Would the photon work on T-Mobile on edge? I lost my photon. But found it tonight. Would rather use the photon more then the nexus one.
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Photon will not work on U.S. GSM carriers yet?!
the photon will not work on any gsm network in the US, even with unlocked bootloader and custom ROM, the phone's radios block any us gsm sim card.
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How different is the Electrify from the Photon? Is it a world phone as well. Does it have the WCDMA band 2100? Would i be able to use it for GSM and 3G in India?
slightee said:
How different is the Electrify from the Photon? Is it a world phone as well. Does it have the WCDMA band 2100? Would i be able to use it for GSM and 3G in India?
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as far as i know electrify is cdma only, it doesn't support gsm networks
Actually it does have gsm
Sent from my Motorola Electrify using XDA App
Yup only difference in the photon is the wimax radio. Photon comes with sprint sim, electrify doesn't have anything preinstalled. For giggles I took my sprint sim and put it in my brothers electrify, sadly it didn't really do anything other than pop up a 'sim inserted' notification.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
From my understanding if you got a sim card from a carrier in India and put it in the phone it will work. Other than a few carrier specific things they are pretty much the same phone.
Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk
Kcarpenter said:
Yup only difference in the photon is the wimax radio. Photon comes with sprint sim, electrify doesn't have anything preinstalled. For giggles I took my sprint sim and put it in my brothers electrify, sadly it didn't really do anything other than pop up a 'sim inserted' notification.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
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So basically, its an inferior version of the Photon. Wonder why anyone would buy it? Is it substantially cheaper?
MultiDev said:
So basically, its an inferior version of the Photon. Wonder why anyone would buy it? Is it substantially cheaper?
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Its not that it's inferior. US cellular doesn't use sim cards in any of their phones son there is no need for one. Sprint uses sim cards and therefore the photon has to have one to work on their network. Put one in the electrify and activate it and it will work. Not sure of how to activate it though. Other than that and the radio differences their the same phone spec for spec.
Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk
From the android central review I think the led actually works right and some other bit of software actually works right.
And sprint does not use sim cards in the us.
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
bfd1513 said:
Its not that it's inferior. US cellular doesn't use sim cards in any of their phones son there is no need for one. Sprint uses sim cards and therefore the photon has to have one to work on their network. Put one in the electrify and activate it and it will work. Not sure of how to activate it though. Other than that and the radio differences their the same phone spec for spec.
Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk
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Sprint doesn't use SIM cards, they have SIM cards to make international roaming easier. Its a roaming agreement with another carrier so you don't have to buy a card in the country you visit and the international data and voice is just billed straight to your regular bill. Only issue with this is price, its much cheaper to buy a prepay plan where ever you go than use sprints roaming agreements. US cellular sees this fact a chooses to not offer international roaming, only offer a phone that makes it possible.
Like I said the only difference is in the wimax radio, which is useless even in 95% of the US.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Verizon and Sprint don't use simcard. Just take a evo or epic touch and you will see no simcard slot. But some phones have a simcard slot for European traveling. Att t mobile use simcards only.
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
bfd1513 said:
Its not that it's inferior. US cellular doesn't use sim cards in any of their phones son there is no need for one. Sprint uses sim cards and therefore the photon has to have one to work on their network. Put one in the electrify and activate it and it will work. Not sure of how to activate it though. Other than that and the radio differences their the same phone spec for spec.
Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk
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Sounds to me like its still inferior. I understand the SIM card is only included for convience.
But the Electrify still lacks Wimax supports making it an inferior phone. Why buy an inferior phone? Is there a big price difference?
Have bought one from ebay. Price is cheaper by about $40 to the Photon. Planning to use the phone on GSM, so lack of Wimax does not worry me.They support the WCDMA band 2100, which is the 3G band for all GSM carriers in India. 4G will take an eternity to come to India Does anyone use the Electrify on GSM over here? Does it take a long time to boot like the Photon? If so, is there a work around like for the Photon?
Thanks . . Planning to buy it in India.
Dame pbone just no 4 g and a silver metalic edging
Sent from my Motorola Electrify using XDA App
Isn't wimax obsolete anyway? Everyone supporting it dumped it and left sprint at the alter. Only a few cities got duped into building networks. My son bought a 3D a few months ago and is upset that he has no hope for any high speed support beyond 3g/ 4g or wifi in less then 5% of US, and that percentage should be shrinking not growing. Its like saying a bluray player is inferior to dual HD DVD/bluray player.
so from what im reading if i understand right even if you live in an area that has 4g for sprint with the electrify you cant use it? so the motorola photon 4g mb855 doesnt connect to 4g? or doesnt connect to sprint carrier?
spleef said:
so from what im reading if i understand right even if you live in an area that has 4g for sprint with the electrify you cant use it? so the motorola photon 4g mb855 doesnt connect to 4g? or doesnt connect to sprint carrier?
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The Electrify doesn't have a WiMax radio. It has no way to connect to any 4g signal at all. You can be saturated in 4g signal, but it wont make its 3g any faster.
The Photon is only capable of connecting to Sprint/ClearaWire WiMax 4G. No ATT or VZW LTE 4G.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
it'd be nice after US Cellular gets 4g we can get the 4g radio put in...b/c I know theres a space for it.
IBMguy said:
it'd be nice after US Cellular gets 4g we can get the 4g radio put in...b/c I know theres a space for it.
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US Cellular starts to roll out 4G early next year, By the time it gets to all USCC Markets the Electrify will be old tech and no-one will want it by then....
Seriously...
Oh I agree with you, uscc is usually slow like that.
Sent from my Motorola Electrify using XDA App
I know the us version is unlocked but is there a website or place you can get a unlocked one
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Yes, you want the Motorola ELECTRIFY.
Same hardware as the Photon, except that it's an unlocked CDMA/GSM phone (no WiMax however).
It supports: CDMA 800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900.
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/U...rvices/Mobile-Phones/MOTOROLA-ELECTRIFY-US-EN
The only carrier lock in place for the photon is on Domestic GSM (Those used for AT&T and T-Mobile) The photon is fully unlocked for international use. I believe there is also a Japanese version of the photon but I am unfamiliar with what radios it has or if there are any locks in place but it might be worth checking out if you are looking for domestic GSM unlocked.
Are you guys referring to the bootloader?
No to the domestic GSM tower lock
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Here is my issue. I am currently in the US. I might teach ESL overseas in Korea in January. I am not sure which phone to get. Will the USA one work over in Korea? Will thew international one work in the US?
It could work but Sprint has the radios locked.
Would developers be able to get them unlocked?
Buy international set
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
thegameksk said:
Would developers be able to get them unlocked?
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They propably can but the intl one supports more radio frequensies and is assembled to work worldwide so I'd buy it in any case rather than us version.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
The international one works in the US flawless... just not on all carriers... it works the best on AT&T if you want to use it in the US and get 4G(HSPA+)
You can use it on T-Mobile but you will have to settle for EDGE(2G)
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
It would work on most carriers which uses the international frequencies.
Not just AT&T for US. Works with Rogers, Fido, Telus, and Bell Mobility in Canada for instance.
YoungAceAtlanta said:
The international one works in the US flawless... just not on all carriers... it works the best on AT&T if you want to use it in the US and get 4G(HSPA+)
You can use it on T-Mobile but you will have to settle for EDGE(2G)
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
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Just a side note, HSPA+ is not 4G. It's still 3G. LTE/WiMax is 4G.
so which companies will it work with 4g/lte? Will it not work with Sprint? Anyone know any deals for the international version?
Sprint (and Verizon) is on an old CDMA network while the majority of the world is on GSM, you know, operating with a SIM card. If you're set on travelling, it's better to get any of the GSM-variant, that way, you can just pop in any sim card from any major carriers all over the world.
I currently have a photon which has a sim card slot in it. So the Galaxy s international wont work on Sprint? Damn I want to keep my SERO plan lol. So where can I get an international verison from? Also would I have to pay full price for it?
Does the photon has an active sim card in it? I'm assuming no. I've never used a dual-mode phone before (nor am I familiar with how they operate on different networks), so I dont know the ins-and-outs on how to get it activate for a GSM carrier.
Damn, now i have a headache just trying to figure out how it works to have an intl GSM phone on a network that is predominantly CDMA whom happens to offer a dual-mode phone on their network
Call sprint problem solved
Sent from my HTC Evo 4G using xda premium
Chaos Residue said:
Just a side note, HSPA+ is not 4G. It's still 3G. LTE/WiMax is 4G.
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In 2010 the International Telecommunications Union redefined 4G to include HSPA+.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2374564,00.asp
thegameksk said:
I currently have a photon which has a sim card slot in it. So the Galaxy s international wont work on Sprint? Damn I want to keep my SERO plan lol. So where can I get an international verison from? Also would I have to pay full price for it?
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Click to collapse
The SIM in the Photon is just for roaming. Sprint does not use SIM cards - even their LTE phones have them embedded rather than user-accessible.
As the Sprint Galaxy S III is not a 'global' phone - i.e. does not have both GSM/UMTS and CDMA radios - do not purchase it if you have any intention of using it outside the US. CDMA is no longer a global technology.
Confuses me a little that people spend so much on devices without checking what networks they support. Ho-hum.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Was looking into the metallic blue One unlocked for use on tmobile since there aren't any color options on my carrier.
Obviously the two carriers use different bands so I wanted to confirm if I get an unlocked one I should be ok? Also if I purchase a locked ATT One is there any special method to unlock it besides a code or will I be required to root and unlock and s off and all of that?
I am currently in an active LTE area for tmobile which has been refarmed in some areas from E to HSPA+.
Outside city is mostly E coverage anyway.
So I'll be ok with getting just LTE or E only when. Outside the city. But from my understanding the ATT model is lacking the band for any refarmed HSPA area?
Thanks for the clarification.
Sent from my XT1080 using xda app-developers app
I have a at&t HTC one on T-Mobile and works just fine and gets LTE
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Awesome thanks! Did you do anything special to unlock it or just buy it unlocked?
Sent from my XT1080 using xda app-developers app
It was unlocked, I bought it off of swappa but it is a AT&T branded phone.
FYI i just was able to load a t-mobile rom onto it.. so if you superCid it then you can load a t-mobile rom and have the wifi calling feature too .
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Nothing special to unlock, stock rom, get code, enter and insert other carrier sim, done.
Awesome thanks for the info everyone. Im really on the fence about getting one, or the Galaxy S4 Google Play edition. The camera is whats making my decision killer.
So I know this phone has CDMA, LTE, and GSM radios. My question is, does the GSM radio even functional or is it just there if you ever switch carriers to a gsm network? I thought GSM was only on At&t and verizon? I thought sprint was only CDMA?
I am confused about the GSM network. Does it mean that GSM isn't used with sprint but can be since there is a sim card?
I am only on sprint so will i ever need to worry about GSM?
IamFlynn said:
So I know this phone has CDMA, LTE, and GSM radios. My question is, does the GSM radio even functional or is it just there if you ever switch carriers to a gsm network? I thought GSM was only on At&t and verizon? I thought sprint was only CDMA?
I am confused about the GSM network. Does it mean that GSM isn't used with sprint but can be since there is a sim card?
I am only on sprint so will i ever need to worry about GSM?
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LTE is over GSM. Back when Sprint"s 4G was (the inferior to LTE) WiMax it was accomplished using CDMA. When they adopted the LTE technology phones had to be equipped for GSM either using a SIM or an embedded SIM like in the LGOG. Yes Sprint uses CDMA except for LTE. Clear as mud?
Sent from my LGLS990 using XDA Free mobile app
MikeDroid said:
LTE is over GSM. Back when Sprint"s 4G was (the inferior to LTE) WiMax it was accomplished using CDMA. When they adopted the LTE technology phones had to be equipped for GSM either using a SIM or an embedded SIM like in the LGOG. Yes Sprint uses CDMA except for LTE. Clear as mud?
Sent from my LGLS990 using XDA Free mobile app
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So CDMA is for 2g and 3g and lte is for wimax (which is no longer here) and gsm is for true LTE?
IamFlynn said:
So CDMA is for 2g and 3g and lte is for wimax (which is no longer here) and gsm is for true LTE?
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LTE and Wimax are 2 different 4G technologies. Wimax barely qualifies as 4G. But yes the GSM is part of all LTE tech. Sprint uses CDMA for everything else.
Sent from my LGLS990 using XDA Free mobile app
Thanks man, really appreciate the help!
The GSM capability also allows the phone to be used on GSM networks. Sprint will generally unlock it for use with international carriers (if you're travelling overseas, for example). And there are a few threads here on XDA that purport to tell you how to unlock it for use on domestic carriers.
meyerweb said:
The GSM capability also allows the phone to be used on GSM networks. Sprint will generally unlock it for use with international carriers (if you're travelling overseas, for example). And there are a few threads here on XDA that purport to tell you how to unlock it for use on domestic carriers.
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Still waiting for more feedback on this method which I think might be the closest to a true unlock. Using RUIM PREFERRED should allow frequent SIM swaps and back to Sprint again.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2985523
Unlock Sprint LS990 for any CDMA carrier!!!
Sent from my LGLS990 using XDA Free mobile app