
My question stems from simply being new to importing phones and having to pay attention to bands. I have bene following this thread closely, and it seems as though the N920I performs well on the AT&T network, but is it the same as if I had bought one from AT&T? I ask only because it was just mentioned that this phone does not have Carrier Aggregation.
I'm not certain what carrier aggregation is (I looked it up on google but couldn't find much to answer my question). Does this mean that it will perform more slowly on US networks?
Also a final question, if anyone is willing to answer it. What is the region-locking situation on this phone? I have read mixed reports about people being stuck with phones that they cannot use because it was not activated with a compatible SIM, and some people that say they have had no problem. I don't want to drop $900 on this device and not be able to use it.

Diraan said:
I thought I'd give this thread a small bump as I'm about to pull the trigger on an international N920I as well.
My question stems from simply being new to importing phones and having to pay attention to bands. I have bene following this thread closely, and it seems as though the N920I performs well on the AT&T network, but is it the same as if I had bought one from AT&T? I ask only because it was just mentioned that this phone does not have Carrier Aggregation.
I'm not certain what carrier aggregation is (I looked it up on google but couldn't find much to answer my question). Does this mean that it will perform more slowly on US networks?
Also a final question, if anyone is willing to answer it. What is the region-locking situation on this phone? I have read mixed reports about people being stuck with phones that they cannot use because it was not activated with a compatible SIM, and some people that say they have had no problem. I don't want to drop $900 on this device and not be able to use it.
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My data speeds and reception have been the same as my nexus 6 and girlfriend's GS6 (purchased from AT&T.) Carrier aggregation allows for next generation LTE, but I have yet to own a phone, AT&T branded or otherwise, that supports it in my area. It might just be that there is no support for it in my city, but I'll be in Chicago In a few weeks and will try to investigate it there.
I can't speak to the region locking. All I know is my phone was completely sealed and worked 100% right out of the box with only putting in an AT&T SIM card.

alaskajoel said:
My data speeds and reception have been the same as my nexus 6 and girlfriend's GS6 (purchased from AT&T.) Carrier aggregation allows for next generation LTE, but I have yet to own a phone, AT&T branded or otherwise, that supports it in my area. It might just be that there is no support for it in my city, but I'll be in Chicago In a few weeks and will try to investigate it there.
I can't speak to the region locking. All I know is my phone was completely sealed and worked 100% right out of the box with only putting in an AT&T SIM card.
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Thank you for the quick reply. I think I'll put in an order right now.

Samsung Pay
I'm glad to hear that the N920I works on AT&T on the LTE band. I considered getting the International version. However, there is something else that I am concerned about...and that is Samsung Pay that will be coming late September. I believe carriers have to allow (or configure) Samsung Pay to work. For example, Verizon may not be supporting it, at least that's what's traveling around the net. Also when I had the International Galaxy S3 on AT&T, Google Wallet didn't work, it only worked on AT&T versions at that time. Unfortunately, we won't know until Samsung Pay is available, but I wonder if it will work on the N920I?

Awesome news. can you please tell me if VOLTE works on AT&T or if you even had the option for HD calling? Settings should be found under data options.
Thanks in advance.

For those wondering, if you use an N920I on AT&T, there are a few things you should know.
1. Since this is an international model, the signal indicators are different than what we're used to seeing in the US. The SM-N920I shows the following indicators for mobile data:
E - This means you have a 2G/EDGE connection
3G - This means you have a UMTS connection with no HSPA
H+ - This means you have an HSPA+/Faux 4G connection
4G - This means you have an LTE connection
2. Phone calls will not work over LTE (VoLTE), and, by extension, HD Voice doesn't work either. The VoLTE and HD Voice components are proprietary software that is only built into the AT&T-specific ROM on the SM-N920A.
3. The phone DOES support carrier aggregation (otherwise known as LTE-Advanced), but not on AT&T's bands. Considering that the SM-N920I is intended for retail in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, the baseband firmware is tweaked to do carrier aggregation on band pairs that are common among carriers in that part of the world.
So, what does this all mean? If you want a phone that has support for all the bleeding-edge technologies on AT&T's network (VoLTE, HD Voice, LTE-A), then you have no other choice but to buy an AT&T-branded SM-N920A. However, if you want faster updates, no carrier bloat, no carrier branding, an unlockable bootloader, and don't mind sacrificing the whiz-bang stuff on the network side of things, then an SM-N920I will work just fine. Put your SIM card in, you'll get LTE data on all of AT&T's available bands, and you'll be able to make and receive calls over the HSPA+ network. You're just not going to have all the latest carrier-marketed bells and whistles that you'd get if you bought a proper AT&T-branded SM-N920A.
At this point, I *should* rant about how stupid it is that Samsung refuses to sell SIM-free, unlocked versions of their phones via US retail channels. That's what forces us to go through these 3rd party importers to get the international models that aren't really tweaked for the US carriers. Alas, I'm not going to go down that road, though. It's a tempest in a teapot.

oldblue910 said:
1. Since this is an international model, the signal indicators are different than what we're used to seeing in the US. The SM-N920I shows the following indicators for mobile data:
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Translation: On the 920i/c, the signal indicators follow the international standard of "4G" being "LTE", and not the AT&T/TMO marketing fiction of "4G" being what everyone else calls "3.5G".
As for the rest of your points, I have to wonder how well deployed VoLTE is on AT&T (and I don't think AT&T has even started LTE-A yet, have they?)
I live in a somewhat rural area, and I'm just thrilled I have LTE.. which beats the "no signal" I get with other carriers. I don't know that I've ever experienced VoLTE. (Then again, I can't remember the last time I actually had a voice conversation with my phone.)
oldblue910 said:
At this point, I *should* rant about how stupid it is that Samsung refuses to sell SIM-free, unlocked versions of their phones via US retail channels. That's what forces us to go through these 3rd party importers to get the international models that aren't really tweaked for the US carriers. Alas, I'm not going to go down that road, though. It's a tempest in a teapot.
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Oh, but why not?! We really need some more activity in the AT&T Note5 section.

US Cellular note 7 seems unlocked, can anyone smarter than me confirm?

I believe US Cellular stopped carrier locking their phones a few years back and they also don't load many additional apps (if any)by default. Wondering if this is a good alternative to the Verizon model. The specs also seem to indicate the presence of both CDMA and GSM antennas. Can any one confirm this?

jsncjns said:
I believe US Cellular stopped carrier locking their phones a few years back and they also don't load many additional apps (if any)by default. Wondering if this is a good alternative to the Verizon model. The specs also seem to indicate the presence of both CDMA and GSM antennas. Can any one confirm this?
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Please elaborate on "seems unlocked". Best way to determine an answer to your questions is to put a Verizon sim in it and see what happens.

VoLTE Support

Hey guys!
Is it possible to get VoLTE on Dev edition M9?

If it supports 4g then yes but if the other person you're calling doesnt have 4g for whatever reason then you wont be making a volte call to them.
Beamed in by telepathy.

shivadow said:
If it supports 4g then yes but if the other person you're calling doesn't have 4g for whatever reason then you wont be making a volte call to them.
Beamed in by telepathy.
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Here in India, there's this carrier called Jio in which you can make calls only if your phone has VoLTE, but the stock dev edition M9 doesn't have VoLTE, so I wanted to know how to get VoLTE.
Thanks for replying.

Im quite sure the m9 does support it so long as the carrier supports it. As I said, both phones, both carriers, both must have a good 4g signal. If you are both on Jio, both have a good 4G signal then you should have volte. If they are on a different carrier then there could be a cross network issue at the carrier end. Maybe a call to your carrier could answer in more detail?.
The m9 is clearly marked as volte capable on various sources and the wiki page here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_LTE but searches also indicate that it may be dependent on what the carrier has enabled at their end.
Beamed in by telepathy.

shivadow said:
..... it may be dependent on what the carrier has enabled at their end.
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This has been my experience. On both T-Mobile and AT&T, with the developer edition SKU RUU installed, VoLTE has not been enabled. I'm fairly convinced it's because there is some carrier setup that doesn't support it.
It may be different if you have your carrier's SKU RUU installed, but I can't confirm that - just a theory.

shivadow said:
Im quite sure the m9 does support it so long as the carrier supports it. As I said, both phones, both carriers, both must have a good 4g signal. If you are both on Jio, both have a good 4G signal then you should have volte. If they are on a different carrier then there could be a cross network issue at the carrier end. Maybe a call to your carrier could answer in more detail?.
The m9 is clearly marked as volte capable on various sources and the wiki page here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_LTE but searches also indicate that it may be dependent on what the carrier has enabled at their end.
Beamed in by telepathy.
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The M9 doesn't really have VoLTE, only a few versions of it do (such as the T-Mobile version).
Also, from using it on my other phone (a S7 Edge), it doesn't matter if the other person has VoLTE too, it'll still be able to make a call, just not a HD call.

computerslayer said:
This has been my experience. On both T-Mobile and AT&T, with the developer edition SKU RUU installed, VoLTE has not been enabled. I'm fairly convinced it's because there is some carrier setup that doesn't support it.
It may be different if you have your carrier's SKU RUU installed, but I can't confirm that - just a theory.
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That's because the Dev edition doesn't support VoLTE. You could check this thread out for more info.
It kinda sucks that hardware wise it does support it but not from a software view.

[Q] Best way to get a phone that will work with Verizon and all LTE bands overseas

I've really enjoyed my S7 and want to upgrade to the S9. Later in the year I'll be overseas for almost a year, so I want something that will work with all Verizon bands of LTE, but also not have a firmware lock that would cause it to not work on other bands of LTE overseas. (planning to just use prepaid dataplan sim cards overseas)
I think my two options are to either get a US 'unlocked' version or wait for the 'international' version. My understanding is the primary differences between the unlocked and international version is the 2G/3G coverage for CDMA and possibly slightly different hardware. I'd rather have a phone with CDMA backwards capability, but my prime concern lacking full access to all LTE bands available wherever I am.
I'm not really interested in going any route that would require me to root the phone if there is a way to do it without.

Well the only way to get VZW compatibility is the VZW phone or a US unlocked model. So you're looking at the US Unlocked model at this point.

A listing of all the different model numbers available (per country and carrier) is available here: https://www.techwalls.com/samsung-galaxy-s9-sm-g960-g965-model-number-differences/
You will probably want to get the phone that works with your primary location the most. I am not sure which countries use which frequencies for LTE in Europe; you will need to research that to see what you may be missing out on.
With my T-Mobile S7, I haven't had any issues when traveling in Europe or Asia. It connects to LTE usually.

So I just did a deep dive of that list:
It looks like the Verizon and Unlocked versions are almost identical (the unlocked US version has B46(5200) 4G TDD LTE, but I'm not sure anyone who uses it)
Looking at 4G FDD LTE it looks like a Verizon or US unlocked phone will have almost complete coverage around the world, notable gaps are B30(2300) in China/Canada/US AT&T, B32(1500) in UK and B71(600) (US Tmobile). I thought that was a bit confusing as you'd expect a US Unlocked phone to service all LTE bands available in the US yet it lacks AT&T and Tmobile bands.
So based on all that information looks like I should just get an unlocked US phone to be totally safe, and I'd likely also be fine getting a Verizon version also.

StykerB said:
Well the only way to get VZW compatibility is the VZW phone or a US unlocked model. So you're looking at the US Unlocked model at this point.
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Relcan said:
So I just did a deep dive of that list:
It looks like the Verizon and Unlocked versions are almost identical (the unlocked US version has B46(5200) 4G TDD LTE, but I'm not sure anyone who uses it)
Looking at 4G FDD LTE it looks like a Verizon or US unlocked phone will have almost complete coverage around the world, notable gaps are B30(2300) in China/Canada/US AT&T, B32(1500) in UK and B71(600) (US Tmobile). I thought that was a bit confusing as you'd expect a US Unlocked phone to service all LTE bands available in the US yet it lacks AT&T and Tmobile bands.
So based on all that information looks like I should just get an unlocked US phone to be totally safe, and I'd likely also be fine getting a Verizon version also.
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So I'm new to Android but i use Verizon prepaid. Will I lose anything by going with the unlocked version or should i stick with a Verizon S9?
I don't use video calling. All i do is text and talk but I've heard that people on Verizon prepaid have issues with unlocked Android phones.
Thanks

Would Wifi Calling work with the US unlocked on verizon? I thought that required a Verizon FW to be flashed. I imagine all the other features such as voLTE / HD calling, etc to work on the US unlocked.

testinguser said:
Would Wifi Calling work with the US unlocked on verizon? I thought that required a Verizon FW to be flashed. I imagine all the other features such as voLTE / HD calling, etc to work on the US unlocked.
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Curious about that also

testinguser said:
Would Wifi Calling work with the US unlocked on verizon? I thought that required a Verizon FW to be flashed. I imagine all the other features such as voLTE / HD calling, etc to work on the US unlocked.
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Throwinrocks said:
Curious about that also
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I did a cursory review of the wifi-calling FAQ on their website. They don't mention anything about compatibility with Unlocked versions of phones (that I saw). I'd call tech support to ask, but I'd expect there to be a 50% chance of getting the wrong answer from the tech based on my interactions with their support.
There might be some good experience based anecdotes in the Galaxy S8 forum, if it works on an unlocked S8 its a safe bet it will work on an unlocked S9
I think I'll ask in the Verizon subreddit, it seems like they normally have really good information as well.
I'm mostly curious about the LTE TDD Band 46 (5200) - its the only band an unlocked US phone has that a Verizon phone doesn't. 5200 is in the U-NII frequency range, no cellphone service providers use it, but I wonder if it may be used for local LTE networks in the near future. The other advantage is avoiding all the verizon bloat wear, but that may be what allows the Wifi Calling to work!

All this has me thinking I might have to add the extra $80 and just buy the Verizon version. I don't get phones on contract and I've always just paid full price. (Page 2 404 error?)

Apparently the Nov/Dec Samsung s8 firmware update added an option for BYOD carrier provisioning for unlocked s8. Given the similarity, I'd imagine the same to be true for s9. Can someone who has an unlocked s8 confirm?

Well after a little more research I see that if you use Verizon prepaid you lose visual voicemail and WiFi calling even if you use a Verizon phone so there's no need in me paying extra for a Verizon S9. Unlocked it is.

Throwinrocks said:
Well after a little more research I see that if you use Verizon prepaid you lose visual voicemail and WiFi calling even if you use a Verizon phone so there's no need in me paying extra for a Verizon S9. Unlocked it is.
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You might wanna check this as Verizon is starting to implement network locks on some devices as to deter thefts more
Dont know when or what devices but it was a statement Verizon made

So, you're saying the prepaid SIM might not work in an unlocked S9?
I don't think Verizon is keeping Verizon prepaid SIMS from working in unlocked phones they are just locking their phones like Sprint and AT&T still do.
I had no problems with my unlocked Pixel 2 XL that I purchased from Google and my Verizon prepaid, just no visual voicemail.

Unlock additional LTE bands possible? Possible to force-enable VoLTE?

Just wondering if anyone is aware of a way to unlock the “Sprint Spark” LTE frequencies for this phone — and maybe some T-Mobile frequencies as well for expanded network coverage.
Anyone aware of a way to force VoLTE as well? I see it for OnePlus phones but not this.

At this point, I don't think any of that is possible. As you may know, there is no sim card slot on the sprint s3, and I don't believe the meid in the phone is capable of VOLTE, or even TNA. There is no way to switch to the T-Mobile network with this phone, and even if there was, it's not "certified" to use VOLTE on the network.

However, now that I'm thinking about it, if you have Odin, you may be able to flash the d2refreshspr stock rom, which I think has those bands. Also, if you have a custom recovery, you might get more bands from roms labeled "d2lte" which is a unified rom for all us snapdragon s3s.