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Hi guys,
I'm from Aus and trying to get a non-savvy US (Cali, splitting time between Sac and SF) friend set up with an unlocked phone suitable for short-term US and overseas use due to travel requirements. The Amaze 4G looks great. I've tried to find answers, but would like some knowledgable eyeballs on my proposal:
1. A US website currently has the Amaze 4G for $479.50 which is much cheaper than all other options. Is this legit? Is there only the X715M model out there, or is this a predecessor?
2. Are all unlocked 'Tmo' Amaze 4G phones able to operate on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 as well as UMTS 1700/2100, both physically and as allowed by the carrier? Any weird APN/data connectivity restrictions due to unlocked phone?
3. Can this phone connect to Tmo at 3G speeds if AWS is unavailable? I read somewhere that 3G 1900 would be required, and this phone doesn't appear to have that?
4. I want to get it on the $30/m walmart/tmo prepaid plan (5G uncapped is plenty of data) but can't see how to order just the sim via their website. should I just have my friend go into walmart? prefer not to muck around with simplemobile if possible - ironically, i want to keep this whole enterprise as simple as possible with a big carrier/theoretically good support.
5. Is this idea, for use in the US primarily but also overseas over the next 12 or so months, future-proof for a couple of years? e.g. I've read about tmo working on HSPA 1900MHz, but hopefully AT&T remains an option if Tmo ends up being unsatisfactory for any reason.
Thanks for having a read, hoping to tie this up ASAP. Much love for any responses.
resolved said:
Hi guys,
I'm from Aus and trying to get a non-savvy US (Cali, splitting time between Sac and SF) friend set up with an unlocked phone suitable for short-term US and overseas use due to travel requirements. The Amaze 4G looks great. I've tried to find answers, but would like some knowledgable eyeballs on my proposal:
1. A US website currently has the Amaze 4G for $479.50 which is much cheaper than all other options. Is this legit? Is there only the X715M model out there, or is this a predecessor?
2. Are all unlocked 'Tmo' Amaze 4G phones able to operate on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 as well as UMTS 1700/2100, both physically and as allowed by the carrier? Any weird APN/data connectivity restrictions due to unlocked phone?
3. Can this phone connect to Tmo at 3G speeds if AWS is unavailable? I read somewhere that 3G 1900 would be required, and this phone doesn't appear to have that?
4. I want to get it on the $30/m walmart/tmo prepaid plan (5G uncapped is plenty of data) but can't see how to order just the sim via their website. should I just have my friend go into walmart? prefer not to muck around with simplemobile if possible - ironically, i want to keep this whole enterprise as simple as possible with a big carrier/theoretically good support.
5. Is this idea, for use in the US primarily but also overseas over the next 12 or so months, future-proof for a couple of years? e.g. I've read about tmo working on HSPA 1900MHz, but hopefully AT&T remains an option if Tmo ends up being unsatisfactory for any reason.
Thanks for having a read, hoping to tie this up ASAP. Much love for any responses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. 479 sounds legit for phone, i dont know about x715m but i do know that us tmobile version is compatible with all bands networks.
2. Yes all US tmobile amaze 4g operate on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 as well as UMTS 1700/2100, both physically and as allowed by the carrier. As far as apn you would need to set up your apn settings according to the network you are using.
3. If no AWS available then only 2g Edge will work, although I have called tmobile and asked if amaze 4g unlocked will be able to use att's hspa network and they said yes amaze and sg2 are only phones capable of that meaning they were built with future proof in mind. I also seen around that tmobile version has all 3g network bands but not sure myself.
4. Easiest would be to have friend pay and pick up the sim card at walmart but i do remind you it is 30/m- 100 min and 5gb of 4g speeds CAPPED, but 2g edge speeds after the 5gb. Simple mobile is 60/m - unltd talk unlt text and 2gb of 4g speeds capped then 2g edge speeds after just depends on your preference.
5. This is a good idea as att will stil be an option and now that att failed to buy tmobile, att has come to an agreement in a roaming contract with tmobile for 7 years.
hope this helps you a little bit more in what ever you decide, good luck!
thanks mate, helped confirmed a few things in my mind.
Negri said they're on backorder so I went ahead and ordered the phone from an Amazon seller for $500. I can only hope everything's legit - I'm not too sure what the dangers of this option are. My best idea is just to use the phone heavily in the first week after getting it and make sure everything works.
now i just need a "beginners guide to android" to help the friend work through the basics... google time.
Is this your first Android phone?
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using xda premium
nope, i've had a HTC Hero and currently run a SGS2. I bought the Amaze for a friend who's new to Android due to Apple's stupid GSM-only unlocked phones, and their lack of 1.7ghz for tmo.
we'll get through it, tho after 15 mins of googling, there's a distinct lack of good "idiot user's (not programmer's) guide to android" articles/books. will write something up myself, i think.
my response to you above is more fishing for people's ideas about how Amazon sellers can be dodgy, esp. when pretty much every website is still doing the Amaze for $6-700.. I wondered if there were any potential pitfalls with the $500 price.
resolved said:
nope, i've had a HTC Hero and currently run a SGS2. I bought the Amaze for a friend who's new to Android due to Apple's stupid GSM-only unlocked phones, and their lack of 1.7ghz for tmo.
we'll get through it, tho after 15 mins of googling, there's a distinct lack of good "idiot user's (not programmer's) guide to android" articles/books. will write something up myself, i think.
my response to you above is more fishing for people's ideas about how Amazon sellers can be dodgy, esp. when pretty much every website is still doing the Amaze for $6-700.. I wondered if there were any potential pitfalls with the $500 price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine from eBay. It was used for a week with everything and he gave me an Incipio case. I bought it for $445. I was happy with it.
resolved said:
Hi guys,
I'm from Aus and trying to get a non-savvy US (Cali, splitting time between Sac and SF) friend set up with an unlocked phone suitable for short-term US and overseas use due to travel requirements. The Amaze 4G looks great. I've tried to find answers, but would like some knowledgable eyeballs on my proposal:
1. A US website currently has the Amaze 4G for $479.50 which is much cheaper than all other options. Is this legit? Is there only the X715M model out there, or is this a predecessor?
2. Are all unlocked 'Tmo' Amaze 4G phones able to operate on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 as well as UMTS 1700/2100, both physically and as allowed by the carrier? Any weird APN/data connectivity restrictions due to unlocked phone?
3. Can this phone connect to Tmo at 3G speeds if AWS is unavailable? I read somewhere that 3G 1900 would be required, and this phone doesn't appear to have that?
5. Is this idea, for use in the US primarily but also overseas over the next 12 or so months, future-proof for a couple of years? e.g. I've read about tmo working on HSPA 1900MHz, but hopefully AT&T remains an option if Tmo ends up being unsatisfactory for any reason.
Thanks for having a read, hoping to tie this up ASAP. Much love for any responses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what i understand, this phone has UMTS/HSPA+ support for 850,1700/2100aws/1900mhz and 2100mhz. Pretty much anywhere in the world that uses those.
Hi, im looking for a phone which would work with both verizon and T-mobile. Why both? well im in an odd situation, where im halfway through my contract with verizon, but want to switch to T-mobile. But my phone right now barely even works at the moment, so i need a new one, which I can bring over with me when i switch to T-mobile
I need a phone which works on both carriers or else I will end up buying to phones at full price, and I wouldnt want to do that!. Any help wpuld be extremely appreciated, there has to be some kind of smartphone out there thats capable of this
robotnikman said:
Hi, im looking for a phone which would work with both verizon and T-mobile. Why both? well im in an odd situation, where im halfway through my contract with verizon, but want to switch to T-mobile. But my phone right now barely even works at the moment, so i need a new one, which I can bring over with me when i switch to T-mobile
I need a phone which works on both carriers or else I will end up buying to phones at full price, and I wouldnt want to do that!. Any help wpuld be extremely appreciated, there has to be some kind of smartphone out there thats capable of this
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Click to collapse
A lot of phones these days are tri/quad-band. This means they operate on 3 or 4 frequencies ranges.
I'm not from the US so I'm not 100% sure but I believe Verizon is a CDMA based network while T-Mobile uses GSM (or WCDMA).
This would mean that most phones cannot be taken from one to the other. However many newer phones are released in carrier specific versions but don't have any hardware differences. Its often very hard to test/confirm this without having the specific device in your hand.
Google suggests that the iPhone 5, 5C & 5S from Verizon is unlocked and works on T-Mobiles 3G & 4G networks. So this could be an option.
As far as android handsets go, most of the phones I can find dont have a good overlap of frequencies for both networks.
Using the LG G2 as an example, the T-Mobile versions of most handsets use 850/1700/1900/2100 for 3G and LTE Bands 2, 4, 17. Verizon uses 850/900/1900/2100 for 3G and LTE Bands 4, 13. There is a little overlap there, 3G @ 850, 900 & 2100, but the LTE coverage is limited to Band 4 which could result in some negative experiences coverage wise on T-Mobile.
Hi all,
I'm in the UK and on the EE network using their 4G, and the Speed 7 downloads stuff really fast when I'm out and about. 4G when it works is really amazing... sitting on a train watching read time HD video streaming without caching is definitely miles better than 3G and to me is a strong selling point of this phone.
However, EE in the UK do charge a lot for data so I have been experimenting with other providers. I now have Three, O2, and Vodaphone PAYG SIMs. None of them have any credit on them but that should be enough to check signal... and where I am at the moment, it is not too impressive, I'm not getting 4G reception from any of them except EE - the rest are giving me 3G. I do realise that with this phone, only your chosen data SIM will get 4G, and the one in the other SIM slot will only do GSM, so I did make sure that data was turned on in the right SIM if I was using two and turned on mobile data etc.
In theory, the speed seven should be perfect for the UK, it has Band 20, Band 7 and Band 3 which should cover all of these providers. Although there are radio utilities out there that are good on signal strength, I haven't found one that tells me what Band I am actually using on 4G. (so if you know...)
So, no matter where you are in the world, I'm interested to know what you're connecting to... what 4G provider do you use, and more importantly, what bands are they on? This would be for the 'International' version of this phone which has the B20/B7/B3 radio. My phone actually reports it is enabled for 4G B1, B2, B3, B4, B7, B17 and B20 but I think that may reflect the different radio modules that can be installed, not the real hardware situation.
thanks in advance!!
Hello,
I am waiting my speed 7, it will be deliver in the next days. But if you want to know what frequency you use, try to disable 2 of 3 bands in engineer setting.
I am from France, we have also the 3 bands Band 20, Band 7 and Band 3 used by french operator, with the 2600 mhz.
I hope, I will give you a feedback at the end of the week.
Kind regards.
Salut! The problem is half the providers in the UK sell 4G as a 'premium' service, so it appears unless I activate some of the SIMs (for a pile of money) then I won't be able to validate the specific 4G service they communicate in 3G first and then switch only for selected customers... who have paid.
I recently loaded up the 'Three' SIM with some credit(Hutchinson telecom - maybe it would be under that brand in France) and their 4G service seems to be fine as well. Maybe not as good as EE for coverage or speed, but certainly not too bad. 'Three' use Band 20 and Band 3 and EE use Band 7 as well, so that's not very conclusive... yet! I have also been running the phone in dual SIM mode, using both at once, and it works perfectly. You have to choose which SIM to use for each service, and it will (as any Chinese phone) be unable to run 4G at once on both, so you have to choose one of them for calls, one for data, and one for texts. That does not stop you getting incoming calls,texts etc on both lines etc (just sets the default for outgoing) It is a real novelty having that... and two signal strength meters!
I like your idea of turning off the bands in engineer mode, it is not obvious to me where to do that, so if you can point me in the right direction that would be great... I'm using the engineering mode tool...
PS I hope you like the phone! Now that the software is mostly fixed, I like it a lot, you need the latest OTA update to make it usable, so do run the wireless update wizard! Maybe not top quality hardware, but much cheaper, and has a good screen, good speed, big battery and 3Gb memory ... and of course the dual SIM! (Camera, GPS are a bit suspect)...
This might help:
http://www.att.com/travelguide/coverage/coverage_details.jsp?CIDL=1308&MNC=CING
http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/GB/Great_Britain/O2/lte_23410#|coverage
Thanks... Bit out of date. The thing I am interested in knowing is how much truth is there in what the phone claims to do versus what it actually does
Sent from my ZP952 using XDA Free mobile app
Hello,
just a late feedback, but i have reached with speed test 65mb dl, 25 ul, in 4G , at frequency 2600 mhz , very well indeed.
Hey guys any help with this would be amazing. I grabbed this for really cheap the other day and thought it would be able to use ATT LTE since others have had success but no matter what it will only connect to H+ even when LTE finder finds the band I wanted. Really frusted as I thought I got the right model. There is only ONE international one right? Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks you guys. Hopefully I didn't mess up and get a wrong version or something though I can return it if I did.
I'm having the same issue, but on T-mobile! I don't know how to fix this.
danman0 said:
I'm having the same issue, but on T-mobile! I don't know how to fix this.
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What I can't understand or just not knowing is the amazon version I have does 1,3,5,8 and up but the listings on Ebay have them 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,12 etc...basically all bands which I can't seem to figure out. Is there a difference? I have the UK model which is the Worldwide model not the chinese one but are there OTHER regional differences that unlock more bands? Is there a way to manually force this if so? I figured return to amazon and then get the ebay version but that is stupid if they are incorrect and they really dont' cover 2,4,5,12 for ATT that is needed.
sting12345 said:
What I can't understand or just not knowing is the amazon version I have does 1,3,5,8 and up but the listings on Ebay have them 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,12 etc...basically all bands which I can't seem to figure out. Is there a difference? I have the UK model which is the Worldwide model not the chinese one but are there OTHER regional differences that unlock more bands? Is there a way to manually force this if so? I figured return to amazon and then get the ebay version but that is stupid if they are incorrect and they really dont' cover 2,4,5,12 for ATT that is needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I searched around today and found this. Scroll down to the connectivity part and you see that the phone supports 1 of 5 ATT LTE bands, and 0 of 5 T-Mobile LTE bands. However, I'm not sure if this information is accurate since my phone detects a neighboring band 4 LTE cell tower (which my old phone instantly connected to), but does not connect to it. Also, why is the rest of the forum quiet about this issue? Is it really just me and you that are experiencing it (or that live in the US)? I also am very confused why Huawei removed the USSD code menu option wherein you could force it to LTE. I've heard that changing something in the build.prop can force it, but you need to be rooted for that, and I've gotten bored of rooting phones lol (and the risks involved).
Luckily, for me, this isn't that big of a problem as data still works (albeit slowly), and in the beginning of September I'll be in France for at least a year. So, I made sure that this phone's bands matched up with what the carriers are on in France, so hopefully I should be fine. Otherwise, it's a sleek, awesome phone.
Honor 10 isnt made for US and US bands, even if its the global version. The bands in US are different from those in EU or Asia.
As the guy above confirmed this, the it has just one LTE compatbile band at ATT.
the one on ebay global version from Singapore is not what u think. there's a misprint on its ad. these are the actual bandwidths it supports ;
col~L29
Primary SIM card:
4G LTE TDD: B38/B40/B41
4G LTE FDD: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B19/B20
3G WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B8/B6/B19
2G GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8
Secondary SIM card:
4G LTE TDD: B38/B40/B41
4G LTE FDD: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B19/B20
3G WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B8/B6/B19
2G GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8
I want to tweak the build. prop, too, but root is required but, unfortunately, Huawei pulled that recent maneuver everyone frustrated about.
saroeum said:
the one on ebay global version from Singapore is not what u think. there's a misprint on its ad. these are the actual bandwidths it supports ;
col~L29
Primary SIM card:
4G LTE TDD: B38/B40/B41
4G LTE FDD: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B19/B20
3G WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B8/B6/B19
2G GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8
Secondary SIM card:
4G LTE TDD: B38/B40/B41
4G LTE FDD: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B19/B20
3G WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B8/B6/B19
2G GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8
I want to tweak the build. prop, too, but root is required but, unfortunately, Huawei pulled that recent maneuver everyone frustrated about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeap its a bit dead end without unlocking the bootloader. I dont know if by building and compiling original firmware from released sources and make the changes there, if it would allow you to install it.
Yes I too can pick up band 4 on LTE finder on my phone but I cannot use it, if I could then I would have fine coverage. If I go 5 miles away the other half of the city has full ATT LTE 5 coverage so I was bummed LOL when I went up there and saw full bars LTE+ LOL. Yeah the ebay guys are just putting false info then. I have my bootloader code to unlock as I have done to my V10 but not sure how that would enable the other band 4 I need. I don't have quite that much experience.
I don't know if there is something comparable to this available to be done (since Honor 10 has a Kirin and not a qualcomm), but I'm just going to leave this here for now.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/general/how-to-add-rf-lte-frequency-bands-to-t2886059
I don't know if Honor went the route of having a few more lte bands and just disabling them in software since my phone does detect band 4 lte, but can't connect to it, but what do I know.
I have the same issue on t-mobile network.
From all the research i did it looks like the US bands are software locked. P20 supports all LTE bands (including US) and it runs on the same chipset, Kirin 970. Also as few people said, they are able to see band 4 in LTE discovery (and other apps), I can see it as well, but can't connect.
As for the software to unlock lte bands, there is nothing like that for Kirin right now.
The only option for now is to find the right modem files, edit them and flash to the device. At least that's the only thing that comes to my mind.
I'm digging through source files, which were released by Huawei, whenever i have a chance, but i'm not even sure what I'm looking for.
really sucks because of all the phones I have (a lot LOL) this is by far my favorite one to use, the way the backing was slightly curved and everyting is just perfect except for that pesky LTE issue. I know they are software locked like you said but have no way of getting it unlocked. I hve picked up LTE 4 here as well but cannot use it at all. I can get full 4g LTE when I drive 5 five miles up the road LOL but only 3g+ here at my home which is the issue. Argggg.....i have about a week left before i have to return it or keep it so I'm on the fence. My honor v10 with 970 has all bands, and my P20 lite has all LTE bands too I just don't get it.
sting12345 said:
really sucks because of all the phones I have (a lot LOL) this is by far my favorite one to use, the way the backing was slightly curved and everyting is just perfect except for that pesky LTE issue. I know they are software locked like you said but have no way of getting it unlocked. I hve picked up LTE 4 here as well but cannot use it at all. I can get full 4g LTE when I drive 5 five miles up the road LOL but only 3g+ here at my home which is the issue. Argggg.....i have about a week left before i have to return it or keep it so I'm on the fence. My honor v10 with 970 has all bands, and my P20 lite has all LTE bands too I just don't get it.
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Click to collapse
This is my favorite too. I guess Huawei really just wants to push the more pricier p20's in the U.S, even though they aren't really in the U.S. market to begin with anymore. With very similar specs to the P20 pro, the honor 10 would easily take away sales from the P20. Can't stop gearbest though, lol. Anyways, the extent of my modification to an android device was decompiling a rom (I think?), editing in specific MCC/MNC values for an AT&T MVNO in a certain file, recompiling it and flashing it to get 4gLTE back, since my phone thought it was roaming. I'm assuming the software-locked band information is a lot harder to find (or fix). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that HajmeR or others manage to find what we're looking for-maybe I'll even give it a go.
The question is whether LTE bands are only locked in software on your device or whether there really is a reason in hardware (missing antennas and such) that prevents you from using your preferred bands. People seem to disagree on this topic. Some claim that hardware reasons will prevent you from changing the set of allowed bands; however,
with respect to the Honor 6X, it seems that altering the oeminfo partition (https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-6x/help/debrand-to-enable-lte-bands-indian-t3663359) can make a difference with respect to allowed LTE bands.
I have a Chinese Honor 10 (COL-AL10) which I rebranded to COL-L29 C432 by adjusting (not completely replacing) oeminfo, more precisely by carefully editing model number etc. Everything works well, but I noticed that the device does not connect to LTE band 20 towers that are in my neighborhood - even though I can connect to them when I put my sim card into a different phone. The Chinese COL-AL10 does not have band 20, so this lock or unavailability of band 20 seems to have survived the rebranding. A real COL-L29 C432 would be able to connect to band 20.
So, to investigate this further, one would have to study the oeminfo partition of a real COL-L29 C432 and investigate where information on the available LTE bands is stored - if this piece of information is hidden in the oeminfo partition. I can share the oeminfo of the COL-AL10 but have to make sure that my IMEI number cannot be extracted from it.
yeah i got my refund already from amazon and looking for a replacement, I don't like phones that are 72 mm or wider they are hard to hold, so my view 10 is tough at 75 mm..........the lg g7 is only 71 mm wide and 6.1 screen which is incredible but VERY pricey and it's LG, we know how they are on updates of ANY kind. I have the P20 lite too, which get's every single band in the USA on GSM, I don't get why the honor 10 was hampered so much because I'm not gonna buy the more expensive P20 i've used one and they are not nearly as nice feeling as the honor 10, the body is totally different not curved at all on back and feels like crap.
So the search is on, lenovo has an 845 with samsung super AMOLED on amazon for 450 with 6 gig RAM and 64 ROM and all the other bells and whistles edcept it's not glass on back which is actually like. I really really wanted the nokia 6.1 plus which is perfect in every way except once again 1,3,5, bands only LOL. So not go again. The Xiaomi A2 lite is interesting, metal back, 4000 ma battery which is insanely big, but then only 2.4 wifi and microusb LOL? 625 processor but only 200 bucks so really a good value and get's every band like the p20 lite.
mrspeccy said:
The question is whether LTE bands are only locked in software on your device or whether there really is a reason in hardware (missing antennas and such) that prevents you from using your preferred bands. People seem to disagree on this topic. Some claim that hardware reasons will prevent you from changing the set of allowed bands; however,
with respect to the Honor 6X, it seems that altering the oeminfo partition (https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-6x/help/debrand-to-enable-lte-bands-indian-t3663359) can make a difference with respect to allowed LTE bands.
I have a Chinese Honor 10 (COL-AL10) which I rebranded to COL-L29 C432 by adjusting (not completely replacing) oeminfo, more precisely by carefully editing model number etc. Everything works well, but I noticed that the device does not connect to LTE band 20 towers that are in my neighborhood - even though I can connect to them when I put my sim card into a different phone. The Chinese COL-AL10 does not have band 20, so this lock or unavailability of band 20 seems to have survived the rebranding. A real COL-L29 C432 would be able to connect to band 20.
So, to investigate this further, one would have to study the oeminfo partition of a real COL-L29 C432 and investigate where information on the available LTE bands is stored - if this piece of information is hidden in the oeminfo partition. I can share the oeminfo of the COL-AL10 but have to make sure that my IMEI number cannot be extracted from it.
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Click to collapse
I just happened to trade my Samsung Galaxy S7 to Honor 10 andit happens to be that what you're looking for. Can you help me out to help you how to get that information.
I uploaded screenshot where to check its correct build.
Hope this camera beats Galaxy S7 as thats the only reason to change phone at the first place.
banch said:
I just happened to trade my Samsung Galaxy S7 to Honor 10 andit happens to be that what you're looking for. Can you help me out to help you how to get that information.
I uploaded screenshot where to check its correct build.
Hope this camera beats Galaxy S7 as thats the only reason to change phone at the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have an unlocked bootloader? Otherwise, you cannot read out the oeminfo partition.
I'm sorry I don't have it right now. Maybe I'll root this later on then or can I lock the bootloader again?
banch said:
I'm sorry I don't have it right now. Maybe I'll root this later on then or can I lock the bootloader again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't you need to pay a third party to unlock it at this point? Or do you keep an unlock code obtained earlier from the days when huawei handled bootloader unlocking? Just wondering. I've kind of learned to suck it up at this point since I'm no longer in the US, so the band issues only affect me when traveling back. However, if there is anyone out there with an unlocked bootloader that can share the oeminfo/know how to understand it, it would be nice to finally figure out if this really is a hardware issue or a software lock.
Okay, guys, I feel like I am getting jerked around by Sonim on this one. I want a rugged cell phone. Yes, I know that I can get many different phones and put them in an Otterbox. However, with FirstNet coming, I would love to get the Sonim XP8, unlock it from its AT&T bondage, and use it on Verizon until the A Fee & Fee network is robust enough in rural areas for me to switch.
Would a Sonim XP8 work on Verizon Wireless?
https://sonimtech.com/xp8/
https://www.droid-life.com/2015/02/...sm-cdma-wcdma-lte-verizon-att-sprint-tmobile/
VERIZON CDMA 0, 1 850, 1900 2, 4, 5, 13 1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700
CARRIER NETWORK 3G BANDS 3G FREQUENCIES 4G LTE BANDS 4G LTE FREQUENCIES
VERIZON CDMA 0, 1 850, 1900 2, 4, 5, 13 1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700
The above makes it look like it would, but I just want to make sure.
Also, I did contact Sonim direct and received this response from them:
"Dear Jxx,
Thank you for contacting Sonim, the XP8 if unlocked will not work on Verizons network, The software is at the base installed locked with ATT software, if you tried uploading Verizons on the device it can brick the phone.
Thanks and Regards,
Axxxxx
Customer Experience Center Agent
Sonim Technologies, Inc.
(w): 888.858.9460"
While I suppose it is certainly possible that some software can brick a phone, all I would do is insert a Verizon SIM card. Now maybe Sonim is giving their CSRs that script, but it sounds like bull to me.
What do you guys think? Considering that this appears to have the appropriate bands/frequencies for Verizon, I suppose they don't want customers using it on Verizon until they have some sort of agreement in place with Verizon.
Someone with an unlocked Sonim XP8 tried an activate Verizon SIM card in it. It worked for data, but not voice. Then, when he disabled data, it made voice calls just fine. Can anybody offer any help on how to make it work with voice while LTE in enabled?
Sonim now sells the unlocked XP8 directly from their webpage. Expensive as hell though. Factory unlocked is nice, although rooting the damned thing is eluding me.
You can try here.
https://apn.gishan.net/en/apn/verizon/sonim-xp8
I have Tmobile so it won't help me at all.
Thanks for the tip, Phuhque. When I go here https://sonimtech.com/xp8/ I only see this:
The Details
Features
Specifications
Where to Buy
Downloads
Where to Buy
AT&T — Available now
Bell Canada — Available now
Rogers — Available now
Sasktel — Available now
SouthernLinc — Available now
Sprint — Available now
Telus — Available now
Can you post a URL where I can buy it? How much is it?
Okay, I did find it here. https://store.sonimtech.com/products/sonim-xp8-blk-nam And, yes, I agree, $ 799.99 USD is too expensive. They still list it as GSM only, too.
Thanks for the tip, Phuhque. When I go here https://sonimtech.com/xp8/ I only see this:
The Details
Features
Specifications
Where to Buy
Downloads
Where to Buy
AT&T — Available now
Bell Canada — Available now
Rogers — Available now
Sasktel — Available now
SouthernLinc — Available now
Sprint — Available now
Telus — Available now
Can you post a URL where I can buy it? How much is it?
I know that is what they said. Supposedly this phone supports a good suite of frequencies. They may have them disabled, or the hardware may be different, of that I have no answer. I purchased one and immediately put a glass screen protector on it. It feels like you are holding a brick. For my mitts, it is very comfortable. Since it is listed as an enterprise phone, support for it should go 5 years. I will be glad when someone comes out with a process for rooting it. Factory Unlock and the 3 year comprehensive warranty is awesome. Good luck with verizon.