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Hello Everyone,
Long time view, first time poster.
Let me start with, I'm so damn confused on what to do now...
I've recently (yesterday) upgraded (using AT&T Next) to get the Galaxy S5 (awesome phone, btw) and immediately starting looking into Rooting and Custom Recovery. Through all my searching, I find the same info, AT&T with it's locked BootLoader and no Root as of yet. I originally had the AT&T S4 that I rooted as soon as I got it, which had the unlocked BootLoader, so LOKI was awesome and I didn't get hit with the OTA upgrade to a locked BootLoader, so this is all new today. I know the SafeStrap stuff for the upgraded S4 but never had to experience that.
Now I have the S5. The dev's are awesome, so I'm sure there will be a way to root the S5 at some point, but it sucks looking on the forums every hour, hoping, but seeing the same CFAUTOROOT's for all the other versions, like T-Mobile, which brings me to my main question.
SHOULD I RETURN THE AT&T SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 AND GO WITH T-MOBILE???
Details:
I've already sold my awesome S4. I have 14 days to return the S5, but would have to link another phone to my account due to contact (till 10/2015), which is fine because I still have a Note and Iphone 3GS. I also see that T-Mobile will pay the cancellation fee for switching to them. The plan that I have with AT&T and the plan that T-Mobile is offering are roughly the same in specs and price, T-Mobile may even be *slightly* cheaper.
BUT...
Is it worth it to do this, just for the S5 with an unlocked BootLoader, that already has a Root method and Custom Recovery available, right now, as I type this...
I know, ultimately, I'm the only one that can answer this question; depends on how badly I want to root my phone.
I guess I'm just looking to see if other people are in the same boat as me and what their thoughts are on it, and what they are doing...
Any advise, comments, recommendations or in-sight is greatly appreciated.
THANKS!!!
If TMO has a good rep in your area then I would switch. Absolutely. Tbe S6 on ATT will even worse im sure.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
CZ Eddie said:
If TMO has a good rep in your area then I would switch. Absolutely. Tbe S6 on ATT will even worse im sure.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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That's a good point, and one I didn't even think about.
I have a prepaid $70 unlimited everything sim from T-Mobile. I find them to be good, not great. I live in Northwest, Indiana (suburb of Chicago). In my experience I find T-Mobile's LTE LTE signal to be pretty weak in general. Most likely due to the AWS frequency. The HSPA+ signal seems fine. I have also noticed that the LTE is not very fast (despite their claims). If you turn if off, the HSPA+ performs just as good, or if not better. I do not travel at all. But I like having a peace of mind with guaranteed HSPA+ coverage on AT&T. T-Mobile only gives me EDGE at home. It's 100% useless. I haven't tried out the wifi calling recently, but I wonder if you can send MMS over that.
I just returned my AT&T S5 for a defective headphone jack. I was going to exchange it, until it hit me that $700 is not worth it for a locked down device. I loved to flash custom roms and modify everything. AT&T has stopped that. Despite excellent coverage, I too am contemplating switching to TMO permanently. I like that they don't modify their devices. Maybe AT&T's system loosing my unlimited data plan today was the final straw.
Gonna look into options.
MattMJB0188 said:
I have a prepaid $70 unlimited everything sim from T-Mobile. I find them to be good, not great. I live in Northwest, Indiana (suburb of Chicago). In my experience I find T-Mobile's LTE LTE signal to be pretty weak in general. Most likely due to the AWS frequency. The HSPA+ signal seems fine. I have also noticed that the LTE is not very fast (despite their claims). If you turn if off, the HSPA+ performs just as good, or if not better. I do not travel at all. But I like having a peace of mind with guaranteed HSPA+ coverage on AT&T. T-Mobile only gives me EDGE at home. It's 100% useless. I haven't tried out the wifi calling recently, but I wonder if you can send MMS over that.
I just returned my AT&T S5 for a defective headphone jack. I was going to exchange it, until it hit me that $700 is not worth it for a locked down device. I loved to flash custom roms and modify everything. AT&T has stopped that. Despite excellent coverage, I too am contemplating switching to TMO permanently. I like that they don't modify their devices. Maybe AT&T's system loosing my unlimited data plan today was the final straw.
Gonna look into options.
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I don't understate why did you do this for. T-mobile Samsung galaxy S5 have lock bootloader too : http://support.t-mobile.com/thread/67380
norbarb said:
I don't understate why did you do this for. T-mobile Samsung galaxy S5 have lock bootloader too : http://support.t-mobile.com/thread/67380
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It's not locked, people are rooting and installing custom recoveries and flashing ROMs already.
norbarb said:
I don't understate why did you do this for. T-mobile Samsung galaxy S5 have lock bootloader too : http://support.t-mobile.com/thread/67380
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It's not locked. They wouldn't have root if it was.
MattMJB0188 said:
It's not locked. They wouldn't have root if it was.
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They had root for galaxy S4 from AT&T and bootloader is lock. Root is not proof.
If you check the tmobile forum you will see that they have rooted the S5, installed a custom recovery and some tmobile owners have even flashed and installed Indies rom from the International forum.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using xda app-developers app
Ok some people need some education here, so here goes.
The ATT S4 Bootloader was technically LOCKED when it shipped. There was however a bootloader exploit that allowed custom roms and recoveries, this exploit was known as LOKI. Loki is not a true bootloader unlock, it is a bypass. It intercepts instructions during the boot process that allows unsigned code to be run. This exploit was patched in later updates by Samsung, and all current Samsung's are no longer vulnerable to the LOKI exploit.
The S5 on tmobile is BOOTLOADER UNLOCKED. This is confirmed. To those saying TMO is locked you are mistaken. I will enlighten you as to why. The root method used to obtain root on the TMO S5 requires an Unlocked BL to be successful. CF Auto Root by Chainfire works by modifying the stock recovery partition and then using ODIN to flash the TAR file. Odin flashes this modified stock recovery which then pushes SU binary which then flashes the Stock S5 firmware over. This only works if the BL is unlocked. 1 of 3 outcomes will happen if trying to flash on a locked BL. First if the BL is locked Odin will error out saying that the modified recovery image is not official/signed (end of story thats it), this is the most likely scenario. If somehow the modified image flashes onto a locked BL, the phone will not boot. Worst case scenario it flashes and you end up with a brick.
CF has already stated his root method won't work on the ATT S5 or VZW S5 because of the BL, worse is that modifying system to get root is not possible according to CF. This was used to root the S4 and Note 3 orginally. The only way the ATT or VZW S5 gets rooted is if a dev is able to find an exploit for Kit Kat.
In short TMO S5 has an unlocked BL and ATT is locked, stop being in denial. Class over.
djkinetic said:
Ok some people need some education here, so here goes.
The ATT S4 Bootloader was technically LOCKED when it shipped. There was however a bootloader exploit that allowed custom roms and recoveries, this exploit was known as LOKI. Loki is not a true bootloader unlock, it is a bypass. It intercepts instructions during the boot process that allows unsigned code to be run. This exploit was patched in later updates by Samsung, and all current Samsung's are no longer vulnerable to the LOKI exploit.
The S5 on tmobile is BOOTLOADER UNLOCKED. This is confirmed. To those saying TMO is locked you are mistaken. I will enlighten you as to why. The root method used to obtain root on the TMO S5 requires an Unlocked BL to be successful. CF Auto Root by Chainfire works by modifying the stock recovery partition and then using ODIN to flash the TAR file. Odin flashes this modified stock recovery which then pushes SU binary which then flashes the Stock S5 firmware over. This only works if the BL is unlocked. 1 of 3 outcomes will happen if trying to flash on a locked BL. First if the BL is locked Odin will error out saying that the modified recovery image is not official/signed (end of story thats it), this is the most likely scenario. If somehow the modified image flashes onto a locked BL, the phone will not boot. Worst case scenario it flashes and you end up with a brick.
CF has already stated his root method won't work on the ATT S5 or VZW S5 because of the BL, worse is that modifying system to get root is not possible according to CF. This was used to root the S4 and Note 3 orginally. The only way the ATT or VZW S5 gets rooted is if a dev is able to find an exploit for Kit Kat.
In short TMO S5 has an unlocked BL and ATT is locked, stop being in denial. Class over.
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This is an awesome explanation! Thanks! So technically, my S4 didn't have an Unlocked BootLoader, there was just an exploit Jellybean (LOKI) that was able to gain root (that I used) prior to Samsung patching. And that same patch (or "fix") is applied to the S5, right out the gate. :crying:
I'd, switch and all of us here that can't switch should let them know that because they locked their bootloaders. That we will all be switching carriers due to them locking the bootloader. If we can find the right place to tell them that they will be losing many customers then maybe they will change the way they do things or send us a unlocked update.
I had to call them yesterday with a problem with my sim. It was coming up not registered on a network. When talking with AT&T I told them when upgrade time comes I am switching to T-Mobile due to them locking the boot loader. That it should be my choice what I do with and to my phone that I paid for. Then today while doing a servay about the call. I told them again, at the end when they asked if there was anything else. After telling them again, the response was. Thanks again for your time and feedback. Your comments will help us continue to improve our service.
Now this is probably just a general response that's given at the end of the servay. But if we can find the right place in AT&T and threaten them with the loss of many consumers. Then maybe they will change some things. Just think T-Mobile in One year or Two seeing the trend of more and more At&t and Verizon consumers jumping ship to them. They will have no choice but to make T-Mobile better than the others, in all aspects.
Honestly, I am thinking of either going back to my Note 3 or doing the T-Mobile but I am not sure that the S5 offers enough new stuff to support the added expense over the Note 3.
Hi
Earthdog said:
Honestly, I am thinking of either going back to my Note 3 or doing the T-Mobile but I am not sure that the S5 offers enough new stuff to support the added expense over the Note 3.
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Hi,
I'm also thinking about going to T Mobile especially because they
will pay your ETF for the switch. Just not sure about their coverage,
that's the only thing holding me back right now,
Ken
Or you could go with the HTC one m8 it's unlocked,rooted with a custom recovery and s-off.I had never owned an HTC device always had Samsung.but after handling the phone and how dev friendly HTC it's I'm glad I went with them still have my s4 anyway with Loki.
Second choice buy an s5 from t mobile unlock it and use it on AT&T , people have said that lte and reception is excellent on AT&T with the tmo s5.
I hate the fact that AT&T is going the Verizon rout but lays face tmo network is no where near AT&T .I've used both .hope this helps.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using xda app-developers app
Thank you everyone for your responses!
I finally did it and made the move to T-Mobile.
LTE on T-Mobile is soooo much faster than AT&T. On LTE I went from between 10-20 MB/s to a minimum of 25 MB/s on TMO, and most of the time a solid 30 MB/s.
HOWEVER, I did notice that places where I would normally have LTE with AT&T, I only sometimes get LTE with TMO; otherwise it's just 4G, which knocks the speed down to between 8-18 MB/s from using speedtest, but still not a huge deal.
I do find myself 'waiting' for websites to load a little longer on TMO, probably slow DNS servers, so gotta look in to that to see if I can change the DNS servers used when using Cell DATA (not Wifi).
All in all, I couldn't be happier with the same exact phone, but that has an unlocked bootloader and already rooted and custom recovery. I was nervous about switching since AT&T did have GREAT service (and by service, I mean reception, lol) but glad I did.
So, if you have AT&T and the S5 and want/need root and are tired of looking for a Root and keep seeing the CF-Auto-Root available for TMO, take the plunge and switch... just check out service reviews in your area first.
Thanks again everyone!!
kharrison83 said:
Thank you everyone for your responses!
I finally did it and made the move to T-Mobile.
LTE on T-Mobile is soooo much faster than AT&T. On LTE I went from between 10-20 MB/s to a minimum of 25 MB/s on TMO, and most of the time a solid 30 MB/s.
HOWEVER, I did notice that places where I would normally have LTE with AT&T, I only sometimes get LTE with TMO; otherwise it's just 4G, which knocks the speed down to between 8-18 MB/s from using speedtest, but still not a huge deal.
I do find myself 'waiting' for websites to load a little longer on TMO, probably slow DNS servers, so gotta look in to that to see if I can change the DNS servers used when using Cell DATA (not Wifi).
All in all, I couldn't be happier with the same exact phone, but that has an unlocked bootloader and already rooted and custom recovery. I was nervous about switching since AT&T did have GREAT service (and by service, I mean reception, lol) but glad I did.
So, if you have AT&T and the S5 and want/need root and are tired of looking for a Root and keep seeing the CF-Auto-Root available for TMO, take the plunge and switch... just check out service reviews in your area first.
Thanks again everyone!!
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This is exactly what I will be doing when they get reception in my area. The people that voted stay with At&t either work for them or have high hopes. As there most likely will never be root for At&t's S5 unless they give it up and that most likely is not going to happen. So in all reality their votes don't count as there won't be root.
Thought I'd add my two cents here. I just recently tried out T-Mobile (again) and the more I used their service, the more I hated it. Of course this is subjective because not everyone lives in my area. After having AT&T LTE for years, you get use to it. When driving AT&T's LTE signal was stable. It would never drop to E or 4G. If your driving and streaming something with T-Mobile, FORGET IT. The LTE signal is EXTREMELY weak. In my area AT&T & TMO share towers. My AT&T LTE phone would show a -90dbm signal, while T-Mobile would show a -110 signal.
In my area they need low bandwidth spectrum to cover it. They will never get it here. I can't have my phone signal bouncing all over the place. Its annoying and drains the hell out of your battery.
I also found their LTE to be slow. Much slower than AT&T's (in my area). So anyone who switches to TMO and has great service, I envy you. For me, it wasn't what I thought it was, after a few days of use.
I was wondering if anyone has heard anything on the 5.1.1 update will be released. All of the other major carriers have released it weeks ago so I am expecting it anytime now. Thanks
I don't have any information on the 5.1.1 update from AT&T but I will say that the lack of updates really gives a bad impression of the S6 edge.
I'm testing the waters of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile, sold my G925A, and bought the G925T. The G925T has had 5.1.1 for some time now and T-Mobile just pushed out the latest updates with all known Stagefright vulnerabilities addressed, most of the S6 edge+ updates (App Edge, refreshed icons), Rich Communication Services support, and the Samsung Pay app (not fully enabled yet, though). The phone seems to run the way it was designed with no noticeable lag, overall quicker response (even the fingerprint reader is noticeably faster), and a bit less carrier bloat.
If I end up staying with AT&T, this version unlocked will probably be superior to the AT&T version.
chp said:
I don't have any information on the 5.1.1 update from AT&T but I will say that the lack of updates really gives a bad impression of the S6 edge.
I'm testing the waters of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile, sold my G925A, and bought the G925T. The G925T has had 5.1.1 for some time now and T-Mobile just pushed out the latest updates with all known Stagefright vulnerabilities addressed, most of the S6 edge+ updates (App Edge, refreshed icons), Rich Communication Services support, and the Samsung Pay app (not fully enabled yet, though). The phone seems to run the way it was designed with no noticeable lag, overall quicker response (even the fingerprint reader is noticeably faster), and a bit less carrier bloat.
If I end up staying with AT&T, this version unlocked will probably be superior to the AT&T version.
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Thank you for this excellent comparison - you've confirmed for me exactly what I thought would be the case if I were to go with a G925T over the A, but instead, I think I'm just going to dump this phone off and go with the Nexus 5X (2015) - I won't have to deal with any root issues, any lack of updates anymore, any AT&T BS....
I'm just so sick of how AT&T has treated loyal customers with locked down phones, I just don't have the time to spend screwing with them anymore, not like I did before, but now I'm just fed up with the whole thing - I wish I could say "something has to change," but it never will, customers will just buy locked down phones, suffer through not being able to root them, and forget all about what it was like to have control anymore!
KryptosXLayer2 said:
Thank you for this excellent comparison - you've confirmed for me exactly what I thought would be the case if I were to go with a G925T over the A, but instead, I think I'm just going to dump this phone off and go with the Nexus 5X (2015) - I won't have to deal with any root issues, any lack of updates anymore, any AT&T BS....
I'm just so sick of how AT&T has treated loyal customers with locked down phones, I just don't have the time to spend screwing with them anymore, not like I did before, but now I'm just fed up with the whole thing - I wish I could say "something has to change," but it never will, customers will just buy locked down phones, suffer through not being able to root them, and forget all about what it was like to have control anymore!
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What's the best way to get rid of it. I am on AT&T Next as well
KryptosXLayer2 said:
Thank you for this excellent comparison - you've confirmed for me exactly what I thought would be the case if I were to go with a G925T over the A, but instead, I think I'm just going to dump this phone off and go with the Nexus 5X (2015) - I won't have to deal with any root issues, any lack of updates anymore, any AT&T BS....
I'm just so sick of how AT&T has treated loyal customers with locked down phones, I just don't have the time to spend screwing with them anymore, not like I did before, but now I'm just fed up with the whole thing - I wish I could say "something has to change," but it never will, customers will just buy locked down phones, suffer through not being able to root them, and forget all about what it was like to have control anymore!
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Thanks for this info. I totally agree with both chp & KryptosXLayer2 about this issue. I've got a 925A, actually Build G925AUCU2AOF4, using T-Mobile and although I get great reception (I live in a box-canyon and reception on most networks is pretty nil), besides ALL the AT&T bloatware & needless/useless apps I can't remove unless rooted, I can't root this phone! (Also, same issue with the 5.1.1 update not available.) Tried all the options only to learn AT&T hasn't released the file to be able to root it. I'm fed up also and after reading ya'lls comments I think I'll start looking for a 925T as well and dump my 925A. Tired of waiting for AT&T to get with the program...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
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.
I bought a (now) carrier-unlocked G920A, thinking that the Samsung Galaxy S6 would have been popular enough to have a really healthy XDA community, with rooting and lots of ROMs available.
But I after an hour of searching the forums, I can't seem to find any options to root phone that's allready ready on Nougat / 7.0 / G920AUC-S6EQJ1.
Is my google-fu weak and I missed something, or did I just not do my homework, and ended up with an abandoned platform?
kc-guy said:
I bought a (now) carrier-unlocked G920A, thinking that the Samsung Galaxy S6 would have been popular enough to have a really healthy XDA community, with rooting and lots of ROMs available.
But I after an hour of searching the forums, I can't seem to find any options to root phone that's allready ready on Nougat / 7.0 / G920AUC-S6EQJ1.
Is my google-fu weak and I missed something, or did I just not do my homework, and ended up with an abandoned platform?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long 'abandoned'. No root except for early versions of Lollipop.
If you want root/ROMs, buying ATT or VZW branded devices is a bad idea.
I never would have expected there would be more development for my old MetroPCS Galaxy Core Prime (G360T) than for the AT&T S6!
Lesson learned, I guess.
kc-guy said:
I never would have expected there would be more development for my old MetroPCS Galaxy Core Prime (G360T) than for the AT&T S6!
Lesson learned, I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought into the S6 at launch (on contract as I wasn't ready to pony up the $850 or whatever ridiculous price it was at the time) with the hope it would get a decent following. My previous experience with ATT branded stuff was mostly good, in that the devices I had (HTC Aria, Galaxy S2, LG Optimus G) had all been unlockable one way or another, and all had good dev communities.
S6 soured me on Samsung and on carrier branded phones.
ATT has, from what I can tell, gotten considerably more aggressive about locking down. Also, the better availability of unlockable unbranded devices the last couple years has led to less interest and less effort at cracking the branded stuff.
Pretty sure the unlocked/TMO S6 community was pretty healthy at one point... Maybe still is?
I currently run an unlockable Moto z play, that is now out of warranty by about a week. First device I've kept unrooted for more than a week. There's apparently a means to get back to fully relocked out of the box stock. There's a working Oreo 8.1 ROM. I still haven't pulled the trigger. It's that good stock...
Maybe I can cell the ATT version and buy the Tmo version-- after some more research.
Ignoring the bloatware and lack of an SD card, I really enjoyed having the Xposed framework available, especially the Wanam call recording and XPrivacy options. Android still doesn't have the level of native privacy controls they should.
kc-guy said:
Maybe I can cell the ATT version and buy the Tmo version-- after some more research.
Ignoring the bloatware and lack of an SD card, I really enjoyed having the Xposed framework available, especially the Wanam call recording and XPrivacy options. Android still doesn't have the level of native privacy controls they should.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TBH, the S6 isn't that great a device, with the exception of the camera, compared to a lot of inexpensive current phones. Battery life is atrocious.
Did you get it crazy cheap?
If you're looking for decent device for smallish money that's unlockable and has a dev community, check out Motorola mid-range or budget phones (you can get an unlockable e4 on us Cellular prepaid for like $50) or OnePlus 3/3t
Thanks dandrumheller
dandrumheller said:
Did you get it crazy cheap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I overpaid ($140) because I waited too long to replace my old phone and it was approaching unusable.
I struggle to pay as much for a phone with a 3 year lifespan as I would for a mid-range laptop, even if I'm going to use it almost as often.
eBay has the OnePlus 3/3t for around $300, but the specs are really impressive.
64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM + 2x2.35 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo + Dual 16 MP cameras
dandrumheller said:
Motorola e4 on US Cellular
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
16 GB, 2 GB RAM + 8/5 MP camera + Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53
The e4 is around $100 on eBay.
The price point, and SD card expansion option definitely sways me towards the e4, although the camera isn't great
Is there any way to check which phones have carrier-specific models?
I couldn't find a comprehensive list for the e4 on the XDA forums, except for a post saying the Verizon variant can't be rooted.
A global list would be an amazing resource for the community, but I don't have a clue how I'd start building it.
Here are the carriers I saw listed for the e4 on eBay, plus prices on the carrier website, where available.
I tracked all this down in case anyone else with a G920A can benefit from the advice. Those not listed are CDMA or known to be unrootable.
Consumer Cellular (1) [Not on carrier website]
MetroPCS (22) [Website may list e not e4?]
Republic Wireless (1) [$129 on carrier site)
U.S. Cellular (6) [US Cellular doesn't have service in my area, so I'd have to find a workaround (eBay) if I bought it directly]
Unlocked (166) [dice roll]
Not Specified (53) [ dice roll]
Sorry all; I am a newbie, so forgive this question:
Like OP, I also have a now-carrier unlocked G920A, updated to 7.0. I would like to install a stock ROM--not AT&T ROM, but a clean Samsung ROM--so I can get rid of AT&T bloatware. I'd also like to do this because after I switched from AT&T to a MVNO, Wi-Fi calling is grayed out, despite Wi-Fi calling being enabled by my new MVNO. I believe the Wi-Fi calling capability is locked into the AT&T-branded ROM (and that therefore Wi-Fi calling is only allowed on AT&T towers), and that I need a "stock" Samsung ROM.
Is this possible? Per the above I believe it is not, because the phone must be rooted first, and the AT&T S6 apparently cannot be. Is that right? Thanks.
I'm not sure if you can use ADB or Samsung's Odin software to push a new ROM from your PC to an non-rooted phone or not.
But from what I've seen, this phone's bootloader is locked, so we don't have the option of pushing a new ROM, even if we were able to root it.
My understanding is that rooting your phone is the equivalent of your phone's admin password (in fact, Linux/Unix-based systems (like Android) actually refer to the admin account as root), and will allow you to remove bloatware and install programs that require elevated permissions (e.g. Xposed framwork, certain file managers).
I think the bootloader is analogous to a PC's security "feature" in the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) that replaced traditional BIOS/CMOS, intended to prevent unauthorized changes to the OS.... and can also cause problems with Linux installations, which are obviously not going to have a Microsoft-provided checksum.
ROMs are basically custom a OS (e.g. CyanogenModOS and LineageOS). They can provide a but more built-in privacy and security than Google's native Android OS provides, and even separate the phone from Google's Play Store and other software entirely.
Both of these are separate from Carrier Unlocking, which will allow you to use the phone other other carriers, but not provide any elevated permissions. You're still stuck with bloatware and Android's standard privacy permissions.
You'll want to wait until somebody tells me why I'm wrong to get a better answer, but that's the joy of Cunningham's Law and the internet.
FUUUCK, feels like AT$T & Samsung cockblock'd us. No kidding about aggressive measures, my SO's Sony still can be forced to Hotspot unrooted.. but it takes several tricks after manually acquiring FoxFi and PDANet+. Basturds, I'm stuck with a seemingly unrootable 7.0 S6 where these apps are being successfully blocked.
kc-guy said:
Thanks dandrumheller
Nope, I overpaid ($140) because I waited too long to replace my old phone and it was approaching unusable.
I struggle to pay as much for a phone with a 3 year lifespan as I would for a mid-range laptop, even if I'm going to use it almost as often.
eBay has the OnePlus 3/3t for around $300, but the specs are really impressive.
64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM + 2x2.35 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo + Dual 16 MP cameras
16 GB, 2 GB RAM + 8/5 MP camera + Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53
The e4 is around $100 on eBay.
The price point, and SD card expansion option definitely sways me towards the e4, although the camera isn't great
Is there any way to check which phones have carrier-specific models?
I couldn't find a comprehensive list for the e4 on the XDA forums, except for a post saying the Verizon variant can't be rooted.
A global list would be an amazing resource for the community, but I don't have a clue how I'd start building it.
Here are the carriers I saw listed for the e4 on eBay, plus prices on the carrier website, where available.
I tracked all this down in case anyone else with a G920A can benefit from the advice. Those not listed are CDMA or known to be unrootable.
Consumer Cellular (1) [Not on carrier website]
MetroPCS (22) [Website may list e not e4?]
Republic Wireless (1) [$129 on carrier site)
U.S. Cellular (6) [US Cellular doesn't have service in my area, so I'd have to find a workaround (eBay) if I bought it directly]
Unlocked (166) [dice roll]
Not Specified (53) [ dice roll]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, camera is definitely not spectacular.
I'm not aware of any really comprehensive lists - I usually look at www.gsmarena.com and www.willmyphonework.com to do initial data gathering for devices I'm looking at. then check here and other articles to try to confirm funcitonality, unlockability, and ROM options.
GSM Arena is my go-to for specs and side-by-side comparisons, but the only time you get full model numbers is if a particular phone doesn't have a feature offered by the other phones (fingerprint scanner, FM Radio functionality)
http://www.willmyphonework.com/ displayed a parked domain page (Gandi.net).
Sorry. It's https://willmyphonework.net
That's a really great site, thanks!
root
how to root g920a
TwO-x said:
how to root g920a
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're already on Android version 7, you can't root the g920a.
ok
ok thanks
Su