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Well first of all, hello to everyone, It's my first time writing a post in this forum and I just registered to the site a few minutes ago. I've been luring the forums for a couple days and I just bought my first android phone a few months back but I've been having so problems with the data plan.
A bought my AT&T captivate around 2 months back or so, the phone works ok and everything. The thing is, I bought the phone and got it delivered to South America. The connectivity works fine for wi-fi but I can't make the data plan works.
I downloaded a APN configuration app from the play store called "APN Tweaker" that didn't work. I talked to my mobile company already and they told me It was probably a problem from my phone.
So any thoughts or help on why the mobile data doesn't work?
What ROM are you running? I can help you if I know where to start...
Might be a little late but, I'm using stock 2.3.5. It's not rooted either.
I have been on ATT in the Chicago burbs for a few years now, been happy and satisfied with their service, no issues, and we have a good plan = 2 lines Unlimited minutes Unlimited texts, and 10GB shared Data for $130/Month. And with me on next it is $155/Month.
But I always like to at least root my Wife's phone for AdAway and XPosed stuff to tweak her phones better, and me I always root, and install Custom Recovery and ROM my phones, right now on a HTC One M8 converted to GPE and love this phone.
My point is, ATT has gotten worse and worse the last 18 months with locking down their phones, even root can take months to come by on flagship phones. And on principle it is really pissing me off, why give ATT money, if they won't even let me customize my phone anymore ? The ATT Note 2 I had two years ago, was the last best ATT phone IMO, I rooted it and ROM'd the heck out of that phone, but sadly with the new Note 4 those days are long gone and history with ATT.
Long story short, does T-Mobile offer competitive plans to what i currently have ? And how is their service in Chicago area ? Thank you
Well, you have two choices based on what you're interested in:
1. Switch service to T-Mobile. I also live in Chicago. The service isn't as good as AT&T here in the city, or elsewhere. LTE/3G data doesn't penetrate buildings as well. The calling and texting seems to be about the same when towers are near, but I know for a fact that AT&T has them beat in terms of coverage outside of major metro areas. I frequently drive between Chicago and Indianapolis- AT&T has 4G or LTE about 85% of the drive, while T-mobile will barely get phone calls to go through, much less high speed data. T-Mobile is cheaper service than AT&T, but you're getting what you pay for.
2. Buy the T-Mobile Note 4 off-contract and unlock it for AT&T. There are lots of threads here on xda about this- and it's what I've just done with my T-Mo note 4! I had done the same with my Note 3, there are presently no issues with t-mobile samsungs and at&T. connecting to LTE, phone calls, mms, sms, etc all works perfectly.
As you said, the AT&T variants are locked down and will probably remain that way. The ONLY note 4 you can buy that has the unlocked bootloader AS WELL AS support for LTE networks in the United States is the T-mobile Note 4. How much of a premium are you willing to pay for having the unlocked bootloader, is what you need to ask yourself. An off contract Note 4 from T-mobile costs $850 after Illinois taxes, and you'll need to activate the line for at least one day, meaning a few more bucks.
Hope that helps. I would go with option #2, especially if you're like me- grandfathered unlimited data from at&t.
obviously, the cost of the note 4's from t-mobile will decrease after the product is widely available and the initial hype dies down. So if you're enjoying your M8, wait a few months and grab a note 4 from swappa.com, ebay, or craigslist
Good points thanks.
I would almost like to test drive T-Mobile first for like a week, see how it is around town and in my office, etc... I am happy with ATT the past couple years, good service, it's just the principle of them locking down phones really irks me, and makes me want to take business elsewhere.
hey man, nice to see you here
I dont know about that other dude, but my service in the burr ridge/willowbrook area is fantastic with T-mobile
Also, I travel through lombard/villa park/elmhurst alot, and always have super strong signal, and in 8 months, I dont think I have dropped a single call; 4g speeds usually between 15-35 down,and 6-15 up, so I am one happy camper with Tmobile in chicagoland..
Do the test drive if you want confirmation yourself..
wase4711 said:
hey man, nice to see you here
I dont know about that other dude, but my service in the burr ridge/willowbrook area is fantastic with T-mobile
Also, I travel through lombard/villa park/elmhurst alot, and always have super strong signal, and in 8 months, I dont think I have dropped a single call; 4g speeds usually between 15-35 down,and 6-15 up, so I am one happy camper with Tmobile in chicagoland..
Do the test drive if you want confirmation yourself..
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Hello neighbor
I work in Willowbrook, and most of my business is in the western burbs, so thanks for your input.
And the principle of the idea is pushing me away from ATT, the whole lockdown is so upsetting.
How quick is a port of our numbers from ATT to T-Mobile, if I pick up the Note 4 ?
If I recall, when I switched, the number porting was done by the time we left the store!
just bring in your old ATT bill, and make sure you know the password on your ATT account, and the porting should be really fast..
I am in IL, but downstate and live in the Metro St. Louis area. The comments about T-Mo coverage are spot on. If you are downtown, or within about a 10-15 mile radius of it, you should be good. I was a long time Verizon customer, and I jumped to T-Mo when VZW pissed me off with that "network optimization" nonsense.
My experience at the office with T-Mo has been great. Faster even that Verizon. At home (30 miles NE of downtown STL) it is a different story. Maybe 1 bar of HSPA (never LTE) inside my house. I don't travel much, so I can't comment there yet, but I will say that if you spend a lot of time on the road you probably are best off buying the T-Mo Note 4 and staying with AT&T.
I really like what T-Mo is trying to do, they just have to get more towers out there.
Porting the number takes less than 30 seconds flat... It is incredibly fast. (done it already with 2 lines from AT&T to T-Mobile) Now I have 3 lines in total with T-Mobile, (an old one plus 2 new ones coming from AT&T)
robroy90 said:
I am in IL, but downstate and live in the Metro St. Louis area. The comments about T-Mo coverage are spot on. If you are downtown, or within about a 10-15 mile radius of it, you should be good. I was a long time Verizon customer, and I jumped to T-Mo when VZW pissed me off with that "network optimization" nonsense.
My experience at the office with T-Mo has been great. Faster even that Verizon. At home (30 miles NE of downtown STL) it is a different story. Maybe 1 bar of HSPA (never LTE) inside my house. I don't travel much, so I can't comment there yet, but I will say that if you spend a lot of time on the road you probably are best off buying the T-Mo Note 4 and staying with AT&T.
I really like what T-Mo is trying to do, they just have to get more towers out there.
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you know you can get them to "give" you a asus router, so you get a super wifi signal in your house, for data and calling...
wase4711 said:
you know you can get them to "give" you a asus router, so you get a super wifi signal in your house, for data and calling...
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Thanks, but I already have a better WiFi solution than their router. I had them send me their new LTE Booster and it helps a little, but it is still very spotty.
robroy90 said:
Thanks, but I already have a better WiFi solution than their router. I had them send me their new LTE Booster and it helps a little, but it is still very spotty.
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can I ask what solution you have that is better than a free AC router?
I had the asus RT-AC87, but returned it, because I got the same wifi speeds from the T-Mobile router, as I did from the $300 RT87..
How did you get tmo to give you an Asus router? I just switched from att to tmo here in jersey and my reason was for cheaper prices. I'm still within my 14 days but I will say I'm impressed so far. Greats LTE speeds, no issues with calls. I have derive at work & home so I think I'll be staying. I'm on the note 3 now waiting for n4 pre-order.
idelgado782 said:
How did you get tmo to give you an Asus router? I just switched from att to tmo here in jersey and my reason was for cheaper prices. I'm still within my 14 days but I will say I'm impressed so far. Greats LTE speeds, no issues with calls. I have derive at work & home so I think I'll be staying. I'm on the note 3 now waiting for n4 pre-order.
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info here and via google..
http://www.phonearena.com/news/T-Mobiles-CellSpot-Wi-Fi-router-available-now_id60802
https://www.google.com/search?utm_s...tmobile+wifi+router+available+date&gws_rd=ssl
edouble312 said:
Well, you have two choices based on what you're interested in:
2. Buy the T-Mobile Note 4 off-contract and unlock it for AT&T. There are lots of threads here on xda about this- and it's what I've just done with my T-Mo note 4! I had done the same with my Note 3, there are presently no issues with t-mobile samsungs and at&T. connecting to LTE, phone calls, mms, sms, etc all works perfectly.
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So can you confirm the t mobile note 4 works fine with 4g lte on att? How did you unlock it? I current have the att note 3 on contract so would be paying out of contract prices and it seems to make more sense to go with t mobile if I want to customize it at some point or switch to t mobile later on. Also the t mobile note 4 is cheaper out of contract than att. If you are currently using the t mobile note 4 on att and everything works that's the route I'm going to go too. Just waiting for someone to verify that works as there are some threads with people having issues when going this route with the note 3. I've also heard if att ever asks for your imei or other phone info you should give them the numbers from an older att phone so they don't blacklist you and block you from using lte.
mike__o said:
So can you confirm the t mobile note 4 works fine with 4g lte on att? How did you unlock it? I current have the att note 3 on contract so would be paying out of contract prices and it seems to make more sense to go with t mobile if I want to customize it at some point or switch to t mobile later on. Also the t mobile note 4 is cheaper out of contract than att. If you are currently using the t mobile note 4 on att and everything works that's the route I'm going to go too. Just waiting for someone to verify that works as there are some threads with people having issues when going this route with the note 3. I've also heard if att ever asks for your imei or other phone info you should give them the numbers from an older att phone so they don't blacklist you and block you from using lte.
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correct about the imei. phone's working fine for me. speed tests are great, no issues with any LTE coverage. Maybe a little better than my previous phone- the T-mo Note 3 unlocked on AT&T.
I found a seller on eBay who got me the code. There's a thread in the questions/problems section that discusses my guys and all the other sellers.
i have note 4 and im getting network not registered error esp sometimes when im calling or trying to use data service.would b great if anyone could guide how to resolve.
thanks
What ROM, kernel, mods, etc are you running? Is your APN set up correctly? This could be caused by a number of things.
shoaibmukhtar said:
i have note 4 and im getting network not registered error esp sometimes when im calling or trying to use data service.would b great if anyone could guide how to resolve.
thanks
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Also, see this thread here --> http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-tmobile/help/registered-network-error-please-help-t3088806
kabuk1 said:
What ROM, kernel, mods, etc are you running? Is your APN set up correctly? This could be caused by a number of things.
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model no Sm-910T
android version 4.4.4
baseband version N910TUVU1ANK4
kernel version 3.10.0-2796035 [email protected]#1
build no KTU84P.N910TUVU1ANKU
I also get this issue. I'm also having major issues with my cell reception. No LTE. Stock rooted 4.4.4
I am having this as well. Tmo swears up and down there tower that causes me problems is fine. So tomorrow I get a new Sim and after that a new phone if Sim doesn't resolve and after that more yelling at tmo if not fixed.
Yay...
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
nosympathy said:
I am having this as well. Tmo swears up and down there tower that causes me problems is fine. So tomorrow I get a new Sim and after that a new phone if Sim doesn't resolve and after that more yelling at tmo if not fixed.
Yay...
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
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Did you use the sim from another phone in the note 4 like I did? Or did you get a new sim when you got the new phone? I just talked to AT&T and they said my sim is not on their network, so I should go get s new sim tomorrow myself.
grmcrkrs said:
Did you use the sim from another phone in the note 4 like I did? Or did you get a new sim when you got the new phone? I just talked to AT&T and they said my sim is not on their network, so I should go get s new sim tomorrow myself.
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No sir. Used the new tmo Sim that came with the phone. Had the phone since launch, issues started a month ago.
The worst part is I can see all the networks, I just can't register to them!
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
crap
nosympathy said:
No sir. Used the new tmo Sim that came with the phone. Had the phone since launch, issues started a month ago.
The worst part is I can see all the networks, I just can't register to them!
View attachment 3300680
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
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I bought a note 4 from t mobile a month ago. My girlfriend got her s5 from them the next day. I have a cell tower less than 1 mile away serving up 4glte. Her s5 stays connected to 4glte constant and consistent. Note 4 will not stay connected to 4glte. It connects to G and mostly E. A royal PIA. I have to manually re-connect, sometimes several times to get back on 4glte. What I have done to try to fix: New SIM, Factory reset, Manual re-connect via T-Mobile. Also run with no apps.
Now keep in mind the tmo s5 is working perfectly.
Tmo's solution: Send them 20 dollars and they send me a refurbished phone(to replace my 1 month old flagship that hasn't worked right since day one).
F**k T-Mobile
tatt2mike said:
I bought a note 4 from t mobile a month ago. My girlfriend got her s5 from them the next day. I have a cell tower less than 1 mile away serving up 4glte. Her s5 stays connected to 4glte constant and consistent. Note 4 will not stay connected to 4glte. It connects to G and mostly E. A royal PIA. I have to manually re-connect, sometimes several times to get back on 4glte. What I have done to try to fix: New SIM, Factory reset, Manual re-connect via T-Mobile. Also run with no apps.
Now keep in mind the tmo s5 is working perfectly.
Tmo's solution: Send them 20 dollars and they send me a refurbished phone(to replace my 1 month old flagship that hasn't worked right since day one).
F**k T-Mobile
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I have been complaining for a month now. Got a new Sim and no fix. They are sending me a replacement phone for free. Tried to charge me $5 but I complained and they removed it.
Not sure the replacement will do anything but hoping for the best.
Try to ask more. Some agents seem more willing than others to assist.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
nosympathy said:
I have been complaining for a month now. Got a new Sim and no fix. They are sending me a replacement phone for free. Tried to charge me $5 but I complained and they removed it.
Not sure the replacement will do anything but hoping for the best.
Try to ask more. Some agents seem more willing than others to assist.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
All of the agents have been pretty good at attempting to remedy the problem up to phone replacement. My problem is they will not guarantee that I will receive a new unit. They have the refurb option which is complete bulls**t on a brand new phone. Especially when TMob separates the phone from the mobile plan. "Buy a new phone phone from us and if it doesn't work properly out of the box we'll send you some other persons problem for a slight fee" should be their slogan. And they are trying to pound on Verizon lol. I hope you get it working on your end. Good luck.
Hello everyone!
I just bought an att samsung galaxy s6 and had it unlocked. I currently have straight talk service and it is completely horrible! The coverage map shows excellent service in my area. My friends have straight talk service and their phones have awesome service and blazing fast 4g lte speeds. My friends have branded straight talk phones (like galaxy s3 etc). My att S6 is horrible though.
Im sitting beside my friend right now. He has straight talk branded galaxy s3. Both his phone and my phone are both GSM sim phones using the same band and towers. We both installed speedtest app and used the exact same test server. He would go first and I would go when his speed test was finished. My friend got like 35 mbits down and 17 mbits up. I got 1 mbit down and 0.76 mbit up.
I have called tech support about 20 times trying to figure out why my phone is so slow but nobody can figure it out. I have heard ever excuse from my phone needs factory data reset to my phone uses different towers than my friends phones (which one has an unlocked att s4 phone).
Does anyone know why my phone is so slow and my friends phones are blazing fast? Any help is appreciated.
Oh, btw... my phone and my friends phones have exact same apn setting etc.
StraighTalk have 2 different Sim Card, one for the T-Mobile phone and one for the AT&T version, make sure you got the AT&T version, cause if you have the T-Mobile one, the reception is horrible. That happed to me and I order a new AT&T version Sim card from them and that solve the problem.
I do have the att sim card in my phone. I bought the byop kit and it has the tmobile sum still in the package. Tech support also says I have the correct sim and everything is provisioned correctly on their end. I've verified my sim card number with about 4 different techs.
Best Buy has preorders for both the carrier locked and unlocked versions of the Note 8. I am coming off of a Note 4, and am very interested in the Note 8. My question is, are there any real benefits to me for buying the unlocked version vs. the Verizon version.
In the area in which I live, cell service mostly sucks across the board, but Verizon sucks the least. So I will not be changing carriers. So far, this is the pros/cons list based on the information that I've been able to find. I might be incorrect about one or more of these.
Pros:
Can change carriers whenever.
No carrier bloat.
Might get future updates more quickly.
Cons:
Might lose wifi calling.
Might lose wireless hotspot
Insurance is more expensive.
Best Buy has deals on pre-orders. For any Note 8, you get either a free memory card and wireless charging dock, or a Gear 365 camera. If you have their Best Buy card, then they have 24 month no interest financing. If you buy a carrier version of the phone, in addition to the other freebies, you get up to $150 off. The price of a Verizon Note 8 is $33.78 per month. The price of the unlocked Note 8 is $38.74 per month. Verizon also has a trade-in on my Note 4 of $240, which knocks the price down to $22.75 per month.
So given all of this, is there a compelling reason to get an unlocked phone? I know that carrier bloatware sucks, but there are solutions for it. At least there are on my Note 4.
One other question is, if I got a phone not tied to a carrier, does that make it easier to root in the future?
I pre ordered the unlocked phone and the reason was what happened to me with the note 7 (both times) and the ability to switch from AT&T to Verizon if I want to. Also lack of carrier bloat. Samsung has insurance for 12 bucks a month that is better than the carrier crap insurance. Wifi calling is a non issue for me, didn't realize that I might not have hot spot, but unlocked will get root first, and then Hotspot no trouble.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using XDA-Developers Legacy app
I too pre ordered the unlocked version from samsung's website. I am with att right now and is planning to switch to t-mobile of project fi. not sure yet which of the two. but defintely a good plus having the unlocked version. I am not really concerned about wi fi calling since majority of the stuff i do to communicate is through text messages and through facebook messenger.
I have a unlock S8. I use it 100% fine on my T-mobile. But I can't do video call to another T-mobile customer. Thats the only difference.
I picked up the AT&T variant. My insurance is only $8.99 and if I call before 4pm I will have my phone the next day. Also if I need to warranty my phone they will send me another phone before I have to ship mine back to them. I'm not worried about bloat if that was the case I would just buy a OnePlus 5 or wait for the Pixel 2 you can uninstall or disable anything you don't want. I really don't see a need to root anymore. Im not all about flashing ROMs just to lose the features that make the Note the Note.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
i preordered ATT note8, i worry the unlocked note8 wont have all the att LTE bands.
on my att galaxy s8+ i getting 115mb down, 28mb up on att LTE Advanced
Speaking from my experience here in the UK, I have found that locked phones are a bad deal generally. They don't get the latest updates very quickly and you can only stick with one SIM card. They also devalue the phone when you want to sell it, and whilst you could use an unlocking service, they aren't always available for you phone or carrier combo.
You don't really get much (if any) carrier bloatware here however, so that's not a consideration. WiFi calling doesn't always deliver a good call connection and I have had occasional issues with this when using my hands-free car connection.
.
ahenderson223 said:
I picked up the AT&T variant. My insurance is only $8.99 and if I call before 4pm I will have my phone the next day. Also if I need to warranty my phone they will send me another phone before I have to ship mine back to them. I'm not worried about bloat if that was the case I would just buy a OnePlus 5 or wait for the Pixel 2 you can uninstall or disable anything you don't want. I really don't see a need to root anymore. Im not all about flashing ROMs just to lose the features that make the Note the Note.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
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For me, root is only useful for two reasons.
1. Ad blocking.
2. Tracking down the nuisance wakelocks that android always seems to have. I've had many android phones going back to the Evo, and the only ones that I didn't end up hating were the ones that I could root. My most current phone is a Note 4 and I blew it and lost root a couple of weeks ago and couldn't get it back. Now I can't tell what's keeping my phone awake all of the time.
I'm not into flashing anymore. When I had the Evo, I must have flashed it with 100 different ROMs. Now I just want a stable phone that doesn't get killed by wakelocks.
Battery life has been good to me on my last couple of Android devices. As far as updates on my S8+ I'm running the most current software and security patch that the unlocked unbranded has.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
My problem is, as a former note 7 user, I need to buy Note 8 direct from Samsung to get discount and it is a nightmare to SIM unlock the phone on Tmobile, if purchased from Samsung. Samsung can't unlock it, only T-mobile can and since the phone comes direct from Samsung, T-mo has no record of it. So you need to spend a lot of time talking to higher level support, they need to input your IMEI manually into their system, probably call Samsung to verify status of the phone etc. It's just too much headache. So I was wondering if I could buy unlocked phone and load T-mo software to get wifi calling back, but I just hope the phone will remain unlocked? Anybody knows?
pete4k said:
My problem is, as a former note 7 user, I need to buy Note 8 direct from Samsung to get discount and it is a nightmare to SIM unlock the phone on Tmobile, if purchased from Samsung. Samsung can't unlock it, only T-mobile can and since the phone comes direct from Samsung, T-mo has no record of it. So you need to spend a lot of time talking to higher level support, they need to input your IMEI manually into their system, probably call Samsung to verify status of the phone etc. It's just too much headache. So I was wondering if I could buy unlocked phone and load T-mo software to get wifi calling back, but I just hope the phone will remain unlocked? Anybody knows?
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Been done many times over on s8 unlocked so I'd think yes.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
pete4k said:
My problem is, as a former note 7 user, I need to buy Note 8 direct from Samsung to get discount and it is a nightmare to SIM unlock the phone on Tmobile, if purchased from Samsung. Samsung can't unlock it, only T-mobile can and since the phone comes direct from Samsung, T-mo has no record of it. So you need to spend a lot of time talking to higher level support, they need to input your IMEI manually into their system, probably call Samsung to verify status of the phone etc. It's just too much headache. So I was wondering if I could buy unlocked phone and load T-mo software to get wifi calling back, but I just hope the phone will remain unlocked? Anybody knows?
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Click to collapse
I don't understand all of this rhetoric about wifi calling not working. I had a mid level Samsung Grand Prime from Sprint that did not have ANY service hooked up to it. I think the previous owner that sold it on ebay left his sim card in it since he switched carriers but I never hooked it up to service and for a time of many months, went around making wifi calls anywhere there was a wifi connection just to go off the grid and remember what it was like when we didn't have mobile phones and the only communication when out-and-around town, was a pay phone on the corner gas station ...... if it didn't have two or three people waiting in line to use it.
I understand that some carriers software disable their wifi calling features in some models of phones because they don't want anyone to be able to make a call unless they are paying for service, but seams from my experience that it only requires network service provisioning which is probably why my GP worked with the SIM, even though it wasn't active which means that it SHOULD work on any phone with any carrier that has a network SIM regardless of it being active with service. I realize (although not personally experienced) that some carriers disable wifi calling in their branded phones even with provisioning and SIM unless there is active service and I think some disable it even with active service so as to charge extra for it, am I right? That should be fixable by a patch or something. Do not all ROM's correct that nad make wifi calling work?
---------- Post added at 05:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------
PS. I think unlocked branded phones are the way to go just because of the lack of bloatware and ability to switch carriers at will and/or pop in a SIM from another carrier where you don't have good coverage or travel out of the country. To highlight, I just this year worked in two different towns where T-mobile had almost nonexistent coverage (one of which was instrumental in loosing a job) and being able to pop in a pre-paid sim would have corrected that. I thought this 2-3 years ago but didn't listen to myself and purchased a T-Mobile Note 8 last year and have been kicking myself for it ever since.
I prefer having a unlocked device that way I can use it with any Cell Provider I want.