Hi all, been around XDA a bit with my Xperia X1. While I mostly like the X1, the slow processor and instability of many roms (gone back to SEX1, best 6.5 ROM IMO), I am thinking of going to another phone; either the Moto Milestone or the newly released Captivate (aka Galaxy S).
I like having QWERTY so I'm leaning more towards Milestone; also since it's not one of AT&T phone, I don't foresee issues with my $15/month MediaNet Unlimited plan.
How mature is Milestone on XDA Dev? Is 2.1 or 2.2 Froyo available on it? How is the stock 2.0 OS?
My biggest needs are email (LOTS), tethering (internet sharing), and good camera. I really like the HTC Sense UI-like home-screen (if it works well, not so well on my Xperia X1), and I like things to be speedy. I'm not that big on apps except a good RSS feed, Google Maps, and BING apps. Thanks for your input.
Milestone won't get 3G on at&t plus its an old phone and hase a locked bootloader so you should lean mor tword the Captivate since they are working on rooting it now
Sent from my myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Whoareyou said:
Milestone won't get 3G on at&t
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I think it will if he gets a Canadian one.
Don't waste your time with the Milestone unless you plan on leaving it completely stock, which judging by the fact you are here, you probably wouldn't want to. The milestone has a locked bootloader which prevents loading custom roms and at this point Motorola has been everyone unclear as to whether it will ever be updated to Froyo (2.2). It's very frustrating to those of us who were fooled into thinking we were getting the gsm equivalent of the droid. Furthermore I wouldn't recommend any Motorola products if you are interested at all in customizing or hacking your handset. Best to choose one of HTC's many more open options.
Vic
Sent from my Milestone
I am visiting the United Kingdom in March. I will be in the UK for two weeks. I will bring my Droid Bionic with me, even though it's a CDMA device and will not work in Britain. As a Droid Bionic owner, how can I get some use out of my Droid Bionic while in the UK, and how can I get an android, touch-screen smartphone while in the UK, that has voice and reliable data?
I know about the Verizon Global traveler program. If I am looking at the correct list of phones Verizon provides though the global traveler program, they look like lousy phones. I would really like an android touch-screen smartphone with voice and data while I am in the UK.
So, given the above info, what should I do?
- Greymarch
I write about technology, including android smartphones at my website.
http://www.greymarch.com
Your best option for a global capable Motorola smartphone that can be used here in the US as CDMA and overseas with GSM is a Droid3.
If you don't travel frequently though, then it may not be worth it to you.
The Droid 2 Global or Droid Pro would also work and may be found cheaper than a D3. There are also GSM only models like Milestone 3 and others that would work but without any CDMA capability for US use.
There are no LTE/CDMA/GSM global models despite the fact that the Bionic hardware(MDM6600 radio chipset) is fully capable of handling it, it is disabled in the firmware at the request of VZW.
The GSM functions of their global models are also generally compromised in the firmware to some degree in order to accommodate their global device specifications. USSD dialing codes dont work properly and international SMS and other features may not work.
There is also an unlocked Chinese radio firmware that can be flashed to the D3 to allow both domestic and international use that works great. I am running it on my D3 and have it on a T Mobile SIM here in the US. It is EDGE only data on T Mobile due to their deployment of 3g/4g HSPDA+ on AWS bands here, which is not supported by the MDM6600 chipset.
So, you have many options, but all of them entail purchasing another phone.
My wife travels to Europe quite a bit and she had a Blackberry forever. Last month I bought her a white Droid 2 Global in perfect used condition on eBay for $179.00 and gave it to her. She likes a physical keyboard (it also sports a touchscreen keyboard) so it was a perfect fit for her. She played with it for a few hours and the next day activated it on Verizon and needless to say will no longer even look at her BB Tour.
She is in Eastern Europe right now and keeps emailing me (from her phone) telling me how thrilled she is with the phone. She bought a cheap voice and data SIM over there and it all works like a charm.
I think with all of her use she would end up paying Verizon more than $179 for their lousy global services for the same period. I highly suggest you buy a nice cheap android world phone, buy SIM's wherever you go and and keep Verizon out of the loop.
If you want to use your bionic over there, I recommend downloading an app called GrooveIP.
It will allow you to use your phone to make and receive calls via wifi.
Data and voice would be useless over there. If you give Verizon a call, they can place your voice and data on hold for you while your gone. You can still fully use your phone when connected to wifi with groove IP and your Google voice number for free.
Your other option was mentioned earlier which was to invest in a global phone. With an unlocked global phone, or European one you won't have any problems.
Sent from my Xoom using xda premium
dellenrules said:
If you want to use your bionic over there, I recommend downloading an app called GrooveIP.
It will allow you to use your phone to make and receive calls via wifi.
Data and voice would be useless over there. If you give Verizon a call, they can place your voice and data on hold for you while your gone. You can still fully use your phone when connected to wifi with groove IP and your Google voice number for free.
Your other option was mentioned earlier which was to invest in a global phone. With an unlocked global phone, or European one you won't have any problems.
Sent from my Xoom using xda premium
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Can you recommend some global, Android, purely touch-screen smartphones for use in the UK?
I would go with the european I9023 Nexus S. It's only 350 off Newegg, comes unlocked and will work with any sim you put in there while in the UK.
dellenrules said:
I would go with the european I9023 Nexus S. It's only 350 off Newegg, comes unlocked and will work with any sim you put in there while in the UK.
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Newegg is sold out of the Nexus S. Any other suggestions?
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-GT-I9...KMNA/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1326423326&sr=8-8
Sent from my Xoom using xda premium
htc incredible 2
davwman said:
htc incredible 2
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Would this phone need to be unlocked, before I could put a UK sim card in it? If so, how do I go about unlocking it? What's the cheapest way of buying this phone?
Does this mean we're screwed?
http://androidcommunity.com/google-...ces-including-verizons-galaxy-nexus-20120203/
No our phone isn't a developer phone it has no affect on our device just google supported devices such as nexus devices or the motorola Xoom cdma/lte edition.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
If you read the whole article, basically it states that the files that allow for cdma connectivity are closed source, so they cant completely support the devices. Google will keep making aosp roms that will work on pretty much anything, but cdma carriers will have to decide if they want to make them work for their phones and release them, ignore the update, or stop supporting devices altogether, as they always have.
Droid 1 Rooted (ChevyNo1 0.9MV Kernel, LGB2.6)
Droid 3 Rooted (Hashcode gave me some Ice Cream)
TechnoHippie said:
Does this mean we're screwed?
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Luckily for us Bionic owners, this would seem to mean little to nothing negative. If you carefully read the full article ( and between the lines a little bit ), this would seem to only apply to the Galaxy Nexus and the Xoom ( devices that debuted new releases of Android, and therefore are most likely updated by Google ). Other phones that use Android should be unaffected, because Verizon apparently already codes their CDMA drivers by themselves. Even if they don't, they have a baseline, and I've listed reasons below why it will be in their best interest ( and possibly Google's as well ) to make sure CDMA is fully supported on their Android devices.
Here's some reasons that make me think that even if CDMA is not coded by Google now it will either be worked on by Verizon or force Google's hand into working on it again:
If CDMA is abandoned by Android, all Verizon Android phones would no longer recieve updates for 3G data connectivity. Forcing Verizon out of the market or forcing them into having to update the drivers themselves anyway. In short no 3G = no Verizon smartphones and No Verizon Smartphones mean Verizon looses a huge amount of money... There's no way they're giving up that big a market share.
Verizon is a huge supporter of Android ( at least in terms of marketing ), if the Droid family goes, Android would probably be superseded by WP7 or iOS, or at the very least lose a huge amount of marketing and market share. Basically this puts it into Google's best interest to keep Android going on Verizon too.
CDMA is Verizon's 3G implementation. 3G will not be gone for years ( Verizon is still selling 3G only phones that 'require' 2-year contracts, so we have 2 years at the very least )
I'm not completely sure on this one, but I've been told Verizon uses CDMA for voice as well. This would mean if they give up CDMA support for Android, their Android based phones ( the whole "Droid" series and more ) would all not receive updates for voice either.
I know this is long-winded, but I hope it makes my point clear. There is no reason for CDMA to not be developed for Verizon Android phones, and even if development stops in that area, there is still working support for CDMA in Android already. Worst comes to worst, you wont receive updates for 3G connectivity, but it will still work just as well as it does now.
Hope this helps,
jedi453
So, I'm on tmobile, ad want to switch because it's too expensive for a phone I don't like that much (Mytouch 4g slide; crappy keyboard, sense infected 2.3, glitchy, etc.) I was thinking of witching to Boost mobile because they are cheaper, and have the Samsung transform Ultra, which despite being "low end" works great software wise and is stock, good keyboard, I know this from experience.
But then i thought about the Droid 4. I might be able to stomach the capacitive front keys (maybe) and its pretty high end. so I figure i'd try it, but I see it's GSM is not unlocked for US GSM carriers yet. but i wonder, would it be possible to unlock for Boost? that's a Sprint subsidiary, if that helps.
Also, Looking up info, I see there's supposed to be an international GSM version coming out, the XT898, announced a few months ago but nothing else announced yet that i've seen. anyone know about that?
P.S. does the mobile Chrome browser work on the Droid 4? It works on My iconia tab but not my 4g slide, so I figure it's an issue with the firmware version.
*edit* meant to say "this phone" in the title. damn arthritis. this is why I need a better keyboard.
Seems like some folks have been able to move Verizon CDMA phones to Sprint's network in the past. Have no idea how difficult that would be for the D4.
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
I've reached the end of my patience with phones purchased from AT&T and their (lack of) upgrades. So I'm considering buying a new Samsung S& edge unlocked (SM-G935F) from an eBay seller. I have some questions about this process. I looked online but didn't find answers to my questions. If there's an online resource, feel free to redirect me.
Assumptions:
1) I'm satisfied with AT&T as a carrier.
2) Customer in good standing. No contract commitments.
3) I have as S6 with working AT&T nano-sim.
4) I'm fine purchasing for cash. I'm not interested in AT&T's Next plans.
Questions:
1) Do I simply move the sim to the new phone? Is any registration of the new phone/IMEI required with AT&T? Do I have to setup a new APN? Does call forwarding function the same?
2) Are there any features I lose vs. an AT&T branded phone? Samsung Pay? Any others?
3) AT&T uses LTE bands 2,4,5,17. So does the SM-G935F. So I should get the same LTE performance I would get with an AT&T branded phone, right?
4) How do I get system updates? With an AT&T branded phone, I get them OTA thru Settings>About Device>Software Update. How does this work with an unbranded phone when Samsung releases an update?
5) Do I get any support of the phone from AT&T or Samsung? No warranty, correct?
6) Are there any other pluses or minuses to this approach.
I will be going this route for the S7 as well. It's an expensive option but at least I won't have AT&T crapware and faster updates.
In my experience with previous unlocked phones, the SIM card can just be inserted into the new phone and it will automatically configure the data, mms, and voicemail settings.
Provided the phone you are purchasing supports the required LTE bands, there should be no difference in speed.
There will be no support from AT&T and the warranty is not valid within the U.S.
AFAIK Samsung Pay does not work on the international versions in the U.S. This is what will suck because I happen to like Samsung Pay.
AFAIK, your understanding is correct on all your points. I have an unlocked US Cellular moto e that I use as an alternate to my S6, I swap my SIM back and forth with no issues, and there is no official ATT support for the version of moto e that I have, so I can't imagine you'd have any issues getting the phone up and running. You may have to manually enter your APN, but that info is widely available and it's easy to do. Not sure how updates would work.
Only other consideration is that the int'l version uses an Exynos processor rather than the Snapdragon in the ATT version. From the reviews I've seen, the exynos beats the snapdragon slightly in performance and battery life. It's likely going to make development of custom ROMs for the S7 considerably slower than if it were snapdragon based though. However, the locked bootloader on the ATT one will = zero development unless it gets unlocked (I'm guessing that's very unlikely). So this probably doesn't matter too much.
There will also be no Voice over LTE (HD voice ) on the international version should that be a priority for you
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
VoLTE would be nice. Any idea when AT&T plans to make that available for non-iPhones?
How are software updates delivered?
VoLTE is available on certain phone already. S6 and others support it. Depends on your area, so you will have to check the map.
iceman4357 said:
VoLTE is available on certain phone already. S6 and others support it. Depends on your area, so you will have to check the map.
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Yes but only on AT&T branded Android phones and iphones. The OP was speaking of an unbranded international version Galaxy S6 S7 which does not support volte
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
I'm the OP. It appears that AT&T-branded S7's support VoLTE (HDVoice) as does (somewhat to my surprise) my S6, though I've never been aware of it based on any calls I've made or received. HDVoice appears to be available throughout my SF Bay Area. But, if I understand correctly, this would be a feature I would lose with an unbranded international phone (or, presumably, with an unlocked phone from, say, T-Mobile with an AT&T sim). Correct?
What about features that AT&T removed? Like download booster, simple sharing, and smart manager? These appear to be Samsung additions that were removed from AT&T-branded S6's. Would they be available on an unlocked, unbranded international version? (I'm not sure I would use these, but it's annoying to have them stripped by the carrier.)
And the remaining question that I haven't heard an answer to: how do I get upgrades? OTA (from who)? Download from somewhere & install with Smart Switch (or some other software)? Something Else?
Thanks for your help so far.
If I remember correctly you can download updated ota just like you do now. It just comes from Samsung not at&t.
All the carrier bloat is gone, and all factory apps will be there because there is no one to strip it from the phone.
BUT
If you buy an unlocked t-mobile phone you will have to Odin the updates. I used a verizon s4 with t-mobile I had to manually update everything myself through XDA and odin.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using XDA Premium HD app
I sold my S6 Edge in December and swapped it with a Tmobile unlocked S6 Edge and what a good decision. Got my Marshmallow update this week and the phone felt new again. So much quicker and boosted my Antutu scores too.
8 year AT&T customer and I'm not coming back. LTE speeds and signal is great with Tmobile and unlimited video streaming.
https://store.google.com/product/nexus_6p Starts at $449. Monthly updates. Easy rooting. Easy everything. Great phone.
Came back here to see if any progress made on S6 bootloader unlock and/or rooting (for a friend), and saw this.
Switched to a Nexus when the Nexus 5 came out. I will never, ever, buy a non-Nexus phone ever again. You should be in full control of whatever hardware you buy. Control should never be dictated by a carrier.
Just thought I'd toss in my own perspective (from a former original Galaxy S then S3 owner). Never had any issues at all with my Nexus 5 or 6P. If you have the money, you won't regret a 6P purchase.
If you don't have that kind of money, I think the 4th Gen Moto G (soon to be released, leaks everywhere this week) will probably be the strongest choice.
Pig Vomit said:
https://store.google.com/product/nexus_6p Starts at $449. Monthly updates. Easy rooting. Easy everything. Great phone.
Came back here to see if any progress made on S6 bootloader unlock and/or rooting (for a friend), and saw this.
Switched to a Nexus when the Nexus 5 came out. I will never, ever, buy a non-Nexus phone ever again. You should be in full control of whatever hardware you buy. Control should never be dictated by a carrier.
Just thought I'd toss in my own perspective (from a former original Galaxy S then S3 owner). Never had any issues at all with my Nexus 5 or 6P. If you have the money, you won't regret a 6P purchase.
If you don't have that kind of money, I think the 4th Gen Moto G (soon to be released, leaks everywhere this week) will probably be the strongest choice.
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Except there's no Smart Stay or Samsung Pay, both features I use and rely on. I'd buy an unlocked Samsung before a a Nexus.
I ordered a T-Mobile sim to test out the carrier where I live, I need to unlock my AT&T S6 Edge first but after that I plan on getting the new Nexus and selling my S6. I simply can't take AT&T's horrible service anymore.
I'm the OP and am back to report. I bought an S7E (G935F) on Amazon (from one of their Marketplace sellers), complete with Prime 2-day free shipping (& no tax). All works as expected:
1) dropping in my old AT&T SIM works fine. No need to call AT&T. No need to configure APNs. Voice calls, SMS, MMS, and LTE data all seem to work correctly. My LTE connection appeared to be on Band 2 in my area.
2) Of course, no AT&T crapware. Features deleted by AT&T are available (download booster, simple sharing, etc.) and work correctly. The Samsung-bundled Microsoft apps (and free 100GB OneDrive) are present.
3) OTA system software updates appear to be available, but there haven't been any.
4) Mine came with Arabic (?!) (and English) printed instructions but the phone sets up fine in English. The (apparently original, sealed) box included a European (Type-C) 2 pin power adapter (with a European-to-US adapter packed separately).
The only unexpected things I've encountered are:
1) changing the VoiceMail configuration. VM works (calls forward to VM as expected and I can retrieve VMs both by calling and using Visual VM app). The only thing I so far unable to do is CHANGE the VM configuration. I can't change the number I forward to (like Call Forward Always to another number, like a colleague). I get a Network Error message when loading the Phone/More Settings page or trying to set a new number. My wife has an AT&T LG G3 that has exactly the same problem. The HTC One M8 (where the S7E SIM came from) VM configuration worked correctly. But an AT&T Samsung S6 works correctly. I haven't found a way around this for any of the phones. I'm wondering if this is some kind of security provision (so that I can't "borrow" your SIM and change the call forwarding to re-route your incoming calls).
2) When I view my AT&T account online, the picture of the phone changed from it's previous model (HTC One M8) to Device Unknown. A minor detail, to be sure, but curious.
So, after a week, I would not hesitate to do this again in the future.
Glad It Worked out For you, I considered an unlocked model but don't want to loose HD Voice and wifi calling (once it arrives). I personally can hear an incredible differnce with HD voice enabled. couldnt care less about it, but video calling would also be lost with unlocked varient.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
You are correct & I neglected to mention that HDVoice, WiFi Calling, and Video Calling are absent in the International version. It would be nice to have those, but not critical for me. Voice, in general, is less and less important for me. There is video call button in my dialer but it doesn't appear to do anything useful, at least that I've been able to uncover. I have HDVoice on my AT&T S6 and in the few instances that I've had a potential HDVoice call (to a friend's AT&T S7E), I frankly couldn't detect a noticeable difference. I don't know how to see an indication of whether a call is HDVoice or not.
jc95 said:
You are correct & I neglected to mention that HDVoice, WiFi Calling, and Video Calling are absent in the International version. It would be nice to have those, but not critical for me. Voice, in general, is less and less important for me. There is video call button in my dialer but it doesn't appear to do anything useful, at least that I've been able to uncover. I have HDVoice on my AT&T S6 and in the few instances that I've had a potential HDVoice call (to a friend's AT&T S7E), I frankly couldn't detect a noticeable difference. I don't know how to see an indication of whether a call is HDVoice or not.
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On AT&T with an international version you typically loose the HDvoice, Wifi calling and video calling. I have seen people on Verizon with unlocked phones (Galaxy series, htc 10, 6P) that report you can use those features on their network. I think the ideal situation is to have an unlocked phone on Verizon at this point.
OP again with an update... Got a 2nd G935F for wife. Running G935FXXU1APD with AT&T SIM. Call forwarding worked fine on this one. (Not sure why it doesn't work on my other one.) Also, sideloaded Samsung Pay & Samsung Pay Framework from APK Mirror. Installed and works fine. So my list of things that don't work is just HD Voice, WiFi calling and Video calling.
OP again. I'm now more confused. I now have 2 unlocked S7 Edge (one G935F and one G935FD). Both unlocked. Both using AT&T sims. Identical software on both. On the FD, things work better than I was expecting: Samsung Pay works. I can add cards and use it to pay. I can also change the Call Forwarding settings (in particular CF All). But the 935F can't add a card to Samsung Pay (server connection error) and I can't change the CF settings. There are a number of online references complaining about server connection error and many seem related to device encryption (can't add cards to encrypted devices). I also have an S6 that's working with SPay and was encrypted with Lollipop. With Marshmallow, the Lock Screen settings have changed and it's no longer encrypt/decrypt device, only Require screen lock to decrypt data when device turned on. There doesn't seem to be an obvious way to decrypt a Marshmallow device. But even with this set, I can add cards to me S6 and S7E (FD), but not my S7E (F).
I suppose I should be grateful that SP works at all on one of my unlocked S7Es. But it's frustrating to have them behave differently.