I'm looking to buy one of these soon. I am on tmobile/metropcs so I would need the H932 or the US998. I do plan on rooting and most likely would prefer to unlock bootloader. I know the H932 doesn't play nicely with the other variants but I'm confident I could get it rooted and everything. I also saw that the v30 has band 77, which tmobile has been rolling out, and the v30+ doesn't.
My question to you who already own these devices is, do you recommend just getting the v30 or are there any advantages to possibly spending a bit more on the v30+?
Thanks for your opinions.
sirganon said:
I'm looking to buy one of these soon. I am on tmobile/metropcs so I would need the H932 or the US998. I do plan on rooting and most likely would prefer to unlock bootloader. I know the H932 doesn't play nicely with the other variants but I'm confident I could get it rooted and everything. I also saw that the v30 has band 77, which tmobile has been rolling out, and the v30+ doesn't.
My question to you who already own these devices is, do you recommend just getting the v30 or are there any advantages to possibly spending a bit more on the v30+?
Thanks for your opinions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I know (and gathered when doing my own research before buying) the V30+ only has the additional storage over the base v30.
Everything else about the phone (as far as I'm aware) is identical. I don't see why the V30+ would be missing a band, especially one the base v30 has.
Redline said:
From what I know (and gathered when doing my own research before buying) the V30+ only has the additional storage over the base v30.
Everything else about the phone (as far as I'm aware) is identical. I don't see why the V30+ would be missing a band, especially one the base v30 has.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sites like gsmarena and frequency check don't list band 77 for the v30+ so I'm just going off of sites like that. I do realise the internal storage is the main difference when comparing the two versions but I wasn't sure if ease of rooting or some other variables may be present to help sway your (and my) decision.
sirganon said:
Sites like gsmarena and frequency check don't list band 77 for the v30+ so I'm just going off of sites like that. I do realise the internal storage is the main difference when comparing the two versions but I wasn't sure if ease of rooting or some other variables may be present to help sway your (and my) decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be on the safe side of assuming you won't miss anything over the base v30.
Ease of rooting is just the same.
sirganon said:
I'm looking to buy one of these soon. I am on tmobile/metropcs so I would need the H932 or the US998. I do plan on rooting and most likely would prefer to unlock bootloader. I know the H932 doesn't play nicely with the other variants but I'm confident I could get it rooted and everything. I also saw that the v30 has band 77, which tmobile has been rolling out, and the v30+ doesn't.
My question to you who already own these devices is, do you recommend just getting the v30 or are there any advantages to possibly spending a bit more on the v30+?
Thanks for your opinions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sirganon said:
Sites like gsmarena and frequency check don't list band 77 for the v30+ so I'm just going off of sites like that. I do realise the internal storage is the main difference when comparing the two versions but I wasn't sure if ease of rooting or some other variables may be present to help sway your (and my) decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two corrections:
* It's LTE band 71 U.S. T-mobile has, not 77.
* In many cases the V30+ is about the same price as the H932 V30, if you are talking about North America variants. That LS998 V30+ (easily converted to US998 V30+) is actually $20 less than the H932 V30. Yes, that's "manufacturer refurbished" vs "new" but my experience with prices on these is the V30+ does not really cost more on sites like eBay.
You are right that only the U.S. T-Mobile H932 has LTE band 71. No other V30/V30+/V30S variant in the world have that band, as only U.S. T-Mobile needs it (or needed it when the V30 was released). It was brand new at the time the V30 was being introduced (late 2017) and U.S. T-Mobile made a big deal how it was exclusive to the their carrier-branded H932. H932 was the first phone in the world to have the new U.S. T-Mobile LTE band 71 and still is the only V30/V30+/V30S to have that band. (Some early tweets from U.S. T-mobile made us believe the open market US998 V30/V30+ would have it also... but alas it didn't. If you dig deep enough, you may see posts hoping that was true or that it could be enabled with root.)
Having said that, most phones being used on U.S. T-Mobile network still do not have LTE band 71 (pre-2018 phones), and there are many US998 V30/V30+/V30S users in this forum who are on U.S. T-Mobile or U.S. T-Mobile MVNOs.
U.S. T-Mobile actually did sell a 128GB V30+ H932 (with LTE band 71, of course) for a LIMITED time, in addition to their 64GB V30. It was a marketing promotion a couple of months after the V30 H932 was released. Then it went away. Some of these H932 V30+ might pop up on eBay, but would only be a few. Or here for allegedly new in box H932 V30+.
Yes, the H932 seems a little harder to root than the other variants. (My opinion.) You can't use the WTF method, since the H932 doesn't have fastboot flash commands and you can't convert it (even temporarily) to a variant which has fastboot flash commands. So, you have to use the other method developed for the H932. But it can be done and has been done by many. If you do use T-Mobile, then that might be what you're most happy with.
When buying an H932 for U.S. T-mobile, make sure it's H932SV. There's also an H932PR for Claro carrier in Puerto Rico and that variant does NOT have LTE band 71 for U.S. T-mobile. I'm only mentioning it because it IS out there and you may run across it on eBay. If you want LTE band 71, you want the H932SV. (For those who do have the Claro/Puerto Rico H932PR, it can be rooted through WTF and Frankenstein converted to other North American models, while the U.S. T-mobile H932SV can not.)
__________
This next part is not just about the H932, but all V30/V30+/V30S....
Different V30/V30+ variants for various carriers/world regions have different bands. For instances, there are bands the North American V30/V30+ variants have which the H930 (V30)/H930G (V30+) or H930D (V30)/H930DS (V30+) does not. H930/H930G doesn't have LTE band 2 and the H930D/H930DS doesn't have LTE band 2 nor LTE band 4. You wouldn't want to buy an H930/H930G or H930D/H930DS to use in U.S. or Canada. Some of the Korean variants are also missing necessary bands for North America.
Even among the North American variants, there are bands the AT&T H931 or Sprint LS998 has which the US998 does not have. In most cases you can convert (Frankenstein) one variant to another to get those bands (if you really need them) -- either before or after root -- but with the T-mobile H932 you cannot do that, as it has different RSA encryption from all the other variants.
But the only hardware difference between V30/V30+ is extra internal memory -- 64GB vs 128GB. Unlike other OEMs (like Samsung), where + denotes larger physical size, with LG the + on the V30 series is only more internal memory. (The V30+ models also came with LG-branded or B&O-branded earbuds of questionable value. They don't even trigger HIM. You are better off with these or these, which have the necessary impendent to trigger HIM on quad DAC.)
However, there is a US998 V30S (released in early 2018), which has 128GB internal memory with 6GB RAM. The V30S is basically a "V30+" with more RAM. The official model number is US998R (for more RAM).
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
ChazzMatt said:
Two corrections:
* It's LTE band 71 U.S. T-mobile has, not 77.
* In many cases the V30+ is about the same price as the H932 V30, if you are talking about North America variants. That LS998 V30+ (easily converted to US998 V30+) is actually $20 less than the H932 V30. Yes, that's "manufacturer refurbished" vs "new" but my experience with prices on these is the V30+ does not really cost more on sites like eBay.
You are right that only the U.S. T-Mobile H932 has LTE band 71. No other V30/V30+/V30S variant in the world have that band, as only U.S. T-Mobile needs it (or needed it when the V30 was released). It was brand new at the time the V30 was being introduced (late 2017) and U.S. T-Mobile made a big deal how it was exclusive to the their carrier-branded H932. H932 was the first phone in the world to have the new U.S. T-Mobile LTE band 71 and still is the only V30/V30+/V30S to have that band. (Some early tweets from U.S. T-mobile made us believe the open market US998 V30/V30+ would have it also... but alas it didn't. If you dig deep enough, you may see posts hoping that was true or that it could be enabled with root.)
Having said that, most phones being used on U.S. T-Mobile network still do not have LTE band 71 (pre-2018 phones), and there are many US998 V30/V30+/V30S users in this forum who are on U.S. T-Mobile or U.S. T-Mobile MVNOs.
U.S. T-Mobile actually did sell a 128GB V30+ H932 (with LTE band 71, of course) for a LIMITED time, in addition to their 64GB V30. It was a marketing promotion a couple of months after the V30 H932 was released. Then it went away. Some of these H932 V30+ might pop up on eBay, but would only be a few. Or here for allegedly new in box H932 V30+.
Yes, the H932 seems a little harder to root than the other variants. (My opinion.) You can't use the WTF method, since the H932 doesn't have fastboot flash commands and you can't convert it (even temporarily) to a variant which has fastboot flash commands. So, you have to use the other method developed for the H932. But it can be done and has been done by many. If you do use T-Mobile, then that might be what you're most happy with.
When buying an H932 for U.S. T-mobile, make sure it's H932SV. There's also an H932PR for Claro carrier in Puerto Rico and that variant does NOT have LTE band 71 for U.S. T-mobile. I'm only mentioning it because it IS out there and you may run across it on eBay. If you want LTE band 71, you want the H932SV. (For those who do have the Claro/Puerto Rico H932PR, it can be rooted through WTF and Frankenstein converted to other North American models, while the U.S. T-mobile H932SV can not.)
__________
This next part is not just about the H932, but all V30/V30+/V30S....
Different V30/V30+ variants for various carriers/world regions have different bands. For instances, there are bands the North American V30/V30+ variants have which the H930 (V30)/H930G (V30+) or H930D (V30)/H930DS (V30+) does not. H930/H930G doesn't have LTE band 2 and the H930D/H930DS doesn't have LTE band 2 nor LTE band 4. You wouldn't want to buy an H930/H930G or H930D/H930DS to use in U.S. or Canada. Some of the Korean variants are also missing necessary bands for North America.
Even among the North American variants, there are bands the AT&T H931 or Sprint LS998 has which the US998 does not have. In most cases you can convert (Frankenstein) one variant to another to get those bands (if you really need them) -- either before or after root -- but with the T-mobile H932 you cannot do that, as it has different RSA encryption from all the other variants.
But the only hardware difference between V30/V30+ is extra internal memory -- 64GB vs 128GB. Unlike other OEMs (like Samsung), where + denotes larger physical size, with LG the + on the V30 series is only more internal memory. (The V30+ models also came with LG-branded or B&O-branded earbuds of questionable value. They don't even trigger HIM. You are better off with these or these, which have the necessary impendent to trigger HIM on quad DAC.)
However, there is a US998 V30S (released in early 2018), which has 128GB internal memory with 6GB RAM. The V30S is basically a "V30+" with more RAM. The official model number is US998R (for more RAM).
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all this info! I did mean band 71. It was late when writing my previous posts so I was thinking 61 & 77 instead of 66 & 71.
I'll read through this a few times to make sure I fully understand the differences of the variants and make my decision after that. Greatly appreciated!
I have a T-Mobile V30+. The only difference from the V30 is 128GB internal storage and black color backing. The V30 has a silver colored back. I live in Southern California and I haven't been able to get band 71 reception in the rural areas outside Los Angeles and San Diego. I also didn't get Band 71 reception when I went visited the outskirts of Portland, Oregon and San Francisco/Sacramento. Band 71 is meant for very rural areas, so having it may be a moot point based on your location.
Buy a Sim unlocked att v35 off ebay. When cross flashed to the Google Fi variant, the secret menu lists band 71. Im on a us998 conversion v30 with TMobile and migrating to the v35 for SD845 with 6 gigs of ram, slightly better cameras and band 71 is well worth it. They are going for ~300usd. @runningnak3d just got one and is hot on the bootloader unlock trail.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v35/how-to/bring-to-speed-trying-to-root-t3909527
Edit: Also band 71 isn't just for rural locations. TMobile invested almost 8 billion dollars in the spectrum the other year and will be rolling it out nation wide. I'm in NorCal and the reason it's not in California yet is because the TV stations that currently occupy the bandwidth that TMobile will refarm are scheduled later than other areas to shut down. It's scheduled here for q2 2019. I think LA is still a year or two out though. Point is TMobile didn't invest that kind of cheese to only help people in the sticks out.
bacon612 said:
Buy a Sim unlocked att v35 off ebay. When cross flashed to the Google Fi variant, the secret menu lists band 71. Im on a us998 conversion v30 with TMobile and migrating to the v35 for SD845, slightly better cameras and band 71 is well worth it. They are going for ~300usd. @runningnak3d just got one and is hot on the bootloader unlock trail.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v35/how-to/bring-to-speed-trying-to-root-t3909527
Edit: Also band 71 isn't just for rural locations. TMobile invested almost 8 billion dollars in the spectrum the other year and will be rolling it out nation wide. I'm in NorCal and the reason it's not in California yet is because the TV stations that currently occupy the bandwidth that TMobile will refarm are scheduled later than other areas to shut down. It's scheduled here for q2 2019. I think LA is still a year or two out though. Point is TMobile didn't invest that kind of cheese to only help people in the sticks out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll definitely take a look at this one when I can, thanks!
bacon612 said:
Im on a us998 conversion v30 with TMobile and migrating to the v35 for SD845 with 6 gigs of ram, slightly better cameras.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of doing the same thing, but the wide angle lens on the V35 (107°) is narrower than the V30 (120°). That's a deal breaker for me even with the SD845 and 6GB RAM. If my V30 was destroyed, then I might consider the V35. Not worth the investment if not necessary. The V40's wide lens is also 107°. LG has been reducing the wide angle lens since the V20/G5, which had 135°. The Galaxy S10's wide angle is 123°.
The camera is a bummer, yes. But with the sale of my V30+ an investment of ~$100 makes my decision a no brainier. I can't believe how dramatically these devices drop in value in less than a year. I paid $325 in May 2018 for my v30+ in 9/10 shape. $290 last week for the v35 and it's flawless.
Edit: for the OP. The extra cash for the v35 is also a smart move. The v35 shipped with Oreo 8 making it a better candidate for treble roms out of the gate. The newer SOC with the bonus ram gives you at least another year of use where the v30 will fall away.
Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
Interesting thread...
My 2 cents:
1) the 64 vs 128 doesn't mean much to me (very low on the list of priorities) - especially with an sd card slot.
2) T-Mo band 71. That's pretty big. I think T-Mo is going to really improve it's status with that band, *But*, it's going
to be some time before it's completely rolled out... and it's at least somewhat questionable how much of an effect
it would have **for you**. Lots of factors involved; are you in buildings a lot that the 600 MHz will benefit you? Are
you *outside* of the range of normal (already existing) bands? etc
I'd have to put this feature in a 'nice to have' category, but no way is it a necessity - nor a deal breaker.
3) Is the model easily Frankenstein-ed? While *in the future* a device might be unlocked... it might not also.
If a phone has the ability to be unlocked now, and it's a good / great device... I say ya gotta go with those
criteria. If I like the device / size / cameras / design / etc - then this aspect is at the top of my list.
I have a 931 converted to US998, very happy with it. The cameras are awesome. The quad dac blows yer hair
back. I'm on T-Mo with an old pay-as-you go plan and also just signed on with Mint Mobile (uses T-mo towers). There's
no issues to speak of re calls / text / data. Everything works fine.
I'm actually so happy with the V30 and the ability to mod it ... I bought another one.
A brand new one, should arrive soon.
Good luck with your decision. Maybe this info helps a little when making up your mind, maybe not!
Cheers
ChazzMatt said:
Having said that, most phones being used on U.S. T-Mobile network still do not have LTE band 71 (pre-2018 phones), and there are many US998 V30/V30+/V30S users in this forum who are on U.S. T-Mobile or U.S. T-Mobile MVNOs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AsItLies said:
Interesting thread...
My 2 cents:
1) the 64 vs 128 doesn't mean much to me (very low on the list of priorities) - especially with an sd card slot.
2) T-Mo band 71. That's pretty big. I think T-Mo is going to really improve it's status with that band, *But*, it's going
to be some time before it's completely rolled out... and it's at least somewhat questionable how much of an effect
it would have **for you**. Lots of factors involved; are you in buildings a lot that the 600 MHz will benefit you? Are
you *outside* of the range of normal (already existing) bands? etc
I'd have to put this feature in a 'nice to have' category, but no way is it a necessity - nor a deal breaker.
3) Is the model easily Frankenstein-ed? While *in the future* a device might be unlocked... it might not also.
If a phone has the ability to be unlocked now, and it's a good / great device... I say ya gotta go with those
criteria. If I like the device / size / cameras / design / etc - then this aspect is at the top of my list.
I have a 931 converted to US998, very happy with it. The cameras are awesome. The quad dac blows yer hair
back. I'm on T-Mo with an old pay-as-you go plan and also just signed on with Mint Mobile (uses T-mo towers). There's
no issues to speak of re calls / text / data. Everything works fine.
I'm actually so happy with the V30 and the ability to mod it ... I bought another one.
A brand new one, should arrive soon.
Good luck with your decision. Maybe this info helps a little when making up your mind, maybe not!
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is a great phone.
Thanks, you confirmed what I said about T-mobile on US998.
The new DTS is fantastic.
AsItLies said:
Interesting thread...
My 2 cents:
3) Is the model easily Frankenstein-ed? While *in the future* a device might be unlocked... it might not also.
If a phone has the ability to be unlocked now, and it's a good / great device... I say ya gotta go with those
criteria. If I like the device / size / cameras / design / etc - then this aspect is at the top of my list.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it can currently be cross flashed with ease. Most are opting for the Google Fi crossflash as it removes all of the att bloat and allows things like wifi calling to be used. Or even use as a fully functioning Google Fi phone (switching networks between Sprint, TMobile and us cellular.)
Regarding the bootloader unlock for root and roms, I am 99% certain we will see that in the next month.
bacon612 said:
So it can currently be cross flashed with ease. Most are opting for the Google Fi crossflash as it removes all of the att bloat and allows things like wifi calling to be used. Or even use as a fully functioning Google Fi phone (switching networks between Sprint, TMobile and us cellular.)
Regarding the bootloader unlock for root and roms, I am 99% certain we will see that in the next month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does crossflashing these other V35 firmware carrier unlock the V35 from AT&T, like crossflashing H931 with US998?
I"m mostly asking because months ago I recommended crossflashing AT&T V35 firmware with other V35 and I was told it couldn't be done. And that I was stupid for suggesting it.
The phone has to be carrier unlocked as far as things go now. In the future, it may be different. It was explained to me that the partition where the Sim lock exists, does not get touched when you flash the kdz in lgup. Some are having issues getting their att phones unlocked but there are lots of already unlocked phones on eBay. YMMV
Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
bacon612 said:
So it can currently be cross flashed with ease. Most are opting for the Google Fi crossflash as it removes all of the att bloat and allows things like wifi calling to be used. Or even use as a fully functioning Google Fi phone (switching networks between Sprint, TMobile and us cellular.)
Regarding the bootloader unlock for root and roms, I am 99% certain we will see that in the next month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations! Personally, I don't use Google Fi, but more power to those that do.
We all have our individual needs / wants. Mine are satisfied with the V30. Hope yours are too - with whatever device you have.
AsItLies said:
Congratulations! Personally, I don't use Google Fi, but more power to those that do.
We all have our individual needs / wants. Mine are satisfied with the V30. Hope yours are too - with whatever device you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine are satisfied with LG V30/V30+ for now. I have 10 friends/family members who own one, thanks to me touting them. Of them, only mine is rooted as with my job I don't have time even to flash updates (TWRP-flashable zips) for friends anymore. But every V30/V30+/V30S in the world CAN be bootloader unlocked and rooted.
ChazzMatt said:
Mine are satisfied with LG V30/V30+ for now. I have 10 friends/family members who own one, thanks to me touting them. Of them, only mine is rooted as with my job I don't have time even to flash updates (TWRP-flashable zips) for friends anymore. But every V30/V30+/V30S in the world CAN be bootloader unlocked and rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly Matt. And that's a pretty unusual situation in my experience; a phone with a great design, processor, VERY good cameras (wide in front AND back is NOT common), quad dac (all models), p-oled hi-res screen, etc.
AND at a very affordable price, now anyway.
There really isn't anything comparable right now, AND there MAY NOT be for some time to come. Sure, there are other phones, pixel, oneplus, etc. But they are not in the same price range, not sure which if any have quad dac, none have wide angle lens (back also), etc. And many others of course, but unable to unlock bootloader.
I feel lucky. It was fortunate to be reading Android A on the day they had an article indicating the V30, great phone, was now available at great prices on ebay. After reading your WTF thread... boom! I was an owner within a few hours. It is not a common situation imho. Get em while they last
Something else for the OP. The v30 front facing camera left something to be desired. The two phones I had before (htc 10 and 9) had significantly better front facing cameras. I think to maintain the thin bezels on the 30 the sensor was compromised. They used a much better sensor on the v35. For me, getting a decent image in varied lighting conditions when video chatting was problematic and almost embarrassing at times. I've read this in reviews a few times as well. If a good front facing camera is an issue for you, it may be something to consider
Related
I'm looking to replace my aging HTC One M8 and it looks like the LG V30+ is the right phone for me, since it's got all the features I want (and no notch!) at a price I'm happy to pay.
One thing I definitely want though is Android Pie. I know LG hasn't released it yet for these phones but that it should be out in Q1 or Q2 of this year.
I also want to root my phone. I've skimmed over the instructions and it seems that if you do the rooting process it'll erase all of your private data off your phone, so it seems like I should do this more or less after I get the phone, rather than using it and wiping my stuff later.
But I've read that once the phone is rooted, OTA updates won't apply is that correct? I don't want to use any custom ROMs or anything, just the standard LG firmware. Do I need to flash to some other firmware and then manually install updates? What's the deal? How difficult / fiddly is it?
It doesn't matter if you're rooted or not. You will still be able to update as usual using KDZ. You can even update stock LG ROMs via TWRP with flashable ZIP. Keep in mind that unlocking bootloader needs stock 20a or 20b so if you update to the versions above that, you must downgrade later. So I think it will be nice to unlock your bootloader first after you get your phone, then you can decide whether to root or not after that.
Lanthanide said:
But I've read that once the phone is rooted, OTA updates won't apply is that correct? I don't want to use any custom ROMs or anything, just the standard LG firmware. Do I need to flash to some other firmware and then manually install updates? What's the deal? How difficult / fiddly is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on stock rooted firmware myself.
OTA updates won't apply because you'll have TWRP custom recovery. But full image updates (KDZ) are always better than partial image OTA.
If you have TWRP, you merely install the latest TWRP-flashable zip file of the KDZ. It's like flashing a ROM, but it's stock firmware "ROM". Reflash Magisk then reboot. You "dirty flash" so you keep all your data. Takes 5 minutes?
If you read the WTF instructions, upgrading to newer firmware is mentioned towards the end -- Section 9, specifically. Read those Instructions in a web browser, not XDA app, or stuff will be missing. I also suggest printing them out to reference.
Ok, that's great, thanks!
What these KDZ files? I haven't looked around these forums much yet. Are they officially provided by LG, or do people rip them off their phones and upload here, or is it a mixture?
Lanthanide said:
Ok, that's great, thanks!
What these KDZ files? I haven't looked around these forums much yet. Are they officially provided by LG, or do people rip them off their phones and upload here, or is it a mixture?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG publicly releases the full image updates a few days after the partial image OTA update. The format extension is .KDZ. We post copies here in the forum, down on the dev section. A group of devs have graciously offered to convert the KDZ images to TWRP-FLASHABLE zip file, whenever updates are released.
For people who are rooted, just flash them in TWRP just like dirty flashing a ROM. Keeps all your data. Reflash Magisk, reboot. Done.
As an example, here are the KDZ and TWRP flashable zip files for the Verizon VS996:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/development/vs996-lg-v30-verizon-vs996-t3865398
The top one was released very recently. You can see there's a link straight to official LG Bridge update server as well as TWRP-flashable zip format, rendered by a Dev to "ROM".
It is possible to update to newer KDZ manually, without using TWRP. A little more complicated. But we don't need to discuss that right now since we do have TWRP flashable zip files.
Thanks very much for your help.
Lanthanide said:
Thanks very much for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you live, what V30 variant were you considering? If you live inthe U.S., what carrier do you use?
With V30, you can buy other variants and convert them to what you need -- especially North America. (There's one exception, which I'll explain after you answer.). But that's why a lot of people buy "mint" (like new) Sprint LS998 V30+ (128GB), even though they are not Sprint customer. It's often less expensive and has more internal memory than just the 64GB V30. They then unlock bootloader, root it, then convert to what they really want.
I converted two personally from LS998 V30+ to US998 V30+. You can even flash Verizon or AT&T firmware over them.
Or you can find already-converted "mint" US998 V30+ for very good price on eBay. Most US998 V30+ on eBay right now are probably former LS998 V30+ -- but that's OK most of the time.
Sorry, don't mean to confuse you.
I'm in New Zealand. The company I have bought from brings in the phones from Hong Kong. It's a 128GB model, although the website doesn't state which specific variant, but from what is available through other sites here I expect it to be a V30+ H930DS.
I'm aware of the root restriction with the T-mobile variant, which doesn't matter to me.
Is there a benefit to be gained by swapping the variant firmware? Is it just radio bands unlocked depending on carrier?
Lanthanide said:
I'm in New Zealand. The company I have bought from brings in the phones from Hong Kong. It's a 128GB model, although the website doesn't state which specific variant, but from what is available through other sites here I expect it to be a V30+ H930DS.
I'm aware of the root restriction with the T-mobile variant, which doesn't matter to me.
Is there a benefit to be gained by swapping the variant firmware? Is it just radio bands unlocked depending on carrier?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For H930DS, the other compatible firmware is the H930. Unlike the North American "Frankenstein", flashing H930 over H939DS does not change bands or anything. Hong Kong H930DS just got a new update with DTS stereo framework (needs root to fully enable), so you should stick to your firmware.
Whereas North America Frankenstein fully converts one variant to another, including all bands.
-deleted-
---------- Post added at 02:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:06 AM ----------
ChazzMatt said:
Where do you live, what V30 variant were you considering? If you live inthe U.S., what carrier do you use?
With V30, you can buy other variants and convert them to what you need -- especially North America. (There's one exception, which I'll explain after you answer.). But that's why a lot of people buy "mint" (like new) Sprint LS998 V30+ (128GB), even though they are not Sprint customer. It's often less expensive and has more internal memory than just the 64GB V30. They then unlock bootloader, root it, then convert to what they really want.
I converted two personally from LS998 V30+ to US998 V30+. You can even flash Verizon or AT&T firmware over them.
Or you can find already-converted "mint" US998 V30+ for very good price on eBay. Most US998 V30+ on eBay right now are probably former LS998 V30+ -- but that's OK most of the time.
Sorry, don't mean to confuse you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish i had seen this before getting my h933.
Only took it cause the frequency bands work in my country.
Would have loved the extra storage :silly:
Lanthanide said:
I'm looking to replace my aging HTC One M8 and it looks like the LG V30+ is the right phone for me, since it's got all the features I want (and no notch!) at a price I'm happy to pay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, been there, done that
Root is easy, some custom roms available if you want to play. The v30 plus is a great upgrade.
I am still on stock and with root and magisk its easy to customise how you like it.
My m8 is a bit short on battery life now but still a great phone. Annoyingly I have Pie on there already working really sweet :silly:
Oh, I only miss the ir blaster to control the tv in the gym
kerdelgreen767 said:
Wish i had seen this (Frankenstein conversion information) before getting my h933.
Only took it cause the frequency bands work in my country.
Would have loved the extra (V30+) storage :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curious what frequency bands from the H933 you need, and what country?
gazzacbr said:
Yep, been there, done that
...
My m8 is a bit short on battery life now but still a great phone. Annoyingly I have Pie on there already working really sweet :silly:
Oh, I only miss the ir blaster to control the tv in the gym
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my M8 is still a decent phone although I'm just on Marshmallow. The battery is the main problem, it doesn't last super long (although recently I seem to be able to use it for longer? not sure what that's about). I've twice had it now where the battery is so low that when the phone has had less than 15% remaining it just shuts off, seemingly in the middle of some important process, corrupting some important system files and to recover it I essentially had to wipe all of my profile out of it - once this happened on holiday (in a city were I could get wifi, thankfully) and it took me several hours to get it working again, damn annoying.
Have also had it crash when trying to take photos with the flash on. Basically exactly the same problem that Apple got completely lambasted for - the battery is old and can no longer always cope with large spikes of energy draw, which can cause system instability.
ChazzMatt said:
Curious what frequency bands from the H933 you need, and what country?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Digicel LTE bands are 2/12/17
H930/LS99U/H933 support these bands but wasn't getting any good condition LS99U so went with the 933.
I live in Dominica in the Caribbean.
Also as a side note im stuck on one LTE band (17 cause it has most coverage) .
Tried the adb commands posted in another thread but kept getting the error "error (Cannot erase this partition in unlocked state). "
kerdelgreen767 said:
Digicel LTE bands are 2/12/17
H930/LS99U/H933 support these bands but wasn't getting any good condition LS99U so went with the 933.
I live in Dominica in the Caribbean.
Also as a side note im stuck on one LTE band (17 cause it has most coverage) .
Tried the adb commands posted in another thread but kept getting the error "error (Cannot erase this partition in unlocked state). "
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
US998 also has those bands...
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
I'm on AT&T which uses band 17. But in the U.S. now it's band 12/17. LTE band 17 is a subset of LTE band 12, so about three years ago, AT&T decided to just say their phones have LTE band 12 -- since they support ALL of LTE band 12 (which T-mobile has) as well as the carved out piece of LTE band 12 that is called LTE band 17. Even though AT&T uses LTE band 17, none of their phone specs now actually list LTE band 17 -- it lists LTE band 12 (which includes LTE band 17).
Band 12 contains the 700 MHz lower A+B+C blocks.
Band 17 contains only B+C.
The analogy I use is Miami = LTE band 17.
Florida = LTE band 12.
Miami is in Florida, so there's no need to say I have "Miami" and I have "Florida".
I got into an argument with someone about this a couple of years ago when AT&T changed their designation from Band 17 to Band 12. He was looking for a carrier unlocked phone that had LTE band 17 -- so he could use it on AT&T, and suddenly couldn't find any. I told him just what I told you (LTE band 12 = LTE band 17 on U.S. phones), and he didn't believe me. So, I sent him the link to the online AT&T store where all the AT&T-branded phones are with specs. NO AT&T phones show band 17 any more -- even though AT&T STILL uses LTE band 17! They're just calling it band 12 now... I challenged him to show me any post-2016 AT&T phones with the LTE band 17 -- which he and I both knows AT&T uses. Since 2016, AT&T no longer lists LTE band 17 on their phones specs, but older AT&T phones will STILL show LTE band 17 in the SAME location. Newer phones show LTE band "12" on AT&T in those locations.
You can read more here:
https://forums.att.com/t5/Network-C...band-12-Why-is-my-phone-using-it/td-p/5065954
ChazzMatt said:
US998 also has those bands...
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
I'm on AT&T which uses band 17. But in the U.S. now it's band 12/band 17. LTE band 17 is a subset of LTE band 12, so a couple of years ago, AT&T decided to just say their phones have LTE band 12 -- since they support ALL of LTE band 12 (which T-mobile has) as well as the carved out piece of LTE band 12 that is called LTE band 17. Even though AT&T uses LTE band 17, none of their phone specs list LTE band 17 -- it lists LTE band 12 (but that has LTE band 17).
Band 12 contains the 700 MHz lower A+B+C blocks. Band 17 contains only B+C.
The analogy I use is Miami = LTE band 17. Florida = LTE band 12. Miami is in Florida, so there's no need to say I have "Miami" and I have "Florida".
I got into an argument with someone about this a couple of years ago when AT&T changed their designation. He was looking for a carrier unlocked phone that had LTE band 17 -- so he could use it on AT&T. I told him just what I told you (LTE band 12 = LTE band 17 on U.S. phones), and he didn't believe me. So, I sent him the link to the online AT&T store where all the phones are with specs. I challenged him to show me any post-2016 AT&T phones with the LTE band 17 he knows AT&T uses. Since 2016, AT&T no longer lists LTE band 17 on their phones, but older AT&T phones will STILL show LTE band 17 in the SAME location.
You can read more here:
https://forums.att.com/t5/Network-C...band-12-Why-is-my-phone-using-it/td-p/5065954
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's me being ignorant of that fact that caused me to leave down the 998 and get a 933.
gsmarena was my go to source for bands on the diff models and as you explained the 998 does not show band 17.
i even asked my provider and their response wasn't so helpful.
just went with what seemed safer to me.
might sell the 933 and get a v30+ for the extra storage
ChazzMatt said:
It is possible to update to newer KDZ manually, without using TWRP. A little more complicated. But we don't need to discuss that right now since we do have TWRP flashable zip files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, so I've had a look at the available TWRP ROMs and there's only a handful for the H930DS and none for my region (TWN).
So how do I go about flashing a stock KDZ, and will that erase any of my data?
You use LGUP to flash the KDZs. Yes, it will erase all your data, as this is effectively reinstalling the OS as if the device was new from LG.
The KDZ thread should provide instructions. ChazzMatt's thread here is specific to the 930 series: https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/development/h930-lg-v30-european-market-h930-t3779076 - near the bottom he details how to flash KDZ with the appropriate LGUP files as well.
I'm wondering if I can use one of the TWRP ROMs for the H930dS even if they aren't for the TWN region, or would that cause problems? Am I correct thinking the *only* difference is the cell bands enabled? Or do all H930DS support the same bands (except India)? Is there any site that lists the different bands for each region?
Hi,
I'm new here, and honestly know very little of the stuff I'm asking about, but here it goes, hopefully someone will be able to explain it to me. My phone (iPhone 5S) just broke, but I had been looking to buy a new one for some time anyway, and seriously considering the LG V30 or the V35 ThinQ, mostly cause of the headphone jack and Quad DAC + wide angle camera. The problem is, I'm looking to buy a refurbished one on eBay.com (US site), since I've found some really good deals there (unlike on European eBay sites), but I'm afraid of carrier issues I may encounter, specially considering I live in Spain and most of these seem to be "unlocked" phones from the US that were once network connected or something along those lines. I really don't know anything about how these things work, what unlocked / IMEI / GSM / CDMA / whatever means, and we don't usually have carrier exclusive phones over here, so I'm kind of worried about it all. I'm also afraid of how this is going to affect updates, since I know LG is already pretty slow but I've heard US carriers add another layer of complications when it comes to that, though seeing as these are supposed to be unlocked this shouldn't be a problem? No idea really.
For example, right now I'm looking at this LG V35 ThinQ deal on eBay, great price, plus the seller allows returns, has really good reputations and feedback, even on the product itself. However, isn't the V35 supposed to be AT&T exclusive? It says it's unlocked, but I don't know what to make of it. Should I just try and find a deal on the V30 instead? Even some of those seem to be carrier connected somehow though, like I see there's different models of the V30, some are HXXXX, others VOXXXX, etc. I guess if I could choose I'd prefer the V35, but it's not even available on Europe, and that makes me even more wary.
Hopefully some of you can shed some light on this and tell me whether buying from eBay is a good idea in my case, or what I could do instead. Honestly coming from Apple all of these different models for the same phone are making things very confusing, but I really wanna make the switch, since both the LG V30 and the V35 seem to be really great phones (despite how huge they are... hope I can get used to it). And by the way, in case that helps, my network in Spain is Movistar.
Thanks, and have a good one.
ChazzMatt is a wealth of knowledge on these matters, but I will tell you what I think. I did a check here for the US998 (V30) on your carrier in Spain: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...SV/lg-us998-v30-td-lte-lg-joan/movistar-spain
From what it says, the US998 will work on your carrier without issue. This means you have the choice of getting many variants (eg LS998, VS996, etc) that Chazz showed on the WTF thread (see post 193 here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76584629&postcount=193 ), hack that phone to US998 (via Frankenstein method) and it will work great. Note, as noted there, don't get an H932 as it's different... in reality, you may be able to get that to work as well these days, but I found it was easier to get LS998 or US998. That's what I did for our two phones - I got 2 US998s. (I converted mine to VS996 for other reasons - you won't need to.)
V35 by itself doesn't tell us enough - you need to know the model number. Please be careful when talking any phones, as the model number is what's most important! Some V35s are apparently V30+, others are different and won't work with any of the steps here... so again, be careful.
I'd say, stick to US998 or LS998, and you should be fine, but let the expert confirm!
Oh yeah, and congrats for leaving the Crapple world! Needless to say I'm not a fan, for many good/real reasons. Many of my friends have switched when they learned how much better things can be on Android.
JayKiddo said:
Hi,
I'm new here, and honestly know very little of the stuff I'm asking about, but here it goes, hopefully someone will be able to explain it to me. My phone (iPhone 5S) just broke, but I had been looking to buy a new one for some time anyway, and seriously considering the LG V30 or the V35 ThinQ, mostly cause of the headphone jack and Quad DAC + wide angle camera. The problem is, I'm looking to buy a refurbished one on eBay.com (US site), since I've found some really good deals there (unlike on European eBay sites), but I'm afraid of carrier issues I may encounter, specially considering I live in Spain and most of these seem to be "unlocked" phones from the US that were once network connected or something along those lines. I really don't know anything about how these things work, what unlocked / IMEI / GSM / CDMA / whatever means, and we don't usually have carrier exclusive phones over here, so I'm kind of worried about it all. I'm also afraid of how this is going to affect updates, since I know LG is already pretty slow but I've heard US carriers add another layer of complications when it comes to that, though seeing as these are supposed to be unlocked this shouldn't be a problem? No idea really.
For example, right now I'm looking at this LG V35 ThinQ deal on eBay, great price, plus the seller allows returns, has really good reputations and feedback, even on the product itself. However, isn't the V35 supposed to be AT&T exclusive? It says it's unlocked, but I don't know what to make of it. Should I just try and find a deal on the V30 instead? Even some of those seem to be carrier connected somehow though, like I see there's different models of the V30, some are HXXXX, others VOXXXX, etc. I guess if I could choose I'd prefer the V35, but it's not even available on Europe, and that makes me even more wary.
Hopefully some of you can shed some light on this and tell me whether buying from eBay is a good idea in my case, or what I could do instead. Honestly coming from Apple all of these different models for the same phone are making things very confusing, but I really wanna make the switch, since both the LG V30 and the V35 seem to be really great phones (despite how huge they are... hope I can get used to it). And by the way, in case that helps, my network in Spain is Movistar.
Thanks, and have a good one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Spain you will need GSM/HPSA/LTE.
V30
For the V30, the US998 (which is officially carrier unlocked model) it has all those plus CMDA (which you don't need, but doesn't hurt). The US998 was designated to be the "universal" V30/V30+ for North America. I'm going to briefly discuss the others just so you sort of know the difference. Others like U.S T-mobile H932, are locked to T-mobile and have an extra LTE band 71, which only T-mobile uses and would not benefit you whatsoever. Others like Verizon VS996 are already unlocked, but often give you a nag screen when rebooting if a Verizon SIM card is not inserted; as if you didn't know. The Canada H931 is carrier unlocked. The Sprint LS998 is carrier locked to Sprint, and the only way to carrier unlock it is to "Frankenstein" convert it to US998 (or some other carrier unlocked model like Canada H931 or Verizon VS996). AT&T H931 is carrier locked, but can be carrier unlocked by Frankenstein converted to a carrier unlocked model. With Frankenstein, whatever North American V30 phone you are flashing BECOMES the other model. You will see some eBay dealers incorrectly saying the US998 is locked to U.S. Cellular (a carrier here in the U.S.); this comes from them not knowing what they are selling. Yes, SOME US998 were sold by U.S. Cellular, but the US998 was the designated "open market" carrier unlocked model for North America and no US998 is carrier locked whatsoever. LG also sold the US998 through authorized 3rd party retailers like B&H Photo. They were all carrier unlocked, designed to be used with any carrier.
The other caveat is some of these are 64GB (VS996, H931, H933) while others have 128GB available like the US998 V30+ and the LS998 V30+. US998 also comes in 64GB model, but you might as well buy the V30+ (128GB).
The reason I mention "Frankenstein" is because there was a huge glut of Sprint LS998 V30+ on the market, and we found you could buy one and easily convert it to US998 V30+. I bought two and did that. No longer locked to Sprint, has fastboot flash commands and easily rooted (you probably don't care about that), and much less money than "native" US998 V30+ at the time. Dealers quickly figured this out also. In fact, most "new" or "mint" US998 V30+ you see on eBay for very good price are probably former LS998 V30+. That's OK.
So, it's no longer necessary to buy an LS998 V30+ to convert to US998 V30+, as the dealers have probably done it for you (or at least converted to the Nougat stage).
For your purposes, US998 (especially the V30+) is probably what you want of the North America V30 world. I have not mentioned the "European" H930 (64GB) or H930G (128GB) or the dual SIM H930DS (128GB), as importing those to U.S. for eBay sellers here make them more expensive.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998 V30/v30+/V30S
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
UPDATES
You will probably have to manually update the phone through software known as LGUP. New firmware images called KDZ are posted publicly here and on other websites. Takes 5 minutes, whenever you want, and you simply choose "Upgrade" mode. LG releases updates every 2 or 3 months.
You will also hear about checking for updates via LG Bridge (another piece of LG software), but it's better to just download the KDZ you need and use LGUP than to constantly have to fire up LG Bridge and check.
If you bought a "native" US998 V30+, you possibly would receive OTA updates. However, between the three native US998 V30 & V30+ I own, I've only received ONE OTA update in 1.5 years, and that was early on. So, don't depend on that.
You probably don't care about bootloader unlock and rooting, but for those who do ALL V30/V30+/V30S variants can be bootloader unlocked and rooted. That cannot be said for V35.
________
V35
Basically 2018 updated version of the 2017 V30. Snapdragon 845 vs Snapdragon 835. Has 6GB RAM, while most of the V30 (except for the V30S) has 4GB RAM. However, I've owned several V30/V30+ and none are slow. Downside: comes in 64GB, whereas many V30 have 128GB internal memory. Yes, allegedly there is a V35+ (128GB) but I've only seen it mentioned on websites and can not actually buy one here in the U.S. or even over the internet.
The main U.S. V35 variant is sold by AT&T and is ostensibly locked to AT&T. Meaning that only AT&T network SIM cards will work. However, if the dealer says it's "unlocked", then mean they have entered the code to carrier unlock the phone, which AT&T allows when the phone is paid in full. You can usually buy with confidence these "unlocked" phones. One way or another, they have been unlocked. (Any "carrier unlocked" LS998 V30+ you see online means it's been converted to US998 to be carrier unlocked.)
While AT&T was the first to sell the LG V35, it's also now sold other places as well, like for Google Fi and some Latin American countries. So, it's no longer an AT&T exclusive and never was. AT&T was just the first. Having said that, the ones for the least price will probably be the AT&T V35 models. As long as it's advertised as "unlocked", you are OK.
UPDATES
For AT&T LG V35 (even if carrier unlocked) you can only get updates while connected to AT&T SIM card or through one AT&T-affiliated MVNO called Red Pocket. (If there are other AT&T-affiliated MVNOs that allow updates, it's not been confirmed.) This is the same situation if you buy an AT&T H931 V30. AT&T wants you to be their customer and they do not release KDZ to the general public, nor allow updates to be sent to non-AT&T customers.
However, this is only true if you keep the AT&T firmware (AWM). For V35, you can cross-flash to the OTHER V35 firmware (ULM) and be up to date. This would again use LGUP. I just bought an AT&T V35 and the previous owner (who still uses V30+ as his daily phone and is active in this forum) cross flashed it to non-AT&T firmware to debloat it and to update it. I will continue to use my own (rooted) US998 V30+ as my daily phone, but this V35 looks interesting.
For others who may be reading this, right now (end of March 2019) the only way to bootloader unlock and root the V35 is to buy one from China with that already done. However there is no TWRP yet for V35. @runningnak3d is working on all that.
Here are the frequencies you will get with the LG 35 Google Fi version. I assume if you cross flash the AT&T V35 you will receive all these bands if you don't have all these bands? I'm asking in the V35 forum to confirm this assumption... With the V30, when you cross flash North America variants to Frankenstein them, it converts them totally to the other variant.
LG V35 Google Fi bands
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-V350ULM-Google-Fi-v35-thinq
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;
UMTS (HSPA): 850/900/1700/2100 MHz;
LTE: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/39/40/41/66
__________
CONCLUSION
I'm more comfortable recommending the US998 V30+ (128GB) to you right now, but an "unlocked" AT&T V35 (64GB) (especially if cross flashed to Google Fi firmware) would work well for you -- if the 64GB storage size (plus microSD card) fits your lifestyle and you don't care about bootloader unlocking/rooting (at least right now).
* With US998, you will have to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode once you download the KDZ. That's not hard.
* With AT&T V35, if you want updates, you will have to cross flash to different firmware first, then continue to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode. That's not hard either, but it depends on how comfortable you are doing stuff like that.
schwinn8 said:
ChazzMatt is a wealth of knowledge on these matters, but I will tell you what I think. I did a check here for the US998 (V30) on your carrier in Spain: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...SV/lg-us998-v30-td-lte-lg-joan/movistar-spain
From what it says, the US998 will work on your carrier without issue. This means you have the choice of getting many variants (eg LS998, VS996, etc) that Chazz showed on the WTF thread (see post 193 here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76584629&postcount=193 ), hack that phone to US998 (via Frankenstein method) and it will work great. Note, as noted there, don't get an H932 as it's different... in reality, you may be able to get that to work as well these days, but I found it was easier to get LS998 or US998. That's what I did for our two phones - I got 2 US998s. (I converted mine to VS996 for other reasons - you won't need to.)
V35 by itself doesn't tell us enough - you need to know the model number. Please be careful when talking any phones, as the model number is what's most important! Some V35s are apparently V30+, others are different and won't work with any of the steps here... so again, be careful.
I'd say, stick to US998 or LS998, and you should be fine, but let the expert confirm!
Oh yeah, and congrats for leaving the Crapple world! Needless to say I'm not a fan, for many good/real reasons. Many of my friends have switched when they learned how much better things can be on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply, kinda been busy with things and didn't want to just write a short reply, and thanks a lot for the "Frequency Check" website link, didn't know that was a thing I could use. I do worry about the message below the page though, saying "A matching frequency band does not guarantee coverage. There may be additional network or device software restrictions that prevent a device from connecting on a certain frequency. Additionally, certain bands may only be available regionally within a country." Does that mean I can't really be to sure it'll work even if it's supposed to be compatible? I wouldn't really want to take the risk it if that's the case.
Also, I've checked the LG V35 with my carrier Movistar, since preferably I'd choose it over the V30, and if I'm not selecting the wrong model (the eBay listing I'm looking at says model number is LM-V350A on the title, then V350AWM in the details, guessing that's the LMV350AWMH model from the Frequency Check website? Not one model number matches exactly for some reason), it says it only supports GSM, not UMTS or LTE. I don't know if this is any relevant, but whenever I used data on my old phone, the top side of the screen where you see the network name, Wi-Fi connection, etc. (at least on iOS not sure about Android) usually said LTE (or 3G if there wasn't any 4G connection available), so I'm guessing that means the LG V35 won't work well with my carrier Movistar. Kind of a bummer to be honest. Maybe I'm just getting confused at what all of these things actually mean, but if I understand correctly, if my carrier uses LTE and the V35 doesn't support any of its LTE bands that just means I wouldn't be able to use data, right? I don't really understand why these type of restrictions need to be put in place, if the phone is capable of 4G connection it should just work in every country with whichever carrier.
ChazzMatt said:
In Spain you will need GSM/HPSA/LTE.
V30
For the V30, the US998 (which is officially carrier unlocked model) it has all those plus CMDA (which you don't need, but doesn't hurt). The US998 was designated to be the "universal" V30/V30+ for North America. I'm going to briefly discuss the others just so you sort of know the difference. Others like U.S T-mobile H932, are locked to T-mobile and have an extra LTE band 71, which only T-mobile uses and would not benefit you whatsoever. Others like Verizon VS996 are already unlocked, but often give you a nag screen when rebooting if a Verizon SIM card is not inserted; as if you didn't know. The Canada H931 is carrier unlocked. The Sprint LS998 is carrier locked to Sprint, and the only way to carrier unlock it is to "Frankenstein" convert it to US998 (or some other carrier unlocked model like Canada H931 or Verizon VS996). AT&T H931 is carrier locked, but can be carrier unlocked by Frankenstein converted to a carrier unlocked model. With Frankenstein, whatever North American V30 phone you are flashing BECOMES the other model. You will see some eBay dealers incorrectly saying the US998 is locked to U.S. Cellular (a carrier here in the U.S.); this comes from them not knowing what they are selling. Yes, SOME US998 were sold by U.S. Cellular, but the US998 was the designated "open market" carrier unlocked model for North America and no US998 is carrier locked whatsoever. LG also sold the US998 through authorized 3rd party retailers like B&H Photo. They were all carrier unlocked, designed to be used with any carrier.
The other caveat is some of these are 64GB (VS996, H931, H933) while others have 128GB available like the US998 V30+ and the LS998 V30+. US998 also comes in 64GB model, but you might as well buy the V30+ (128GB).
The reason I mention "Frankenstein" is because there was a huge glut of Sprint LS998 V30+ on the market, and we found you could buy one and easily convert it to US998 V30+. I bought two and did that. No longer locked to Sprint, has fastboot flash commands and easily rooted (you probably don't care about that), and much less money than "native" US998 V30+ at the time. Dealers quickly figured this out also. In fact, most "new" or "mint" US998 V30+ you see on eBay for very good price are probably former LS998 V30+. That's OK.
So, it's no longer necessary to buy an LS998 V30+ to convert to US998 V30+, as the dealers have probably done it for you (or at least converted to the Nougat stage).
For your purposes, US998 (especially the V30+) is probably what you want of the North America V30 world. I have not mentioned the "European" H930 (64GB) or H930G (128GB) or the dual SIM H930DS (128GB), as importing those to U.S. for eBay sellers here make them more expensive.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998 V30/v30+/V30S
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
UPDATES
You will probably have to manually update the phone through software known as LGUP. New firmware images called KDZ are posted publicly here and on other websites. Takes 5 minutes, whenever you want, and you simply choose "Upgrade" mode. LG releases updates every 2 or 3 months.
You will also hear about checking for updates via LG Bridge (another piece of LG software), but it's better to just download the KDZ you need and use LGUP than to constantly have to fire up LG Bridge and check.
If you bought a "native" US998 V30+, you possibly would receive OTA updates. However, between the three native US998 V30 & V30+ I own, I've only received ONE OTA update in 1.5 years, and that was early on. So, don't depend on that.
You probably don't care about bootloader unlock and rooting, but for those who do ALL V30/V30+/V30S variants can be bootloader unlocked and rooted. That cannot be said for V35.
________
V35
Basically 2018 updated version of the 2017 V30. Snapdragon 845 vs Snapdragon 835. Has 6GB RAM, while most of the V30 (except for the V30S) has 4GB RAM. However, I've owned several V30/V30+ and none are slow. Downside: comes in 64GB, whereas many V30 have 128GB internal memory. Yes, allegedly there is a V35+ (128GB) but I've only seen it mentioned on websites and can not actually buy one here in the U.S. or even over the internet.
The main U.S. V35 variant is sold by AT&T and is ostensibly locked to AT&T. Meaning that only AT&T network SIM cards will work. However, if the dealer says it's "unlocked", then mean they have entered the code to carrier unlock the phone, which AT&T allows when the phone is paid in full. You can usually buy with confidence these "unlocked" phones. One way or another, they have been unlocked. (Any "carrier unlocked" LS998 V30+ you see online means it's been converted to US998 to be carrier unlocked.)
While AT&T was the first to sell the LG V35, it's also now sold other places as well, like for Google Fi and some Latin American countries. So, it's no longer an AT&T exclusive and never was. AT&T was just the first. Having said that, the ones for the least price will probably be the AT&T V35 models. As long as it's advertised as "unlocked", you are OK.
UPDATES
For AT&T LG V35 (even if carrier unlocked) you can only get updates while connected to AT&T SIM card or through one AT&T-affiliated MVNO called Red Pocket. (If there are other AT&T-affiliated MVNOs that allow updates, it's not been confirmed.) This is the same situation if you buy an AT&T H931 V30. AT&T wants you to be their customer and they do not release KDZ to the general public, nor allow updates to be sent to non-AT&T customers.
However, this is only true if you keep the AT&T firmware (AWM). For V35, you can cross-flash to the OTHER V35 firmware (ULM) and be up to date. This would again use LGUP. I just bought an AT&T V35 and the previous owner (who still uses V30+ as his daily phone and is active in this forum) cross flashed it to non-AT&T firmware to debloat it and to update it. I will continue to use my own (rooted) US998 V30+ as my daily phone, but this V35 looks interesting.
For others who may be reading this, right now (end of March 2019) the only way to bootloader unlock and root the V35 is to buy one from China with that already done. However there is no TWRP yet for V35. @runningnak3d is working on all that.
Here are the frequencies you will get with the LG 35 Google Fi version. I assume if you cross flash the AT&T V35 you will receive all these bands if you don't have all these bands? I'm asking in the V35 forum to confirm this assumption... With the V30, when you cross flash North America variants to Frankenstein them, it converts them totally to the other variant.
LG V35 Google Fi bands
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-V350ULM-Google-Fi-v35-thinq
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;
UMTS (HSPA): 850/900/1700/2100 MHz;
LTE: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/39/40/41/66
__________
CONCLUSION
I'm more comfortable recommending the US998 V30+ (128GB) to you right now, but an "unlocked" AT&T V35 (64GB) (especially if cross flashed to Google Fi firmware) would work well for you -- if the 64GB storage size (plus microSD card) fits your lifestyle and you don't care about bootloader unlocking/rooting (at least right now).
* With US998, you will have to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode once you download the KDZ. That's not hard.
* With AT&T V35, if you want updates, you will have to cross flash to different firmware first, then continue to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode. That's not hard either, but it depends on how comfortable you are doing stuff like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK wow, you really do know your stuff, sorry for the late reply but I've been busy and there's a lot here to take in, and I've still got more than a few questions if that's OK, not that you haven't explained a lot already but your post arose new questions. First of all, you say if a seller says the phone is unlocked (either carrier or factory unlocked, right? Same thing I'm guessing), then I can buy it confidently, does that mean I don't need to worry about different bands being compatible with the specific model I'm buying, since it's unlocked anyway? Or does that just mean that the phone can work with another carrier's SIM card, but data might not work then? As I've said, if I can choose I'd prefer the V35 over the V30 (don't care about the storage since I can use an SD card anyway, processor and RAM are my priority), but it seems like that one has more issues with compatibility, both in terms of updates and also after having checked the Frequency Check website schwinn8 recommended, though again, I assume if the phone is unlocked none of the bands compatibility issue matter. In any case, I'll send you a private message with a link to the seller page for the V35 deal I'm looking at right now, since I'm new in the forum and it won't let me post links like that on here, and hopefully you could help me figure out if that could work with Movistar's data connection and its LTE bands, if that's not too much to ask. I also need to say that I'm planning on buying the phone while in the US, since I'm taking a long trip there starting next month and was planning of taking advantage of that so I don't have to pay for the massive shipping costs to Spain. However, that means that basically I won't be able to make sure data works using the phone in Spain until I come back, and by then the 30-Day Return period will have ended, so I just need to know for sure that it'll work, that's why I'm asking about the whole unlocked thing and what it actually means.
Apart from that, I kinda need to ask about differences between a few other things you commented on. Basically, I don't understand much about what cross flashing, the Frankenstein method, or bootloader unlocking/rooting consist in. I don't know what the risk associated with each of this processes is or what each is looking to accomplish (I do understand Frankenstein allows you to unlock the V30, and change it so it becomes a US998, so to say, as you well explained, but that's about it), but I do know I wouldn't want to do anything that could brick my phone, I had a friend with a Nexus phone who had that happen to him (think he was rooting, not sure though) and I wouldn't trust myself any more than him to do anything that involves that type of risk, since I'd probably mess it up. So please keep that in mind, I understand you might find these type of things somewhat easy to do since you're way more experienced in them, but I'm quite wary about them. So, that being said, in case I end up buying a V35, I would definitely want to cross flash, since I do wish for updates, is that too difficult or risky? If it is I could just buy the V30, hopefully with the Frankenstein method done to it already, so I don't have to change anything myself.
That's pretty much everything I needed to ask, thanks a lot again for your reply, it's much appreciated, especially given my position as a newbie in the Android world.
JayKiddo said:
First of all, you say if a seller says the phone is unlocked (either carrier or factory unlocked, right? Same thing I'm guessing), then I can buy it confidently, does that mean I don't need to worry about different bands being compatible with the specific model I'm buying, since it's unlocked anyway? Or does that just mean that the phone can work with another carrier's SIM card, but data might not work then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Carrier unlocked/SIM card unlocked/network unlocked all mean the same thing. It means you can stick in some other SIM card from some other carrier and the phone will work, IF the phone has that carrier's bands. Many carriers like Sprint or AT&T lock their phones to their networks. They couldn't care less about people who are not their customers, especially people living in other countries. They are not really making money on hardware sales but on monthly phone bills. Carrier unlock removes that restriction of using it on a specific network, but the phone still has to have the necessary bands for the different carrier.
A V30/V30+ converted to US998 WILL be carrier unlocked and I listed the bands above and should work on Spain Movistar.
A V35 the seller CLAIMS is carrier unlocked should also work on Spain Movistar. (Although I just answered a question from someone who was sold an "unlocked" AT&T V30 phone and apparently it was not carrier unlocked after all. So, they will have to Frankenstein it themselves.)
JayKiddo said:
In any case, I'll send you a private message with a link to the seller page for the V35 deal I'm looking at right now, since I'm new in the forum and it won't let me post links like that on here, and hopefully you could help me figure out if that could work with Movistar's data connection and its LTE bands, if that's not too much to ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This site says Movistar uses LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 20:
https://www.imei.info/carriers/spain/movistar/
IMEI.info: LTE bands
B1 (2100)
B3 (1800+)
B7 (2600)
B20 (800 DD)
So, US998 V30/V30+ and carrier unlocked V35 should all work.
JayKiddo said:
Apart from that, I kinda need to ask about differences between a few other things you commented on. Basically, I don't understand much about what cross flashing, the Frankenstein method, or bootloader unlocking/rooting consist in. I don't know what the risk associated with each of this processes is or what each is looking to accomplish (I do understand Frankenstein allows you to unlock the V30, and change it so it becomes a US998, so to say, as you well explained, but that's about it), but I do know I wouldn't want to do anything that could brick my phone.
So, that being said, in case I end up buying a V35, I would definitely want to cross flash, since I do wish for updates, is that too difficult or risky? If it is I could just buy the V30, hopefully with the Frankenstein method done to it already, so I don't have to change anything myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a V30/V30+ was already cross flashed to US998, you would not NEED to do anything. It will work. However, to get updates at some point in the future, you would want to learn the simple steps to use "Upgrade" mode in LGUP. It doesn't wipe data, it's like manually flashing an OTA.
The US998 KDZ are posted here in the XDA forum and you can also find them on other websites. No one is quite laying out the instructions or posting KDZ like that for the V35 yet.
For the V35, if carrier unlocked, then you would not NEED to do anything. It should work. However, to get updates at some point in the future, you would want to learn how to cross flash to the Google Fi firmware (which will wipe your data at that step), then learn the simple steps to use "Upgrade" mode in LGUP (which will not wipe your date going forward). You would have to download future Google Fi firmware and flash it.
If you buy the V35 here in the U.S. during your visit, you can check if it is carrier unlocked by using a non-AT&T carrier SIM card.
Dual SIM question.
Looking for a dual SIM phone that meets spec needs and unlocked bootloader.
Will the lgv30 dual sim work on Verizon and cricket?
mrkhigh said:
Dual SIM question.
Looking for a dual SIM phone that meets spec needs and unlocked bootloader.
Will the lgv30 dual sim work on Verizon and cricket?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it won't. You're talking about the H930DS.
These are the H930DS LTE bands below. Missing 2, 4, 12, 13 for what you need.... And you can't "Frankenstein" the H939DS to convert to North American variants, with their frequencies. H930DS is for other parts of the world.
LTE2100 (B1), LTE1800 (B3), LTE850 (B5), LTE2600 (B7), LTE900 (B8), LTE800 (B20), LTE700 (B28)
TD-LTE2600 (B38), TD-LTE1900 (B39), TD-LTE2300 (B40), TD-LTE2500 (B41)
Had a feeling you'd help me out. Thanks.
I'll just forward the number and use Verizon messages plus then if I go with this device. Just really don't like to have to do that....
I'm not completely sure how Verizon call forwarding works but if it still allows for me to use lte on the Verizon phone while forwarded I can have it ring my Google number and allow both phones to ring. if that is the case I really don't need the dual SIM as much as would prefer to have Verizon and cricket coverage especially since Verizon has better coverage. Unfortunately the cricket number will be my primary carry.
I'm looking for a device that will be equal to or better than the pixel 2 (my current work phone).
The mi mix 2 or mi mix 3 is looking very tempting.
My wife has an htc u11.
But this is the other device I looked hard at before buying the u11 for her.
mrkhigh said:
Had a feeling you'd help me out. Thanks.
I'll just forward the number and use Verizon messages plus then if I go with this device. Just really don't like to have to do that....
I'm not completely sure how Verizon call forwarding works but if it still allows for me to use lte on the Verizon phone while forwarded I can have it ring my Google number and allow both phones to ring. if that is the case I really don't need the dual SIM as much as would prefer to have Verizon and cricket coverage especially since Verizon has better coverage. Unfortunately the cricket number will be my primary carry.
I'm looking for a device that will be equal to or better than the pixel 2 (my current work phone).
The mi mix 2 or mi mix 3 is looking very tempting.
My wife has an htc u11.
But this is the other device I looked hard at before buying the u11 for her.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you know, lots of Verizon users on here from the Droid Turbo (Moto Quark) XDA forums. @schwinn8, @gimpy1, @nnjimmy59 and many others.
For hardware features, this is better than the Pixel 2: has
headset jack,
Quad DAC,
DTS 3D Surround sound (with root; on recent firmware updates LG has the framework -- the libs -- but you need root to enable for some reason),
microSD card slot, and
Qi wireless charging.
Mint US998 V30+ (128GB) is now $185 on eBay. You'll need your already-activated Verizon SIM card. After bootloader unlock and TWRP installation, then you can flash to Verizon TWRP flashable zip (ROM) made from latest stock KDZ firmware, and have all Verizon features. You're basically converting to VS996 -- BUT with 128GB internal memory, plus microSD card.
Or you can buy Verizon-branded VS996 (64GB), if you wish, but I've not priced those recently.
Be aware that almost all "new" V30 at this point in time are really refurbished, which is why I'm more willing to look at "mint" used. I've bought from that seller several times.
Be sure to buy a good case like this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Spigen-LG-V30-Rugged-Armor-Shockproof-Case-Slim-TPU-Cover-/253142676754
They can be very slippery with the glass front and back.
Actually I'd be running on cricket (att) but the price is indeed right.
I don't miss my headphone jack, I've moved to Bluetooth.
The rest would be nice.
The specs are very close. With lg having a slightly faster processor and bigger battery.
I wish it were a physically smaller phone. I already feel the p2 is too large but it is good for games.
Any suggestion as to the exact model to get for cricket (att)
Mind you I'd want it to be unlockable
mrkhigh said:
Mind you I'd want it to be unlockable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All V30 variants can be bootloader unlocked and rooted. U.S. T-mobile H932 uses a more difficult method, while all the others use the "WTF" bootloader unlock exploit.
US998 V30/V30+/V30S are all carrier unlocked, if you are also talking about that. In fact, the default method to carrier unlock the AT&T H931 and the Sprint LS998 are to "Frankenstein" convert them to US998 firmware. It instantly carrier unlocks them -- very useful for people in other countries buying these phones off eBay...
My wife, me, my mother, my sister, her husband, two other friends all use the US998 on AT&T. The US998 is the "official" North America carrier unlocked variant, with compatibility for all carriers. (Yes, I use AT&T but have never used AT&T-branded phones. For the Quark, I had the Moto XT1225 I imported from other countries.)
You probably want the V30+ for the extra internal memory.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
Thanks, I may buy it here in a few months then.
I just wish it wasn't glass glued together.
ChazzMatt said:
All V30 variants can be bootloader unlocked and rooted. U.S. T-mobile H932 uses a more difficult method, while all the others use the "WTF" bootloader unlock exploit.
US998 V30/V30+/V30S are all carrier unlocked, if you are also talking about that. In fact, the default method to carrier unlock the AT&T H931 and the Sprint LS998 are to "Frankenstein" convert them to US998 firmware. It instantly carrier unlocks them -- very useful for people in other countries buying these phones off eBay...
My wife, me, my mother, my sister, her husband, two other friends all use the US998 on AT&T. The US998 is the "official" North America carrier unlocked variant, with compatibility for all carriers. (Yes, I use AT&T but have never used AT&T-branded phones. For the Quark, I had the Moto XT1225 I imported from other countries.)
You probably want the V30+ for the extra internal memory.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the story on the screen burn in and "blurring?" I'm reading about.
I play games that heat up phones. Is this phones screen not up for the task?
mrkhigh said:
What's the story on the screen burn in and "blurring?" I'm reading about.
I play games that heat up phones. Is this phones screen not up for the task?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's up to it.
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
My Note 4s died so I'm finally moving on to a new device, was going to buy a Pixel XL until someone suggested a V30 instead, so going with that instead. Been on Sprint CDMA forever so finally trying to switch to GSM international.
However I'm not sure which model to get. I use Ting as my carrier, an MVNO of Sprint and Tmo, but I don't think you HAVE to use a Sprint or Tmo phone (currently using a Verizon loaner, works fine).
I read on a rooting thread that the H932 (Tmo) is more difficult to root because the encryption is different. The only other model I'm seeing is the H931 (AT&T), however it says Unlocked instead of AT&T in the listing.
I'd like the phone to be able to work in the US as well as internationally. Does the H931 work internationally or only in the US? Is the H931 fine to get or is one of the others a better choice?
For US customers the best LG V30 is arguably the US998 - it was and might still be sold by US Cellular, not sure on that - because it covers all 4 major carriers in terms of the radios and LTE bands and it's factory unlocked from the gitgo. The only band that's not covered is LTE Band 71 which is T-Mobile and only available in the H932 model specifically.
You can get other models, like the H931 (AT&T), the LS998 (the Sprint model), etc, and convert them to function as the US998 but why bother doing a conversion when you can just buy the damned US998 directly and not have to bother with such things.
There's the US998 V30 (64GB internal storage) and the V30+ (128GB storage), if you can find a V30+ for a decent price I'd highly recommend that model over the traditional V30 because of the increased storage.
Now, as for using the US998 outside the US, I can't speak for that kind of usage directly, but you can look at the radio band support and figure it out yourself based on the hardware specs (select Specs, scroll down to the Connectivity section):
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Silver-lg-v30
br0adband said:
For US customers the best LG V30 is arguably the US998 - it was and might still be sold by US Cellular, not sure on that - because it covers all 4 major carriers in terms of the radios and LTE bands and it's factory unlocked from the gitgo. The only band that's not covered is LTE Band 71 which is T-Mobile and only available in the H932 model specifically.
You can get other models, like the H931 (AT&T), the LS998 (the Sprint model), etc, and convert them to function as the US998 but why bother doing a conversion when you can just buy the damned US998 directly and not have to bother with such things.
There's the US998 V30 (64GB internal storage) and the V30+ (128GB storage), if you can find a V30+ for a decent price I'd highly recommend that model over the traditional V30 because of the increased storage.
Now, as for using the US998 outside the US, I can't speak for that kind of usage directly, but you can look at the radio band support and figure it out yourself based on the hardware specs (select Specs, scroll down to the Connectivity section):
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Silver-lg-v30
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks for the insight. What all is involved in the conversion process? Just curious
mon0theist said:
Awesome thanks for the insight. What all is involved in the conversion process? Just curious
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Dev Patched LGUP to flash USS98 Nougat, doing a Master Reset, then flashing US998 Oreo (or Pie when it comes for US998).
There's a Frankenstein thread with more complete Instructions, like how to install LGUP -- but that's the gist.
---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------
br0adband said:
For US customers the best LG V30 is arguably the US998 - it was and might still be sold by US Cellular, not sure on that - because it covers all 4 major carriers in terms of the radios and LTE bands and it's factory unlocked from the gitgo. The only band that's not covered is LTE Band 71 which is T-Mobile and only available in the H932 model specifically.
You can get other models, like the H931 (AT&T), the LS998 (the Sprint model), etc, and convert them to function as the US998 but why bother doing a conversion when you can just buy the damned US998 directly and not have to bother with such things.
There's the US998 V30 (64GB internal storage) and the V30+ (128GB storage), if you can find a V30+ for a decent price I'd highly recommend that model over the traditional V30 because of the increased storage.
Now, as for using the US998 outside the US, I can't speak for that kind of usage directly, but you can look at the radio band support and figure it out yourself based on the hardware specs (select Specs, scroll down to the Connectivity section):
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Silver-lg-v30
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your email is very good except for one thing...
While USS98 was sold by U.S. Cellular, the US998 is also the official Open Market (carrier unlocked) North America V30 sold by B&H Photo, Amazon, Best Buy.
The only reason U.S. Cellular sold it is because LG wouldn't make them a separate variant. They are too small a carrier.
So, please stop mentioning U.S. Cellular. It confuses people, as dedicated U.S. Cellular phones are normally LOCKED to U.S. Cellular.
U.S. Cellular coincidentally sold the US998. How's that? Much better. But better yet, just leave them out of the discussion, since it then requires explaining all the above.
ChazzMatt said:
Using Dev Patched LGUP to flash USS98 Nougat, doing a Master Reset, then flashing US998 Oreo (or Pie when it comes for US998).
There's a Frankenstein thread with more complete Instructions, like how to install LGUP -- but that's the gist.
---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------
Your email is very good except for one thing...
While USS98 was sold by U.S. Cellular, the US998 is also the official Open Market (carrier unlocked) North America V30 sold by B&H Photo, Amazon, Best Buy.
The only reason U.S. Cellular sold it is because LG wouldn't make them a separate variant. They are too small a carrier.
So, please stop mentioning U.S. Cellular. It confuses people, as dedicated U.S. Cellular phones are normally LOCKED to U.S. Cellular.
U.S. Cellular coincidentally sold the US998. How's that? Much better. But better yet, just leave them out of the discussion, since it then requires explaining all the above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know, thanks! Which variant would you recommend? I'd like the phone to work both in the US and internationally, let's say India for example. My carrier in the US is Ting, which uses Sprint's and Tmo's network, which might possibly require me to buy the Tmo variant according to this reddit thread, but I'd rather take my chances with the US998 variant if it means more likelihood for international compatibility.
EDIT: Also there's no Android P stock ROM for the US998? Could I still flash LineageOS 16 on Oreo firmware?
mon0theist said:
Good to know, thanks! Which variant would you recommend? I'd like the phone to work both in the US and internationally, let's say India for example. My carrier in the US is Ting, which uses Sprint's and Tmo's network, which might possibly require me to buy the Tmo variant according to this reddit thread, but I'd rather take my chances with the US998 variant if it means more likelihood for international compatibility.
EDIT: Also there's no Android P stock ROM for the US998? Could I still flash LineageOS 16 on Oreo firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There will be Pie for all variants. Last week EU H930 Pie was officially released. The rest are coming.
Here's the bands you'll get with carrier unlocked US998.
ChazzMatt said:
There will be Pie for all variants. Last week EU H930 Pie was officially released. The rest are coming.
Here's the bands you'll get with carrier unlocked US998.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks
I found this thread for rooting the H932, but it requires the bootloader having already been unlocked. Is there a method to unlock the bootloader that is specific to the H932, or is it the same as all the other variants?
mon0theist said:
Awesome thanks
I found this thread for rooting the H932, but it requires the bootloader having already been unlocked. Is there a method to unlock the bootloader that is specific to the H932, or is it the same as all the other variants?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm, I wouldn't get the T-Mobile H932 unless you're a T-Mobile customer. It's much harder to root than the other variants.
Yes, you have to follow the instructions in that thread to install TWRP and root the T-Mobile H932.
WTF INSTRUCTIONS are for all the other variants.
See this Root Sticky thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/how-to/root-v30-t3927154
Read post #1.
ChazzMatt said:
Umm, I wouldn't get the T-Mobile H932 unless you're a T-Mobile customer. It's much harder to root than the other variants.
Yes, you have to follow the instructions in that thread to install TWRP and root the T-Mobile H932.
WTF INSTRUCTIONS are for all the other variants.
See this Root Sticky thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/how-to/root-v30-t3927154
Read post #1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ting is an MVNO of Tmobile and they advised me that getting something without the Band 12 VoLTE support could result in issues with calls/texts not going through. Other than that I would probably go for the US998 version. Or maybe I should just get the US998 and hope for the best idk.
mon0theist said:
Ting is an MVNO of Tmobile and they advised me that getting something without the Band 12 VoLTE support could result in issues with calls/texts not going through. Other than that I would probably go for the US998 version. Or maybe I should just get the US998 and hope for the best idk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
US998 has T-Mobile Band 12 VoLTE support and has T-Mobile WiFi calling.
It's just LTE Band 71 you won't have.
ChazzMatt said:
US998 has T-Mobile Band 12 VoLTE support and has T-Mobile WiFi calling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh really? Well in that case US998 it is
I'm reading the various threads from 2018 and 2019. They mention that the H932 is more difficult to root. Is that still true? They also mention that the US998 is missing the LTE600 (B71) band, but it will still work with T-Mobile USA on the other bands.
I also learned that many US998 models are actually LS998 that have been converted. Is that a problem in my cases, now that Sprint and T-Mobile merged?
After a couple years has passed, which LG V30 is the best one to buy for T-Mobile USA? I want to run LineageOS 18 (and hopefully future versions) along with TWRP and Magisk.
I'm hoping to buy one with 128GB storage.
With LG exiting the phone business, will I experience any problems unlocking the bootloader now?
MtnX2 said:
I'm reading the various threads from 2018 and 2019. They mention that the H932 is more difficult to root. Is that still true? They also mention that the US998 is missing the LTE600 (B71) band, but it will still work with T-Mobile USA on the other bands.
I also learned that many US998 models are actually LS998 that have been converted. Is that a problem in my cases, now that Sprint and T-Mobile merged?
After a couple years has passed, which LG V30 is the best one to buy for T-Mobile USA? I want to run LineageOS 18 (and hopefully future versions) along with TWRP and Magisk.
I'm hoping to buy one with 128GB storage.
With LG exiting the phone business, will I experience any problems unlocking the bootloader now?
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V30/V30+ T-Mobile H932 is still the hardest to root, yes. Not to be confused with the V30 H932PR which was sold in Puerto Rico and is different. The T-Mobile V30 (64GB) and V30+ (128GB) has different encryption system and no native fastboot commands. (Well, almost none. None that are helpful.) For the other North American variants (AT&T H931, Canada H933, Verizon VS996), without fastboot commands, you can easily convert them (Frankenstein) to US998 to get that. With the T-Mobile H932 you cannot cross flash other firmware to get that ability without bricking the phone.
There's an alternate method for rooting the T-Mobile H932. See here.
Also, the 128GB V30+ variant of the T-Mobile H932 was a limited offering, sold for a short amount of time during holidays in late 2017. Most of the T-Mobile H932 are the 64GB V30.
Since T-Mobile has merged with Sprint, the new T-Mobile SIM cards seem to not allow US998 firmware to have T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling anymore. If you can find an older SIM card, that will still work, to my knowledge.
ChazzMatt said:
V30/V30+ T-Mobile H932 is still the hardest to root, yes.
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Thanks for the update. It sounds like the US998 is the best version to purchase. I guess I should try to get an original US998 (not a converted LS998). Am I right?
I might try to buy two of these because none of the current phones being made today top the LG V30 for me. (Like somebody said on Reddit recently, smartphone technology seems to be going backwards in some ways.)
Is anyone using LineageOS 18 as the daily driver on the LG V30?
ChazzMatt said:
Since T-Mobile has merged with Sprint, the new SIM cards seem to not allow US998 firmware to have T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling anymore. If you can find an older SIM card, that will still work, to my knowledge.
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Oh, that sounds like bad news for me... Maybe I need to go with the T-Mobile H932 version.