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Hello everyone,
I've been an android user for a year and a half now, but after getting a grip of a WP device I am surely making the switch, and the Titan has caught my eyes from the first sight!
I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice regarding where to get the phone from and what version should I get?
I live in the Middle-East and the phone is currently unavailable here but I want to get it from the internet, there are many versions of the Titan and I am not quite sure which one should I buy!
Here are the options I got and I don't know which one I should go with:
1- The AT&T version: I've read that the AT&T version had some problems regarding voice quality but its the cheapest among them all (around 500$ and I need to unlock it of course).
2- The international version -don't know what's it called really- factory unlocked on amazon for 675$.
3- The UK version on ebay for 600$, factory unlocked.
Considering the fact that I am kinda a noob regarding these stuff, I would like to hear your suggestions, what difference is there between all these three and what should I get for someone living on the other side of the world, also would like to know what the UK version differs from the others.
and is there a chance that the phone won't work with my carrier, what info should I ask them for and check before buying the device ?
thanks a lot for your time, any help is much appreciated
ATT is slow to release updates so I would recommend an international unlocked. You are gonna love the big screen and all the iPhones will be jealous saying it's too big. That's when I set my titan on top of theirs and say Iphone? I see no stinkin iPhone
Sent from my PI39100 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
ROCOAFZ said:
ATT is slow to release updates so I would recommend an international unlocked. You are gonna love the big screen and all the iPhones will be jealous saying it's too big. That's when I set my titan on top of theirs and say Iphone? I see no stinkin iPhone
Sent from my PI39100 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
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Click to collapse
I see, so that is a disadvantage for the AT&T version.
Umm, ok what about the UK version, what's wrong with it more like what is the difference between it and the international one?
ROCOAFZ said:
ATT is slow to release updates so I would recommend an international unlocked. You are gonna love the big screen and all the iPhones will be jealous saying it's too big. That's when I set my titan on top of theirs and say Iphone? I see no stinkin iPhone
Sent from my PI39100 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
had an iclone user pick mine up the other day and pretend it was a riot shield. "it's just sooooo big!" wait until the iclone 5 has a bigger screen, suddenly this form factor will become "magical." &^%$ers!
The AT&T one will *never* tether on any network other than AT&T. Not sure about the UK one.
You might want to investigate whether the int'l unlocked one can.
If it were me I'd get the int'l unlocked one, *unless* I specifically needed a UMTS band that that one does not offer.
tai4de2 said:
The AT&T one will *never* tether on any network other than AT&T. Not sure about the UK one.
You might want to investigate whether the int'l unlocked one can.
If it were me I'd get the int'l unlocked one, *unless* I specifically needed a UMTS band that that one does not offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UK unlocked here - tethers with everything!
drupad2drupad said:
UK unlocked here - tethers with everything!
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Click to collapse
since you own the UK version, may I ask you what differ is there between it and the international version ? (the UK version is cheaper by 75$) but I don't know if it'll work as I live in the middle-east and I don't know what to ask my carrier for to know?
thanks
I am not entirely sure about international version. But I think it probably not much difference hardware wise for sure. Since certain features of OS are limited to certain countries ir might be the case. E.g. Bing features, tell me services etc. It might be helpful if I say that even in UK version the radio is set to International.
Sent from my TITAN X310e using Board Express
drupad2drupad said:
I am not entirely sure about international version. But I think it probably not much difference hardware wise for sure. Since certain features of OS are limited to certain countries ir might be the case. E.g. Bing features, tell me services etc. It might be helpful if I say that even in UK version the radio is set to International.
Sent from my TITAN X310e using Board Express
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Click to collapse
ok that's great to know, features like Tell Me and others aren't that important to me and honestly it'll help me get a British accent, hehe
but the most important thing that there isn't any big changes, stuff like the market won't work or these kind of things, right?
thanks for your help
black_falcon90 said:
ok that's great to know, features like Tell Me and others aren't that important to me and honestly it'll help me get a British accent, hehe
but the most important thing that there isn't any big changes, stuff like the market won't work or these kind of things, right?
thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do a search though. In some countries Market won't have certain apps. The market ideally should work in all countries but some have lesser apps than others e.g. we don't have the Netflix app in the UK. Check out what Market looks like for your specific country. Unlikely you will have all the apps. It's more to do with MS sorting out the legalities etc for each country gradually..
iFan has their own bias, so i won't talk about it here.
AT&T Version always slow in the Update since AT&T have to test it and do whatever they want to the update before it can be published.
I have the X310e version from UK, unlocked and totally happy with it.
And with the international version, you have the "HTC" agent color, which is removed on the AT&T Titan.
Strike_Eagle said:
iFan has their own bias, so i won't talk about it here.
AT&T Version always slow in the Update since AT&T have to test it and do whatever they want to the update before it can be published.
I have the X310e version from UK, unlocked and totally happy with it.
And with the international version, you have the "HTC" agent color, which is removed on the AT&T Titan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC agent colour is also present in the UK version. So does this mean only the ATT doesn't have it? or is UK and international one the same thing?
The Apps in the market will be dependent on the Country given in your Live-Account. This can't be changed afterwards, so if you use an US-Account and someday Microsoft extends their Market to your country you're either stuck with the US Account (don't know if it will accept a Non-US-Creditcard - it doesn't accept european cards for US-Accounts as far as I remember) or you lose the Apps which are bound onto your US-Account and create a new one.
So those things will most likely have to be sorted out firt. The HTC-Titan as far as I know supports the same 3G Bands in all it's variants which makes it usable on pretty much any UMTS Network worldwide with only a few exceptions. The exact supported bands can be seen on the HTC Titans product page on htc.com
The UK version as far as I know is hardwarewise exactly the same as the international one, only difference might be in what UI languages are available (all keyboard languages are present since the Mango Update anyway although Middle-Eastern-Language support is currently expected to arrive with the Tango-Update - meaning it's not available yet).
Hope this helps and provides you with a rough idea of what troubles can arise.
StevieBallz said:
The HTC-Titan as far as I know supports the same 3G Bands in all it's variants
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Click to collapse
The USA version is 850/1900/2100.
The UK version is 850/900/2100. The international version is probably the same as that one, but not sure.
The OP probably only needs 2100, so any of them will probably be just fine.
Now if we could only get a variant with AWS...
drupad2drupad said:
HTC agent colour is also present in the UK version. So does this mean only the ATT doesn't have it? or is UK and international one the same thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T has a choice what to do with the ROM for their Phone. and they choose to remove the Agent Color HTC. I have heard it from multiple sources.
All others versions has the HTC Agent color.
StevieBallz said:
The Apps in the market will be dependent on the Country given in your Live-Account. This can't be changed afterwards, so if you use an US-Account and someday Microsoft extends their Market to your country you're either stuck with the US Account (don't know if it will accept a Non-US-Creditcard - it doesn't accept european cards for US-Accounts as far as I remember) or you lose the Apps which are bound onto your US-Account and create a new one.
So those things will most likely have to be sorted out firt. The HTC-Titan as far as I know supports the same 3G Bands in all it's variants which makes it usable on pretty much any UMTS Network worldwide with only a few exceptions. The exact supported bands can be seen on the HTC Titans product page on htc.com
The UK version as far as I know is hardwarewise exactly the same as the international one, only difference might be in what UI languages are available (all keyboard languages are present since the Mango Update anyway although Middle-Eastern-Language support is currently expected to arrive with the Tango-Update - meaning it's not available yet).
Hope this helps and provides you with a rough idea of what troubles can arise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay , let's say I get the UK unlocked version and use it in my country "Jordan" , I don't know where I read it , but as it seems every phone is region locked , and if I get a UK phone for instance I won't be able to get an update to my language for example (which is Arabic) .. is that correct ?
I don't know, its safer to get the international version even tho it's a 100 bucks more expensive , but I thought about asking you guys cause I don't know a lot about these stuff.
Thanks
StevieBallz said:
This can't be changed afterwards, so if you use an US-Account and someday Microsoft extends their Market to your country you're either stuck with the US Account (don't know if it will accept a Non-US-Creditcard - it doesn't accept european cards for US-Accounts as far as I remember) or you lose the Apps which are bound onto your US-Account and create a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed the country my live account was associated with. It's a bit hard but you can do it. There is a how-to online if you search for it.
Hey guys
I just bought the international version of the note N7000 a month ago and now they are available here in Toronto. Rogers and Bell has them and they seem to be the AT&T i717 version. I went to purchase the Flip Cover for the note but the AT&T cover does not fit the international one. So in order to do so I was planning on selling my International Version to get the Bell version.
Anyone got any suggestions or comments in the difference between N7000 and i717? Also can i unlock the phone to use another sim card?
or if someone has the international cover black and lives close to markham,toronto msg me too!
You should be able to find a flip cover for the international fairly easy online.
However, there are pros and cons to either version. The main differences are:
International has the Exynos processor, i717 has the Snapdragon. Either processor is adequate, however people seem to have more love for the Exynos.
International will recieve ICS sooner, as it is scheduled to be released within a month I'm pretty sure. Hoever, the i717 will receive it this year most likely, and being as you are in Canada, your i717 will likely receive it before the US version.
i717 has LTE, international only has HSPA+. However, if you are going to unlock it for another carrier, it is unlikely that you will be able to use LTE on the i717. Also, if you are not in an LTE area, it doesn't make any difference until your area has LTE.
You cannot use international ROMs on the i717, and vice versa. The i717 will still have a great community once things ramp up though, so you will likely be happy ether way.
If you choose the i717, you will have warranty through your carrier.
Either way, both phones are great, but you will be able to get the subsidized pricing on the i717 through your carrier with an upgrade, so it will be slightly cheaper, though you will be locked into a new plan.
From what I have heard, there is various success with which carriers you can use your device on if you carrier unlock it. Best to do some research into which other phone service you are wanting to use, just to make sure it is possible before buying. I suggest contacting the other carrier and asking if they will support the unlocked i717.
FM Radio not enabled on North American i717 version:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1521016
Wait.. you want to switch phones because you can't use the flip cover on your version..?
joshnichols189 said:
Wait.. you want to switch phones because you can't use the flip cover on your version..?
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Click to collapse
Right lol!!
To each his own
Sent from a rock on fire in the middle of the sea
I had the i717 and sold it and bought an N7000. LTE in Vancouver is so hit or miss that it wasn't worth having the phone set on searching for LTE and wasting battery when it wasn't available. For me, HSPA is fine in terms of data speed, and the bigger dev community was the icing on the cake. They're both excellent devices, but the N7000 satisfied my needs more than the i717.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
International devices will always be better than the US version. Because it has to go through the hands of AT$T first before it reaches the consumer. Only advantage the AT$T Note has is LTE.
My opinion, yes. Hands on experience, yes too.
Edit: Perfect example, since there so much talk about it.
International version: http://www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one-x/#specs
AT$T version: http://www.htc.com/us/products/htconex-att#tech-specs
Xstop said:
International devices will always be better than the US version. Because it has to go through the hands of AT$T first before it reaches the consumer. Only advantage the AT$T Note has is LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which yields the capability to run with an AWS provider like Wind Mobile Canada.
If I were the OP i'd be selling it too, since the i717 has much more potential now that AWS 1700 can be flashed on demand
while the international version can only do NAM bands
so the switching the phone due the cover thing... that's a ver weak excuse
it's so cheap and easy to find international note covers or accessories on ebay with free shipping or even any of the local shops in the malls
Xstop said:
International devices will always be better than the US version. Because it has to go through the hands of AT$T first before it reaches the consumer. Only advantage the AT$T Note has is LTE.
My opinion, yes. Hands on experience, yes too.
Edit: Perfect example, since there so much talk about it.
International version: http://www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one-x/#specs
AT$T version: http://www.htc.com/us/products/htconex-att#tech-specs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could be wrong, but the International version doesn't have NFC built in at all, while the AT&T version has it, just disabled. So there's that as another advantage. BTW, love the redirection.
Dacian said:
I could be wrong, but the International version doesn't have NFC built in at all, while the AT&T version has it, just disabled. So there's that as another advantage. BTW, love the redirection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Advantage? AT&T disabled it. How is that an advantage? Is yours enabled? Why cripple the phone when it is clearly capable of doing it.
Edit: Not trying to start anything, but my point is that ATT tends to cripple the phone one way or another. Yes you have NFC, but why disable it? If the phone came with it, don't prevent the end user to use it. Or at least give you the option to enable or disable it. It's your phone.
When I first got the Galaxy S Captivate, I was wondering how to turn on the front facing camera. But it's just two holes that looks cool there
Xstop said:
Advantage? AT&T disabled it. How is that an advantage? Is yours enabled? Why cripple the phone when it is clearly capable of doing it.
Edit: Not trying to start anything, but my point is that ATT tends to cripple the phone one way or another. Yes you have NFC, but why disable it? If the phone came with it, don't prevent the end user to use it. Or at least give you the option to enable or disable it. It's your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it can be enabled. Have fun with that on the international version.
johnus said:
Because it can be enabled. Have fun with that on the international version.
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Click to collapse
Yea, huge deal breaker. And NFC is so much fun.
BTW, I have both. So don't know why you guys are getting so defensive. I'm just saying... Which is an opinion from my experience.
It already has been...the mod with the .xml files for the I717 already available and working!
No NFC is moot.
Sent from a phone suffering from an identity crisis!
erad1 said:
It already has been...the mood to enable the.xml files is already available!
Sent from a phone suffering from an identity crisis!
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Click to collapse
Yes but I have no reason to enable it. It's not a deal breaker for me like I said, I'm just saying ATT shouldn't of disable it in the first place.
You guys need to relax. So quick to defend.
Xstop said:
Yes but I have no reason to enable it. It's not a deal breaker for me like I said, I'm just saying ATT shouldn't of disable it in the first place.
You guys need to relax. So quick to defend.
Click to expand...
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I totally agree...just wanted to share about the mod for those who didn't already know about it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
nfc is something i dont really care bout. same with lte..
And atm the dont really care to root etc.
So those 3 things are what made me sell my att note, and get the int note.
int for me
better battery life
home button
no lag
everyone is diff and has diff tastes and needs..but that doesnt mean one note is better than the other. lol
spiritcrusher33 said:
nfc is something i dont really care bout. same with lte..
And atm the dont really care to root etc.
So those 3 things are what made me sell my att note, and get the int note.
int for me
better battery life
home button
no lag
everyone is diff and has diff tastes and needs..but that doesnt mean one note is better than the other. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what haven't you heard the news? now that the at&t note can do tmobile fast data which covers 1000 people or so haha
now the at&t note is the bestest!!
who cares people...buy phone+play with phone=happy
First off, it's great to see so many familiar faces here in the Note section. I am wanting to upgrade from my Telus Desire HD to a Samsung Note. I am on ATT here in the USA, although I prefer non-ATT phones for personal reasons. I prefer rooted unbranded stock ROMs. Are there any advantages or disadvantages between the Telus, Rogers, and Bell versions? If my understanding is correct, the Bell version comes unbranded and sim unlocked? Any advice before I take the plunge?
Agoattamer said:
First off, it's great to see so many familiar faces here in the Note section. I am wanting to upgrade from my Telus Desire HD to a Samsung Note. I am on ATT here in the USA, although I prefer non-ATT phones for personal reasons. I prefer rooted unbranded stock ROMs. Are there any advantages or disadvantages between the Telus, Rogers, and Bell versions? If my understanding is correct, the Bell version comes unbranded and sim unlocked? Any advice before I take the plunge?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Bell version is full of bloatware and sim-locked. I don't think there's any difference between each version of the device exept maybe the bloatwares and the modem.
Thanks for the reply. I have been doing some heavy searching and have been getting mixed results. One person says Bell has no carrier branding and another claims Telus while another claims Rogers. I would like to keep the options available on the Canadian ROM versions. I don't see any rooted unbranded Canadian carrier ROMs on XDA and would like the easiest approach while I get used to Samsung.
DaGr8 is a well know developers on the GNote and he owns the i717R (Rogers). As far as I know, right now he's working on a i717 (AT&T) leak of ics with this device and I also flashed the leak without any trouble. Every LTE Galaxy Note seems to share the same specs, so don't worry about that.
I use my i717R on Fido (Rogers sub-brand) and I didn't had to sim-unlock it even if Fido don't sell this phone. Still, I've been told that the phone is still locked to Rogers network.
Also Rogers and AT&T share nearly the same network technologies since the beginning, yes Rogers just like AT&T were the first to have the iPhone in Canada. That's something to concider.
Hi Agoattamer. I know you from the Inspire\HD threads. I too am making the change to Note. I was simply planning on getting the ATT version just because it was the cheapest way to go. Now your post is making me wonder if I should consider other options. I can't really offer a lot of info to answer your question of which way to go. Just wanted to say hi. (We are both fellow Pennsylvanians, too.)
Rooted is easy, as I am sure you know.
Unbranded, stock ROMs is also not an issue. There are several ROMs already in the Dev thread and more are coming all the time. Most, if not all, seem to be ICS so I hope that is to your liking.
As of now unlocking is going to cost you. Only the paid services option is available, so far. I saw an option that unlocks other Samsung phones but so far I haven't been able to get anyone to try it for me so it is one of the things I plan to do once I get my new Note.
Get the AT&T version
Get the AT&T version I'm trying to get WildChild to this also but he really likrs HTC
Don't want the ATT version.
Actually we are from the same town kimtyson. I don't want to give up my dumbphone unlimited plan. Not sure if we will get LTE here in the next 2 years. And the money I will save by paying $10 a month for trully unlimited internet will overshadow the around $500 price tag.nd won't be stuck in a 2 year contract in case something great does come up. I am guessing I can get any of the three to suit my needs.
Maybe I am blind but I haven't seen any stock unbranded and bloatfree ROMs available. Do they exist?
Ordered a Roger's version. Can't wait to play with it.
I'm trying to decide what model to buy. I'm not from US and I'll not use my cellphone there.
I've noticed that there are plenty of US variants. Since I'm not used to all of these, can somebody tell me what is the support for these variants out of US? I mean, OS Updates, Custom ROMs and even parts.
I'll take a GS2 to my country (Brazil) and I don't want to get there and find out that I'm stuck with a nice phone but that will not work properly, will not have updates and will not have parts for it, including nobody wanting to buy it as well.
Thanks for your advise.
gsmarena for differences
Ok, Atfish, let me add something to my first post: I ALREADY checked Gsmarena for all variants, even Wiki for that. I'm not asking about hardware specifics, I'm talking about personal experience, ROM update, parts, etc. As I said, I'm planning on buying one when I arrive in USA, but don't know what could be the problems faced after I leave the country with a US variant (band problem already checked as well).
I know that Cianogen supports AT&T, for example, but none of the others. So, accordingly to knowledge AT&T is the closest thing to the standard I9100, but it doesn't mean that I'll be able to have all the privileges of a I9100. I'm looking for the closest thing to the I9100 that I can buy, since all US variants are always 30-50% cheaper than the International version.
Thanks, though.
Get the I9100. Plenty of custom firmware. Most common variant. Should work with most networks in most parts of the world.
Parts ? What have parts got to do with anything ? Your phone breaks or doesn't work, you send it in to Samsung/an authorised repairer for warranty service or take it to a mobile repair shop if it's out of warranty.
Why would you even consider a US variant? The one for Sprint is designed for CDMA networks, and probably won't even work for any of the carriers in Brazil, and the ATT and T-mobile USA variants will both have a bunch of branding. And the T-mobile USA variant uses slightly different frequencies than the ATT one, so you would have to do your due diligence with researching which one would work with your carrier. An un-branded i9100 is your best bet.
MistahBungle said:
Get the I9100. Plenty of custom firmware. Most common variant. Should work with most networks in most parts of the world.
Parts ? What have parts got to do with anything ? Your phone breaks or doesn't work, you send it in to Samsung/an authorised repairer for warranty service or take it to a mobile repair shop if it's out of warranty.
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Click to collapse
Mistah, you think it's not worth pay a little bit less for any of the US variants? I prefer to get the I9100, but the other are always cheaper.
Parts. Remember, I'll be outside of US, so get support for a US variant out of US could be very tricky.
ctomgee, thanks. I'm start to think that paying less now could cost me a lot more in the future.
I can't comment on that, because I don't own one of the US variants. What I do know is the I9100 is the 'most common' variant & it's easy to get help with it on places like XDA & there is plenty of custom firmware & mods for it.
We have a number of Brazilian members here on XDA who have the I9100, which suggests it works well with the networks in that country, and I'd be surprised if you didn't have repairers in the major cities at least who couldn't easily repair an I9100.
Up to you whether you want to get a cheaper US variant. Maybe ask on the specific boards on XDA devoted to those phones to get an idea from people who actually own those phones ?
hknoener said:
Mistah, you think it's not worth pay a little bit less for any of the US variants? I prefer to get the I9100, but the other are always cheaper.
Parts. Remember, I'll be outside of US, so get support for a US variant out of US could be very tricky.
ctomgee, thanks. I'm start to think that paying less now could cost me a lot more in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
I can't comment on that, because I don't own one of the US variants. What I do know is the I9100 is the 'most common' variant & it's easy to get help with it on places like XDA & there is plenty of custom firmware & mods for it.
We have a number of Brazilian members here on XDA who have the I9100, which suggests it works well with the networks in that country, and I'd be surprised if you didn't have repairers in the major cities at least who couldn't easily repair an I9100.
Up to you whether you want to get a cheaper US variant. Maybe ask on the specific boards on XDA devoted to those phones to get an idea from people who actually own those phones ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came here just to check the general idea of I9100 owners. Sometimes there are things pretty obvious about some variants that I, as a totally new user to Android, have no idea.
I used a lot XDA during my Windows Mobile experience, tested several different ROMs and tools, but since 3-4 years ago I don't have any phone that actually requires my visit here (Blackberry, in that case). So I've dug up a bit to know more about the different versions in order to know where I was going into. But I couldn't decide without coming here and checking with the XDA community, since I'll use for sure the ROMs and Tools available here on this phone.
With the answers that I've got so far it's pretty clear that it would be a mistake to buy a variant, specially not being a US resident.
Thanks, again, for your help.
better to ask that in att forum as we are not using the variants.....
plus i dont know where you get that impression that us variants are cheaper....!
they are not see the full price not contract price
atifsh said:
better to ask that in att forum as we are not using the variants.....
plus i dont know where you get that impression that us variants are cheaper....!
they are not see the full price not contract price
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where? eBay, Craiglist, Amazon... I'm not talking about phone with contract here, just carrier branded. A lot of times they are unlocked, but still branded.
I think I already bothered too much here, don't know if I want to annoy people there asking silly questions.
hknoener said:
Where? eBay, Craiglist, Amazon... I'm not talking about phone with contract here, just carrier branded. A lot of times they are unlocked, but still branded.
I think I already bothered too much here, don't know if I want to annoy people there asking silly questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a silly question at all.
From what I know, the ATT 3G one is closest to i9100 international. These phones are lightweight and have better screen (better clarity and contrast, not much though) than the 4.5 inch variants like Tmobile.
Tmobile has 4G and there are still a decent selection of roms.
sieudaochich said:
This is not a silly question at all.
From what I know, the ATT 3G one is closest to i9100 international. These phones are lightweight and have better screen (better clarity and contrast, not much though) than the 4.5 inch variants like Tmobile.
Tmobile has 4G and there are still a decent selection of roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your info!
I've noticed, when looking for a Windows Phone for my wife, that the AT&T version could be normally used in Brazil. The frequencies are basically the same.
From what I have found out the AT&T version was the closest one, just wanted to have a confirmation. Thanks for that.
My 21 month old VS985 crapped out 4 days ago. I believe it's an issue with the digitizer. The screen just stopped turning on altogether. When I tried it out again the next day, I discovered that sometimes when I let it sit for a while and cool down, I'll be able to turn the screen on for 10 - 60 seconds. After that, the screen freezes and slowly glitches/fades out. But it's only able to turn on sometimes. Sometimes the screen just won't do anything at all. That's the only thing wrong with it though, I've been able to use it with TeamViewer or by casting my screen to my TV.
(Any advice for replacing the digitizer will be very appreciated, even though that's not the point of this thread. Has anybody here done it? Is it necessary to remove the screen, or can I replace the entire screen/digitizer assembly? I tried to replace the broken screen of my Galaxy S3 a few years back and it was a complete disaster, because after I spent several minutes trying to heat up the glue with a hair-dryer and pry the screen off, I ended up just making the entire screen shatter much more into a billion little shards. All of which obviously destroyed the digitizer as well. Sigh.)
...
Anyway, none of that is the point of this thread. To replace the phone, I bought another LG G3 on ebay. It was listed a brand new, factory unlocked black 32GB VS985 for $175. The seller has 99.9% positive feedback (3 negative points out of 2,827) and the phone did indeed come sealed in the factory OEM box, with all of the accessories and everything. It's definitely brand new.
However, before I give the seller feedback, I want to make sure the phone is actually factory unlocked. Because if it's not, I will likely contact the seller and request a partial refund for a portion of my money on account of the item not being exactly as described.
The description of the listing says, "Brand New LG G3 Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone Factory Unlocked" and further down it also says, "ESN's Are Clear and Can Be Activated on Your Verizon Line, They Are Also GSM Unlocked to Use With AT&T, Cricket, Straight Talk, Metro Pcs, and More."
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "factory unlocked" mean the device will work on all the major US carriers? Or does it mean it will only work on the carriers who share the same bands that are built into the LG G3? I don't know much about the technical side of this subject at all, so a little advice/correction would be really nice from you guys. It'll be a bit disappointing if the phone doesn't work with Sprint or T-Mobile, etc, but I'll live. I just want to make sure the seller described the item accurately before I leave him (otherwise well-deserved) positive feedback.
Thanks for reading!
harry_seaward said:
My 21 month old VS985 crapped out 4 days ago. I believe it's an issue with the digitizer. The screen just stopped turning on altogether. When I tried it out again the next day, I discovered that sometimes when I let it sit for a while and cool down, I'll be able to turn the screen on for 10 - 60 seconds. After that, the screen freezes and slowly glitches/fades out. But it's only able to turn on sometimes. Sometimes the screen just won't do anything at all. That's the only thing wrong with it though, I've been able to use it with TeamViewer or by casting my screen to my TV.
(Any advice for replacing the digitizer will be very appreciated, even though that's not the point of this thread. Has anybody here done it? Is it necessary to remove the screen, or can I replace the entire screen/digitizer assembly? I tried to replace the broken screen of my Galaxy S3 a few years back and it was a complete disaster, because after I spent several minutes trying to heat up the glue with a hair-dryer and pry the screen off, I ended up just making the entire screen shatter much more into a billion little shards. All of which obviously destroyed the digitizer as well. Sigh.)
...
Anyway, none of that is the point of this thread. To replace the phone, I bought another LG G3 on ebay. It was listed a brand new, factory unlocked black 32GB VS985 for $175. The seller has 99.9% positive feedback (3 negative points out of 2,827) and the phone did indeed come sealed in the factory OEM box, with all of the accessories and everything. It's definitely brand new.
However, before I give the seller feedback, I want to make sure the phone is actually factory unlocked. Because if it's not, I will likely contact the seller and request a partial refund for a portion of my money on account of the item not being exactly as described.
The description of the listing says, "Brand New LG G3 Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone Factory Unlocked" and further down it also says, "ESN's Are Clear and Can Be Activated on Your Verizon Line, They Are Also GSM Unlocked to Use With AT&T, Cricket, Straight Talk, Metro Pcs, and More."
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "factory unlocked" mean the device will work on all the major US carriers? Or does it mean it will only work on the carriers who share the same bands that are built into the LG G3? I don't know much about the technical side of this subject at all, so a little advice/correction would be really nice from you guys. It'll be a bit disappointing if the phone doesn't work with Sprint or T-Mobile, etc, but I'll live. I just want to make sure the seller described the item accurately before I leave him (otherwise well-deserved) positive feedback.
Thanks for reading!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds fishy to me. As far as I know, the VS985 is Verizon only. But, I could be wrong. Just not sure it's a legit offer. But that's just my personal opinion. Someone might have a more educated answer on this, but for me, I would have avoided it.
harry_seaward said:
Anyway, none of that is the point of this thread. To replace the phone, I bought another LG G3 on ebay. It was listed a brand new, factory unlocked black 32GB VS985 for $175. The seller has 99.9% positive feedback (3 negative points out of 2,827) and the phone did indeed come sealed in the factory OEM box, with all of the accessories and everything. It's definitely brand new.
However, before I give the seller feedback, I want to make sure the phone is actually factory unlocked. Because if it's not, I will likely contact the seller and request a partial refund for a portion of my money on account of the item not being exactly as described.
The description of the listing says, "Brand New LG G3 Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone Factory Unlocked" and further down it also says, "ESN's Are Clear and Can Be Activated on Your Verizon Line, They Are Also GSM Unlocked to Use With AT&T, Cricket, Straight Talk, Metro Pcs, and More."
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "factory unlocked" mean the device will work on all the major US carriers? Or does it mean it will only work on the carriers who share the same bands that are built into the LG G3? I don't know much about the technical side of this subject at all, so a little advice/correction would be really nice from you guys. It'll be a bit disappointing if the phone doesn't work with Sprint or T-Mobile, etc, but I'll live. I just want to make sure the seller described the item accurately before I leave him (otherwise well-deserved) positive feedback.
Thanks for reading!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iBolski said:
Sounds fishy to me. As far as I know, the VS985 is Verizon only. But, I could be wrong. Just not sure it's a legit offer. But that's just my personal opinion. Someone might have a more educated answer on this, but for me, I would have avoided it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All Verizon devices are factory unlocked as is. You can freely use any made-for-Verizon device on any carrier that the device's radio frequencies support. Unfortunately, the VS985 only supports a few other frequencies, some of which do require enabling on your own in order to use - and that's not the same kind thing as being "factory unlocked", but Verizon themselves do not restrict the device from being used on any carrier, and some other devices like my VK810 support even fewer radio frequencies than the VS985 making it harder to use with any other network, but not impossible.
Bunches of people in these sections have made posts about using their VS985 on other networks, which besides enabling particular radio bands that the VS985 supports, sometimes only requires changing the APN (and the SIM obviously). The software does complain when a Verizon SIM isn't installed, but it's just an annoyance and doesn't keep from using the phone that way, and there may be ways to disable that (G3TweaksBox?).
I can't answer particulars because I've never used mine on anything but Verizon.
IMHO, the title of the Ebay listing is only misleading because all VS985s are factory unlocked; i.e. the particular listing isn't special by specifically mentioning that it's unlocked, but it's not inferior because of it either.
To be clear, "it will only work on the carriers who share the same bands that are built into the LG G3." There's no possibility that a device could work with carriers that use bands other than what the device supports, and being factory unlocked doesn't mean that you don't have to follow the instructions in the threads having to do with enabling optional bands if you wanted to use it on certain carriers, since the stock LG ROMs have some of those optional bands disabled by default. *Some* bands other than what Verizon uses are already enabled.
That is interesting about being able to enable some additional radio bands. I am waiting for a VS985 which I just bought, in order to try it with Total Wireless, since the AT&T coverage in my area comes up short for data connection. Am hoping that it will also work well enough with AT&T if I have a poor result with TW.
A few years back, while living in a different area, I had pretty good results with a G2 vs980 as GSM with t-mo, although results were a little better after switching to the t-mo G2 D801, so I figured that it would serve for AT&T as well if need be, although I've read reports of it lacking LTE band for AT&T, but they don't seem to offer LTE in my area anyway, so no loss there.
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