In my experience, every phone has a particular variant that's more common than the others and some variants don't even support bootloader unlocking/custom recovery. (For example, my Honor 8's Asian version doesn't support bootloader unlocking).
So, if I bring a Mi8 from abroad (Saudi Arabia), should I look for any particular build number/model number or anything? Cuz I don't want to end up with a phone that I can't root or unlock.
Note: It's cheaper in UAE than in my country, that's why I'm going this way.
Related
Hello good day all.
It’s been while between reading and watching reviews, and I’m trying to find out which note 8 model will fulfill my needs before I purchase.
My main aim on:
1-Snapdragon.
2- Unlocked.
3- Single SIM.
4- 128GB “I can change to 64 if there is no option”.
5- In long term of use will have developer support such as custom ROM …etc.
What I found out so far SM-N9500 & SM-N950U1.
*SM-N9500 : is snapdragon and unlocked but dual SIM which I’m not fan of.
*SM-N950U1 : is snapdragon , and from what I read and understand it's unlocked but “not sure if it will work outside US”.
If there is any opinion or other models please inform me, I want to decide because I’m using the device for long period of time and I have to make sure.
Get the version intended for your home country and from an OFFICIAL AUTHORIZED DEALER, if you plan to use it for a very long time, that is my sincere advice for you
winol said:
Get the version intended for your home country and from an OFFICIAL AUTHORIZED DEALER, if you plan to use it for a very long time, that is my sincere advice for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually my home country with exynos processors and I wanna stay away form it , yes it is "good" processors but i have good experience with snapdragon with my current note 3.
Up
Need answer please
Sm-n950u has been good to me. But I have no out of network experience with it. Mine is carrier locked, which is better for carrier specific needs such as LTE calling.
Since you mentioned Unlocked & Custom ROMs, keep in mind that Unlocked means SIM unlocked, not bootloader unlocked. USA N950U unlocked variants are only SIM unlocked, the BL is locked.
The only Snapdragon that would most likely have an unlockable BL is the Chinese & HK N9500.
No need to worry about the phone being dual SIM. I actually was a bit disappointed when my Note 8 shipped as a dual SIM, but am way over it now. If you do not insert a second SIM and simply use it as a single SIM phone you don't have any issues nor any icons in the notification bar. The only difference is that in the call log you will see all calls were made/received on SIM 1 and that you will have the SIM Manager option in Settings. Other than that no signal issues (like I experienced on the dual SIM note 7 last year) ar of any other kind, I am quite happy with my SM-N950F.
Where are you going to be using the phone? What network are you with?
Hello,
I am planning to sell my Sprint Note8 online soon. I have the phone unlocked (and confirmed that it works on AT&T with a friends SIM). My question is that I'd like to advertise it as just the North America Unlocked version to reach a larger audience and hopefully get more money. I am pretty sure there are no hardware differences between the N950U and N950U1 variants. So my thinking is that if I Odin flash the XAA N950U1 unbranded firmware onto the device then it would be identical to a phone straight from Samsung. That said, I'm not 100% sure and of course I don't want to falsely advertise. Can anyone conform for me whether I am right or not? Obviously I will market as "Sprint - Unlocked" if there are any differences at all.
Thanks
I think it would be safer and better for the buyer if you flash whatever Network they want before you ship it.
don't update this app!!
MattC867 said:
Hello,
I am planning to sell my Sprint Note8 online soon. I have the phone unlocked (and confirmed that it works on AT&T with a friends SIM). My question is that I'd like to advertise it as just the North America Unlocked version to reach a larger audience and hopefully get more money. I am pretty sure there are no hardware differences between the N950U and N950U1 variants. So my thinking is that if I Odin flash the XAA N950U1 unbranded firmware onto the device then it would be identical to a phone straight from Samsung. That said, I'm not 100% sure and of course I don't want to falsely advertise. Can anyone conform for me whether I am right or not? Obviously I will market as "Sprint - Unlocked" if there are any differences at all.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be sure to follow the switching carrier guide to change code to specified carrier to get rid of lingering Sprint stuff if you want them to have true stock experience...if you change carriers, that is...even if you do xaa
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=74087340&postcount=1
Hi!
So I've bought a Samsung S9 Duos recently and to be honest, although I like the phone and have been on a Samsung streak for the past few years, I'm getting seriously tired of their country dependant shenanigans. Because I live in Canada, when I buy a Global phone there's a bunch of stuff that either doesn't work or does only partially. And because the Canadian model is a SD proc, not an Exynos, it's an absolute nightmare to switch CSCs and get everything working right...
I hesitated long and hard to get a P20 pro, but the fact it wasn't available anywhere in Canada made me nervous. But my carrier (Rogers) recently announced it so, being really tired of this Samsung ****e, I'm considering returning the S9 and getting the P20 pro (even if it doesn't have a lot of stuff I like such as the headphone jack, SD card and wireless charging).
TL;DR
My question is, if I get an international (dual SIM) model of the P20 pro, is it going to be different than the Canadian one? Is there an equivalent of CSC codes with Samsung that I have to worry about, or can I assume it will be the same phone and I just need to activate it to get carrier specifics?
Thanks
I'm not an expert, but before I bought my P20 Pro, I made sure that it worked with the AT&T's network frequency bands. Each network has different bands and if the phone doesn't support the band, it won't connect.
https://www.droid-life.com/2015/02/...sm-cdma-wcdma-lte-verizon-att-sprint-tmobile/
https://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
Here are the tech specs from Huawei:
4G FDD-LTE, TD-LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B6/B7/B8/B9/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40
3G WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19
https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/phones/m/p20-pro/tech-specs/
honua said:
I'm not an expert, but before I bought my P20 Pro, I made sure that it worked with the AT&T's network frequency bands. Each network has different bands and if the phone doesn't support the band, it won't connect.]
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. I checked the bands for sure, and they are covered since it will be sold on my carrier soon. I guess what I meant is more the model itself, if there are variants per country or if we (Canada) are getting the same global version.
You see I come from a Samsung user's background and they have these silly country codes that dictate what you can use and where. I'm not sure it's related, but I found that even if on paper all LTE bands are covered with my S9, it still has shoddy reception compared to a Canadian S7. I could try to flash my CSC code to the phone, but a) it's complicated and risks bricking the phone and b) since the Canadian model is NOT the same as the global one, my CSC cannot be applied to this phone no matter how hard I try...
DenisEhm said:
Thanks for the input. I checked the bands for sure, and they are covered since it will be sold on my carrier soon. I guess what I meant is more the model itself, if there are variants per country or if we (Canada) are getting the same global version.
You see I come from a Samsung user's background and they have these silly country codes that dictate what you can use and where. I'm not sure it's related, but I found that even if on paper all LTE bands are covered with my S9, it still has shoddy reception compared to a Canadian S7. I could try to flash my CSC code to the phone, but a) it's complicated and risks bricking the phone and b) since the Canadian model is NOT the same as the global one, my CSC cannot be applied to this phone no matter how hard I try...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FunkyHuawei offers a rebranding tool, which changes the region of the ROM. I used it because I bought mine from a Chinese e-commerce website. I rebranded to European region.
I couldn't find anything about International or Global versions of the phone. I know they are region locked, but the rebranding tool will fix that. You can also flash a firmware from FunkHuawei or use HuRUpdater tool from TWRP custom recovery.
I have used both tools, and had 100% success.
https://funkyhuawei.club/rebranding
https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-9/development/tool-flash-official-firmware-recovery-t3769279/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/huawei-p20-pro/development/recovery-twrp-3-2-1-0-t3779400
https://forum.xda-developers.com/tools/general/huawei-firmware-finder-team-mt-t3469146
honua said:
FunkyHuawei offers a rebranding tool, which changes the region of the ROM. I used it because I bought mine from a Chinese e-commerce website. I rebranded to European region.
I couldn't find anything about International or Global versions of the phone. I know they are region locked, but the rebranding tool will fix that. You can also flash a firmware from FunkHuawei or use HuRUpdater tool from TWRP custom recovery.
I have used both tools, and had 100% success.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool thanks, I'll see how this could help me out. I'm giving my S9 one last chance but short of that, I'll cough up another $1000 for this phone; I just don't want to end up in the same trap!
Hi,
I was given a Note 9, international, with dual SIM to test at work. It's quite different than the Pixel 2 I'm used to and although it's a great phone, I know updates are not great with samsung.
The current version I am on is N960FXXU1ARG5 and AIDA64 tells me this is an SM-960F with Exynos5 CPU.
When I look on sammobile, I don't see a region called Canada, United States, North America or even International.
Having multiple firmwares available is a bit more complex than with a Google Pixel and I'd like to make sure I don't mess up the Note 9.
Is there something I can do to be in a "region" that's perhaps more likely to get updates?
What "region" is considered the "international" region.
What firmwares would be safe to flash with Odin and that would be better than this stock firmware (if any)
Thank you
Firstly, I hope this is appropriate to post here - I'm new to this and I'm just getting to grips with it all!
Basically, I live in England, but I'll soon be moving to America. While I was on holiday in America this year, I bought an unlocked Note9 because it was cheaper with the exchange rate, and I thought that it would be the better decision, given that I'll be living in the U.S. soon enough.
However, the firmware is different in certain ways, and I much prefer the U.K. firmware versions. There are things missing from the firmware, that my Dad's U.K. Note9 has, and that my old GS8+ had.
My question is, if I flashed the U.K. firmware to my Note9 would that change my device status? I want it to still say 'Official'. Also, would it do anything to the KNOX counter - or would it even work?
Thanks in advance!
ClassilyContagious said:
Firstly, I hope this is appropriate to post here - I'm new to this and I'm just getting to grips with it all!
Basically, I live in England, but I'll soon be moving to America. While I was on holiday in America this year, I bought an unlocked Note9 because it was cheaper with the exchange rate, and I thought that it would be the better decision, given that I'll be living in the U.S. soon enough.
However, the firmware is different in certain ways, and I much prefer the U.K. firmware versions. There are things missing from the firmware, that my Dad's U.K. Note9 has, and that my old GS8+ had.
My question is, if I flashed the U.K. firmware to my Note9 would that change my device status? I want it to still say 'Official'. Also, would it do anything to the KNOX counter - or would it even work?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uk model is a N960F
us model is a N960U
you cant flash anything from one to the other.
you should have bought the uk version. a high % of Americans buy the international versions for various reasons. one being the locked bootloader on the us version stopping them from attaining root and modifying the system to their will. this year the international F model you guys have in the UK apparently is the lesser phone performance wise. i think it is negligible since rooting is a big advantage in some cases.
anyways please dont mix up unlocked phone meaning not bound to a carrier or region and unlocked bootloader.
cpu arch:
exynos = F model =unblockable bootloader
snapdragon = U model = locked bootloader
both models are avalablabe in region unlocked models.
there are other variants like the N9600 which is special in a way that being a snapdragon, it can have its BL unlocked.
there is also a N960N which is 99% identical to a N960F model.
A N960W In canada which is 99.999% like the us U model.
and finally the F, N and n9600 are all available in DS models too( 2 x sim cards /dual sim)
ClassilyContagious said:
However, the firmware is different in certain ways, and I much prefer the U.K. firmware versions. There are things missing from the firmware, that my Dad's U.K. Note9 has, and that my old GS8+ had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious, what stock features does the UK version have over the US version?
It's got that sexy date speed indicator in the status bar
[emoji1787]
ramiss said:
I'm curious, what stock features does the UK version have over the US version?
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Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk