Database Develop

[Q] Unbranded UK Xperia Z

Hi, I haven't found a definitive answer to this so wondering if someone can help me?
Looking to buy this wonderful phone unbranded out of the box if possible, so I get the official updates when they are released rather than waiting for UK carriers...is the only way to get this to buy from Sony direct, or do shops like the Carphone Warehouse give unbranded ones out with contracts (like they did with my HTC One-X?)
Any advice welcome. Also, if I unbrand a phone, is that a one-shot process and it will appear as an unbranded phone for future updates etc?
Thanks for reading.

rowlarry said:
Hi, I haven't found a definitive answer to this so wondering if someone can help me?
Looking to buy this wonderful phone unbranded out of the box if possible, so I get the official updates when they are released rather than waiting for UK carriers...is the only way to get this to buy from Sony direct, or do shops like the Carphone Warehouse give unbranded ones out with contracts (like they did with my HTC One-X?)
Any advice welcome. Also, if I unbrand a phone, is that a one-shot process and it will appear as an unbranded phone for future updates etc?
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All phones from Carphone Warehouse are Unbranded out the box, although buying from Sony directly will get you an Unbranded handset, they're typically only ever branded if you buy direct from a Carrier E.G o2, Vodafone, 3 e.ct.
Hope this helps!

Read some of the threads on here and you will soon see that those of us going unbranded UK (I got mine from Amazon) have actually received the opposite treatment.
UK generic is now two updates behind and seemingly one of the last to receive updates, I can only assume Sony is bending over to the carriers and screwing over those who have actually paid the full amount up front
And to others reading no I don't want to flash a different regions Rom and don't see why we should.
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium

rowlarry said:
Also, if I unbrand a phone, is that a one-shot process and it will appear as an unbranded phone for future updates etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can just flash whatever firmware customization you like and it will stay like that. For example, if you flash 'Generic DE' firmware, you will get all future updates together with Germany.
You can change your customization at any time or return to your original customization by just flashing the appropriate FTF file, or by following this guide if you are rooted:
[GUIDE] Download ANY firmware customization with SUS and create an FTF with Flashtool
So in fact it doesn't matter where you buy your phone. Just buy it where it's the cheapest and then change your firmware customization to whatever you want
alexp999 said:
And to others reading no I don't want to flash a different regions Rom and don't see why we should.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? To get faster updates. It's a world phone, so you can use it in all regions, no matter the firmware customization.
You could also flash the 'Vodafone UK' firmware, they already have 10.1.1.A.1.307.
If you don't mind waiting a long time to get new software, then you can keep your 'Generic UK' version

Apollo89 said:
Yes, you can just flash whatever firmware customization you like and it will stay like that. For example, if you flash 'Generic DE' firmware, you will get all future updates together with Germany.
You can change your customization at any time or return to your original customization by just flashing the appropriate FTF file, or by following this guide if you are rooted:
[GUIDE] Download ANY firmware customization with SUS and create an FTF with Flashtool
So in fact it doesn't matter where you buy your phone. Just buy it where it's the cheapest and then change your firmware customization to whatever you want
Why? To get faster updates. It's a world phone, so you can use it in all regions, no matter the firmware customization.
You could also flash the 'Vodafone UK' firmware, they already have 10.1.1.A.1.307.
If you don't mind waiting a long time to get new software, then you can keep your 'Generic UK' version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone uploaded the voda .307 fw?

scorpi786 said:
Has anyone uploaded the voda .307 fw?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so, but you can just root your phone temporary (which is very fast and easy) and then follow the guide to change your customization number. After flashing with Sony Update Service or Flashtool, the root will be gone. If you would do so, then please be so kind to create an FTF and share it on xda

Wow, many thanks for your helpful replies. Coming from the world of HTC where we were supplied with prompt updates to unbranded handsets first with the carriers having to wait, this is a surprise that the opposite seems to happen here.
Good to hear that you can seemingly unbrand and then forget about it- and it looks easy to flash firmware etc, seems a lot less restrictive then I am used to, have people found this?
I will find a phone at the right price and just buy then. As an aside, what kind of branding/bloatware is seen on the carrier versions of the software? Is it heavy or quite light?
Thanks again.

The Xperia SP my mum recently got from T-Mobile was pretty minimal in terms of branding/bloatware.
In fact I could not see any branding, just a couple of pre-loaded apps. I think because they use the same customisation for EE, Orange and T-Mobile now, so they can't actually brand it.
Might be different for other handsets, but it is running basically the same software as the Z.

[Q] UAE camera in the US - Any caveats?

Bought a EK-GC110 off Amazon. Stated as "New, not refurbished" but price was more along the lines of a used / refurbished, so I was OK if it arrived refurbished (it did). However, it's a UAE "model".
Any caveats before I get too attached to it? Obviously there's no warranty regardless, but I don't want a month later to find out some feature won't work because it's a UAE model and I'm in the USA (not even sure what would be a problem, but...)
Thanks

wifi version has identical hardware worldwide.
even if someday you find a feature that doesn't work you could just flash the official rom for the US version, but I think the software is the same everywhere too.

thedicemaster said:
wifi version has identical hardware worldwide.
even if someday you find a feature that doesn't work you could just flash the official rom for the US version, but I think the software is the same everywhere too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for the reply. So nothing you can think of that may be 'different' - If I recall there's a few extra wifi channels that the rest of the world has that the USA doesn't - that's fine obviously, I just want to make sure there's not say frequencies this UAE version wouldn't have that the US would. Or some encryption or - I don't even know what else but if it's the same, no problem.
Thanks

I have the same camera.
Im looking to restore it back to factory after root but am not sure what firmware to use. Also, it seems i would benefit from using another regions firmware based on what you said. Is that correct?

Help Please ! which one to buy ? N9600 or N960U or N960U1

Hi guys i am new to this forum. Have downloaded roms and kernels before but never actually asked a question.
Any ways i tried finding an answer and i have seen alot of guys talking about the snap dragon on the note 9 not root able but i would like to know if any one actually knows any major differences between the N9600, N960U and N960U1 before i go and buy one and then realize WTF did i do.
I live in Canada and all N9600, N960U and N960U1 are compatable with the network that i am trying to use them for.
i do know that N9600 is for china or international market (correct me if i am wrong) and the N960U and N9601 are for US market only.
i was looking at on custom firmware thread where they were talking about the wifi calling feature and some other features that dont work and they were trying to install N960U1 custom firmware.
I also saw in 1 forum where someone from the US bought the N9600 and was not able to set the phone to us time or somehing like that or use samsung pay because the phone would show his location in china.
So please help me i would really appreciate it. it is a very expansive phone and i want to be sure.
Thanks in advance.

Depends. What do you want to do with the phone?

I have the N9600 and it works excellent on T Mobile. Also is the only Snapdragon model that has root. I also flashed mods to get all the features of the carrier version. Seems also faster without all the bloatware. I am running a custom rom as well.

bryanpen said:
I have the N9600 and it works excellent on T Mobile. Also is the only Snapdragon model that has root. I also flashed mods to get all the features of the carrier version. Seems also faster without all the bloatware. I am running a custom rom as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi did you by any chance buy the phone from T mobile ?

taimurkhantk said:
Hi did you by any chance buy the phone from T mobile ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah I bought it on Ebay for a good price. I paid 620$ on black Friday. Way cheaper than financing from the carrier.

Mr. Orange 645 said:
Depends. What do you want to do with the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For daily use. i am the kind of person who buys new phone and keeps his phone till it breaks and fixing it is not worth it.
Rite now i am using a Note Edge N915T. Bought it brand new from ebay unlocked but was from T mobile. my screen is cracked and to replace it, its arround 200 - 250 CAD (digitizer, screen and frame). so who not put that money towards a new phone. Also its very slow now.
Sorry for that long drawn story. I dont think i will be ever rooting the note 9 but if i would need to, i might.

bryanpen said:
Nah I bought it on Ebay for a good price. I paid 620$ on black Friday. Way cheaper than financing from the carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But was it from T- Mobile. like the startup.

taimurkhantk said:
For daily use. i am the kind of person who buys new phone and keeps his phone till it breaks and fixing it is not worth it.
Rite now i am using a Note Edge N915T. Bought it brand new from ebay unlocked but was from T mobile. my screen is cracked and to replace it, its arround 200 - 250 CAD (digitizer, screen and frame). so who not put that money towards a new phone. Also its very slow now.
Sorry for that long drawn story. I dont think i will be ever rooting the note 9 but if i would need to, i might.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then getting a N960U or N960U1 is probably your best bet if you don't plan on rooting. In my opinion, rooting isn't needed anymore. You can adblock and disable apps without it. And with the N960U or U1, everything will work with no fuss, inlcuding Samsung Pay.
If you have to have root, then you'll need the N9600 or N960F. But once you u lock the bootloader, you trip Knox PERMANENTLY and lose Samsung Pay, Samsung Pass, Secure Folder PERMANENTLY. NOT reversible. Even if you don't unlock the Bootloader, you probably won't get Samsung Pay to work in the US, since it's region locked. Some people have got it to work, but jumped through hoops.
taimurkhantk said:
But was it from T- Mobile. like the startup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. All Note 9s from T-Mobile are N960U.

Is there an official Huawei 'pure' unbranded firmware?

New to Huawei and have been farming search engines, but if you feel the need to shoot me down in flames with a link and subsequent "use the search d#$%head" then please feel free, we're all friends here.
I wanna stick to stock firmware while the OTAs are current or at least until I get bored and inevitably ram a throbbing veiny custom build that ROM Jeremy (get it) would be proud of up that sweet tight little USB-C of my P20 Pro.
I have SIM unlocked my EE C782E10R1P9 but I can't sleep easy knowing EE has been behind my back and left its stain inside my firmware. Also, on any factory reset the EE bloatware returns. I read a lot about Three customers also getting annoyed with splash screens on boot etc.
Now here's where you tell me I'm barking up the wrong tree. I've been trying to decipher the firmware numbers. Take C782E10R1P9 as an example of what I think I understand:
C782 = UK
E10 = EE
R1P9 = Unsure as of now although all UK firmware I've seen seem to end in this
Does a pure, as Huawei would have built it, firmware exist without any evidence of carriers/suppliers sticky fingers and what would the 'E10' in the above example be replaced by?
Do your worst...

Rebranding to C432 should give you a clean experience. If you don't have your bootloader unlock code then you have to wait, like the rest of us, for third-party websites like FunkyHuawei to get it since the Huawei ended the support last year. Save up 100E and be patient.
---------- Post added at 05:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:51 PM ----------
I forgot, in case you don't get it, you need your bootloader unlocked to be able to flash another version.

As above, rebranding and then using stock c432 9.0 or c431/lgrp2 9.1 version firmware is as close as you get to it but you'll still get any network splash screens etc on startup as they're now hardcoded to your handset. Just the firmware won't have all the network specific bloatware.
Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

Makes no difference what firmware you have... soon after you insert EE, Vodafone, O2 simcard phone will want to pull small update which will install some crap related to each network.
I have P20 c782 and P20 Pro c432 they both act identically in this respect.

DrLamok said:
Makes no difference what firmware you have... soon after you insert EE, Vodafone, O2 simcard phone will want to pull small update which will install some crap related to each network.
I have P20 c782 and P20 Pro c432 they both act identically in this respect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I'm lucky then. I have no network splashscreen and only network related app I've seen is MyEe and I installed that on my handsets anyway.
Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

aka.petteri said:
Rebranding to C432 should give you a clean experience. If you don't have your bootloader unlock code then you have to wait, like the rest of us, for third-party websites like FunkyHuawei to get it since the Huawei ended the support last year. Save up 100E and be patient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, it's a real shame Huawei have put up such a barrier for the bootloader unlock. I'm coming from HTC10 and HD2 before that for which you just click your heels and they're good to go.

DrLamok said:
Makes no difference what firmware you have... soon after you insert EE, Vodafone, O2 simcard phone will want to pull small update which will install some crap related to each network.
I have P20 c782 and P20 Pro c432 they both act identically in this respect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankfully I don't have any network splashscreens (that would really p!$$ me off) and only one network related app, but I know EE have done more to this firmware than just added My EE. The main reason I wanted to get on a stock 'unbranded' firmware was to benefit from earlier OTAs.
Thought I'd note I'm with the SMARTY network (UK) who are a new small-time brand operating over the EE network. Perhaps this explains the lack of splashscreen - I don't know.

Question 1st Oneplus phone user questions

Hi I just bought a 512 10 pro dual sim unit, I am 100% new oneplus owner.
I am wainting on the parcel, the unit suposed to be a CN unit with global rom on in. I do not know if it will get OTA updates or not.
If not I understand I may need to manual update them, but going to oneplus support site for firmwares and stuff there is nothing for the 10 pro.
Can anyone give me some advice on this please.
Also I understand that the T Mobile is IP67 but I undestand that the "others" are same but because the payment for the certification is not stated but the units are the same. I will never go blind to "check" if that is true but any support on that will be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance

Hilario_Castillo_Chavarri said:
Hi I just bought a 512 10 pro dual sim unit, I am 100% new oneplus owner.
I am wainting on the parcel, the unit suposed to be a CN unit with global rom on in. I do not know if it will get OTA updates or not.
If not I understand I may need to manual update them, but going to oneplus support site for firmwares and stuff there is nothing for the 10 pro.
Can anyone give me some advice on this please.
Also I understand that the T Mobile is IP67 but I undestand that the "others" are same but because the payment for the certification is not stated but the units are the same. I will never go blind to "check" if that is true but any support on that will be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out my root thread if you want to root your device... also has info on unlocking the bootloader.
I would recommend using oxygen updater, it's an app from the play store that provides up to date firmwares, I'd say to turn on full updates always. Never install partial updates (incremental) if full firmwares are available.
Also what is your variant? I saw 512 but that's not a model number. It'll be 2213 or 2210 or something

dladz said:
Check out my root thread if you want to root your device... also has info on unlocking the bootloader.
I would recommend using oxygen updater, it's an app from the play store that provides up to date firmwares, I'd say to turn on full updates always. Never install partial updates (incremental) if full firmwares are available.
Also what is your variant? I saw 512 but that's not a model number. It'll be 2213 or 2210 or something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thans for your kind reply, were do I look for the model number?
Is white one 512 gb dual sim

Hilario_Castillo_Chavarri said:
Thans for your kind reply, were do I look for the model number?
Is white one 512 gb dual sim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry 512GB wasn't thinking.
Your model is under settings/about device.

He has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom

g96818 said:
He has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before providing any advice it'd be better to check first...

dladz said:
Before providing any advice it'd be better to check first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no question that he has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom. I didn't provide any advice and I'm not going to since he has a botched phone/rom combo.

g96818 said:
There's no question that he has 2210 with either 2213 or 2215 rom. I didn't provide any advice and I'm not going to since he has a botched phone/rom combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then why are you commenting on this thread? (Rhetorical) I wouldn't take your word for it only theirs.. If you're not going to help them then please refrain from posting in this thread, you're not helping buddy.

I have this exact same model, bough in French shop and using it in Europe. It was I think a grey import, model sticker is 2210 and it came with Chinese only doc, but ROM (found in about) is 2215. Came with oxygen os 12 (first boot was tricky because battery was empty, charge was slow and it finally booted in the bootloader, so I was a little worried... But after a full data wipe I rebooted in oxygenos12, got normal setup with all European languages and charge at 80w. Got a normal Ota to oxygenos13 since (all the way to c26, I think it went throug two or 3 intermediate versions), no problem in the end, I didn't even had to install oxygenupdater. Phone is not rooted and look like stock, as far as I can tell. Only issue I see is that it's wifi is a little bit temperamental, I need to stop/start it when I see connection troubles... Not sure it's the phone or my router, cause it happen only at home, not in the office...maybe it's because I have both 2.4 and 5ghz on the sale ssid at home...
AFAIK this is a special version (nickname fat panda/fat dabai) which is why it's Chinese only, but being the only 512GB version I guess there is a quite a lot of imports. So grey market, but there are good chance the internationalisation is done quite well.
I am happy with my 2210->2215 ROM, at least for now, but I did not attempt any rooting or ROM customisation yet. Not sure I will, as custom scene is very quiet to say the least, regardless if your phone is Grey market or completely stock with unambiguous region lock...
Not really blaming oneplus, it's now the norm for Android with very few exceptions (pixels, nothing... And old models).
Just sad oneplus used to be one of these few exceptions...

sorry for the delay the model is NE2215

Hilario_Castillo_Chavarri said:
sorry for the delay the model is NE2215
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your model is a china model with na rom on it

ChrisFeiveel84 said:
Your model is a china model with na rom on it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2215 is NA/Global rom iirc, not North America only. I think most Grey import 512GB models will have this rom. Mine have at least, they did not install 2213 even if it was imported in France...

So far is working fine, since this is my first oneplus I do not have any other to compare.
The only "issue" is that when connecting to car unit for android auto use, the usb option list apear 2 tines so quick that I can not select the android auto option and it is only in charge mode, this was the thing that made me go for the 10 instead the 11, but now I am looking for a possible solution