Hello all, first time poster, long time lurker. I'm interested in picking up a second-hand Galaxy Tab off of eBay/Craigslist or a refurb from one of the carriers, and I'm wondering what the best carrier variant is, especially for rooting/custom ROMs and such.
I'd like to have the freedom to hack and play with my SGT as much as possible, and I've seen some threads where the GSM model (AT&T/T-Mo) would be much better than a VZW/Sprint variant. I'm with AT&T for my current phone (iPhone 4), and I'm leaning towards the GSM (AT&T) flavor, so I can swap SIM cards at will. (With a homemade mini-SIM to regular-SIM adapter).
What are your thoughts & recommendations?
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Greetings,
I am in the market for a tablet and I am considering the Galaxy Tab 8.9. AT&T in the US is offering a deal where if you buy and activate an AT&T locked 8.9 Galaxy Tab you get a free Samsung Galaxy S2 or S2 Skyrocket.
Here are my questions:
1. What are the benefits or drawbacks from buying the AT&T branded and locked Galaxy Tab 8.9 versus the unlocked Galaxy Tab as shown here on Expansys: http://www.expansys-usa.com/samsung...16gb-android-tablet-black-850-1900-3g-223265/
2. Is the AT&T Galaxy Tab easy to unlock and use sim cards from other countries when traveling abroad?
3. Are there any other differences hardware wise between the AT&T Galaxy Tab and the one in the link above? I cannot find any and have checked multiple sites for information.
4. Would it be possible to flash the rom of the unlocked Galaxy tab to the AT&T Tab?
Any help or opinions greatly appreciated!
I will try to answer you the best I can.
1. AT&T version is faster and newer from my knowledge, but with far less developmental support. ATT supports 4g and LTE while the old tabs only do 3g and wifi. The older generation tablets have good developmental support with an ICS port in development. No custom ROMS at the moment for the ATT version.
2. No experience here, sorry.
3. The old tabs have tegra2 chips, while the ATT version uses qualcomm (snapdragon) chipsets. ATT is 1.5ghz while the 3g one is 1ghz. Both dual core. ATT battery capacity is ever so slightly larger as well. ATT version is 2 grams heavier (lol). The ATT one is considered snappier and more responsive from what i hear, but if the 3g one receives ICS then they could be comparable. The ROMS and Kernels from the older tabs are not compatable with the ATT LTE one. The closest thing to the ATT tablet is the Galaxy S II Skyrocket.
4. ATT Tab is only rooted at the moment through a custom kernel. No CWM or ROMS yet.
Hope this helps, and if I am wrong anywhere someone correct me. Thanks.
Thanks for your help that was very informative! I am still curious about the unlock on the AT&T version though because I travel a lot. Anyone else have any ideas about unlocking the AT&T Tab? I did several searches but could not find specific information for the AT&T version. Thanks.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
2. It's unlockable online.
SIM unlock
Has the question about unlocking solved? I was looking at the tablet too and wanted to find a way to unlock it? Is there a way to do it after rooting it? I don't want to buy it from one of those unlock website.
So,
I want to outright buy a 64gb or higher variant, but for Canada.
I can by a 64gb on Ebay ranging 950-1500... But I'd like to pick my colour & have it actually work in canada at first without needing to root/custom it at the beginning...
Any suggestions on where I can buy one? Especially the best model variant that will be easier to use custom roms?
Please advise, I am on "bell canada", but am going to telus as they cover better service in my area's.
My "contract" is up in October. So if delivery is 2-3 weeks, i'm ok with that...
I want a brand new epic phone, switching up for the well used 32gb note 3 with 64gb samsung evo microsd...
- RMLeLoup
I'm currently using a nexus 6p on verizon and its getting long in the tooth. I want to buy an unlocked note8 directly from samsung or bestbuy, but not sure what I would give up vs buying one from verizon. Would I just pop a sim in, have them register my new imei and off I go?
I saw a mega thread thats like 50+ pages deep in the howto section about flashing between carriers, would I need to flash a certain file to the phone to get it to work properly on verizon? The unlocked seems to support all the bands. I just want the flexibility to use whatever carrier, so if I decide to switch my note over to TMO or cricket I won't have any concerns. Also might not get a note, but it looks nice, has newer software, was more recently released.
How is samsung with releasing OS updates? Would it be reasonable to expect android 8 on the note 8?
I'm looking into buying a new phone very soon, I haven't had a cell phone since like a year ago, that is why all my posts dropped off. Last Time I had my own phone I had the S6 Edge and Note 5. But I'm really kind of tired of not using an international version, since no has cracked the SnapDragon's bootloader locks yet.
I could get a 128GB Note 9 from Straight Talk decently priced right now, but realistically I don't want to buy it if it is only the Unbranded SnapDragon version. I really want a newer Exynos Processor. When I looked online I couldn't find the model number for the version sold from Straight Talk. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. Does any carrier in the US sell the F versions?
You made this a Q&A but didn't post it in the Q&A forum? I'm not an expert but I'm sure the N960F doesn't work in America, don't you use CDMA there? I don't thing the F is compatible with that. I may be wromg, but I'm sure I've read things to that effect.
An Exynos model doesn't have the right bands for Verizon, Sprint, or their MVNOs in America. Exynos models may work on T-Mobile or AT&T, but even then may lack the new bands that enhance 4G coverage.
Hey all sorry for the newbness, I'm kinda totally new to android modding. I've been running a G800A for years now and love it to death, but it's just become a bit too outdated and limiting in stock form. I'm also under the understanding that the G800A is the most limiting version, as there is not even ROMs available to run anything about Android 5.1.1(?)
So I'm understanding if I wanted to go to LineageOS, my options are the G800F/M/Y. Anything I've found on these shows them all virtually identical other than the 4g bands. Would any one of these 3 be any better than the others to use in the USA? Does whatever carrier I would end up going with matter much?
Also, even more stupider questions- has anyone tried installing LineageOS on the G800A?
Last one- what about the G800R4 if I wanted to go with a CDMA carrier?
TIA for any help with this
you can only flash a rom built for your exact device...
only a 800f rom for a 800f device..
or you will brick..
( some roms are built for more then one device like the f/m/y variants)
sadly almost every samsung device sold in the usa after the s4 is bootloader locked.
so you cant flash anything.
you can get a s5 mini g800f from ebay for 60$ and start the flashing game is you love small phones.
That is what is did.
every samsung phone i get now is international or i dont buy it.
@nutpants thx for the reply. I'm still a bit confused tho- aren't US version G900s able to be flashed? Unless I misunderstood some of the stuff I've come across. I'm still on the fence as to whether I want to stay with something quite so small as the G800 (my eyeballs are getting old along with me). I think I might go with a G900 and see how it works out. But is this the same deal ie- I need to look for an international version of that?
Also, I've noticed that tons of international versions have limited to no compatible LTE bands with those used here in the states. I'm assuming there's no workaround for this as it's a hardware issue(?) How much does this affect real world usability?
first off i dont know everything, so you will have to research
https://www.kimovil.com/en/frequency-checker/US/samsung-galaxy-s5-mini
this is a good reference but i just found it so it could be very wrong also.
( it looks like it is not very good with all the variants so its not to be considered the last word)
while i have not looked at every rom posted here ( and there might be a usa at&t s5mini xda page someplace) i don't remember seeing any rom for the g800a variant of the s5mini if it does not say g800a it will very likely not work, and will brick your device if you try.
(https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rooting-the-s5-mini-from-at-t-g800a.3124674/
its not looking good for your g800a device at all )
i have a g900w8 (Canadian variant) and i can flash anything that the international version uses, but it has all the bands that i usa uses for the most part. (best of both worlds) but i think the usa model (v, r4,p) has a locked boot loader so it is not easy to flash roms.
( i think there is a way to do it, but i never have as i dont but bootloader locked phones)
the s7 and older Canadian phones from samsung are all easily rootable , most can be flashed with international roms, but (dont quote me on this) they use mostly the north america popular bands for lte, hspa, etc.
if you are looking for a newer phone dont get the g900 s5
get the s7 g935w8 canadian phone its about the same size, must faster, better battery ( but you cant replace it, MUCH MUCH better camera (ive had nothing but problems with the s5 camera) and ive found them for about 150$ used in great shape.
if you use data a lot then you want lte to work if you are just going to talk, then the gsm bands are good enough. ive used Canadian phones in the usa plenty and have no serious issues.
but i just got the s5 mini g800f from ebay and im still setting it up so i dont know how well it works yet.
short answer, usa phones are much much harder to root if at all, fewer roms, international phones are much better for all that but may not work well in the usa, canadian phones might be what you want to look at
(my Canadian s5 g900w8 still have support for the latest lineage os 18 )
before you buy check if the phone is supported by lineage os
https://download.lineageos.org/
if it is, then you can root, flash roms and very likely have unofficial roms for years to come.
or you can search xda, but as you can see, the s5mini is all but dead here and developers are not working hard to improve the roms we do have. in another year this place will be a ghost town.
btw i have canadian s4, s5, s7, s4 mini, s7 , s7 edge, note 2, note 3, note 4, mega . and have been very happy with them all. i have a few usa devices (s5 active)but i cant do anything with them. so they sit on a shelf. ( not that any of them do much but the hobby of flashing the newest rom and trying it out.