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This phone sounds amazing, but theres some conflicting information i've heard on it from multiple different sources.
1. Does the phone work on verizon? My current phone plan is on verizon, and it would be so much easier to just change out phones rather than move my entire wireless company to get this phone. I've heard that it does and it doesn't. Is it the chinese versions that don't? I'm american, so do the versions sold in America work with verizon? I went to my local verizon store, and they said it wouldn't, but the lady had to look it up on her phone but the article she saw might have been talking about the tencent version or something.
2. If it doesn't work on verizon, what other network would work better? I've heard that T-Mobile wouldn't work well for this phone, so maybe AT&T? Again, I would greatly prefer to just stick with Verizon.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE answer my questions, I've asked these questions in multiple places but no one has answered a reliable answer in any of them.
JegusChrist said:
This phone sounds amazing, but theres some conflicting information i've heard on it from multiple different sources.
1. Does the phone work on verizon? My current phone plan is on verizon, and it would be so much easier to just change out phones rather than move my entire wireless company to get this phone. I've heard that it does and it doesn't. Is it the chinese versions that don't? I'm american, so do the versions sold in America work with verizon? I went to my local verizon store, and they said it wouldn't, but the lady had to look it up on her phone but the article she saw might have been talking about the tencent version or something.
2. If it doesn't work on verizon, what other network would work better? I've heard that T-Mobile wouldn't work well for this phone, so maybe AT&T? Again, I would greatly prefer to just stick with Verizon.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE answer my questions, I've asked these questions in multiple places but no one has answered a reliable answer in any of them.
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Click to collapse
No on Verizon. Yes to tmobile and att. Chinese and international versions have different lte band support. Talk to your local tmobile and att reps to see which bands you need and verify on the Asus site for rog phone 2.
A few users here say they got it working on Verizon as a data only device, and it does support their LTE bands. For calls, they mostly use Google Voice but one buys a cheap subscription on an AT&T MVNO for calls.
It doesn't have band 71 support for TMO, which could make coverage an issue. AT&T has the best support from what I've seen.
Something else to note is this is not VoLTE certified in the U.S. It can only make calls on the GSM networks, and those will be shutting over the next few years. If you plan to keep the phone long term, expect to lose the ability to make any phone calls. You could move to Google Voice at that point, but you'd still be left with no 911 access. Asus has so far indicated they have no plans to certify it for VoLTE in the U.S. (even other region versions that do have VoLTE wouldn't be able to use it here).
Mr_Mooncatt said:
A few users here say they got it working on Verizon as a data only device, and it does support their LTE bands. For calls, they mostly use Google Voice but one buys a cheap subscription on an AT&T MVNO for calls.
It doesn't have band 71 support for TMO, which could make coverage an issue. AT&T has the best support from what I've seen.
Something else to note is this is not VoLTE certified in the U.S. It can only make calls on the GSM networks, and those will be shutting over the next few years. If you plan to keep the phone long term, expect to lose the ability to make any phone calls. You could move to Google Voice at that point, but you'd still be left with no 911 access. Asus has so far indicated they have no plans to certify it for VoLTE in the U.S. (even other region versions that do have VoLTE wouldn't be able to use it here).
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I'm not exactly the best at phone lingo, i just stumbled across this website while looking up things about the phone.
That being said, can you tell me whether or not the phone is worth it? It seems like theres wayy too many disadvantages to this phone, and that kinda bugs me. I've been wanting this phone for a while, so I'd much rather get this than anything else.
If it's not really worth it, can you mention any other phones that are similar? mainly one that can emulate games just as good if not better than the ROG 2?
"Is it worth it?"
That is such a loaded question if you're in the U.S. That's something you'll have to decide for yourself based on your needs. If it had VoLTE here, then it would be worth every penny. All I can say is that for me, it isn't worth it. Yes, you get a ton of value for the phone. I'm on Verizon and would've been ok switching calls and texts to Google Voice. I also planned to keep it long term, likely after the GSM network shutdowns. I also drive for a living, hauling hazardous materials. So in my case, the inability to make a 911 call once those networks shut down is a very big concern. For me, that one reason alone is why I've decided to hold off on it.
On the flip side, if you don't have a problem with the 911 issue, or plan to switch phones in a year or two anyway, then this may very well be worth it in your case.
As for other options, I think the Nubia Red Magic 3s is likely the closest in terms of features and performance. It's not quite as bleeding edge as the ROG 2, but it's also a lot cheaper and has VoLTE calling. The Razer Phone 2 is another known option, but it's a generation older too and support may be questionable (rumor has it there may not be a Razer 3). I don't know a ton about either phone other than what I've read on their specs.
Hello,
Apologies in advance if this is discussed already. I tried but couldn't find this specific question discussed.
I bought this USA unlocked, carrier-agnostic version of LG V40 ThinQ (LM-V405QA) from a reputed warehouse club in US. Has been working fine with AT&T since January 2020. I had to get it because previous Samsung phone would not get Android 9. But I had used it for 4 years.
Now I must have Android 10 for my company apps to work. AT&T tried but could not push Android 10 to my phone. Probably because their version of this phone is different by a letter or digit.
Am I at the mercy of LG and must wait until they release Android 10 to USA unlocked version?
Thanks
You are right, it has been discussed many many times already, and unfortunately, you are not going to find a specific question because people tend to use their own way of asking.
There is no easy and fast way, if you want to wait for LG to update it may take a long time or
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v40/how-to/sprint-crossflash-to-unlocked-pie-t3989149
I suggest you use the Verizon rom, that's the one that gets the fastest updates ...
There are, as mentioned, other options than waiting for LG (I do wish they would make that available soon). Another options besides vzw would be the Korean Open V409N (android 10), that's what I'm using, in the states. It does have a few more idiosyncrasies compared to say vzw, but it's an 'Open' version, thus not tied to any carrier, so only LG's bloatware.
I'm using the V409n myself now and the only thing I've not got to work is vowifi, but volte does work. Everything else seems to function normally. A major consideration when crossflashing is 'which rom supports the bands I need'? For at&t I think the vzw rom has all those bands, but if u want b71 for t-mo, then you'd need the us OP (a10 not out yet) OR, amazingly, the Korean v409n has b71.
keep in mind, crossflashing can lead to issues. I'd suggest backing up vital partitions **before** u do any crossflashing, just having the kdz **will not** restore it to factory.
cheers
AsItLies said:
There are, as mentioned, other options than waiting for LG (I do wish they would make that available soon). Another options besides vzw would be the Korean Open V409N (android 10), that's what I'm using, in the states. It does have a few more idiosyncrasies compared to say vzw, but it's an 'Open' version, thus not tied to any carrier, so only LG's bloatware.
I'm using the V409n myself now and the only thing I've not got to work is vowifi, but volte does work. Everything else seems to function normally. A major consideration when crossflashing is 'which rom supports the bands I need'? For at&t I think the vzw rom has all those bands, but if u want b71 for t-mo, then you'd need the us OP (a10 not out yet) OR, amazingly, the Korean v409n has b71.
keep in mind, crossflashing can lead to issues. I'd suggest backing up vital partitions **before** u do any crossflashing, just having the kdz **will not** restore it to factory.
cheers
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Question, you have an actual V409N or some other 405 crossflashed like one.
Asking cause I have a UA (Sprint) crossflashed to QA that I use on T-Mobile. Okay without VoWifi, need VoLTE. I saw this V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz. Wondering if it will work well with T-Mo in the US on a V405. That jump from 5 to 9 makes me doubtful.
Omizuke said:
Question, you have an actual V409N or some other 405 crossflashed like one.
Asking cause I have a UA (Sprint) crossflashed to QA that I use on T-Mobile. Okay without VoWifi, need VoLTE. I saw this V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz. Wondering if it will work well with T-Mo in the US on a V405. That jump from 5 to 9 makes me doubtful.
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Mine was (is) originally an UA at&t, not the korean. I'm in the states also, so no way I'd buy an oem Korean phone. The thing about volte and vowifi on t-mo, they allow it even with byo phones, but your sim (mvno types) have to be capable of it. I use Mint Mobile and had vowifi and volte - when I was using the US Open (QA) Pie rom. But I had to add (free) that feature (vowifi) on my mint mobile account.
Since you have qa, I would think volte would be working, what sim (t-mo) do u have? Not an mvno? As far as the korean rom goes, the 405 vs 409 isn't due to some incremental aspect, so there's no issue there. It's just an identifying Korea type number. But, I'd say if you don't have volte with QA Pie, then it's questionable you would get it working with korean rom.
do you know why volte isn't working for you now? Have you been given some 'official' explanation for that?
AsItLies said:
Mine was (is) originally an UA at&t, not the korean. I'm in the states also, so no way I'd buy an oem Korean phone. The thing about volte and vowifi on t-mo, they allow it even with byo phones, but your sim (mvno types) have to be capable of it. I use Mint Mobile and had vowifi and volte - when I was using the US Open (QA) Pie rom. But I had to add (free) that feature (vowifi) on my mint mobile account.
Since you have qa, I would think volte would be working, what sim (t-mo) do u have? Not an mvno? As far as the korean rom goes, the 405 vs 409 isn't due to some incremental aspect, so there's no issue there. It's just an identifying Korea type number. But, I'd say if you don't have volte with QA Pie, then it's questionable you would get it working with korean rom.
do you know why volte isn't working for you now? Have you been given some 'official' explanation for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no, my VoLTE is currently working fine. Just pointing out that is something I can't lose. Where I am I have amazing LTE coverage. The 2/3G is not so great so phones that don't support it suffer on the calls. And I'm on a official T-mo Sim. Although coincidently I was recently looking at Mint, I came across this $90 all unlimited for 3 months. But it said it would reduce to 128 Kbps after 35GB and might further reduce it. And I use way over that. This last 2 months I went over 80GB... Wish carriers would start releasing plans base on speed not amount. I wouldn't mind 3-8 Mbps capped speed if it was cheap. I digress....
Phone, yeah, so to summarize. You got a UA, that you crossflashed to QA at some point (like me). But then to get Android 10 you cf to a 9N Open Kr and everything works fine except for the VoWiFi.
I did come across a reddit post of someone that also has a working 409N OS working on a UA it seems it does gets the 71. Was skeptical since it's not written on its specs on any site.
I know have 2 other questions. Did you went straight from QA Pie to 9N 10?
Thing is I am currently testing HavocOS. (Frankly, not impressed. Not Havoc, Android 10 in general. I think I like Android less and less with every update) Anyway. Not sure if jump directly to latest Kr kdz. The last Open is only 1 GB, which is about 1/4 of the last Pie. Wondering if something is missing. So thinking of going to last Pie kdz first and then update to the V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz.
My second question would be: Are you experience any particular noticeable bug? I read that for some people the ATT/VZ update brought some problems. But unclear if its just an update problem from the carriers, a problem that don't happen if you factory reset. Or problems involving Android 10 on the V40, potentially affecting all V40. Although latest Kor Open been from August, they had enough time to fix any issues.
Omizuke said:
Oh no, my VoLTE is currently working fine. Just pointing out that is something I can't lose. Where I am I have amazing LTE coverage. The 2/3G is not so great so phones that don't support it suffer on the calls. And I'm on a official T-mo Sim. Although coincidently I was recently looking at Mint, I came across this $90 all unlimited for 3 months. But it said it would reduce to 128 Kbps after 35GB and might further reduce it. And I use way over that. This last 2 months I went over 80GB... Wish carriers would start releasing plans base on speed not amount. I wouldn't mind 3-8 Mbps capped speed if it was cheap. I digress....
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Well then, the thing to know about getting volte on 409N is that it's a kind of a hack. It's not officially supported. So, because this isn't my daily driver phone, I've messed around with it trying to get vowifi and now volte isn't working, for some reason. Thus, I hesitate to recommend it if you depend on volte working consistently.
Omizuke said:
Phone, yeah, so to summarize. You got a UA, that you crossflashed to QA at some point (like me). But then to get Android 10 you cf to a 9N Open Kr and everything works fine except for the VoWiFi.
I did come across a reddit post of someone that also has a working 409N OS working on a UA it seems it does gets the 71. Was skeptical since it's not written on its specs on any site.
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Click to collapse
Yes, that's what I did. 71 does def work, surprisingly (saw the specs it would not also). I used LTE discovery and in the SVC / Field Test menu selected ONLY band71, it connected to a nearby 71 tower. So the 409N does support it, although it's not available in Korea :-|
Omizuke said:
I know have 2 other questions. Did you went straight from QA Pie to 9N 10?
Thing is I am currently testing HavocOS. (Frankly, not impressed. Not Havoc, Android 10 in general. I think I like Android less and less with every update) Anyway. Not sure if jump directly to latest Kr kdz. The last Open is only 1 GB, which is about 1/4 of the last Pie. Wondering if something is missing. So thinking of going to last Pie kdz first and then update to the V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz.
My second question would be: Are you experience any particular noticeable bug? I read that for some people the ATT/VZ update brought some problems. But unclear if its just an update problem from the carriers, a problem that don't happen if you factory reset. Or problems involving Android 10 on the V40, potentially affecting all V40. Although latest Kor Open been from August, they had enough time to fix any issues.
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Click to collapse
Havoc is lineage based right? Thus it doesn't have vowifi or volte? Not sure how that would meet your needs? And that 1GB indication on the firmware site is wrong, it will be about 4GB when downloaded. It's the full rom. CF does seem to cause issues, but I found with the 409N anyway, if initially did a partition DL, then, before changing anything in the phone, do a refurbish with the same kdz, and it didn't have any problems with nt-code, but I did have to enter the S/N in the ftm partition, for that to show up in the 'about' menu.
It seems though, if you want to be on 10 and have reliable volte, it's either wait for the NA OP to become available, or get a carrier specific device and use their network. I think I'm going back to NA OP 9, as everything works no issues at all.
cheers
Well, I should add, I did a bit of a refurbish this morning, actually a Part DL of everything I might have changed, inadvertently, trying to get vowifi to work. And now, volte is working just fine again.
So, it isn't 'officially' working, as mentioned. That may not be the way some want to go if they depend on it to always work...
cheers
AsItLies said:
Well then, the thing to know about getting volte on 409N is that it's a kind of a hack. It's not officially supported. So, because this isn't my daily driver phone, I've messed around with it trying to get vowifi and now volte isn't working, for some reason. Thus, I hesitate to recommend it if you depend on volte working consistently.
Yes, that's what I did. 71 does def work, surprisingly (saw the specs it would not also). I used LTE discovery and in the SVC / Field Test menu selected ONLY band71, it connected to a nearby 71 tower. So the 409N does support it, although it's not available in Korea :-|
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Click to collapse
Oh yeah, I'm constantly messing with the Bands to force it to connect to specific towers. Sometime it will keep connecting to some nearby that are constantly congested. So I just turn those off. But when I go to the next town I have to re-enable them. I use Lte Discovery and Network Cell Info Lite.
AsItLies said:
Havoc is lineage based right? Thus it doesn't have vowifi or volte? Not sure how that would meet your needs? And that 1GB indication on the firmware site is wrong, it will be about 4GB when downloaded. It's the full rom. CF does seem to cause issues, but I found with the 409N anyway, if initially did a partition DL, then, before changing anything in the phone, do a refurbish with the same kdz, and it didn't have any problems with nt-code, but I did have to enter the S/N in the ftm partition, for that to show up in the 'about' menu.
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Click to collapse
I believe so, and as far as I know there are no AOSP with VoLTE. But it doesn't affect me, I'm just playing with it while I decide what to do since I had to format it. Taking advantage before I refill it. My SIM is on my V20. Still going strong, on it's third battery thou. So glad is replaceable. It lacks some bands that the V40 has, particularly the new towers in my area. But otherwise I like it better. The actual second screen for notifications and shortcuts, the IR for the TV and a removable battery. Latest V phones are just too similar to the rest. But I'll stick with them for the Quad-DAC and Amp.
And thanks for the info. I'll keep it in mind.
AsItLies said:
It seems though, if you want to be on 10 and have reliable volte, it's either wait for the NA OP to become available, or get a carrier specific device and use their network. I think I'm going back to NA OP 9, as everything works no issues at all.
cheers
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Click to collapse
I honestly don't think there will be an NA OP 10. And I wasn't sure you could downgrade from 10 to 9 without tripping something. Didn't looked it up. Got too used that some of my other new devices all have anti-rollback. Limiting how high you can go before locking you up. And as stated before the newer the Android the less I like it. It has turn me off of the modding, seems more restrictive every generation. Had I know I would've just test it myself. lol Hence why I was asking so many questions, I was looking at it as a permanent step up. And the custom ROM for the v40, or well LG in general, is lack luster. Once 10 I'd be stuck between stock or LineageOS. Think I'll just give it a go. If you downgrade let me know how it turned out.
Omizuke said:
Oh yeah, I
brevity...
d out.
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Hey! thought I should let you know as you're interested in exactly this also. I just tried something I thought would simply not boot and would have to re-flash all over again. But no! I copied over the OPEN_US partition from us open Pie, into the V409N korean open directory. There was one cfg file I had to change to point to it rather than the old OPEN_KR directory (renamed it to OPEN_KR_ori).
Boom! Now I have vowifi and volte and they work exactly as they do on us open Pie! Get the HD and wifi indication icons on the little dialer phone symbol as well!!
pretty damn awesome, so it can be made to work wooohooo hahahaha
AsItLies said:
Hey! thought I should let you know as you're interested in exactly this also. I just tried something I thought would simply not boot and would have to re-flash all over again. But no! I copied over the OPEN_US partition from us open Pie, into the V409N korean open directory. There was one cfg file I had to change to point to it rather than the old OPEN_KR directory (renamed it to OPEN_KR_ori).
Boom! Now I have vowifi and volte and they work exactly as they do on us open Pie! Get the HD and wifi indication icons on the little dialer phone symbol as well!!
pretty damn awesome, so it can be made to work wooohooo hahahaha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for letting me know. I had just noticed your post on the [Crossflash] AT&T tread and was trying it. When I did whoever build the android for the US devices decided to violated my device, uninstall the LG Messaging app and install the google messaging app. Without my consent, and make it so that the LG one wouldn't work even if you tried installing it. Along with other apps like LGPay and LGUpdateCenter. That pissed me off.
Something I hated from the V40 vs the V20 was the googlefing everything. For one, the SMS app on the V20 is many times better, including the customization and independent sizing. You can have you system with one font size but on the sms app you can pinch to soom and increase everything if you need. The one on OpenKR Android 10 also has this feature. Google messenger doesn't. And second, really hate google forcing their everything down your throat. If i wanted a closed ecosystem I'd used iOS. My main reason for rooting is to get rid of bloatware, including most of what google now add on phones. Google folder has more crap than the carriers one lol.
BUT it was an easy fix and I ended up learning something. So I'll call it a win.
In the config folder, the featureset xml files there's a line with "set_default_sms_app_to_googlemessenger" it'll allow for the LG/Android Messaging to work. I had already backed up the apk because I had tried to use in on other the other kdz, didn't worked then, now I know why. But apkpure has it. AND the phone still do. On that same config folder there is the custom_apk_list.cfg file. It shows the apps it removed and the one it install. And you can fallow the path on that cfg file to the apk. (/system/product/priv-app/LGMessage) for the SMS app. Gotta delete the "featureset" line and reboot to get it to run. Oh, and the line on the cfg line file. Tho I just deleted the whole file altogether. With this new found info if I go back to 9 I'll know what to look for to get the stock Android sms app to work. There's more info among those xml. And the boot and power off sounds. So yay for custom sounds.
That said, tried the T-Mo sim and I'm not getting VoLTE. I did the FTM and everything. I'm gonna try one more time. But using Kor refurbish and see how it goes from there. If it doesn't work I'll just go back to Open US Pie and leave it be. I really did like the look on it. Native dark theme work so much better than the themes I had.
AsItLies said:
Deleted
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Greetings. I'm looking to confirm if I should go with a 405QA7 or if 405UA will do. (Or...?)
My requirements:
- Phone needs to work on VZW for now (don't need WiFi calling or anything exotic);
- Maybe on T-Mobile later. It's a serious possibility.
- MUST be bootloader-unlockable and/or (at least) rootable.
- Might need to downgrade one I buy from 10 to Pie (or lower), understanding ofc that ARB is always a potential issue. (I'm familiar with LG V30, assume V40 is much the same.) I always ask sellers what Android version is on a particular phone; 9 out of 10 tell me they don't know, even on unboxed/used phones.
One reason I'm asking is because I see lots of 405UAs for sale, advertised as "unlocked! will work on everything but Sprint!" or whatever. Yes or no? Not nearly as many QA7s available, especially not "New In Box".
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated. T.I.A.
Moondroid said:
Greetings. I'm looking to confirm if I should go with a 405QA7 or if 405UA will do. (Or...?)
My requirements:
- Phone needs to work on VZW for now (don't need WiFi calling or anything exotic);
- Maybe on T-Mobile later. It's a serious possibility.
- MUST be bootloader-unlockable and/or (at least) rootable.
- Might need to downgrade one I buy from 10 to Pie (or lower), understanding ofc that ARB is always a potential issue. (I'm familiar with LG V30, assume V40 is much the same.) I always ask sellers what Android version is on a particular phone; 9 out of 10 tell me they don't know, even on unboxed/used phones.
One reason I'm asking is because I see lots of 405UAs for sale, advertised as "unlocked! will work on everything but Sprint!" or whatever. Yes or no? Not nearly as many QA7s available, especially not "New In Box".
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated. T.I.A.
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I guess for me it's fun to try to figure out what makes you think, or assume what, to ask this question.
So, the QA is the us open version. It's not tied to any carrier (no chance of it being locked to a carrier then, obviously).
The UA is the version that Sprint, at&t, Vzw (maybe more) use. They would certainly have a chance of being carrier locked. But, if you buy one and it say's not carrier locked... then... what's the difference?
Well, sure, it could actually be carrier locked, but if it was advertised as not, and it is, send it back?
It gets a little more complicated when you want to use it with a specific carrier, such as vzw (or sprint or at&t etc), then, you have to check with them what phones they will allow on their network and what capabilities it will have (for instance, at&t allows other (than their) phones, but only allows their phones to have capabilities like vowifi (and I think) volte).
Assuming it's a necessity you stay with vzw (at least for awhile), and you need the additional capabilities only allowed to their specific phones (determined by imei), then get a vzw UA phone. Vzw does make their kdz available (where sprint and at&t don't - but that's only really relevant if u were on vzw, crossflashed to something else, and wanted to go back - keep in mind, just crossflashing to the kdz isn't enough for carrier extra features, it has to be their phone / imei).
But, to answer your question, QA? UA? why do u think that matters? in your situation?
cheers
Thanks for replying. First I want to reduce as much as possible the risk of having to send a phone back. As for ads, I see varying info especially for the UA, and I also know that quite a few sellers don't really know what they're selling. I've had my share of "wtf" transactions especially with phone buys, and I'm really tired of wasting time that way. The more I know about a particular model/variant up front, the better.
I simply don't want a branded phone, especially one filled with VZW (or any other) junk. Had my fill of those too. (I would not do custom ROM on this phone, so need relatively clean stock firmware.) I have tons of APN info for VZW and T-Mobile, can mod settings as I might need to... as long as the bands/etc are there. One thing I know from my V30 is that even crossflashing firmware is a relatively safe and sometimes even advisable thing to do. Like my carrier-unlocked US998 was actually born as a Sprint LS998 (or at least that's how it shows on imei-checker websites), but as it is, that means pretty much nothing to me.
There was one other question I probably should've included -- which variants have Android 10 OTAs out there, or not. If not for a particular variant (or brand), then I wouldn't have to worry about downgrading that variant.
Especially thanks for confirming that the QA is in fact the US wide-open version. Honestly, it seems to be getting harder and harder to find just simple statements of detail on various points, and even reading through XDA any more (I'm sorry to say) often has me turning in circles for hours and even days at a time, looking for simple, clearly and fully stated facts. But there are still (of course) a number of very expert (and willing) folks to assist and guide the rest us not-so-expert users (and players, and experimenters) in crunch times. XDA is still gold on that score. I've unlocked/rooted/ROM'd a big handful of phones and couldn't have done any of it, wouldn't have even known possibilties, without XDA.
Way too wordy I'm sure. I'll shut up now.
Cheers mate.
Moondroid said:
Thanks for replying. First I want to reduce as much as possible the risk of
<brevity>
Way too wordy I'm sure. I'll shut up now.
Cheers mate.
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oh no, that's fine, it helps to be able to answer the questions. It *sounds* like yer not really tied to any carrier, but trying to avoid hassle / bad experiences.
I'd suggest this, go with a UA version and crossflash it to one of the 'open' variants. The US Open kdz is only 9, but 10 will hopefully come out. I personally have an at&t ua crossflashed to Korean Open 10 (30e). But after copying over my OP partition (from US Open 9), it now behaves much like us open 10. It's of course bootloader unlocked and magisk, etc.
My mvno is mint mobile, and that allows for, with slight mods to the device, volte and vowifi.
Also, swappa is a good place to look for a device. Many sellers (volume, not individual) have them new or even better, open box. And their guarantee they are unlocked can't be beat. They have a reputation and the ability to sell on swappa to protect.
I still have a v30 with us998 on it doesn't get any use anymore though...
cheers
Yeah swappa! I've bought (and sold) a bunch of phones there. But no LGs to speak of lately. Actually I sold another V30 (US998) in, get this, less than an hour -- at my full asking price. It was the only one listed. But (duh) I didn't think to check there for a V40, will do that right after posting this.
Not on contract to anybody, nope, I'm free for whatever. I've been on Vz for 20+ years, family plan more or less, done just fine with them but if I can save $10-15/mo somewhere else... why not..... (I'm not a big data user, don't need unlimited, so that's one higher cost I don't worry about.)
I've seen a lot of refs for Mint lately. But I'll be getting fiber from Ting (mvno) soon and maybe could get a discount by going mobile with them too. If they can just settle the dust on their new pricing scheme.
So back to point: No real risk in going with a UA? And crossflash it. There are defo more UAs available. OTOH, I prefer not to deal with 10 at all, so no kdz for 10 would be ok with me.
Confession: One reason I needed to ask about this phone is cuz I'm purely burnt out from scouring XDA regarding 3 other phones in the past month. (Actually more, but 3 in exhaustive detail.) So I super-appreciate your willingness to help me out. You've saved me hours I'm sure.
Moondroid said:
Yeah swappa! I've bought (and sold) a bunch of phones there. But no LGs to speak of lately. Actually I sold another V30 (US998) in, get this, less than an hour -- at my full asking price. It was the only one listed. But (duh) I didn't think to check there for a V40, will do that right after posting this.
Not on contract to anybody, nope, I'm free for whatever. I've been on Vz for 20+ years, family plan more or less, done just fine with them but if I can save $10-15/mo somewhere else... why not..... (I'm not a big data user, don't need unlimited, so that's one higher cost I don't worry about.)
I've seen a lot of refs for Mint lately. But I'll be getting fiber from Ting (mvno) soon and maybe could get a discount by going mobile with them too. If they can just settle the dust on their new pricing scheme.
So back to point: No real risk in going with a UA? And crossflash it. There are defo more UAs available. OTOH, I prefer not to deal with 10 at all, so no kdz for 10 would be ok with me.
Confession: One reason I needed to ask about this phone is cuz I'm purely burnt out from scouring XDA regarding 3 other phones in the past month. (Actually more, but 3 in exhaustive detail.) So I super-appreciate your willingness to help me out. You've saved me hours I'm sure.
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Click to collapse
hey no probs. Yeah basically, the UA is perfectly fine. The only caveat would be that if u want to be carrier specific, then it gets into have to use their specific phone for specific svcs etc.
You can crossflash any of them (except t-mo, don't buy t-mo). It seems the only ones that result in probs cross flashing are the ones (ebw) that have dual sim, and they sometimes lose one or both sims working. But US carriers don't have that variant, so no worries for us.
really the only thing to be aware of, with carriers moving to do away with 3G, you want to be sure that which phone u end with, what it's cross flashed to, and the carrier, will volte work? Because if that doesn't work, in the not to distant future u might not be able to make a call!
be aware though, if u buy at&t or sprint, they don't make their kdz available, so if u think u might want to go back to their OS, back it up first.
cheers
AsItLies said:
...
really the only thing to be aware of, with carriers moving to do away with 3G, you want to be sure that which phone u end with, what it's cross flashed to, and the carrier, will volte work? Because if that doesn't work, in the not to distant future u might not be able to make a call!
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Yeah that always sits in the back of my mind these days. Checking around it looks like the V40 might be a little safer than the V30.
Oh and I already had a note that I had grabbed from somewhere, "NOT the t-mo variant" ... but didn't know about the ebw's, so thanks for that.
First I'll see if I can find a decent QA at a decent price. If not, then I'll grab a UA. Again mucho mega thanks, and have a great weekend!
Cheers and out.
If I were to buy a Samsung 21 global version for rooting will it work with At&t network out of the box or should I just go for the US version and pay the money to get it unlocked if it is still possible. Also, does any one have any good links to get the global SM-G988b version of phone?
Edit: Accidentally hit enter when editing title.
AT&T has this whole whitelisting of the devices on their network for all features (like WiFi calling) to work. Better to buy a US unlocked variant. In the past, it has been possible to root Samsung US flagship versions.
Ah ok. I never cared about things like WIFI calling. I just wanted to still be able to make phone calls and get internet. Thanks for the info though. I still prefer the Global one if it works in the USA and so just wnateed to know if it will work in the usa.
Skizzlo said:
Ah ok. I never cared about things like WIFI calling. I just wanted to still be able to make phone calls and get internet. Thanks for the info though. I still prefer the Global one if it works in the USA and so just wnateed to know if it will work in the usa.
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If you look at the bands, the Exynos S22 is lacking bands 260, 261 (5G mmwave bands) and bands 14,29,30,66 so the coverage won't be good
I have the 998b/ds i just purchased . When it came the card in the package said it wouldnt work on cricket. I went to cricket and called. Ran my imei and was told everything would work fine. Cricket if course is att.
I will be calling today and asking why my coverage is so horrible. I wouldnt have opened the phone if they had told me everything would work.
I am experiencing horrible reception at my home, which is in the mountains. My s20 ultra worked fine and got 5 g up here.
I will report back what i find out. As for now i am disappointed i am not getting 5g at all.
Ok thanks. So looks like USA Version is my best bet.
Long time lurker, first time poster here. First of all, a massive THANK YOU to everyone here. You guys and gals are Awesome! <3
So, I bought a Samsung S10 (SM-G973F/DS) on Ebay recently and flashed it to Lineage OS 19.1. All was fine until I tried to activate it. We did everything...manually changing the ASP settings, and a bunch of other stuff to try and get this thing to connect to the mobile network. Even placed the SIM card in another phone just to confirm the SIM card was fine, which it was.
Long story short, I think the device was perhaps locked even though the seller claimed it was unlocked. Whatever, I'm over it. I flashed stock back on it and re-locked the boot loader, sent it back. Not worth the aggravation. However, I am questioning if there wasn't something else I could have done?
I was trying to activate the S10 on Mint Mobile USA (a T-Mobile reseller, so GSM) it should have been fine. The default language on the device was German. I don't think that should matter, but maybe it does? Do European phones have problems activating in North America?
My question is: If I decide to get another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) from the secondary market (if its even worth it at this point, since the SM-G973F/DS is really hard to find), is there anything I can find out from the seller first so I don't end up having to send it back?
Or, should I just give up my dream of having an S10 installed with Lineage OS and it's glorious headphone jack and expandable storage forever? If so, are there any worthy alternatives to the S10 worth considering, given my affinity for headphone jacks and expandable storage?
Hello PhonePerfection, all a novel why you speak S10 G973F / DS in the United States.
Already your model S10 G973F/DS exynos 5G or the first 4G model so if these this Europe chip model, if now installed Samsung phone info look at who is scoring at worst take screenshots.
I don't understand your question United States, locked unlocked the seller.
You buy in the back market refurbished and unlocked telephone all operator therefore for sim card, the concern these the chip to install network either US or ASIA controls your model if these good SM-G973F/DS and not SM-G973U or G973U1.
Don't forget to say hello
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/compsomethingatibility/RdEkS7k/samsung-sm-g973f-ds-galaxy-s10-global-dual-sim-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
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Click to collapse
schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
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Click to collapse
Hey, this is great info. Good to know. It looks like that S10 could only communicate on 1 of 8 bands used by Mint/T-Mobile. That 1 usable band appears to have been deprecated by T-Mobile as it is. I think that explains it perfectly. Thank You!
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
schwinn8 said:
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
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The CSC on that device was DBT (Germany). I had to find that out in order to put the correct stock OS back on there.
Makes me wonder if the ebay seller even knows this. They appear to specialize in mobile phones with tens of thousands of transactions, so I would hope they've encountered this situation before. They were more than happy to accept a return on the device. Sent me a prepaid shipping label immediately.
Back to the CSC... Let's say I look for another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) but I ask what the CSC is for that device. Are there any regions outside the lower 48 states with reasonably good chances of it working? I suppose I would need to study the mobile frequency website for the answer to that.
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
schwinn8 said:
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. I think I may try for an S10 again if the seller can tell me what the CSC is. That page on De-googled.com affirms that American devices are more restrictive than their European counterparts.
It just doesn't make any sense to me personally to use a device with an open source OS that has loads of telemetry, spyware, bloat, etc. Which is a contradiction that I am not comfortable with. It's like installing a Linux distro that comes bundled with Facebook.
To me, being proactive about privacy is the equivalent to standing up for yourself in the real world. Sure, you can use a stock ROM and there is nothing wrong with that. It's having the freedom to choose which is most important. So long as that choice is available, I will happily go that route.
I like the added bonus of an Android device that seems faster with a longer lasting battery as well. I mean, I paid for this device. I should have the right to decide what apps are running on it.
No argument there... I agree with why we should be allowed to root/rom. Unfortunately, the carriers pull the strings in the USA (business over people) so we are losing options. Frankly, it pisses me off that they can still prevent phones from connecting to their network just because the IMEI doesn't match (even if the software is correct). In the end, if the device CAN work on the network, the carrier should have no say in allowing/disallowing it on the network. They like to claim that a "bad" device could "hurt" the network, but if that happens, they can lock out that phone and figure it out. I doubt that's even ever happened, but whatever. (They prevented me from using my already-working V30 US998 phone on the network, even though it ran as VS996 with no issues for years... they only later saw the IMEI wasn't "theirs" (original SIM card failed) so they prevented me from re-registering it. So stupid.)
Good luck, and let us know if you figure it out... I'm always curious to learn!
yes, most japan and europe phones do not have the correct radios channels in them for 4g and 5g. i ran into this same problem with my xperia phones that i bought overseas. this is a common problem that can happen.
The S10 and all it's variants is a world compatible GSM phone. So yes, the F variant should work with most GSM carriers and resellers in N. America.
There are various websites that will tell you what frequencies and carriers any particular model will work with if you do a search. Like this one.
WillMyPhoneWork.net - Check if your phone works on a network
Check 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE Network Frequency Compatibility for a Smartphone, Tablet, and Mobile Device in any Country and Mobile Network Carrier
willmyphonework.net
According to that site the SM-G973F/DS supports all 2G, 3G, and 4G frequencies used by Mint.