Develop Bugs

Verizon firmware but bought from Google

So I got my phone yesterday and it did some updating while I was setting it up and noticed that the latest firmware it installed was NDE63X not V. I bought this from Google not Verizon paid all the money up front so it is fully mine. I have Verizon service, did they just hijack my phone? I have Googled a bit on it and can't find an answer. This worries me since I avoided buying from Verizon so they had no say on updates. I have not gotten any of the Verizon apps automatically added toy phone yet. Thanks for any answer.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

If you have a Verizon SIM in the phone, it will get Verizon firmware images regardless of where you bought the phone.
I would recommend flashing the Google OTA's yourself when they release.

Don't worry. You got the verizon firmware because you have a verizon sim. The reverse is true for people who bought their phones from verizon and went to another carrier. Their phones updated to the US firmware automatically.
Verizon bootloaders cannot be unlocked. That is the only difference. Firmware versions are completely independent of this fact.

ahent said:
So I got my phone yesterday and it did some updating while I was setting it up and noticed that the latest firmware it installed was NDE63X not V. I bought this from Google not Verizon paid all the money up front so it is fully mine. I have Verizon service, did they just hijack my phone? I have Googled a bit on it and can't find an answer. This worries me since I avoided buying from Verizon so they had no say on updates. I have not gotten any of the Verizon apps automatically added toy phone yet. Thanks for any answer.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
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No. The software sees that you are using a Verizon sim and downloads the version that is optimized for Verizon networks.
Makes the radio work more efficiently with the bands Verizon uses and such things like that. Maybe downloads a set of unique Verizon apps you may want to use for your convenience. You can dismiss these apps or run some other firmware if you wish. It is not hijacking your phone and turning it into an evil, screwed up monster with a locked bootloader or rendering it unrootable.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Thanks, just the info I needed. If I switched carriers or traveled internationally and switched sim cards would this cause the phone issues?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

ahent said:
Thanks, just the info I needed. If I switched carriers or traveled internationally and switched sim cards would this cause the phone issues?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
No.

Thanks again, I love XDA.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

You may get slightly better performance overseas or on another carrier with different firmware due to the slight differences in the radio, but it will function the same otherwise.
Sent from my Pixel XL

If I have a Verizon version unlocked and take the Verizon firmware update is it possible for them to relock the bootloader? UPDATE - I looked on the forum and it seems like every agrees that it isn't possible for VZ to relock bootloader with firmware updates. Just want to confirm this is correct.

Pixel from USA in Poland

Hello guys. I want to buy new Pixel 2 XL, and best offer I have found is brand new from USA. Price is much lower then in regular polish shops, so I want to ask, is there any possibility that the phone will not work right in Poland? Maybe some options will be locked? Or there will be problem with updates?
I have Samsung Galaxy Note 4 from USA now and I can't update it cause it's from AT&T (worst mistake i could do), and I don't want to be dissapointed again.
Also, second thing, is the screen really that bad as they write in reviews? How is it compared to Galaxy Note 4, worse? There are so many mixed reviews, some praise the screen, some say that it is crap. Are there different versions of this phone or what?
Thank you very much for help.

pixel updates are not regulated by carrier, however make sure the bands supported on the american pixel are same as the bands used in poland. as far as i know america uses different bands compared to europe and rest of the world.
some screens are worse than others, but there is now way of confirming as some people with newer batches have also had complaints with the screen. and if pixel is not officially available in your country, you wont be able to rma also and i'm not sure how the warranty would work there in poland.

I would think as long as it's an unlocked USA phone and not from Verizon it should be fine if your country's bands are listed.
As for the screen, the blue shift and black crushing is there but it's not that bad. My wife had the Note 4 and it was a good screen for the time of release but I would say it's worse than that.
waxjan said:
Hello guys. I want to buy new Pixel 2 XL, and best offer I have found is brand new from USA. Price is much lower then in regular polish shops, so I want to ask, is there any possibility that the phone will not work right in Poland? Maybe some options will be locked? Or there will be problem with updates?
I have Samsung Galaxy Note 4 from USA now and I can't update it cause it's from AT&T (worst mistake i could do), and I don't want to be dissapointed again.
Also, second thing, is the screen really that bad as they write in reviews? How is it compared to Galaxy Note 4, worse? There are so many mixed reviews, some praise the screen, some say that it is crap. Are there different versions of this phone or what?
Thank you very much for help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Ok, seller says that it works in Poland. I just make sure that it is not from Verizon.
About screen, if it is better than Note 4, than it is just fine for me. I've made my decision, I will be Pixel 2 XL owner thank you very much for help.

Hey there! Neighbor here, I'm Lithuanian. 3 days ago I bought mine from USA as well. Works fine, just buy a USA to EU charger adapter beforehand
By the way, switched from Note 4. Screen is a bit more dull compared to Note 4 but I kinda dig it and you can always use Saturated mode, so that's not a problem.
Also, camera, I'm shooting everything everywhere, can't get enough of it.

waxjan said:
Ok, seller says that it works in Poland. I just make sure that it is not from Verizon.
About screen, if it is better than Note 4, than it is just fine for me. I've made my decision, I will be Pixel 2 XL owner thank you very much for help.
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Click to collapse
Why Verizon one is not recommended?
Pixel 2 XL| Tapatalk

If you want to unlock the bootloader one day, you can't with Verizon. If that doesn't matter, then go ahead. The Verizon phone will work with the same SIM cards the carrier free US one does.
mniedziel said:
Why Verizon one is not recommended?
Pixel 2 XL| Tapatalk
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Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

mniedziel said:
Why Verizon one is not recommended?
Pixel 2 XL| Tapatalk
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It's because phones sold by carriers are locked to only that carrier. If you were to get the one from Verizon and put in your SIM card you'd get something like "Invalid SIM". Phones can be unlocked but Verizon would have to give you the needed info.
---------- Post added at 02:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 AM ----------
nikhil.agrawal said:
pixel updates are not regulated by carrier, however make sure the bands supported on the american pixel are same as the bands used in poland. as far as i know america uses different bands compared to europe and rest of the world.
some screens are worse than others, but there is now way of confirming as some people with newer batches have also had complaints with the screen. and if pixel is not officially available in your country, you wont be able to rma also and i'm not sure how the warranty would work there in poland.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no "American" Pixel 2. It's the same phone sold everywhere. Either the phone supports the bands used in Poland or it doesn't. The original post did say the phone is sold in stores in Poland so I'm guessing the Pixel 2 supports bands used in Poland or stores wouldn't sell it.

jimv1983 said:
It's because phones sold by carriers are locked to only that carrier. If you were to get the one from Verizon and put in your SIM card you'd get something like "Invalid SIM". Phones can be unlocked but Verizon would have to give you the needed info.
---------- Post added at 02:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 AM ----------
There is no "American" Pixel 2. It's the same phone sold everywhere. Either the phone supports the bands used in Poland or it doesn't. The original post did say the phone is sold in stores in Poland so I'm guessing the Pixel 2 supports bands used in Poland or stores wouldn't sell it.
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Yes, my bad. I totally missed how the new phones support all bands. The band thing I said earlier used to be a thing of past. A few years back American phones didn't used to work in India or other countries due to the bands supported in states were different.

jimv1983 said:
It's because phones sold by carriers are locked to only that carrier. If you were to get the one from Verizon and put in your SIM card you'd get something like "Invalid SIM". Phones can be unlocked but Verizon would have to give you the needed info.
---------- Post added at 02:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 AM ----------
There is no "American" Pixel 2. It's the same phone sold everywhere. Either the phone supports the bands used in Poland or it doesn't. The original post did say the phone is sold in stores in Poland so I'm guessing the Pixel 2 supports bands used in Poland or stores wouldn't sell it.
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Verizon LTE phones are carrier unlocked from the get go.

fiffan86 said:
Verizon LTE phones are carrier unlocked from the get go.
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If that's true it's a very recent change. A co-worker of mine is on T-Mobile. He bought a used Pixel XL last November. He tried to put in his T-Mobile SIM card and it didn't work. He discovered that it was originally bought from Verizon. He put in a family member's Verizon SIM card and it worked fine.
I've also never heard of ANY carrier selling a phone that is carrier unlocked.

jimv1983 said:
If that's true it's a very recent change. A co-worker of mine is on T-Mobile. He bought a used Pixel XL last November. He tried to put in his T-Mobile SIM card and it didn't work. He discovered that it was originally bought from Verizon. He put in a family member's Verizon SIM card and it worked fine.
I've also never heard of ANY carrier selling a phone that is carrier unlocked.
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Verizon has had to sell LTE phones unlocked since their won the 700 mhz block c in 2008. They are actually about to lock the new ones down this year. I bought a pixel XL in Nov 2016 and switched to TMobile in June 2017 and didn't have a single issue. I know have a pixel 2 xl on TMobile with no issues. Interesting that he had issues with it.

https://www.droid-life.com/2017/10/09/which-google-pixel-2-verizon-or-unlocked/
Start reading at "Both versions work everywhere"
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

EeZeEpEe said:
https://www.droid-life.com/2017/10/09/which-google-pixel-2-verizon-or-unlocked/
Start reading at "Both versions work everywhere"
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
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That's strange. I only have the experience of one single phone so I can't really make a general statement. All I can say is that for that one phone what is said in that Droid Life article isn't true. The phone worked with a Verizon SIM but not a T-Mobile SIM. If the phone was unlocked then maybe something else could cause that?

The reason not to get a Verizon P2XL is they lock the bootloader so it can't be rooted. As noted above they don't SIM lock devices, and haven't done so for years. Prepaid may be the exception to that, but I stay away from Verizon.

fiffan86 said:
Verizon has had to sell LTE phones unlocked since their won the 700 mhz block c in 2008. They are actually about to lock the new ones down this year. I bought a pixel XL in Nov 2016 and switched to TMobile in June 2017 and didn't have a single issue. I know have a pixel 2 xl on TMobile with no issues. Interesting that he had issues with it.
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When you say "They are actually about to lock the new ones down this year."
What do you mean? There is a policy change on SIM locking?
Edit: Found my own answer.
https://www.cnet.com/news/verizon-will-lock-its-smartphones-to-combat-theft/

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
The reason not to get a Verizon P2XL is they lock the bootloader so it can't be rooted. As noted above they don't SIM lock devices, and haven't done so for years. Prepaid may be the exception to that, but I stay away from Verizon.
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I don't think that is universally true. As I said in a previous comment the original Pixel XL, or at least one of them, was locked to Verizon. Did Verizon sell the Pixel XL as a prepaid phone? Maybe the Verizon Pixel XL my co-worker bought was originally sold as a prepaid device and that's why it was locked?

Maybe. I don't know and don't care to know as I don't do silly crap like buy Verizon or AT&T devices.

jimv1983 said:
I don't think that is universally true. As I said in a previous comment the original Pixel XL, or at least one of them, was locked to Verizon. Did Verizon sell the Pixel XL as a prepaid phone? Maybe the Verizon Pixel XL my co-worker bought was originally sold as a prepaid device and that's why it was locked?
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Click to collapse
Google locks them all, theirs and VZs when they are first sold.. When they first start up they phone home and check a database on a server at Google to see if it has permission to unlock.
On the OG Pixel and OG XL there were quite a few errors in that system and VZ phones got permission to unlock. Still happens on the 2's but not as often.
That's it, a simple error in a database at Google.

TonikJDK said:
Google locks them all, theirs and VZs when they are first sold.. When they first start up they phone home and check a database on a server at Google to see if it has permission to unlock.
On the OG Pixel and OG XL there were quite a few errors in that system and VZ phones got permission to unlock. Still happens on the 2's but not as often.
That's it, a simple error in a database at Google.
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And that would cause a used Pixel XL that was already used on Verizon to work for ONLY Verizon but not for any other carrier? So when it was first activated on Verizon it was only unlocked for Verizon?

Do I have Verizon's Pixel XL?

Hello folks,
I am sorry for adding one more question to this dilemma?
I just got a refurb Pixel XL from ebay. I specifically told the seller that I am looking for a google version and not verizon but it seems, they sent me Verizon version as OEM Unlocking is grayed out in Developer options. Is that the only test there is to figure out if its Verizon or Unlocked google phone?
One of the threads linked http://www.imeipro.info/check_lg.html but it doesn't recognize IMEI of the phone I received.
Finally, I found this thread, https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-xl/how-to/how-to-unlock-bootloader-verizon-pixel-t3796030 Can these instructions be used for a Verizon device running Android Pie/9.0? If yes, I will keep the device as its in pristine condition.
Thanks in advance, for all helpful comments.

You can unlock the bootloader on Verizon yes.

fuzzychicken said:
Hello folks,
I am sorry for adding one more question to this dilemma?
I just got a refurb Pixel XL from ebay. I specifically told the seller that I am looking for a google version and not verizon but it seems, they sent me Verizon version as OEM Unlocking is grayed out in Developer options. Is that the only test there is to figure out if its Verizon or Unlocked google phone?
One of the threads linked http://www.imeipro.info/check_lg.html but it doesn't recognize IMEI of the phone I received.
Finally, I found this thread, https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-xl/how-to/how-to-unlock-bootloader-verizon-pixel-t3796030 Can these instructions be used for a Verizon device running Android Pie/9.0? If yes, I will keep the device as its in pristine condition.
Thanks in advance, for all helpful comments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually bought an XL off eBay and sent it back as it was a Verizon, confirmed with a Google rep, and didn't know I could unlock the bootloader.
I bought another one and it was also a Verizon, but I did follow the guide after updating to Pie and it still works great. Now I'm fully rooted nad bootloader is unlocked.

Would unlocking the bootloader on a Verizon version essentially make it a normal Google Pixel XL? Any other differences? I want to use a Verizon Pixel for AT&T.

bobjohnson1221 said:
Would unlocking the bootloader on a Verizon version essentially make it a normal Google Pixel XL? Any other differences? I want to use a Verizon Pixel for AT&T.
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Click to collapse
No device difference. You would just use a GSM SIM for AT&T of course.

I just bought a pixel xl of 128gb, what is the exact way to know if it is a verizon version?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

So if I'm shopping for a used Pixel XL, how can I tell with models have an unlockable bootloader?
I had previously read that only Play Store editions are unlockable, so I was surprised to see this thread say Verizon is unlockable.

Th3DaRk_Vampire said:
I just bought a pixel xl of 128gb, what is the exact way to know if it is a verizon version?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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To see if your phone is Verizon, go here ( https://www.verizonwireless.com/od/prepaid/bring-your-own-device/?imei=352630085164358#/checkDevice) and enter your IMEI. You'll get one of two responses:
If it's a Verizon phone, it will say "Awesome, your Google Pixel XL, Phone by Google is a perfect match for our network.."
If it's not Verizon, it will say "Awesome, your Google PIXEL XL NON-VZW is a perfect match for our network."

Sprint Pixel 3a XL and Verizon

So going through app inspector, I find com.verizon.llagent listed.. What is anything verizon doing in a Sprint phone.. What does it do? I plan on uninstalling it via adb, like I have done a few apps already.

It comes in the unlocked one, too. Very likely it has something to do with the radio or other network things
Sent from my Google Pixel 3a XL using XDA Labs

Karitoriki said:
It comes in the unlocked one, too. Very likely it has something to do with the radio or other network things
Sent from my Google Pixel 3a XL using XDA Labs
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So far I have found 4 items to do with Verizon, and I'm uninstalling them.. Have no idea what it does, but as long as it doesn't affect the phone bye bye.

If I recall correctly, only the Verizon version of the Pixel 3a/XL is bootloader locked/restricted. All other versions are, in actuality, the Unlocked model with the respective carrier's SIM card pre-inserted. In other words, the Unlocked USA model probably has some things for all the carriers, Verizon included.
If true, it would explain why your Sprint Pixel 3a XL has Verizon stuff in it.

Has anyone seen this? Or tried it on the Sprint Version.. I would hate to try since it is my only phone.
https://www.xda-developers.com/unlock-bootloader-verizon-google-pixel-xl/

Well I gave it a try anyway.. It does not work with this newer phone.. I did exactly what was mentioned in that article, even though it refereed to Verizon. Did a factory reset and everything came back.. To me there is way to much in they way of carrier specific apps.. I mean you would have to pm uninstall -k --user 0 XXX a lot of crap to even think it would work Ex. carrier provision, sprintDM and a host of others. O well better luck next time.

Which Pixel XLs Are Easiest To Bootloader Unlock?

I see a lot of attempts to unlock the Verizon Pixel XLs bootloader, some seem to work sometimes, some do not
I'm in the market for a new original Pixel XL. It's only going to be used over wifi, so I do not care what model or networks it's on, etc.
What should I look for in a device if I want it to be the easiest possible one to unlock the bootloader? Are there versions of the pixel xl that *come* with an unlocked bootloader?

phnord said:
I see a lot of attempts to unlock the Verizon Pixel XLs bootloader, some seem to work sometimes, some do not
I'm in the market for a new original Pixel XL. It's only going to be used over wifi, so I do not care what model or networks it's on, etc.
What should I look for in a device if I want it to be the easiest possible one to unlock the bootloader? Are there versions of the pixel xl that *come* with an unlocked bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Pixel XL is 5-6 years old. Not much chance of finding a new one. None come bootloader unlocked unless used. Only ones bought from Google store instead of Verizon are for sure bootloader unlockable.

Tulsadiver said:
The Pixel XL is 5-6 years old. Not much chance of finding a new one. None come bootloader unlocked unless used. Only ones bought from Google store instead of Verizon are for sure bootloader unlockable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but only the last bit is relevant to my question
I am aware of how old the Pixel XL is. I am aware that I'm getting a refurbished or used one. Thanks.
So from what I am hearing, then, the ones Verizon sold still have issues with the bootloader unlock, whereas the ones Google sold are easy to bootloader unlock. And those were the only two sources?
Is there a way to distinguish between the two? Is there a different model number, serial number range, etc.?
THAT is the question I'm asking. Not whether I can get it new...?

phnord said:
Thanks, but only the last bit is relevant to my question
I am aware of how old the Pixel XL is. I am aware that I'm getting a refurbished or used one. Thanks.
So from what I am hearing, then, the ones Verizon sold still have issues with the bootloader unlock, whereas the ones Google sold are easy to bootloader unlock. And those were the only two sources?
Is there a way to distinguish between the two? Is there a different model number, serial number range, etc.?
THAT is the question I'm asking. Not whether I can get it new...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought a new google one off ebay, they are still out there, you just might have to hunt a little and take a bit of a chance.
Probably don't go with the phones4all seller however, though new he seems to be selling what are original verizon models though carrier unlocked.
On the Pixel 2 forums people have been able to distinguish between verizon and google by contacting google w phone info, I don't know if there's any other good way.