Database Develop

Only real question I have: Will T-Mobile sell it?

With the 3's and 3a's on T-Mobile, I am almost certain they will; but I have not heard/seen anything official. Hoping someone with some inside knowledge can confirm or deny.
Really hoping they don't go back to "exclusive", or wait until the 4a comes out to sell it on other carriers.

Their contract ended with Verizon so it would be very unwise of Google to limit the carriers it sells its devices on.
I highly doubt they'd renew a partnership given how successful the Pixel has been lately, and their move to sell the Pixel 3a at other carriers highly suggests that their premium devices will follow the same trend
If that isn't enough confirmation then I don't know what is. Their exclusivity with Verizon was initially a great thing to get things rolling, but with each iteration of the Pixel following that, it's really done more harm than good.
And with them supposedly talking to D ish about establishing their own full fledged carrier it seems even less likely that they wouldn't embrace other carriers too given that their new carrier would literally use TMobile and Sprint towers to comply with the 4 carrier requirement needed for a Sprint and TMobile merger.
So no, I don't have any direct information to state otherwise, but on a financial level it would be awful of Google to not endorse other carriers.
Honestly, what I'm more interested in is knowing how they plan to support Verizon's standard for 5g while complying with the others as it vastly differs... Or better yet, if it will support 5g at all

Doubts and hopes are what I started with, mate. I am well aware of the history behind the deals and partnerships.
Looking for confirmation from an inside source.

PhoenixPath said:
Doubts and hopes are what I started with, mate. I am well aware of the history behind the deals and partnerships.
Looking for confirmation from an inside source.
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I spoke to my friend at T-MOBILE and she confirmed that they will in fact be selling the 4.

It's not like it really matters since Google sells it direct anyways. Even if it was available from my carrier (AT&T in my case) I'd still buy it from Google so the carrier can't get its hands on it.

I would never buy it from a carrier. They will lock the bootloader and no root for you! Just look at the forums for the recent pixel 3a/3axl. Even if you don't plan on rooting now, it's nice to know you at least have the option should you choose to. You can also finance through Google.

The OnePlus devices may be instructive: These had bootloaders which could be unlocked after they were sim unlocked. The timing for sim unlock depended on how good a customer you were in some cases but primarily was based on having the device paid off. The smarter money if no deals were involved was simply buying from OnePlus direct because the updates are significantly faster. I would expect something similar here if it is indeed sold by Tmo.

jimv1983 said:
It's not like it really matters since Google sells it direct anyways. Even if it was available from my carrier (AT&T in my case) I'd still buy it from Google so the carrier can't get its hands on it.
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Eudeferrer said:
I would never buy it from a carrier. They will lock the bootloader and no root for you! Just look at the forums for the recent pixel 3a/3axl. Even if you don't plan on rooting now, it's nice to know you at least have the option should you choose to. You can also finance through Google.
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Amen!! Haven't used a carrier phone since the Nexus 6P was released!

tj_f said:
Amen!! Haven't used a carrier phone since the Nexus 6P was released!
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It is true !

The page is live, but if they really lock the bootloader, you can count me out! I'm still pissed about the fingerprint reader anyway!
https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/google-phone-deals

JeepFreak said:
The page is live, but if they really lock the bootloader, you can count me out! I'm still pissed about the fingerprint reader anyway!
https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/google-phone-deals
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Well, if it's fully paid for, I don't see why they won't let you unlock it. Unless you're going for a plan, which is completely understandable. Not everyone has a grand to drop at one time. But at the same time, you can't really gripe if they don't let you unlock a device you haven't fully paid for.

Unlocked or carrier model?

I have to root my phones (not wanting to pay $30 for Verizon tether), is anyone aware if the Pixel 4 XL from Verizon will have the bootloader locked, and unable to be rooted? In addition to that, would we see a root for the unlocked version? Thanks

Pretty sure most carrier devices are going to remain locked until you pay it off. At least, that's the logical rationale. I can't imagine they want people unlocking devices they haven't paid for. As far as root, that should be a simple process of just patching the boot.img

ZeroKool76 said:
Pretty sure most carrier devices are going to remain locked until you pay it off. At least, that's the logical rationale. I can't imagine they want people unlocking devices they haven't paid for. As far as root, that should be a simple process of just patching the boot.img
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the lock not something they ever lift? My current 2 XL was paid retail but they never allowed me to unlock the bootloader. They do allow for any carrier SIM to be used in it.

psone said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the lock not something they ever lift? My current 2 XL was paid retail but they never allowed me to unlock the bootloader. They do allow for any carrier SIM to be used in it.
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If you bought the Verizon Pixel 2 XL it had a locked bootloader. Since it was exclusive to Verizon. The unlocked version directly from Google did not have a locked bootloader. That was the same for the Pixel 3 and 3 XL. I am not sure about the Pixel 3a and 3a XL since it was not exclusive to Verizon.
Does anyone know if the Pixel 3a or 3a XL came with a locked bootloader?
EDIT: There's a thread over on the Pixel 3a XL where a bunch of carrier and non-carrier devices had locked bootloaders. I would be careful which device you buy going forward until you hear others chime in on the greyed out unlocked button.
When in doubt, buy directly from Google.

psone said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the lock not something they ever lift? My current 2 XL was paid retail but they never allowed me to unlock the bootloader. They do allow for any carrier SIM to be used in it.
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This is correct. Verizon is a mofo. Doesn't make much sense. I mean, you paid for the device, you should be able to do what you want with it

ZeroKool76 said:
This is correct. Verizon is a mofo. Doesn't make much sense. I mean, you paid for the device, you should be able to do what you want with it
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This right here has been the case with Verizon going ALL the way back to the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. **** Verizon!

Yep, never buy the carrier modesl unless you have absolutely no other option. In the case of Tmo with OnePlus and similar phones you could get an unlock (both carrier and bootloader) after the device was paid off. You still have to deal with a little bloat and later updates along with lesser issues. AT&T will have this one and their policies are similar to Verizon so I wouldn't go that way unless you hate yourself. No idea on Sprint, that have nothing in my area so I haven't paid attention. The previous posters were 100 prevent though, buying unlocked is the way. Tmo if you must to get a deal but only after verifying the bootloader can be unlocked.

krabman said:
Yep, never buy the carrier modesl unless you have absolutely no other option. In the case of Tmo with OnePlus and similar phones you could get an unlock (both carrier and bootloader) after the device was paid off. You still have to deal with a little bloat and later updates along with lesser issues. AT&T will have this one and their policies are similar to Verizon so I wouldn't go that way unless you hate yourself. No idea on Sprint, that have nothing in my area so I haven't paid attention. The previous posters were 100 prevent though, buying unlocked is the way. Tmo if you must to get a deal but only after verifying the bootloader can be unlocked.
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I currently have a one plus 7pro from T-Mobile that is still financed. The bootloader was locked until you paid off your device and waited the mandatory 45 days. Some were able to talk to T-force and got their devices unlocked early whether they financed or not. I was one of the unlucky ones that could not negotiate with T-force to unlock my device. Luckily there was a nice person that worked for TMobile that was in the forums and was able to unlock my phone. We will see what happens when we get the devices and start working on them. I will be financing my phone with them again next Thursday.

I purchased the Unlocked model. I currently have Pixel 2XL Verizon (Bootloader Locked), not a huge issue. But there are times where I wish I had a rooted phone. Not making that mistake again.

cronojay said:
I currently have a one plus 7pro from T-Mobile that is still financed. The bootloader was locked until you paid off your device and waited the mandatory 45 days. Some were able to talk to T-force and got their devices unlocked early whether they financed or not. I was one of the unlucky ones that could not negotiate with T-force to unlock my device. Luckily there was a nice person that worked for TMobile that was in the forums and was able to unlock my phone. We will see what happens when we get the devices and start working on them. I will be financing my phone with them again next Thursday.
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Did you try calling in multiple times? That often works although some people can't seem to catch a break on it. I've been on a number of OP devices and I'm familiar with what you're talking about; Saw it most recently on the 6T but it goes back further. I had them unlock a SGS6 the day I bought it, I paid cash but still the word was it couldn't be done without a dwell period, I remember it being 30 days at that time but maybe it was 45, been a while. In any event the very next year was the one were it turned out Tmo couldn't unlock your bootloader, came from Samsung they said. I remember there being an exploit coming out for that but I had already given away my S7 and moved on to the next thing before they figured that out. Not much over a year later Samsung started the BS with bootloaders on their international unlocked phones and I didn't keep the Note 8 long either. IMO if root is a must it's a good idea to let someone else be the guinea pig and profit from that information unless you've got enough ching to walk away without worrying about it.
I'm pretty sure this phone will also be exactly as you describe on Tmo and I agree with you BTW, just saying the smart money if a man needs to be careful is to wait for the first phones to meet their owners a few of who will unlock and root or attempt to do it. Or as I said in my first post, buy unlocked direct from Goog or Fi if possible.

There is not likely to be any bootloader unlock for the P4 and P4XL for carrier versions unless an exploit is found (which doesn't seem likely anymore). Google does not provide carriers an interface to change the device type, nor do they provide that interface to their own customer service and support teams. It's not a matter of hounding customer service or posting on the right forum because they can't help you. It's an obligation that Google has to meet if they want to keep their big carrier contracts in the United States.
The only unlocking requirement for carrier specific versions is having the ability to SIM unlock the device for portability between networks. Most carriers will do this upon request if you have international travel plans or have completed a certain percentage of your device financing.

navalynt said:
There is not likely to be any bootloader unlock for the P4 and P4XL for carrier versions unless an exploit is found (which doesn't seem likely anymore). Google does not provide carriers an interface to change the device type, nor do they provide that interface to their own customer service and support teams. It's not a matter of hounding customer service or posting on the right forum because they can't help you. It's an obligation that Google has to meet if they want to keep their big carrier contracts in the United States.
The only unlocking requirement for carrier specific versions is having the ability to SIM unlock the device for portability between networks. Most carriers will do this upon request if you have international travel plans or have completed a certain percentage of your device financing.
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So, the devices are shipped to the carriers already locked? Interesting. for some reason I always thought it was the individual carriers that lock them down and then would unlock it when you fully paid off the device. So you're saying, even if you fully pay off the device, you will never be able to unlock a carrier pixel 4/XL? Wow, that's a bummer.

ZeroKool76 said:
So, the devices are shipped to the carriers already locked? Interesting. for some reason I always thought it was the individual carriers that lock them down and then would unlock it when you fully paid off the device. So you're saying, even if you fully pay off the device, you will never be able to unlock a carrier pixel 4/XL? Wow, that's a bummer.
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Correct. Enthusiasts have a channel to bootloader unlock, which is buying directly from Google where Google provides it's own support.
Carriers are only looking to sell you a device that's stable to work on their own networks. What do the carriers have to gain at all from controlling the bootloader unlock? They have nothing to gain from it except a support migraine.

navalynt said:
Correct. Enthusiasts have a channel to bootloader unlock, which is buying directly from Google where Google provides it's own support.
Carriers are only looking to sell you a device that's stable to work on their own networks. What do the carriers have to gain at all from controlling the bootloader unlock? They have nothing to gain from it except a support migraine.
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Yeah, that makes sense when you put it that way. Just took me by surprise when OP and it's carrier phones pretty much allow you to do whatever you want to the device, once it's paid off. Still can't stand OP, but I have to admit, that's a check mark in their corner

Keep in mind Google does not require it like Samsung does so it's left up to the carrier. Tmo has been unlocking similar devices and there is little reason to think it wont happen here. In the opposing camp you have Verizon which demands a locked bootloader and few exploits have been found to circumvent it on recent devices. Meanwhile something to consider is that even the unlocked straight from google device is not really unlocked in the way some people think: Before you can unlock the bootloader it absolutely must phone home. Don't give the phone that connection and you cannot unlock it. Samsung does the same thing. We are not in control of our devices anymore, they can pull the plug on unlocking any time they want simply by denying it via that same connection even if you have already unlocked it. Samsung did this a few years ago in just that way and to this date no one has found a way around it that doesn't cause real pain with the wait a week and all that BS.

I called several times and got on with T-force sever times and no luck. I got lucky when the post I described about unlocking and got mine done. I always device finance because of the 0% apr and jump on demand so all I need to is bring my phone, get my new phone and profit.

ZeroKool76 said:
Pretty sure most carrier devices are going to remain locked until you pay it off. At least, that's the logical rationale. I can't imagine they want people unlocking devices they haven't paid for. As far as root, that should be a simple process of just patching the boot.img
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"simple process" "just patch the boot img" come on man.. Ask the people that own a pixel 3 from Verizon. Please don't spread wrong info

bigmatt503 said:
"simple process" "just patch the boot img" come on man.. Ask the people that own a pixel 3 from Verizon. Please don't spread wrong info
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You mean, ask the people who were dumb enough to buy a locked down device? I'll pass. People that have purchased Verizon's in the past, as you have stated, would obviously know this doesn't apply to them. I was more referring to, since we don't have recovery yet, you would have to patch the boot img manually.

Honestly, I ALMOST got me and my wife's from Verizon (she definitely jumped on the pixel bandwagon). They have a buy one, get one free. Sooo, I kept thinking about root, but ultimately decided I'd rather save $900. Evidently, there's some caveats. One, the get one is for a new line. No biggie, I'll just cancel the one number and add a new one (her phone is paid off, I don't think there's a termination fee after two years). Two, you have to sign up for an unlimited plan. That piece completely wiped the price difference and then some for me. Sooo, I smiled a bit and bought them unlocked from Google. The only reason I would buy directly is for a huge price savings.
Another thing I thought of too, there is an early upgrade fee with V if I were to decide to upgrade to the 5xl next year. So, that's another caveat. I'm glad I just went with unlocked. Hoping it doesn't take long to root.

This time around I placed a pre-order with Google Fi.
All their Pixels are both SIM & Bootloader Unlocked even on
financing, same as Google Store.

Should I return the ATT version?

I am junior here at XDA and am aware of the protocols for posting (search, search, search before asking), My query doesn't match anything I looked for because it is a combo of different things. Hence, this new thread
a) I've bought an ATT G020J on Ebay that will work with Cricket (that's what the listing said) and I am on Tmob. It is without contract, so I am assuming it is unlockable. Has anyone here tried crossflashing IMG files previously between these two exact carriers; is that even poss?
b) In cue, anyone care to share experience with ATT folks unlocking P4XL specifically, for other carriers?
b) Did October update/patch ruin face unlock for most or only few?
I will return or keep the item based on your generous/helpful replies.
Once again, I apologize before hand if I missed any existing thread that might have alluded to these three issues.

sdg1980 said:
I am junior here at XDA and am aware of the protocols for posting (search, search, search before asking), My query doesn't match anything I looked for because it is a combo of different things. Hence, this new thread
a) I've bought an ATT G020J on Ebay that will work with Cricket (that's what the listing said) and I am on Tmob. It is without contract, so I am assuming it is unlockable. Has anyone here tried crossflashing IMG files previously between these two exact carriers; is that even poss?
b) In cue, anyone care to share experience with ATT folks unlocking P4XL specifically, for other carriers?
b) Did October update/patch ruin face unlock for most or only few?
I will return or keep the item based on your generous/helpful replies.
Once again, I apologize before hand if I missed any existing thread that might have alluded to these three issues.
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Can I ask why you didn't just buy the correct carrier specific Pixel? Also, buying an unlocked version avoids all of this experimentation. Prices are down right now and you can get an unlocked Pixel for not much more than a carrier locked version.
As far as your question, It's not going to work by your logic. Your not going to be able to flash anything that will carrier unlock or switch the phone, otherwise everyone would do it and every Pixel would be unlockable (which they aren't)
My suggestion is return the phone and buy an unlocked Pixel.
October patch didn't harm my face unlock in any way. I haven't Heard any widespread issues regarding have unlock and the October patch.

sdg1980 said:
I am junior here at XDA and am aware of the protocols for posting (search, search, search before asking), My query doesn't match anything I looked for because it is a combo of different things. Hence, this new thread...
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The phone will likely come both carrier locked and bootloader locked. There are quite a few threads on XDA about carrier locked phones. Hopefully you can return and get your money back. Best of luck.

1dopewrx05 said:
Can I ask why you didn't just buy the correct carrier specific Pixel? Also, buying an unlocked version avoids all of this experimentation. Prices are down right now and you can get an unlocked Pixel for not much more than a carrier locked version.
As far as your question, It's not going to work by your logic. Your not going to be able to flash anything that will carrier unlock or switch the phone, otherwise everyone would do it and every Pixel would be unlockable (which they aren't)
My suggestion is return the phone and buy an unlocked Pixel.
October patch didn't harm my face unlock in any way. I haven't Heard any widespread issues regarding have unlock and the October patch.
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Why?-- Bands are exactly the same across ALL variants here in the US, other than carrier-locked OEM pickle. So, once it is out of contract, the question was meant to see if anyone has had experience requesting and getting unlock code from the orange carrier.
---Magenta versions are more expensive, based solely on condition of the phone
--- dependable and reputable seller I have bought multiple times in the past had a 9.9+/10 condition with original packaging for $379. Could not pass that up.
(You are right, in that I could have bought the unlocked version. Not sure about you but I pay outright but for previous years' flagships, but only when they are in the $400 range, which is the most I can afford to cough out at once. I don't like doing installments unless they be for a car or house because that's just me)
Sammy's galaxies, albeit Exynos not SD, are often flashed across each other, despite the company's stranglehold on their version of Android. Google being the 'truer' open sourced company, my idea was if, again, anyone had done boot image flashing across different models but once out of contract and unlocked
Thank you for the last bit as well. There was a Reddit thread complaining how the security patch had ruined the face unlock/sensor. But your statement is assuring.

v12xke said:
The phone will likely come both carrier locked and bootloader locked. There are quite a few threads on XDA about carrier locked phones. Hopefully you can return and get your money back. Best of luck.
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okay, thank youI shall look into it. I have a thirty day return window, so if nothing, I can return it within few days of researching to get it unlocked. The unit is assuredly out of contract for sure even if it is meant for AT&T network.

sdg1980 said:
okay, thank youI shall look into it. I have a thirty day return window, so if nothing, I can return it within few days of researching to get it unlocked. The unit is assuredly out of contract for sure even if it is meant for AT&T network.
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"Out of contract" doesn't mean anything. The market is flooded with locked phones for sale cheap. Could be stolen, could be broken contract, could be blacklisted, etc. Because it is carrier locked you *will have to* go through AT&T to get it unlocked. If the seller was legit, in good standing with AT&T and had simply upgraded to a new phone they could have easily had AT&T unlock it for free OTA and it would have been more valuable/marketable. There are also several threads here on XDA that will give you some insight on trying to get an AT&T phone carrier unlocked. I wish you the best of luck, but you are in for an uphill battle.

v12xke said:
"Out of contract" doesn't mean anything. The market is flooded with locked phones for sale cheap. Could be stolen, could be broken contract, could be blacklisted, etc. Because it is carrier locked you *will have to* go through AT&T to get it unlocked. If the seller was legit, in good standing with AT&T and had simply upgraded to a new phone they could have easily had AT&T unlock it for free OTA and it would have been more valuable/marketable. There are also several threads here on XDA that will give you some insight on trying to get an AT&T phone carrier unlocked. I wish you the best of luck, but you are in for an uphill battle.
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Thank you for the reminder. Yes, interestingly, seller should have been able to unlock it if it were out of contract and then sell. Let's see where I end up. I shall update the information here once I go through the grind.
I am currently searching for relevant threads of ATT unlocking Pixel 4XL...

sdg1980 said:
Thank you for the reminder. Yes, interestingly, seller should have been able to unlock it if it were out of contract and then sell. Let's see where I end up. I shall update the information here once I go through the grind.
I am currently searching for relevant threads of ATT unlocking Pixel 4XL...
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Have you find one of those threads?

movilserver said:
Have you find one of those threads?
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THIS THREAD does a pretty good job of explaining it. If you are able to get AT&T to carrier unlock your phone, you can then unlock the bootloader too, if you wish. Only AT&T can whitelist the IMEI on the AT&T variant. @sdg1980

v12xke said:
THIS THREAD does a pretty good job of explaining it. If you are able to get AT&T to carrier unlock your phone, you can then unlock the bootloader too, if you wish. Only AT&T can whitelist the IMEI on the AT&T variant. @sdg1980
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Thank you so much for that! I found that as well prior to posting this original thread. Seemed to be a mixed bag for commenting members. Persistence paid off for some, even within the contract period. I am chalking that up to luck and probably ill-informed techs who screwed their own employer. Ironically, @jac0b was unsuccessful in requesting unlock from AT&T. I have posed him a question about whether his device was paid off or not when he requested or had any particular hurdle unique to his case. Third party or ATT...,,,neither will unlock at any cost until the device is paid off, bad ESN, prepaid device within two month window, and some more stipulations I can't remember. They are listed on the vendors' websites.

Welcome to XDA
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

Pixel 5 sold by 'Visible'

I've just submitted an order to buy Pixel 5 from 'Visible' (a US carrier, Verizon based MVNO), and now i am kinda thinking... i should have asked about it here first. Visible's rep has promised (on chat) their phones are unlocked, so this shouldn't be an issue, but are they carrier-customized in any way or form? Anyone here got any experience? I am sure there is still some time window i can cancel this.
The reason i went on it is because of their "buy it, and get a free wireless charger at activation and a $200 gift card after 2 month of service" (Google it for more details), with a rather attractive plan (in US terms).

It's hard to know for sure. Some of the MVNO's have customized firmware on their phones and some don't. From what I've seen their phones are supposed to be unlocked. The only negative I've seen on them is than any streaming you do is only 480P.

Tel864 said:
It's hard to know for sure. Some of the MVNO's have customized firmware on their phones and some don't. From what I've seen their phones are supposed to be unlocked. The only negative I've seen on them is than any streaming you do is only 480P.
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I don't care all that much about streaming, also, if i really, REALLY want to stream something in high res, i can probably VPN from the phone into my home network (or into a commercial VPN server). Anyway, my current check list when the phone arrives is currently - check for SIM lock on both physical SIM and eSIM, check if OEM unlock available and not grayed out (unrelated to SIM locking, but there are some rare reports on this), check if the "gap" isn't too bad, test the proximity sensor, check if there is any carrier bloatware on it. Did i miss any important points/popular issues?

Sounds like a good deal.

Visible is NOT technically an MVNO. It is completely owned and operated by Verizon. I've heard good things from people that use it.
I would guess the phone you receive would be the Verizon variant, but that's completely a guess.

jsbeagle said:
Visible is NOT technically an MVNO. It is completely owned and operated by Verizon. I've heard good things from people that use it.
I would guess the phone you receive would be the Verizon variant, but that's completely a guess.
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I hope not, and the order confirmation does explicitly mentions "GA01316-US", which is an unlocked, non-Verizon model.
Is Visible an MVNO? I suppose, despite being owned by Verizon, its still a separate company, which doesn't operate its own mobile towers, so i guess it technically is an MVNO after all.
Anyway, will post here after i receive the device. Would be kinda disappointing if its a Verizon model (i may want to root at some point, not exactly a nice thing to have a bootloader you can't unlock). Would be a showstopper if its SIM-locked or even just eSIM locked, i am going to verify that by putting my old Cricket SIM in before activating theirs, and also loading a Ubigi profile onto an eSIM, and if its locked, and they can't unlock it for me, the device is going back. I've EXPLICITLY asked a rep about this after all.
BTW, judging by a Google search that produces mostly Reddit results, Visible sells mostly unlocked devices (seemingly all of them except Visible-exclusives).

It should not be a Verizon varient, it should be unlocked.

Tel864 said:
It should not be a Verizon varient, it should be unlocked.
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I've already got it, see above. Its not a Verizon variant indeed, and it is unlocked.^H^H^H^H....
I was sure i've posted it here, i've got a device, its a unlocked variant, not Verizon, its fully unlocked (tested on physical SIM and eSIM), and got no carrier bloatware on it.

InfX said:
I've already got it, see above. Its not a Verizon variant indeed, and it is unlocked.^H^H^H^H....
I was sure i've posted it here, i've got a device, its a unlocked variant, not Verizon, its fully unlocked (tested on physical SIM and eSIM), and got no carrier bloatware on it.
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I'm shortly switching to Verizon and I'm taking a look at Visible and Verizon prepaid after seeing your post and talking to my son who's a Verizon engineer, I haven't decided on which though.

InfX said:
I've just submitted an order to buy Pixel 5 from 'Visible' (a US carrier, Verizon based MVNO), and now i am kinda thinking... i should have asked about it here first. Visible's rep has promised (on chat) their phones are unlocked, so this shouldn't be an issue, but are they carrier-customized in any way or form? Anyone here got any experience? I am sure there is still some time window i can cancel this.
The reason i went on it is because of their "buy it, and get a free wireless charger at activation and a $200 gift card after 2 month of service" (Google it for more details), with a rather attractive plan (in US terms).
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Actually just registered an account to answer your question. Got a pixel 5 from the "Visible" deal by porting a number in. The model number is identical to the the unlocked one sold from Google store. It bootloader unlockable, so already unlocked and put in magisk and stuff. (It is carrier unlocked as well) Enjoy the deal!

Mint says they only stream 480p too but I can simply select 720p on up on my Pixel 2 and I get a bump, no VPN required.

Visible has good offers but the service is no good. At least in my area. I cannot wait to go back to AT&T. Verizon has fast coverage but AT&T is more consistent. I tried it for the $100 promotional credit but I will be going back to my original provider.

International Pixel 5 (GTT9Q) and Unlocking the Bootloader?

I gave up on rooting a GD1YQ (close to that), the US version of the Pixel 5. I can get an International Pixel 5 (GTT9Q). There are two "gotchas"
1) Is this bootloader unlockable? I tried to get the seller to try the "check OEM Unlock" test. The seller won't touch creating Developer Mode. Feh.
2) The seller says the phone is "Google account locked". I get how an account can be locked, and unlocked. As best I can figure, do a data reset, and use a different, working Google account when the question shows up in the setup process.
Am I clueless about 1), 2), or all of the above?

Bump
Still looking for an answer on this one.
Anybody? Please?

Tell the seller thanks but no thanks. Look elsewhere. They won't look at dev options means it is not bl unlockable. Model number means nothing at this point. Screenie of the OEM switch is needed.

That phone's gone. Still, I wonder if these rascals, not being VZW, etc. phones, have unlocked BL's.

RBEmerson said:
That phone's gone. Still, I wonder if these rascals, not being VZW, etc. phones, have unlocked BL's.
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No one should sell a phone with an unlocked bootloader. Perhaps you mean unlockable BL? As I stated, the only way to tell is by looking at the dev options OEM switch. It should look like this:

This time around, the seller woke up Developer options and... fail. Was a great price, too. Oh well.
I missed out on a pair of phones that explicitly said their bootloaders were unlocked. Someone on eBay listed them, and was clear this was the BL's not just unlocking carriers.
Back to the original question - trying to sort out if the International version is worth chasing down.
The specs I've seen say the only difference between the US and International phones are no support for mmWave in the International phone. Since I'm not crazed about getting 5G (travel too often where any "G" is a surprise), losing mmWave is no big thing.

RBEmerson said:
This time around, the seller woke up Developer options and... fail. Was a great price, too. Oh well.
I missed out on a pair of phones that explicitly said their bootloaders were unlocked. Someone on eBay listed them, and was clear this was the BL's not just unlocking carriers.
Back to the original question - trying to sort out if the International version is worth chasing down.
The specs I've seen say the only difference between the US and International phones are no support for mmWave in the International phone. Since I'm not crazed about getting 5G (travel too often where any "G" is a surprise), losing mmWave is no big thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not pick up a 4a 5G new from Google? They are under $500 and a great phone. My friend has one and it's awesome. No chasing down anything or playing games with clowns on resales.

The object of the exercise is to get a 5, not just 5G.

RBEmerson said:
The object of the exercise is to get a 5, not just 5G.
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Fair enough, I'd probably do the same thing.. maybe a 5a? Heard they might be coming soon.

And some day a 6, a 7, an 8...
A 5 will do me nicely.
I should add I spend some time in Germany, so an International version is OK. Buy one in Germany? With 19% value added tax? Nein danke.

Well good luck then. If you don't find one by the time the 6 ships, I might know of one in near mint condition. ;-)

I'll keep it in mind...