Related
Does anyone have a feel yet for how much Verizon dogged down the Droid 3 with bloatware, bad hardware decisions, and/or just generally screwed up the specs from what Motorola originally intended it to be...?
For instance:
- is the GPS locked so Google Maps can't access it?
- is there Crapware that I won't want yet won't be able to uninstall?
- can't make it a hotspot?
- can't tether it without fees or 3rd-party software?
- are there other things Verizon has "branded" that will make me crazy(er)?
Should I hold out for an unlocked version on Ebay, or go for the one from Verizon and unlock it myself..?
Or...is the locked version kinda ok enough to deal with that unlocking it isn't worth it?
Thanks.
~Noob #4,000,001 (I watched the video)
Ok so as about what you asked here is what i see on my system.
There is some verizon apps preinstalled that cant be removed
V Cast Media Manager
V Cast Music
V Cast Tones
V Cast Videos
VZ Navigator.
they do not however seem to bog the system down at all.
it can be a hotspot but until rooted you will have to pay for it i assume. I never use this feature so not sure how all that works
I would also say you cant tether it without the verizon software to do so but again i do not use that feature
Maps uses GPS just fine, i have never heard of moto blocking the GPS from google maps before.
I personally think it is a great phone. i have hated the last couple versions of blur but this one i could live with just would like to have root to remove some of the verizon stuff. The system is snappy i think if you could get a staight vanilla rom like apex it would be even faster but i have yet to see the system lag or force close anything.
I would also be willing to bet someone will find a way to root it in the next couple weeks.
I would get it but just my opinion
XT860?
It looks like there will be a Canadian version on Bell in a few weeks too.
I'm in the UK, and all reports suggest that the Milestone 3 (as presumably it would be called) isn't getting a UK release, so I'm looking at all these other international models and am wondering which would be most appropriate.
My assumptions so far are:
1. Droid 3 is primarily CDMA, and although it has some GSM capability, I'm not sure that it's going to work terribly well in the UK.
2. The XT883 (Chinese Milestone 3) is primarily CDMA too, and will also potentially suffer from language issues, and also things like inability to access the Android market?
3. The XT860 from Bell might be a contender - I think I'm right in saying that Bell operate a GSM network, and obviously the phone will be in English/French out of the box.
I guess the hardest part will be making sure the device is unlocked, i.e. not tied to a network, and will operate in the UK before buying one from abroad.
Does anybody have any thoughts?
Cheers,
Steve.
The Canadians get the XT860 Motorola Milestone 3 4G, or should we say Faux G since its not 4G and everyone knows it.
Unlocking the Droid 3 is a *****, If you do not have account with them it is near impossible all the codes only do not work since the phone goes to a subsidy mode.
delete
Delete
Which Wi-Fi calling apps do you use from the play store since the Moto X doesn't have native Wi-Fi calling from what I know? Or does it have wi-fi calling?
nviz22 said:
Which Wi-Fi calling apps do you use from the play store since the Moto X doesn't have native Wi-Fi calling from what I know? Or does it have wi-fi calling?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only the Republic Wireless Moto X has native WiFi calling, AFAIK.
www.republicwireless.com
samwathegreat said:
Only the Republic Wireless Moto X has native WiFi calling, AFAIK.
www.republicwireless.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You recommend them? I was interested in their $40 4G plan, but idk their speeds?
nviz22 said:
You recommend them? I was interested in their $40 4G plan, but idk their speeds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use them and it has worked well for me. Speed and coverage are entirely dependent on the Sprint service in your area.
Where I live, Sprint recently upgraded to 4G, and speeds are in the 5-10mbps range, which is perfectly acceptable for me. If you have any friends on Sprint, you could ask them what speeds they experience. Additionally, Republic wireless offers a 30-day money back guarantee.
If you would like to try them out, I'll give you a referral link to save you $20 off your bill. You HAVE to use a Republic Wireless Moto X (or Moto G) on RW though. You cannot bring your own device (because of the custom rom with integrated WiFi calling).
EDIT: Here is the referral link, if you decide to try them: http://rwshar.es/28KK (This will save you $20, and I get credit as well. Win-Win )
samwathegreat said:
I use them and it has worked well for me. Speed and coverage are entirely dependent on the Sprint service in your area.
Where I live, Sprint recently upgraded to 4G, and speeds are in the 5-10mbps range, which is perfectly acceptable for me. If you have any friends on Sprint, you could ask them what speeds they experience. Additionally, Republic wireless offers a 30-day money back guarantee.
If you would like to try them out, I'll give you a referral link to save you $20 off your bill. You HAVE to use a Republic Wireless Moto X (or Moto G) on RW though. You cannot bring your own device (because of the custom rom with integrated WiFi calling).
EDIT: Here is the referral link, if you decide to try them: http://rwshar.es/28KK (This will save you $20, and I get credit as well. Win-Win )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I don't get paid till next friday, so I will have to see how much I have because of payroll issues. I will try to either get Republic Wireless or T-Mobile's Galaxy S4 w/ Wifi Calling or a Nexus 5.
nviz22 said:
Okay, I don't get paid till next friday, so I will have to see how much I have because of payroll issues. I will try to either get Republic Wireless or T-Mobile's Galaxy S4 w/ Wifi Calling or a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get RW's Moto X - I'm on their $10 a month plan and it's excellent. If you travel outside the US a lot you can only use wifi - you can't pop in a local sim.
EDIT - Moto X starts $299 black/white 16GB, $349 MotoMaker 16GB, $374 MotoMaker 16GB Wood, $399 MotoMaker 32GB, $424 MotoMaker 32GB Wood. Moto G starts at $149 8GB, $179 16GB
IceMotoX said:
Get RW's Moto X - I'm on their $10 a month plan and it's excellent. If you travel outside the US a lot you can only use wifi - you can't pop in a local sim.
EDIT - Moto X starts $299 black/white 16GB, $349 MotoMaker 16GB, $374 MotoMaker 16GB Wood, $399 MotoMaker 32GB, $424 MotoMaker 32GB Wood. Moto G starts at $149 8GB, $179 16GB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll get my Note 3 unlocked from AT&T tomorrow or soon just for travelling internationally while using the Moto X as the main device. I won't really pay as much for AT&T. I will consider the $40 RW plan actually. I like LTE data.
Well, I can't figure what exactly do you mean with WIFI calling. As far as I know Republic Wireless force calling via WIFI whenever is possible but it is locked to the RW network and cell calling comes as a subsidiary.
Speaking of internet calling in general, you can use it on any Android phone. You must install one of the sip clients as Csipsimple or Sipdroid. In previous versions (ICS, JB) you could use native sip client which is integrated into the system. Motorola removed one file from the system which is essential for the internet calling though (android.software.sip.voip.xml) but you can get it back if you're rooted. But this is not the only problem with the native sip. In KitKat is somehow damaged and using it causes massive voice distortion which is allegedly result of inappropriate echo management. The malfunction is one of about 300 which should have been fixed in 4,4,3 version. It would be nice if someone, who already officially upgraded, tests the sip functionality.
As it has been announced Google plans to integrate his voice app into Hangouts in 5.0 and therefore offer voip as its own standard telephony. It seems that with further development of telecommunications (LTE Advanced) the mobile phone loses its last trad functionality - there will be no more voice transmission, voice will be transferred as any other data via internet from initial base station to the end one.
I've reached the end of my patience with phones purchased from AT&T and their (lack of) upgrades. So I'm considering buying a new Samsung S& edge unlocked (SM-G935F) from an eBay seller. I have some questions about this process. I looked online but didn't find answers to my questions. If there's an online resource, feel free to redirect me.
Assumptions:
1) I'm satisfied with AT&T as a carrier.
2) Customer in good standing. No contract commitments.
3) I have as S6 with working AT&T nano-sim.
4) I'm fine purchasing for cash. I'm not interested in AT&T's Next plans.
Questions:
1) Do I simply move the sim to the new phone? Is any registration of the new phone/IMEI required with AT&T? Do I have to setup a new APN? Does call forwarding function the same?
2) Are there any features I lose vs. an AT&T branded phone? Samsung Pay? Any others?
3) AT&T uses LTE bands 2,4,5,17. So does the SM-G935F. So I should get the same LTE performance I would get with an AT&T branded phone, right?
4) How do I get system updates? With an AT&T branded phone, I get them OTA thru Settings>About Device>Software Update. How does this work with an unbranded phone when Samsung releases an update?
5) Do I get any support of the phone from AT&T or Samsung? No warranty, correct?
6) Are there any other pluses or minuses to this approach.
I will be going this route for the S7 as well. It's an expensive option but at least I won't have AT&T crapware and faster updates.
In my experience with previous unlocked phones, the SIM card can just be inserted into the new phone and it will automatically configure the data, mms, and voicemail settings.
Provided the phone you are purchasing supports the required LTE bands, there should be no difference in speed.
There will be no support from AT&T and the warranty is not valid within the U.S.
AFAIK Samsung Pay does not work on the international versions in the U.S. This is what will suck because I happen to like Samsung Pay.
AFAIK, your understanding is correct on all your points. I have an unlocked US Cellular moto e that I use as an alternate to my S6, I swap my SIM back and forth with no issues, and there is no official ATT support for the version of moto e that I have, so I can't imagine you'd have any issues getting the phone up and running. You may have to manually enter your APN, but that info is widely available and it's easy to do. Not sure how updates would work.
Only other consideration is that the int'l version uses an Exynos processor rather than the Snapdragon in the ATT version. From the reviews I've seen, the exynos beats the snapdragon slightly in performance and battery life. It's likely going to make development of custom ROMs for the S7 considerably slower than if it were snapdragon based though. However, the locked bootloader on the ATT one will = zero development unless it gets unlocked (I'm guessing that's very unlikely). So this probably doesn't matter too much.
There will also be no Voice over LTE (HD voice ) on the international version should that be a priority for you
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
VoLTE would be nice. Any idea when AT&T plans to make that available for non-iPhones?
How are software updates delivered?
VoLTE is available on certain phone already. S6 and others support it. Depends on your area, so you will have to check the map.
iceman4357 said:
VoLTE is available on certain phone already. S6 and others support it. Depends on your area, so you will have to check the map.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but only on AT&T branded Android phones and iphones. The OP was speaking of an unbranded international version Galaxy S6 S7 which does not support volte
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
I'm the OP. It appears that AT&T-branded S7's support VoLTE (HDVoice) as does (somewhat to my surprise) my S6, though I've never been aware of it based on any calls I've made or received. HDVoice appears to be available throughout my SF Bay Area. But, if I understand correctly, this would be a feature I would lose with an unbranded international phone (or, presumably, with an unlocked phone from, say, T-Mobile with an AT&T sim). Correct?
What about features that AT&T removed? Like download booster, simple sharing, and smart manager? These appear to be Samsung additions that were removed from AT&T-branded S6's. Would they be available on an unlocked, unbranded international version? (I'm not sure I would use these, but it's annoying to have them stripped by the carrier.)
And the remaining question that I haven't heard an answer to: how do I get upgrades? OTA (from who)? Download from somewhere & install with Smart Switch (or some other software)? Something Else?
Thanks for your help so far.
If I remember correctly you can download updated ota just like you do now. It just comes from Samsung not at&t.
All the carrier bloat is gone, and all factory apps will be there because there is no one to strip it from the phone.
BUT
If you buy an unlocked t-mobile phone you will have to Odin the updates. I used a verizon s4 with t-mobile I had to manually update everything myself through XDA and odin.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using XDA Premium HD app
I sold my S6 Edge in December and swapped it with a Tmobile unlocked S6 Edge and what a good decision. Got my Marshmallow update this week and the phone felt new again. So much quicker and boosted my Antutu scores too.
8 year AT&T customer and I'm not coming back. LTE speeds and signal is great with Tmobile and unlimited video streaming.
https://store.google.com/product/nexus_6p Starts at $449. Monthly updates. Easy rooting. Easy everything. Great phone.
Came back here to see if any progress made on S6 bootloader unlock and/or rooting (for a friend), and saw this.
Switched to a Nexus when the Nexus 5 came out. I will never, ever, buy a non-Nexus phone ever again. You should be in full control of whatever hardware you buy. Control should never be dictated by a carrier.
Just thought I'd toss in my own perspective (from a former original Galaxy S then S3 owner). Never had any issues at all with my Nexus 5 or 6P. If you have the money, you won't regret a 6P purchase.
If you don't have that kind of money, I think the 4th Gen Moto G (soon to be released, leaks everywhere this week) will probably be the strongest choice.
Pig Vomit said:
https://store.google.com/product/nexus_6p Starts at $449. Monthly updates. Easy rooting. Easy everything. Great phone.
Came back here to see if any progress made on S6 bootloader unlock and/or rooting (for a friend), and saw this.
Switched to a Nexus when the Nexus 5 came out. I will never, ever, buy a non-Nexus phone ever again. You should be in full control of whatever hardware you buy. Control should never be dictated by a carrier.
Just thought I'd toss in my own perspective (from a former original Galaxy S then S3 owner). Never had any issues at all with my Nexus 5 or 6P. If you have the money, you won't regret a 6P purchase.
If you don't have that kind of money, I think the 4th Gen Moto G (soon to be released, leaks everywhere this week) will probably be the strongest choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except there's no Smart Stay or Samsung Pay, both features I use and rely on. I'd buy an unlocked Samsung before a a Nexus.
I ordered a T-Mobile sim to test out the carrier where I live, I need to unlock my AT&T S6 Edge first but after that I plan on getting the new Nexus and selling my S6. I simply can't take AT&T's horrible service anymore.
I'm the OP and am back to report. I bought an S7E (G935F) on Amazon (from one of their Marketplace sellers), complete with Prime 2-day free shipping (& no tax). All works as expected:
1) dropping in my old AT&T SIM works fine. No need to call AT&T. No need to configure APNs. Voice calls, SMS, MMS, and LTE data all seem to work correctly. My LTE connection appeared to be on Band 2 in my area.
2) Of course, no AT&T crapware. Features deleted by AT&T are available (download booster, simple sharing, etc.) and work correctly. The Samsung-bundled Microsoft apps (and free 100GB OneDrive) are present.
3) OTA system software updates appear to be available, but there haven't been any.
4) Mine came with Arabic (?!) (and English) printed instructions but the phone sets up fine in English. The (apparently original, sealed) box included a European (Type-C) 2 pin power adapter (with a European-to-US adapter packed separately).
The only unexpected things I've encountered are:
1) changing the VoiceMail configuration. VM works (calls forward to VM as expected and I can retrieve VMs both by calling and using Visual VM app). The only thing I so far unable to do is CHANGE the VM configuration. I can't change the number I forward to (like Call Forward Always to another number, like a colleague). I get a Network Error message when loading the Phone/More Settings page or trying to set a new number. My wife has an AT&T LG G3 that has exactly the same problem. The HTC One M8 (where the S7E SIM came from) VM configuration worked correctly. But an AT&T Samsung S6 works correctly. I haven't found a way around this for any of the phones. I'm wondering if this is some kind of security provision (so that I can't "borrow" your SIM and change the call forwarding to re-route your incoming calls).
2) When I view my AT&T account online, the picture of the phone changed from it's previous model (HTC One M8) to Device Unknown. A minor detail, to be sure, but curious.
So, after a week, I would not hesitate to do this again in the future.
Glad It Worked out For you, I considered an unlocked model but don't want to loose HD Voice and wifi calling (once it arrives). I personally can hear an incredible differnce with HD voice enabled. couldnt care less about it, but video calling would also be lost with unlocked varient.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
You are correct & I neglected to mention that HDVoice, WiFi Calling, and Video Calling are absent in the International version. It would be nice to have those, but not critical for me. Voice, in general, is less and less important for me. There is video call button in my dialer but it doesn't appear to do anything useful, at least that I've been able to uncover. I have HDVoice on my AT&T S6 and in the few instances that I've had a potential HDVoice call (to a friend's AT&T S7E), I frankly couldn't detect a noticeable difference. I don't know how to see an indication of whether a call is HDVoice or not.
jc95 said:
You are correct & I neglected to mention that HDVoice, WiFi Calling, and Video Calling are absent in the International version. It would be nice to have those, but not critical for me. Voice, in general, is less and less important for me. There is video call button in my dialer but it doesn't appear to do anything useful, at least that I've been able to uncover. I have HDVoice on my AT&T S6 and in the few instances that I've had a potential HDVoice call (to a friend's AT&T S7E), I frankly couldn't detect a noticeable difference. I don't know how to see an indication of whether a call is HDVoice or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On AT&T with an international version you typically loose the HDvoice, Wifi calling and video calling. I have seen people on Verizon with unlocked phones (Galaxy series, htc 10, 6P) that report you can use those features on their network. I think the ideal situation is to have an unlocked phone on Verizon at this point.
OP again with an update... Got a 2nd G935F for wife. Running G935FXXU1APD with AT&T SIM. Call forwarding worked fine on this one. (Not sure why it doesn't work on my other one.) Also, sideloaded Samsung Pay & Samsung Pay Framework from APK Mirror. Installed and works fine. So my list of things that don't work is just HD Voice, WiFi calling and Video calling.
OP again. I'm now more confused. I now have 2 unlocked S7 Edge (one G935F and one G935FD). Both unlocked. Both using AT&T sims. Identical software on both. On the FD, things work better than I was expecting: Samsung Pay works. I can add cards and use it to pay. I can also change the Call Forwarding settings (in particular CF All). But the 935F can't add a card to Samsung Pay (server connection error) and I can't change the CF settings. There are a number of online references complaining about server connection error and many seem related to device encryption (can't add cards to encrypted devices). I also have an S6 that's working with SPay and was encrypted with Lollipop. With Marshmallow, the Lock Screen settings have changed and it's no longer encrypt/decrypt device, only Require screen lock to decrypt data when device turned on. There doesn't seem to be an obvious way to decrypt a Marshmallow device. But even with this set, I can add cards to me S6 and S7E (FD), but not my S7E (F).
I suppose I should be grateful that SP works at all on one of my unlocked S7Es. But it's frustrating to have them behave differently.
I'm on an old grandfathered AT&T unlimited data plan and I can tether using my current jailbroken iPhone but it's starting to die and I'm looking at the Note 8 as a replacement. I see a lot of info about the Verizon plans, but can anyone confirm that if I buy an unlocked Note 8 from Samsung that I'll still be able to tether on AT&T? I gather that pdanet/foxfi no longer works so I also wonder if there's a way to hide the tether usage, and/or if AT&T even still cares about this.
Thanks!
tomkiwi said:
I'm on an old grandfathered AT&T unlimited data plan and I can tether using my current jailbroken iPhone but it's starting to die and I'm looking at the Note 8 as a replacement. I see a lot of info about the Verizon plans, but can anyone confirm that if I buy an unlocked Note 8 from Samsung that I'll still be able to tether on AT&T? I gather that pdanet/foxfi no longer works so I also wonder if there's a way to hide the tether usage, and/or if AT&T even still cares about this.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not trying to get off Subject but I was facing the same thing when I was about to buy my S8+. I had the grandfathered plan (in some form) since my old Palm Treo 650 and hated the thought of losing it. Then ATT came out with a new unlimited plan that has a 10gb/month hotspot for each phone, free texting & calling in US, Canada, Mexico. So I asked my family if they wanted to all be on the same plan so we share the $100. Access fee and the rest is cheaper too. The whole plan is cheaper for me than it was with the "limited" grandfathered in plan (every year ATT had been raising the price of the grandfathered unltd but what could we do? Nothing!). Plus I have DirecTV & get a $25. monthly credit and $17.99 monthly credit for HBO. I think streaming DirecTV on their app is totally not going against data usage (which can slow after 22GB). This is what finally made me give up the old plan.
I could not find any reliable way to otherwise tether. I never did root though. Now I have the N8 and I use the hotspot all of the time but not enough to reach 10gb/month. I do not work for ATT! Lol.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
If you root it follow this thread. It will work. I bought a Verizon note 8 then switch to att sim. You will experience a little bug with phone calling. It will not place the country code leaving you with a number instead of contact name and volte and wifi calling will not work. You have to switch carriers on the phone using this method to fix everything:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...m-n950u-u1-t3685884/post74087340#post74087340
After that root it and follow these steps to enable wifi tether:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/enable-native-mobile-hotspot-galaxy-t3693784
burrzoo said:
Not trying to get off Subject but I was facing the same thing when I was about to buy my S8+. I had the grandfathered plan (in some form) since my old Palm Treo 650 and hated the thought of losing it. Then ATT came out with a new unlimited plan that has a 10gb/month hotspot for each phone, free texting & calling in US, Canada, Mexico. So I asked my family if they wanted to all be on the same plan so we share the $100. Access fee and the rest is cheaper too. The whole plan is cheaper for me than it was with the "limited" grandfathered in plan (every year ATT had been raising the price of the grandfathered unltd but what could we do? Nothing!). Plus I have DirecTV & get a $25. monthly credit and $17.99 monthly credit for HBO. I think streaming DirecTV on their app is totally not going against data usage (which can slow after 22GB). This is what finally made me give up the old plan.
I could not find any reliable way to otherwise tether. I never did root though. Now I have the N8 and I use the hotspot all of the time but not enough to reach 10gb/month. I do not work for ATT! Lol.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I looked into it and it doesn't make financial sense for me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually.
alukarulz said:
If you root it follow this thread. It will work. I bought a Verizon note 8 then switch to att sim. You will experience a little bug with phone calling. It will not place the country code leaving you with a number instead of contact name and volte and wifi calling will not work. You have to switch carriers on the phone using this method to fix everything:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...m-n950u-u1-t3685884/post74087340#post74087340
After that root it and follow these steps to enable wifi tether:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/enable-native-mobile-hotspot-galaxy-t3693784
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'm new here so bear with me.
I thought that since Verizon and AT&T use different networks, the phones were not interchangeable.
Is there a benefit to buying an unlocked Verizon phone as opposed to an unlocked AT&T phone?
Is rooting necessary? A number of people on here claim that using a factory unlocked phone allows them to tether W/O any modifications. Just trying to verify before I shell out $1k.
tomkiwi said:
Thanks, I looked into it and it doesn't make financial sense for me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually.
Thanks, I'm new here so bear with me.
I thought that since Verizon and AT&T use different networks, the phones were not interchangeable.
Is there a benefit to buying an unlocked Verizon phone as opposed to an unlocked AT&T phone?
Is rooting necessary? A number of people on here claim that using a factory unlocked phone allows them to tether W/O any modifications. Just trying to verify before I shell out $1k.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just buy unlocked and u can use and tether on any network
you can tether with anyones plan; if you are crazy and use 100's of gigs, then you should pay your way instead of stealing bandwidth from those of us that pay for what we use
I bought a (now) carrier-unlocked G920A, thinking that the Samsung Galaxy S6 would have been popular enough to have a really healthy XDA community, with rooting and lots of ROMs available.
But I after an hour of searching the forums, I can't seem to find any options to root phone that's allready ready on Nougat / 7.0 / G920AUC-S6EQJ1.
Is my google-fu weak and I missed something, or did I just not do my homework, and ended up with an abandoned platform?
kc-guy said:
I bought a (now) carrier-unlocked G920A, thinking that the Samsung Galaxy S6 would have been popular enough to have a really healthy XDA community, with rooting and lots of ROMs available.
But I after an hour of searching the forums, I can't seem to find any options to root phone that's allready ready on Nougat / 7.0 / G920AUC-S6EQJ1.
Is my google-fu weak and I missed something, or did I just not do my homework, and ended up with an abandoned platform?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long 'abandoned'. No root except for early versions of Lollipop.
If you want root/ROMs, buying ATT or VZW branded devices is a bad idea.
I never would have expected there would be more development for my old MetroPCS Galaxy Core Prime (G360T) than for the AT&T S6!
Lesson learned, I guess.
kc-guy said:
I never would have expected there would be more development for my old MetroPCS Galaxy Core Prime (G360T) than for the AT&T S6!
Lesson learned, I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought into the S6 at launch (on contract as I wasn't ready to pony up the $850 or whatever ridiculous price it was at the time) with the hope it would get a decent following. My previous experience with ATT branded stuff was mostly good, in that the devices I had (HTC Aria, Galaxy S2, LG Optimus G) had all been unlockable one way or another, and all had good dev communities.
S6 soured me on Samsung and on carrier branded phones.
ATT has, from what I can tell, gotten considerably more aggressive about locking down. Also, the better availability of unlockable unbranded devices the last couple years has led to less interest and less effort at cracking the branded stuff.
Pretty sure the unlocked/TMO S6 community was pretty healthy at one point... Maybe still is?
I currently run an unlockable Moto z play, that is now out of warranty by about a week. First device I've kept unrooted for more than a week. There's apparently a means to get back to fully relocked out of the box stock. There's a working Oreo 8.1 ROM. I still haven't pulled the trigger. It's that good stock...
Maybe I can cell the ATT version and buy the Tmo version-- after some more research.
Ignoring the bloatware and lack of an SD card, I really enjoyed having the Xposed framework available, especially the Wanam call recording and XPrivacy options. Android still doesn't have the level of native privacy controls they should.
kc-guy said:
Maybe I can cell the ATT version and buy the Tmo version-- after some more research.
Ignoring the bloatware and lack of an SD card, I really enjoyed having the Xposed framework available, especially the Wanam call recording and XPrivacy options. Android still doesn't have the level of native privacy controls they should.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TBH, the S6 isn't that great a device, with the exception of the camera, compared to a lot of inexpensive current phones. Battery life is atrocious.
Did you get it crazy cheap?
If you're looking for decent device for smallish money that's unlockable and has a dev community, check out Motorola mid-range or budget phones (you can get an unlockable e4 on us Cellular prepaid for like $50) or OnePlus 3/3t
Thanks dandrumheller
dandrumheller said:
Did you get it crazy cheap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I overpaid ($140) because I waited too long to replace my old phone and it was approaching unusable.
I struggle to pay as much for a phone with a 3 year lifespan as I would for a mid-range laptop, even if I'm going to use it almost as often.
eBay has the OnePlus 3/3t for around $300, but the specs are really impressive.
64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM + 2x2.35 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo + Dual 16 MP cameras
dandrumheller said:
Motorola e4 on US Cellular
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
16 GB, 2 GB RAM + 8/5 MP camera + Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53
The e4 is around $100 on eBay.
The price point, and SD card expansion option definitely sways me towards the e4, although the camera isn't great
Is there any way to check which phones have carrier-specific models?
I couldn't find a comprehensive list for the e4 on the XDA forums, except for a post saying the Verizon variant can't be rooted.
A global list would be an amazing resource for the community, but I don't have a clue how I'd start building it.
Here are the carriers I saw listed for the e4 on eBay, plus prices on the carrier website, where available.
I tracked all this down in case anyone else with a G920A can benefit from the advice. Those not listed are CDMA or known to be unrootable.
Consumer Cellular (1) [Not on carrier website]
MetroPCS (22) [Website may list e not e4?]
Republic Wireless (1) [$129 on carrier site)
U.S. Cellular (6) [US Cellular doesn't have service in my area, so I'd have to find a workaround (eBay) if I bought it directly]
Unlocked (166) [dice roll]
Not Specified (53) [ dice roll]
Sorry all; I am a newbie, so forgive this question:
Like OP, I also have a now-carrier unlocked G920A, updated to 7.0. I would like to install a stock ROM--not AT&T ROM, but a clean Samsung ROM--so I can get rid of AT&T bloatware. I'd also like to do this because after I switched from AT&T to a MVNO, Wi-Fi calling is grayed out, despite Wi-Fi calling being enabled by my new MVNO. I believe the Wi-Fi calling capability is locked into the AT&T-branded ROM (and that therefore Wi-Fi calling is only allowed on AT&T towers), and that I need a "stock" Samsung ROM.
Is this possible? Per the above I believe it is not, because the phone must be rooted first, and the AT&T S6 apparently cannot be. Is that right? Thanks.
I'm not sure if you can use ADB or Samsung's Odin software to push a new ROM from your PC to an non-rooted phone or not.
But from what I've seen, this phone's bootloader is locked, so we don't have the option of pushing a new ROM, even if we were able to root it.
My understanding is that rooting your phone is the equivalent of your phone's admin password (in fact, Linux/Unix-based systems (like Android) actually refer to the admin account as root), and will allow you to remove bloatware and install programs that require elevated permissions (e.g. Xposed framwork, certain file managers).
I think the bootloader is analogous to a PC's security "feature" in the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) that replaced traditional BIOS/CMOS, intended to prevent unauthorized changes to the OS.... and can also cause problems with Linux installations, which are obviously not going to have a Microsoft-provided checksum.
ROMs are basically custom a OS (e.g. CyanogenModOS and LineageOS). They can provide a but more built-in privacy and security than Google's native Android OS provides, and even separate the phone from Google's Play Store and other software entirely.
Both of these are separate from Carrier Unlocking, which will allow you to use the phone other other carriers, but not provide any elevated permissions. You're still stuck with bloatware and Android's standard privacy permissions.
You'll want to wait until somebody tells me why I'm wrong to get a better answer, but that's the joy of Cunningham's Law and the internet.
FUUUCK, feels like AT$T & Samsung cockblock'd us. No kidding about aggressive measures, my SO's Sony still can be forced to Hotspot unrooted.. but it takes several tricks after manually acquiring FoxFi and PDANet+. Basturds, I'm stuck with a seemingly unrootable 7.0 S6 where these apps are being successfully blocked.
kc-guy said:
Thanks dandrumheller
Nope, I overpaid ($140) because I waited too long to replace my old phone and it was approaching unusable.
I struggle to pay as much for a phone with a 3 year lifespan as I would for a mid-range laptop, even if I'm going to use it almost as often.
eBay has the OnePlus 3/3t for around $300, but the specs are really impressive.
64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM + 2x2.35 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo + Dual 16 MP cameras
16 GB, 2 GB RAM + 8/5 MP camera + Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53
The e4 is around $100 on eBay.
The price point, and SD card expansion option definitely sways me towards the e4, although the camera isn't great
Is there any way to check which phones have carrier-specific models?
I couldn't find a comprehensive list for the e4 on the XDA forums, except for a post saying the Verizon variant can't be rooted.
A global list would be an amazing resource for the community, but I don't have a clue how I'd start building it.
Here are the carriers I saw listed for the e4 on eBay, plus prices on the carrier website, where available.
I tracked all this down in case anyone else with a G920A can benefit from the advice. Those not listed are CDMA or known to be unrootable.
Consumer Cellular (1) [Not on carrier website]
MetroPCS (22) [Website may list e not e4?]
Republic Wireless (1) [$129 on carrier site)
U.S. Cellular (6) [US Cellular doesn't have service in my area, so I'd have to find a workaround (eBay) if I bought it directly]
Unlocked (166) [dice roll]
Not Specified (53) [ dice roll]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, camera is definitely not spectacular.
I'm not aware of any really comprehensive lists - I usually look at www.gsmarena.com and www.willmyphonework.com to do initial data gathering for devices I'm looking at. then check here and other articles to try to confirm funcitonality, unlockability, and ROM options.
GSM Arena is my go-to for specs and side-by-side comparisons, but the only time you get full model numbers is if a particular phone doesn't have a feature offered by the other phones (fingerprint scanner, FM Radio functionality)
http://www.willmyphonework.com/ displayed a parked domain page (Gandi.net).
Sorry. It's https://willmyphonework.net
That's a really great site, thanks!
root
how to root g920a
TwO-x said:
how to root g920a
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're already on Android version 7, you can't root the g920a.
ok
ok thanks
Su