Buy the Bootloader Unlocked Snapdragon version from Hong Kong or China? - Samsung Galaxy S21 Questions

Since there's noticeable quality and heating drawbacks for the Exynos version, and the US version is bootloader locked, and not having root = you don't own the device, I'm wondering if anyone from outside asia has any experience or recommendations for buying this phone from HK or China, to get the unlocked snapdragon version.
Has anyone done this? I looked on amazon.jp and it seems some s21s are listed as having snapdragons, but user comments say they ordered them and received exynos versions.
Cheers.
I assume china won't have google services but maybe HK does?

Solved.
Ok, so confirmed by users, there are a couple online shops that ship from hk to eu, even without extra VAT, and confirmed to ship with HK firmware. I don't know about all the codes, but seems at very least the G9980ZH****** ones are HK firmware. I won't paste shops here since it seems people aren't so it might be against the rules.
Definitely don't recommend buying from China as you'd then have to flash the HK firmware to replace the china one or else you won't have certain features, but the HK version has everything working (only thing is samsung pay may be locked to HK according to some reports but I don't care, also maybe you could flash an eu samsung pay app especialy with root, idk).

Related

Xiaomi Mi4C

I want to buy Xiami Mi4c. I live in INDIA.
Does anyone know if this device will be launched in INDIA or not ? Any info on this will be appreciated.
Also my colleague is travelling to China, so will it be a good idea to get the phone from China ? Will it have international warranty ?
as for Xiaomi mi4c, right now it is just Chinese version, not international version, and there is the shipping problems in India. i guess you should wait for the international version in India, but anyway, if you don't mind the ROM version, you can still have a try. many Chinese stores have one year warranty. don't worry.

Honor 9 Internetional: a few questions if you please

Hi there guys..
I just saw an offer on GB for the Honor 9 at € 281, which is indeed a great price. It's the International version, they say but there's something weird.. I read here on xda a few people that ordered the International version (don't know where) that should be AL00 but received Asian version, L29.. He had to flash the international rom. It's not that I fear flashing something but I wouldn't like to buy a thing and receive another one..
Anyway, just in case, flashing the International firmware does stop receiving updates, somehow? Until the firmware is stock, unrooted and bootloader untouched it shouldn't be an issue, I guess..
More important: I read that both versions have the same identical hardware so it's natural to think that the LTE 800 MHz is missing from International version, isn't it? Otherwise what's the difference about? Just a firmware? Still it would be weird because if I recall correctly Honor 8 eu version had it (but I maybe be wrong).
Last but not least, from your personal experience, is it a good device to buy for that price? I' not so sure and I would like to wait for something new but the offer is really good considering the original price..
Mmmm it's weird btw.. I just checked on AliExpress for prices comparison and I found a device with Internetional Honor 9 but the codes to pick from are AL00, AL10 or TL01.. so neither one is Internetional version (yeah I could flash as we said)
EDIT: this is the link https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_649021.html at normal price, there's a code for discount (if you need tell me via PM I could share, even if there are only 30 so don't know how much they'll be available). From the latter screenshots in the page it seems it should be STF something, could it be? What's that?
The only color available is the pure black, maybe gray is better as overall looking, isn't it?
EDIT2: I see you have it, STF from your signature
Rommco05 said:
As I know all models are Chines, I can be wrong but I saw just L09C300/C900. Thid is code for international rom C300/C900 and this AL00... are Chines models so probably if this models have C300... firmwares yes, can be international
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry mate I edit my post.. so basically from the link I posted above, the screenshot says STF-L09C432B100 so it should be basically as the one you have.. was your device International when you bought it?
Rommco05 said:
This is clear European model if cost same price go for it is best phone for value
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fear this is the International version signature, the European one (where LTE B20 is used if poor 4G signal) is FRD-L09 or L16 (32GB and 64GB).. I'm really tempted but I'm not sure now
EDIT info here (post 4 and so on) https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-9/how-to/model-stf-l09-t3636884/page3 and here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-8/help/frd-l19-europe-version-64gb-buy-t3458943
This i my case. I live in France, last month I ordered a Honor 9 black on the website priceminister with good offert, saved around 130€ vs buying here. The seller is from China, so I thought this phone is Chinese version, I prepared myself that I will do "rebrand". I received the phone yesterday. It is written AL00 version on the box, but when I started, surprisingly there is already all Google services, and in the settings, it is L09...version, and it received an update to ...130 immediately after. So, I thought the seller did "rebrand" the phone before. I'm happy with it. Only one minus thing, the charger plug is asian type, not european type, I need an adapter
justmehate said:
This i my case. I live in France, last month I ordered a Honor 9 black on the website priceminister with good offert, saved around 130€ vs buying here. The seller is from China, so I thought this phone is Chinese version, I prepared myself that I will do "rebrand". I received the phone yesterday. It is written AL00 version on the box, but when I started, surprisingly there is already all Google services, and in the settings, it is L09...version, and it received an update to ...130 immediately after. So, I thought the seller did "rebrand" the phone before. I'm happy with it. Only one minus thing, the charger plug is asian type, not european type, I need an adapter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the same case with me. Though I don't live in Europe and honor 9 is not officially available but there are grey importers that bring in the phone from China and rebrand it. Luckily the seller did provide an adapter.
Problem is not the model strictly but the fact that only European models have band 20 (800 MHz) for LTE.. (so FRD-etc) ?

Difference between EU and Indian variant?

I've been wanting to get this phone for a while and in AliExpress I keep seeing two variants, Indian and EU variant. What is the difference between these two?
Bump
Probably the MIUI version. The EU variant contains Global ROM when sold. I don't know which MIUI version is on the Indian but might be version of Chinese MIUI.
Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Tapatalk
more importantly could be difference of lte bands as well
(I found this when I bought it in AliExpress) the Indian version its assembled on India and doesn't have an FCC approved sticker on the box, it also may have different internal components that are locally available on India. The EU/international version is approved by the FCC and its assembled in China with (probably) higher quality components or at the very least directly overseen by Xiaomi.
Heres the thing I cant seem to find 128GB EU version stock of this phone anywhere. Its out of stock or too expensive wherever I search. Anyone who has recently bought the Indian version can tell me if they are facing any issues?

Planning to buy an A10 - how do I know if my country's version is rootable/moddable?

Due to my current phone breaking down, I'm now searching for the cheapest phone available that is able to run a custom ROM, has a fingerprint scanner, and most importantly, is sold at a major store in my country (Costa Rica). The vast majority of phones I can find are either Huawei, which is notorious for being practically unhackable and therefore are a no-go, or Samsung, which is a 50/50 chance. From what I've gathered, the Samsung devices whose chipsets are compatible with modding (Exynos) are typically not available officially in Latin America (which usually carries the Snapdragon version instead) and so the Exynos versions must be imported from Europe, which might take months of shipping and end up overpriced. Despite of everything, however, after checking in several stores in my country, the Galaxy A10 seems to be the only phone I could find that lands in the sweetspot for capability and price - if only there was a way to mod it, that is. My question is, is it possible to know beforehand which models of the A10 are rootable and/or moddable in any way, and which ones are not? (Remember, my current phone is broken and so I must jot the compatible models down in order to compare before paying)
No 30-day money back guarantee? No CoD's? 1-800...
So basically not the us version a102u (the u is the start of the country code in the device f/w # ie.A102USQS5ATA7)
BUT I don't know if your internet shopping listing will provide you with that before purchasing. They may just say yes to get the sale. (Don't ask the barber if you need a haircut)
TLL
Get a unlocked LG k10 or Aristo series w/ the features
You require. Please wash your hands and disinfect all new phones and packages ?
Sent from my a10e using XDA Labs
ArkBlitz said:
Due to my current phone breaking down, I'm now searching for the cheapest phone available that is able to run a custom ROM, has a fingerprint scanner, and most importantly, is sold at a major store in my country (Costa Rica). The vast majority of phones I can find are either Huawei, which is notorious for being practically unhackable and therefore are a no-go, or Samsung, which is a 50/50 chance. From what I've gathered, the Samsung devices whose chipsets are compatible with modding (Exynos) are typically not available officially in Latin America (which usually carries the Snapdragon version instead) and so the Exynos versions must be imported from Europe, which might take months of shipping and end up overpriced. Despite of everything, however, after checking in several stores in my country, the Galaxy A10 seems to be the only phone I could find that lands in the sweetspot for capability and price - if only there was a way to mod it, that is. My question is, is it possible to know beforehand which models of the A10 are rootable and/or moddable in any way, and which ones are not? (Remember, my current phone is broken and so I must jot the compatible models down in order to compare before paying)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
buy an a20, the a10 is extremely useless for developers
unfortunately
usa variants are not unlockable. its simple. every other variantshould be bl unlockable

Looking to buy this when it's actually released

I've been researching this phone and could only seem to find the Chinese version for sale. Well, I also found the Indian version on Flipkart and Realme's official website but they don't ship outside of India.
However, I am hoping to get the Global variant, which supports band 66. According to news sites this is launching on May 5th (at least in the UK) and since I live in the US I still need to find a way to buy it.
If anyone else has any info about the global variant launching, please share! I'm assuming it will then be available on alternate websites for purchase that will ship to the US?
x50 is china variant, x50 pro is global (including china) variant
edited.
the most probably date of worldwide launch is 5 may or later 10 may
xocomaox said:
I've been researching this phone and could only seem to find the Chinese version for sale. Well, I also found the Indian version on Flipkart and Realme's official website but they don't ship outside of India.
However, I am hoping to get the Global variant, which supports band 66. According to news sites this is launching on May 5th (at least in the UK) and since I live in the US I still need to find a way to buy it.
If anyone else has any info about the global variant launching, please share! I'm assuming it will then be available on alternate websites for purchase that will ship to the US?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon.es that is the best place to buy I could find , ,I m waiting to buy. Did you buy ?
Also banggood has eu variant , I m tmobile user and need band 66 as well , so amazon.es is the cheapest so far

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