[Q] Intl vs ATT version? - Galaxy S6 Edge Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I live in the California AT&T service area. I have been trying to find out the 4G and LTE bands on the intl and ATT Versions. If I buy the intl version will it be compatible with AT&T LTE bands? Ideally I would like to buy the intl version so that I can get the OS updates when Samsung releases them without waiting the extra time for AT&T to release the upgrade. I also dont want the AT&T bloatware.

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gravyplaya said:
I live in the California AT&T service area. I have been trying to find out the 4G and LTE bands on the intl and ATT Versions. If I buy the intl version will it be compatible with AT&T LTE bands? Ideally I would like to buy the intl version so that I can get the OS updates when Samsung releases them without waiting the extra time for AT&T to release the upgrade. I also dont want the AT&T bloatware.
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International variant, as long as it supports the LTE bands. I even converted my M8 into Developer Edition because I disliked the bloatware from AT&T and because OTAS take soooo long to appear with AT&T branded devices.

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Does anyone know if the intl version supports att lte?
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

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I'm thinking about doing the same thing and buying the international variant. I have a Moto X Pure Edition, and I love not having carrier bloatware.
Sent from my ATRIX HD using XDA Free mobile app

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Does anyone know whether the radios for AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and international version are different, such as with the LG G3? Normally gsmarena has info on the frequencies, but nothing is on there yet. Thanks

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The unlocked international version supports the following AT&T LTE frequency/bands:
850/5
1900/2
The following are all of AT&T frequency/bands:
700/12,17
850/5
1700,2100/4
1900/2
I do not know if the model specific and locked to ATT supports all of their bands or remains identical to the international unlocked version. I do know different bands can be activated via firm ware update, like Moto did with the 2nd gen Moto X. The pure edition got updated to support all of ATT bands instead of just a couple.

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From the T-mobile website for the Galaxy S6 Edge:
Quad Band GSM;
LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 17;
UMTS: Band I (2100), Band II (1900), Band IV (1700/2100), Band V (850), Band VIII (900)
From the AT&T site for the Galaxy S6 Edge:
4G-LTE Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 29 and 30
3G - UMTS 850/1900/2100MHz
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz
So the AT&T version seems to cover more bases in terms of LTE coverage e.g. for those wanting LTE coverage in the UK too, the T-mobile version will work on 3 (3) and EE (3 and 7), whereas the AT&T version will work on 3 (3), EE (3 and 7), O2 (20) and Vodafone (20) [LTE bands shown in brackets]

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holtenc said:
The unlocked international version supports the following AT&T LTE frequency/bands:
850/5
1900/2
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Hey, do you have any link to the specs for the Unlocked International model? Cant find one myself!
Thanks
Pito

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Where does one even order an international variant? I cannot find one anywhere?

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Pure+ said:
Where does one even order an international variant? I cannot find one anywhere?
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http://www.clove.co.uk/
http://www.expansys.com/
Typically from UK but there are from other places too.
Pito

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thanks, but i need to buy in US

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Pure+ said:
thanks, but i need to buy in US
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You can buy from
http://www.expansys-usa.com/
The International Unlocked version is a UK version that is Sim Unlocked and not attached to any carrier (no bloat and no carrier branding). You can't buy a US version unlocked anywhere in the US. Even the stores in the US that sell unlocked International versions are selling the UK one.
Pito

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mp2ning said:
Hey, do you have any link to the specs for the Unlocked International model? Cant find one myself!
Thanks
Pito
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http://www.mobicity.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-32gb-4g-lte.html#.VRm74_nF-LE
click the specs tab

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Final official answer
I just called an ATT tech and he told me that while I could get the UK/intl version IT WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH ATT LTE. BUT since not all the bands are supported the intl version will have limited LTE coverage in the US.
For example the intl version only supports 2 of the 4 bands in the US. (Bands 2 and 5, when bands 2, 4, 5, 17 are available). So if the towers near your house are only using bands 2 and 4 you'll get less coverage/signal as if the towers near your house supported more bands.

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What? T-Mobile version doesn't support band 12 LTE?

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gravyplaya said:
I just called an ATT tech and he told me that while I could get the UK/intl version IT WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH ATT LTE. BUT since not all the bands are supported the intl version will have limited LTE coverage in the US.
For example the intl version only supports 2 of the 4 bands in the US. (Bands 2 and 5, when bands 2, 4, 5, 17 are available). So if the towers near your house are only using bands 2 and 4 you'll get less coverage/signal as if the towers near your house supported more bands.
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Hmmm... That's interesting because looking at the "Tech Specs" section for the Galaxy S6, as listed for ordering directly from Samsung in the UK, the Galaxy S6 appears to have support for all of the LTE and UMTS bands that are used by AT&T, here in the States:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphones/android/SM-G920FZKABTU
This info is listed on the above link for the Galaxy S6 (model SM-G920F), but (oddly) not for the Edge (SM-G925F) model. It shows the following bands as being supported:
2G GSM
GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G UMTS
B1(2100), B2(1900), B5(850), B8(900)
4G FDD LTE
B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(AWS), B5(850), B7(2600), B8(900), B12(700), B17(700), B18(800), B19(800), B20(800), B26(800)
Unless there's something different about these bands due to the preceding "B" designation before the band number, it looks like the UK version should support LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 17, which is what AT&T are supposed to be using here in the States...
Not sure why Samsung doesn't list the "Tech Specs" on this site for the Edge model, but I would presume and hope they are identical to the Galaxy S6 SM-G920F model they list on their UK site.
Anyone have further details or insight into this? Hopefully I'm not misreading something and spreading erroneous info here!

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mp2ning said:
Hey, do you have any link to the specs for the Unlocked International model? Cant find one myself!
Thanks
Pito
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Here is a link to Samsung UK and the specs for the international S6 version SM-G920F.

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gravyplaya said:
I just called an ATT tech and he told me that while I could get the UK/intl version IT WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH ATT LTE. BUT since not all the bands are supported the intl version will have limited LTE coverage in the US.
For example the intl version only supports 2 of the 4 bands in the US. (Bands 2 and 5, when bands 2, 4, 5, 17 are available). So if the towers near your house are only using bands 2 and 4 you'll get less coverage/signal as if the towers near your house supported more bands.
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That doesn't sound right based on what I've read. This page says what AT&T uses:
"AT&T 4G HSPA and HSPA+ use 850Mhz(Band 5) and 1900Mhz(Band 2) bands but it all depends on area if they own a license. LTE uses Band 17(700Mhz), Band 5(850Mhz), Band 2(1900Mhz), Band 4(1700/2100Mhz) currently"
Then according to this page the SM-G920F version in the UK does support LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 17. This page (pdadb.net) here seems to show that the SM-G920I also supports those LTE bands. Then in comments on Android Central this page gravage says he owns a G920I and it works without a hitch.
Thoughts? I'm looking into getting the international version as well so I can avoid AT&T's crap.

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sbrown23 said:
That doesn't sound right based on what I've read. This page says what AT&T uses:
"AT&T 4G HSPA and HSPA+ use 850Mhz(Band 5) and 1900Mhz(Band 2) bands but it all depends on area if they own a license. LTE uses Band 17(700Mhz), Band 5(850Mhz), Band 2(1900Mhz), Band 4(1700/2100Mhz) currently"
Then according to this page the SM-G920F version in the UK does support LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 17. This page (pdadb.net) here seems to show that the SM-G920I also supports those LTE bands. Then in comments on Android Central this page gravage says he owns a G920I and it works without a hitch.
Thoughts? I'm looking into getting the international version as well so I can avoid AT&T's crap.
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I live in Mexico but AT&T's variant is the American version with most compatibility in both Mexico & US so I decided to buy that one and just converted it to Developer Edition. So now I have full connectivity without AT&T bloatware and quick OTAs. Hope it helps.