Hello, I have searched extensively and have called Samsung twice now trying to figure out what the differences between these two very similar models are but I cannot find anyone to elaborate on their specific differences. Samsung says that they cannot see anything different from what I can see on their website so they have no further information other than they do not sell the SM-T825 anymore and for that reason do not support it and cannot tell me anything about it. (Really?) The only thing I can seem to come up with is that the SM-T825 was by default carrier unlocked while the T827's come with a sub identifying model character like SM-T827V-Verison, A-AT&T, etc and that they do not actually have a by default carrier unlocked device anymore?
Can anyone here shed some light on this for me, or even just help me debate my logic? All thoughts would be much appreciated.
My goal is to shop out a Tab S3 with Verizon LTE compatibility at the lowest price of course and believe the SM-T825 to be just as good as the SM-T827, but I can't seem to find any technical data to support this.
Please help!
USAMac said:
Hello, I have searched extensively and have called Samsung twice now trying to figure out what the differences between these two very similar models are but I cannot find anyone to elaborate on their specific differences. Samsung says that they cannot see anything different from what I can see on their website so they have no further information other than they do not sell the SM-T825 anymore and for that reason do not support it and cannot tell me anything about it. (Really?) The only thing I can seem to come up with is that the SM-T825 was by default carrier unlocked while the T827's come with a sub identifying model character like SM-T827V-Verison, A-AT&T, etc and that they do not actually have a by default carrier unlocked device anymore?
Can anyone here shed some light on this for me, or even just help me debate my logic? All thoughts would be much appreciated.
My goal is to shop out a Tab S3 with Verizon LTE compatibility at the lowest price of course and believe the SM-T825 to be just as good as the SM-T827, but I can't seem to find any technical data to support this.
Please help!
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. I
Related
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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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.
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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 ?
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
I have an ATT GS2 running cm9 and I would like to be able to use it for the year I will be in Korea.
Is it possible to simply flash a korean modem and have it work here? (does that question even make sense?) Or am I SOL because I don't have the international version?
All I want is to be able to stick in a korean sim card (from South Korean Telecom) and have it work, if I am misinformed or simply uninformed about the steps needed to make that work please let me know.
I've been a lurker for awhile and this is the first problem I've had where I actually have needed to post. Any replies are sincerely appreciated
PS: I know I am a n00b and n00bs creating threads is like the worst thing ever, but I searched the forums for a good long while before posting. I also posted this question in the i9100 forum (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28207590#post28207590), but nobody replied.
TTeacher said:
I have an ATT GS2 running cm9 and I would like to be able to use it for the year I will be in Korea.
Is it possible to simply flash a korean modem and have it work here? (does that question even make sense?) Or am I SOL because I don't have the international version?
All I want is to be able to stick in a korean sim card (from South Korean Telecom) and have it work, if I am misinformed or simply uninformed about the steps needed to make that work please let me know.
I've been a lurker for awhile and this is the first problem I've had where I actually have needed to post. Any replies are sincerely appreciated
PS: I know I am a n00b and n00bs creating threads is like the worst thing ever, but I searched the forums for a good long while before posting. I also posted this question in the i9100 forum (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28207590#post28207590), but nobody replied.
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You obviously did NOT search, reporting thread
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
Nick281051 said:
You obviously did NOT search, reporting thread
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If the answer is out there and you found it where I could not, I apologize, but I would really appreciate it if you could let me know (a) the process that you used to find it and/or (b) the thread(s) with the answer to my question.
TTeacher said:
If the answer is out there and you found it where I could not, I apologize, but I would really appreciate it if you could let me know (a) the process that you used to find it and/or (b) the thread(s) with the answer to my question.
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Unlock it, simple
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
Try howardforums.com lots of knowledgeable people there that could possibly help
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
nyamoV2 said:
Try howardforums.com lots of knowledgeable people there that could possibly help
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I am glad you sent me there, it has a lot of information but most of it is from 2008 or so, and I'm not sure if it is entirely relevant to my situation
Nick281051 said:
Unlock it, simple
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My phone is unlocked and I put an SKT sim in it today and although it did not come up with a sim rejected message there was no cell service. I have heard about the modem that is flashed on your phone affecting cell service, so do you think I should find a korean modem and flash it on my phone? If not what can I do?
TTeacher said:
My phone is unlocked and I put an SKT sim in it today and although it did not come up with a sim rejected message there was no cell service. I have heard about the modem that is flashed on your phone affecting cell service, so do you think I should find a korean modem and flash it on my phone? If not what can I do?
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This is not an area that I know very much about, but I can give you some things to look into. First, as far as I know, you can only use an AT&T modem on the I777. There are a few options posted in the development forum, but they all work with the frequencies available on AT&T towers. I know the I777 is used in India, and a few other countries successfully, but I don't know about Korea. You have to look at what frequency your cell service is on, compared to the frequencies availabe on this phone. I'm guessing that you have a mis-match, but you'll have to do the research. So your original statement is probably true, that you would need the international version of the phone.
Edit: Did some looking around. You still need to check the frequency issue, but the main issue is that the SK sim card is locked, and you have to complete the following, which I grabbed from another forum:
For those of you who may not know, the rule currently is that every phone model that is not sold in Korea must be cleared by Korean Communications. They have an updated list of all models that have gone through testing and have been cleared so far (the N900 was already tested by someone else so I did not have to get recertification). The only requirement for me was to have the IMEI number registered with SK (this applies to KTF and LGT as well).
Just to summarize:
1) Make sure your phone is unlocked (not even a step really, common sense).
2) Check to see if your phone model has been tested by the KCC (optional step really as the list is very long and even some very niche phones have been tested already, if your phone is a model people have heard of, like you can just say the model name and 1 out of 10 people have heard of it, it'll have been tested).
3) Take it to your local branch office (SK/Tworld, KT/Qook Show, LG/uPlus) and make sure it is a branch office, not simply a retail outlet. The retail outlets are called "daeri-jeom" and the main offices are called "ji-jeom". You want to go to a "ji-jeom". There is usually 1 main "ji-jeom" per city.
4) Ask them to register your IMEI # and either purchase a SIM card or pop in your existing SIM car if you are a customer.
If you have an obscure phone that happens to have not been tested yet, there is an added step in the process that will take about 10 days and requires some paperwork but I won't comment on it as I don't have any first-hand experience going through that process.
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And, in case any of you are wondering why I would take the time to do this. I have a very good firend, actually the daughter of a very good friend, who is from the small town I live in, and who is currently teaching English in Korea. I know she would probably not even know how to search for the correct answer. So... this is for Lily.
Thank you so much! As you may have guessed, I am just starting out as an English teacher here in Korea, and I will be sure to pass on this information to all my other teachers who would like to use phones here.
Hello, i bought my Samsung Galaxy s2 "epic" only 4 months ago, and TWO months ago, it started to have a circle with a strike through it ("loss of signal" i guess?) and it has NEVER worked since. Not even restarting it. I have also done a factory reset, but nothing works. I have tried replacing it through my insurance but they are always out of stock conveniently and want to give me some crappy cheaper phone. I want the one i bought! HOW do i fix this?! I already know there has been a "fix" for Sprint users with this problem, but I am Tmobile, so I am not sure that helps me any. No repair shops seem to know a thing about how to fix this..I am at my wits end, I have tried for over 2 months now to resolve this, and I just don't know how! I am not a person who knows about the technicalities of phones, just know how to use them. I saw a post that originally lead me to this site that had a fix on it, but it was waaay too complicated to really understand; i am BEGGING anyone who knows how to fix this to just walk me through it?! i have tried SO hard, this has been a HUGE source of stress for me after all of this, and I cannot afford to spend 600$ to replace it!!
girlblushes said:
Hello, i bought my Samsung Galaxy s2 "epic" only 4 months ago, and TWO months ago, it started to have a circle with a strike through it ("loss of signal" i guess?) and it has NEVER worked since. Not even restarting it. I have also done a factory reset, but nothing works. I have tried replacing it through my insurance but they are always out of stock conveniently and want to give me some crappy cheaper phone. I want the one i bought! HOW do i fix this?! I already know there has been a "fix" for Sprint users with this problem, but I am Tmobile, so I am not sure that helps me any. No repair shops seem to know a thing about how to fix this..I am at my wits end, I have tried for over 2 months now to resolve this, and I just don't know how! I am not a person who knows about the technicalities of phones, just know how to use them. I saw a post that originally lead me to this site that had a fix on it, but it was waaay too complicated to really understand; i am BEGGING anyone who knows how to fix this to just walk me through it?! i have tried SO hard, this has been a HUGE source of stress for me after all of this, and I cannot afford to spend 600$ to replace it!!
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It looks like to me the phone has either been reported lost or stolen which means that the real owner has rung the provider up and asked them to black list the phone so if anyone try to use it they won't be able to.It might be a possibly that the the modem part of your mother board is faulty you might just want to replace and hope for the best:silly:
girlblushes said:
Hello, i bought my Samsung Galaxy s2 "epic" only 4 months ago, and TWO months ago, it started to have a circle with a strike through it ("loss of signal" i guess?) and it has NEVER worked since. Not even restarting it. I have also done a factory reset, but nothing works. I have tried replacing it through my insurance but they are always out of stock conveniently and want to give me some crappy cheaper phone. I want the one i bought! HOW do i fix this?! I already know there has been a "fix" for Sprint users with this problem, but I am Tmobile, so I am not sure that helps me any. No repair shops seem to know a thing about how to fix this..I am at my wits end, I have tried for over 2 months now to resolve this, and I just don't know how! I am not a person who knows about the technicalities of phones, just know how to use them. I saw a post that originally lead me to this site that had a fix on it, but it was waaay too complicated to really understand; i am BEGGING anyone who knows how to fix this to just walk me through it?! i have tried SO hard, this has been a HUGE source of stress for me after all of this, and I cannot afford to spend 600$ to replace it!!
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Given the two bits of your original post that I bolded above, I think you may be in the wrong forum... Also, are you are SURE your phone is also called "Epic" anything? The Sprint Galaxy SII model is called the "Epic 4G Touch". But not the T-mobile model.
Are you on T-mobile in the USA? Or Europe?
What is your phone's precise model number? It is printed on the label under the battery.
ctomgee said:
Given the two bits of your original post that I bolded above, I think you may be in the wrong forum... Also, are you are SURE your phone is also called "Epic" anything? The Sprint Galaxy SII model is called the "Epic 4G Touch". But not the T-mobile model.
Are you on T-mobile in the USA? Or Europe?
What is your phone's precise model number? It is printed on the label under the battery.
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I do have a similar problem.
After a coupleof month usage my phone randomly has this circle described above. Usually switching it off an then on agein does work and I get the signal back.
By the way, I am on T-Mobile Europe and have a Dual-Number SIM card.
Does it have anything to do with this?
I used the SIM card for years in other phones without problems.
I know this isn't the perfect forum for the question, but given the depth of knowledge here I don't know if I could be better served anywhere else.
So I'm beyond the end of my Verizon contract and I'm feeling like picking up a new phone from aliexpress or dhgate or some other site with something like a MTK6589 within. The devices I'm finding expressly support GSM/WCDMA/any number of other standards that don't jive with Verizon.
Depending on what site I'm browsing, some state they actually support CDMA2000. This is where my dilemma is. I want to believe that, and I want to check out one of these phones. I don't want to buy one and be SOL with no support from my carrier and no hope of getting my money back.
Can anyone comment on the possibility of picking up something like this: http://www.dhgate.com/5feiteng-s4-i...-ff8080812c9c4fad012caafbb3bd2a48.html#s1-3-1 and actually using it with Verizon?
Also, apologies if my title or branding as 'China' phones offends or misleads.
I searched the model and AT&T. I can't seem to find anything relevant. I seriously want to buy this phone. But, I want the international unlocked for the extra ram/rom. Checking the bands. It appears the phone has the right ones for AT&T(well actually a MVNO of them).
I have yet to find any review anywhere with someone saying they are using it on their network. So, I know I will probably get roasted for this. But, I am buying two. If anyone could offer any advice or actual usage. I would sleep better.
Please and thank you.
pckarma112 said:
I searched the model and AT&T. I can't seem to find anything relevant. I seriously want to buy this phone. But, I want the international unlocked for the extra ram/rom. Checking the bands. It appears the phone has the right ones for AT&T(well actually a MVNO of them).
I have yet to find any review anywhere with someone saying they are using it on their network. So, I know I will probably get roasted for this. But, I am buying two. If anyone could offer any advice or actual usage. I would sleep better.
Please and thank you.
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Maybe you already know the site.
I found this about AT&T.
I only used the Nokia 7.2 in Europe, so I can't tell you anything personal about it.
https://apn.gishan.net/en/apn/att/nokia-72
Good luck.
LH
Thank you
Lordxhelmchen said:
Maybe you already know the site.
I found this about AT&T.
I only used the Nokia 7.2 in Europe, so I can't tell you anything personal about it.
https://apn.gishan.net/en/apn/att/nokia-72
Good luck.
LH
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Thank you for pointing me to that web page. It does help. From what I can tell. It looks like the 1196 is missing band 17. I would be ok at 3G if I am reading this correctly. But, either way. It is a gamble. I am currently using a MVNO called Good2Go. From my current phone. I can see that I am using band 5.
Well, I have a decision to make. I hope my wife does not kill me..lol
I was really hoping someone on AT&t would chime in. Even though it could change depending on the area. I am going to try it..Thank you.