Question What is it like using this phone in Canada? - Sony Xperia 1 III

I am looking to buy this phone, but am very cautious because it isn't officially available or supported in Canada. So I am wondering, from those here who have done purchased and use this phone as their main one, what is the Xperiance (heh) like? What works? What doesn't work? Would you recommend it?
Also, what version are you using? I've found a few websites selling the US variant (XQ-BC62), but most of the sellers have the Chinese(?) model (XQ-BC72).
I've read this thread, so I understand that I cannot just simply purchase a non-US model and flash it with a US rom without having LTE issues and no apparent benefit. Was really hoping that was a feasible option to maybe get some carrier features to work. But honestly, I don't care for 5G (besides, Freedom Mobile doesn't even offer 5G), I don't think I have ever used wifi calling, and I doubt phone calls with VoLTE are vastly superior to voice calls without it, so losing out on those features isn't the biggest issue for me. I just want a phone that works, though, and not something I will constantly need to fight with to keep working.
So yeah, if anybody has anything to share, I would greatly appreciate it!

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I'm coming to the Xperia 1 III after having a SA 5G phone and IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. The Xperia is always suffering from spotty signal problems while my older T-Mo LG Velvet 5G is solid everywhere, despite the two having the same public spec sheet. The Xperia likes LTE 66 + NR 71, which makes absolutely no sense. LTE 66 is fast but a bit unreliable while NR 71 is ultra-reliable but slow. The Xperia can't operate without LTE 66 so NR 71 is just there to drain the battery and turn on the "5G" indicator. It can't seem to use NR 41 at all. The LG typically uses the best three of NR 2, 4, 41, and 71.
Think about the future:
HSPA is as good as dead. What little of it remains is badly overloaded. No VoLTE/VoNR will soon mean no phone calls.
Newer bands are 5G only
I don't know if it's the latency improvements or the way 5G/LTE bandwidth sharing works, but a saturated cell tower performs a lot better on 5G than LTE.
I'm hoping Sony fixes the BC62 soon or this will be a $$$$ mistake. A bad cell radio is no fun.

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kevinmcmurtrie said:
I'm coming to the Xperia 1 III after having a SA 5G phone and IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. The Xperia is always suffering from spotty signal problems while my older T-Mo LG Velvet 5G is solid everywhere, despite the two having the same public spec sheet. The Xperia likes LTE 66 + NR 71, which makes absolutely no sense. LTE 66 is fast but a bit unreliable while NR 71 is ultra-reliable but slow. The Xperia can't operate without LTE 66 so NR 71 is just there to drain the battery and turn on the "5G" indicator. It can't seem to use NR 41 at all. The LG typically uses the best three of NR 2, 4, 41, and 71.
Think about the future:
HSPA is as good as dead. What little of it remains is badly overloaded. No VoLTE/VoNR will soon mean no phone calls.
Newer bands are 5G only
I don't know if it's the latency improvements or the way 5G/LTE bandwidth sharing works, but a saturated cell tower performs a lot better on 5G than LTE.
I'm hoping Sony fixes the BC62 soon or this will be a $$$$ mistake. A bad cell radio is no fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's extremely frustrating to read...
The one phone that checks all the damn boxes regarding hardware, and of course it doesn't actually work well as a phone. You had one job, Sony!
At least that is something that can be fixed, right? But yeah, I'm not really down to spend $1500 CAD on a phone that might work...

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I am in Canada and I have XQ-BC72. I am on Fido and I also tried Rogers wireless sim card. NO VOLTE SUPPORTED. Not only volte, no carrier feature are supported (volte, vowifi, voicemail, visual voicemail). However, basic LTE function works fine. The network speed is very good, I think the speed is the standard speed.
A funny thing is I didn't have 4g+ support when I first came to Canada. The network speed is about 40mbps. But I got 4g+ support after I inserted a Rogers sim. I mean insert a Rogers sim and take it out and then insert my Fido card. The 4g+ sign disappeared in a few weeks but the network speed seems remaining the same, which is more than 100mbps now.
Also if you're interested, it doesn't support 5g on Rogers. It might because it's on TW rom, but I don't want to flash my phone and try again since flashing ROMs in other areas makes LTE unusable.
Flashing ROMs doesn't help on carrier support. I am trying to get the carrier support by unlocking my phone this winter. There's a guide on XDA, you can check.

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Forbesii said:
I am in Canada and I have XQ-BC72. I am on Fido and I also tried Rogers wireless sim card. NO VOLTE SUPPORTED. Not only volte, no carrier feature are supported (volte, vowifi, voicemail, visual voicemail). However, basic LTE function works fine. The network speed is very good, I think the speed is the standard speed.
A funny thing is I didn't have 4g+ support when I first came to Canada. The network speed is about 40mbps. But I got 4g+ support after I inserted a Rogers sim. I mean insert a Rogers sim and take it out and then insert my Fido card. The 4g+ sign disappeared in a few weeks but the network speed seems remaining the same, which is more than 100mbps now.
Also if you're interested, it doesn't support 5g on Rogers. It might because it's on TW rom, but I don't want to flash my phone and try again since flashing ROMs in other areas makes LTE unusable.
Flashing ROMs doesn't help on carrier support. I am trying to get the carrier support by unlocking my phone this winter. There's a guide on XDA, you can check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This guide?
I'll wait before pulling the trigger then and see how it goes for you. I tried contacting Freedom Mobile to see if there was a chance they approve this phone for their network, but the response was basically "we don't recommend getting unsupported devices, just get a Samsung" lol...

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OmJo93_ said:
This guide?
I'll wait before pulling the trigger then and see how it goes for you. I tried contacting Freedom Mobile to see if there was a chance they approve this phone for their network, but the response was basically "we don't recommend getting unsupported devices, just get a Samsung" lol...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is okay if you don't care about 5g. I'm here using the phone for three months without any problem. Actually, I don't use voice calls that much and I don't have any scenario that I need network while calling. The 3g call quality is fine and I think even better than WhatsApp. It's a good phone for daily use though.

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kevinmcmurtrie said:
I'm coming to the Xperia 1 III after having a SA 5G phone and IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. The Xperia is always suffering from spotty signal problems while my older T-Mo LG Velvet 5G is solid everywhere, despite the two having the same public spec sheet. The Xperia likes LTE 66 + NR 71, which makes absolutely no sense. LTE 66 is fast but a bit unreliable while NR 71 is ultra-reliable but slow. The Xperia can't operate without LTE 66 so NR 71 is just there to drain the battery and turn on the "5G" indicator. It can't seem to use NR 41 at all. The LG typically uses the best three of NR 2, 4, 41, and 71.
Think about the future:
HSPA is as good as dead. What little of it remains is badly overloaded. No VoLTE/VoNR will soon mean no phone calls.
Newer bands are 5G only
I don't know if it's the latency improvements or the way 5G/LTE bandwidth sharing works, but a saturated cell tower performs a lot better on 5G than LTE.
I'm hoping Sony fixes the BC62 soon or this will be a $$$$ mistake. A bad cell radio is no fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yikes. That's a pretty disappointing read.
kevinmcmurtrie said:
I'm coming to the Xperia 1 III after having a SA 5G phone and IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. The Xperia is always suffering from spotty signal problems while my older T-Mo LG Velvet 5G is solid everywhere, despite the two having the same public spec sheet. The Xperia likes LTE 66 + NR 71, which makes absolutely no sense. LTE 66 is fast but a bit unreliable while NR 71 is ultra-reliable but slow. The Xperia can't operate without LTE 66 so NR 71 is just there to drain the battery and turn on the "5G" indicator. It can't seem to use NR 41 at all. The LG typically uses the best three of NR 2, 4, 41, and 71.
Think about the future:
HSPA is as good as dead. What little of it remains is badly overloaded. No VoLTE/VoNR will soon mean no phone calls.
Newer bands are 5G only
I don't know if it's the latency improvements or the way 5G/LTE bandwidth sharing works, but a saturated cell tower performs a lot better on 5G than LTE.
I'm hoping Sony fixes the BC62 soon or this will be a $$$$ mistake. A bad cell radio is no fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony Xperia 1 III (US) (XQ-BC62) | 4G/5G Bands & Combos
4G & 5G Bands, Carrier Aggregation and Dual Connectivity Combinations for Sony Xperia 1 III (US) (XQ-BC62)
cacombos.com
This is a list of all the supported 4G + 5G combos for the Xperia 1 III
kevinmcmurtrie said:
I'm coming to the Xperia 1 III after having a SA 5G phone and IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. The Xperia is always suffering from spotty signal problems while my older T-Mo LG Velvet 5G is solid everywhere, despite the two having the same public spec sheet. The Xperia likes LTE 66 + NR 71, which makes absolutely no sense. LTE 66 is fast but a bit unreliable while NR 71 is ultra-reliable but slow. The Xperia can't operate without LTE 66 so NR 71 is just there to drain the battery and turn on the "5G" indicator. It can't seem to use NR 41 at all. The LG typically uses the best three of NR 2, 4, 41, and 71.
Think about the future:
HSPA is as good as dead. What little of it remains is badly overloaded. No VoLTE/VoNR will soon mean no phone calls.
Newer bands are 5G only
I don't know if it's the latency improvements or the way 5G/LTE bandwidth sharing works, but a saturated cell tower performs a lot better on 5G than LTE.
I'm hoping Sony fixes the BC62 soon or this will be a $$$$ mistake. A bad cell radio is no fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I found your answer.
According to this website (www.cacombos.com), the T-Mobile LG Velvet supports more carrier aggregation combos with 5G on T-Mobile:
LG Velvet 5G (T-Mobile USA) (LM-G900TM) | 4G/5G Bands & Combos
4G & 5G Bands, Carrier Aggregation and Dual Connectivity Combinations for LG Velvet 5G (T-Mobile USA) (LM-G900TM)
cacombos.com
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Whereas, the Xperia 1 III can only pick up that Band 66 + n71 if it is also paired with LTE band 2, apparently:
Sony Xperia 1 III (US) (XQ-BC62) | 4G/5G Bands & Combos
4G & 5G Bands, Carrier Aggregation and Dual Connectivity Combinations for Sony Xperia 1 III (US) (XQ-BC62)
cacombos.com
This site takes the band info directly from the phones' respective modem logs, so this is as accurate as it can get.

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Deleted

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Forbesii said:
Hey, I unlocked my phone and did some tricks to toggle VoLTE and VoWiFi on. But, unfortunately, my phone provider Fido and its mama Rogers wireless don't support non-fido and non-rogers phones. Posts on the fido forum can confirm that. So, I cannot ensure if the VoLTE really works on my phone, but I've tried a Telus SIM card before I did my tricks; the result was the voicemail appeared in the dialer app, which is a good sign isn't it?
I read the post in the forum for enabling VoLTE but I cannot understand even a word... So I didn't try the method in their video and post. In addition, there's a lot of difference between South Korea and Canada. The Qualcomm software seems to recognize his carrier in their video but my Qualcomm software didn't, so I gave up following their guide.
If you want more information about the trick, I created a magisk module and you can try on your carrier. I think Freedom is not blocking non-freedom phones. I also see someone succeed in getting VoLTE by adding mbn files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Do you have a link to someone succeeding in getting VoLTE?
would this work on the 5iii? It looks like this is the pixel mbn.
@astracd had said because the chip is different, it wouldn't work on the xperia.

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Yes, you guys need to find mbn file from phone with same chipset that has mbn for rogers or fido.

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Hey. I got 5G, VoLTE, VoWiFi work on my phone. The bad news is there's only mbn files for Rogers, Bell and Telus.

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Forbesii said:
Hey. I got 5G, VoLTE, VoWiFi work on my phone. The bad news is there's only mbn files for Rogers, Bell and Telus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get the MBN files? As far as I was aware, Sony doesn't provide them and you need one specific to the phone/chipset, no?

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CelluloidRacer2\ said:
How did you get the MBN files? As far as I was aware, Sony doesn't provide them and you need one specific to the phone/chipset, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony does, but they software locked these files. The MBN files are already in your phone.

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Forbesii said:
Hey. I got 5G, VoLTE, VoWiFi work on my phone. The bad news is there's only mbn files for Rogers, Bell and Telus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give more details on this? I'm looking to buy a sony xperia 1 III or IV, and I need to figure out if VoLTE / 5G / VoWiFi will work on Rogers.

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cloneman1 said:
Can you give more details on this? I'm looking to buy a sony xperia 1 III or IV, and I need to figure out if VoLTE / 5G / VoWiFi will work on Rogers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never use non-Rogers or non-fido phone with Rogers/fido. Even though we have the mbn files. I was with fido and I borrowed a Rogers sim for testing. Sadly the results was I can't have anything work on fido and only 5G worked on Rogers but slower than LTE. Non of them has VoLTE or VoWoFi working. Rogers the company is famous for blocking phones from registering IMS which is the key of VoLTE and VoWiFi. So I switched to Virgin plus.

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Forbesii said:
Never use non-Rogers or non-fido phone with Rogers/fido. Even though we have the mbn files. I was with fido and I borrowed a Rogers sim for testing. Sadly the results was I can't have anything work on fido and only 5G worked on Rogers but slower than LTE. Non of them has VoLTE or VoWoFi working. Rogers the company is famous for blocking phones from registering IMS which is the key of VoLTE and VoWiFi. So I switched to Virgin plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what features work for you on virgin with the Xperia 1 IV? us or Intl version

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cloneman1 said:
So what features work for you on virgin with the Xperia 1 IV? us or Intl version
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Click to collapse
I have an XQ-BC72 (intl. ver.). I can guarantee that VoLTE and VoWiFi work on Virgin and Kodoo; since they are the sub-companies, I assume that will work on Bell (Virgin’s parent) and Telus (Kodoo’s parent). Also I can guarantee that 5G is working on Rogers; I guess 5G would work on other twos and speed would be much better if it’s a US version phone since US and Canada has very similar bands. It is proven that VoLTE and VoWiFi WOULD NOT work on any Rogers and Rogers’ sub-companies. I will keep trying these features on other carriers.
ViLTE is not tested because I am still finding out how to trigger the feature, but unfortunately I only have another iPhone with me.
Please aware that all these things would work AFTER you unlock and root your phone. Canadian is not officially supported by SONY which is very weird.

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Forbesii said:
I have an XQ-BC72 (intl. ver.). I can guarantee that VoLTE and VoWiFi work on Virgin and Kodoo; since they are the sub-companies, I assume that will work on Bell (Virgin’s parent) and Telus (Kodoo’s parent). Also I can guarantee that 5G is working on Rogers; I guess 5G would work on other twos and speed would be much better if it’s a US version phone since US and Canada has very similar bands. It is proven that VoLTE and VoWiFi WOULD NOT work on any Rogers and Rogers’ sub-companies. I will keep trying these features on other carriers.
ViLTE is not tested because I am still finding out how to trigger the feature, but unfortunately I only have another iPhone with me.
Please aware that all these things would work AFTER you unlock and root your phone. Canadian is not officially supported by SONY which is very weird.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if 5G is working on Rogers, and you place a phone call, it drops to 3G? lol.
The rest of your story is good news.