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Whats a good android phone tmo?

My current carrier is tmobile and I own a my touch 3g and I am looking for a better android running phone.
So what would be a good unlocked android phone to buy? Other than the ones tmobile offers. I have seen a few sites with unlocked android phones for any carrier.

HTC Espresso: myTouch 3G Slide

thricemin said:
My current carrier is tmobile and I own a my touch 3g and I am looking for a better android running phone.
So what would be a good unlocked android phone to buy? Other than the ones tmobile offers. I have seen a few sites with unlocked android phones for any carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of grabbing a myTouch if you want to unload yours - send me a message if you do decide to change.

There is a simple two word answer that can't be beat: Samsung Vibrant. It's the T-Mobile version of the Samsung Galaxy S and should be the best/most powerful phone T-Mobile has as of this month when it comes out. $199.99 with a 2-year contract rpice. Not sure how much full retail is but then there is the ATT version which has a crazy low full retail price of $349.99.

You should check out the Nexus One unlocked and start rocken
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=559

return this phone for anogher lte device?

For those that purchased this phon on launch day our return window is closing soon. Is anyone else considering returning the phone for another att lte device? What lte devices are coming soon for att?

There are only 2 right now. The vivid and skyrocket. The vivid is htc with a slower processor, and locked botloader.. but there is aan lg phone coming out soon suposidley the last lte phone of the year
http://www.pcworld.com/article/245059/lg_nitro_hd_atandts_720p_4g_lte_phone.html

kronikwisdom said:
For those that purchased this phon on launch day our return window is closing soon. Is anyone else considering returning the phone for another att lte device? What lte devices are coming soon for att?
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Vivid is your only choice at the moment... Nexus might not come till Summer 2012 for Att&t..
ICS will be available on the SR very soon

GalaxySkyrocket500 said:
Vivid is your only choice at the moment... Nexus might not come till Summer 2012 for Att&t..
ICS will be available on the SR very soon
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Click to collapse
I really hope ics does come soon. Lol but who knows with at&t
May take longer then u think. The verizon galaxy nexus hasnt even be released yet. So no other phones will get ics until after it is

silver03wrx said:
I really hope ics does come soon. Lol but who knows with at&t
May take longer then u think. The verizon galaxy nexus hasnt even be released yet. So no other phones will get ics until after it is
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Click to collapse
I hope it does too.. I heard the Verizon Nexus is coming Dec 8... along with the Asus prime 2 tab..

silver03wrx said:
There are only 2 right now. The vivid and skyrocket. The vivid is htc with a slower processor, and locked botloader.. but there is aan lg phone coming out soon suposidley the last lte phone of the year
http://www.pcworld.com/article/245059/lg_nitro_hd_atandts_720p_4g_lte_phone.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
according to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(system_on_chip)
its the same processor in both. the international Raider is clocked at the same speed and the AT&T variant (Vivid) is slightly Underclocked from the factory. but they are both capable of the same speeds.

You don't even say why you want to return it.
I've personally contemplated getting the Galaxy Nexus (unlocked), but I'm torn between the two.
The main GN selling points for me are the higher res display, notification light and NFC out of the box. On the other hand, it's got a crappy camera, no LTE (plus I'm hearing lousy signal and data speeds on AT&T).
What I love about the SR is obviously LTE and the camera, but on the other hand I hate the 800x480 res and sound quality of both ear speaker and loud speaker is sub-par. Plus, no notification light is killing me, reminds of my days with an iPhone. Why does Samsung omit this feature is beyond me.

If you can live w/ less internal memory, than the LG Nitro HD LTE might be good.

But the dev suport on the lg will be a gamble

kronikwisdom said:
For those that purchased this phon on launch day our return window is closing soon. Is anyone else considering returning the phone for another att lte device? What lte devices are coming soon for att?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The skyrocket is a really good device, you might as well keep it. Your other option on ATT is the vivid which I have and is a great device. But don't worry, with this CarrierIQ thing going on right now (which seems to be ATT only and not Google, Samsung or HTC) you ptobably should be able to opt out the contract at any time since you didn't sign up for that crap...
Sent from my HTC Vivid via Tapatalk

Ciq isnt just att.....the samsung epic is the first phone i believe to be discoverd with it thats sprint, and that was discoverd almost a year ago. But i am suprised no one has tried to see if they could get out of there contract yet due to it... i believe it was k0nane who discoverd it on the epic

Then it looks like the SR is the best choice for the next 6 months or so. Honestly, I haven't even looked at new phones that were coming out for AT&T. The LG phone doesn't look appealing as there is only 4gb on board which is crazy for a smartphone these days.
Thanks for the info!!

silver03wrx said:
But the dev suport on the lg will be a gamble
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Click to collapse
This is my concern. The only two gripes I have about my skyrocket are the screen lines and the poor audio...The LG Nitro screen quality may be better resolution, but it is still LCD. I doubt audio is any better than what it was on the thrill. On that note...the thrill has hod absolutely no developmental improvements since I left that device over a month ago.
I have no interest in the Vivid (heavy, washed out screen, bootloader issue) so the Nitro would be my only choice at the moment and I just don't see that happening...4gb internal memory and no development....the SR will prolly be the better choice to tide me over until mid '12
We have another upgrade available next week so we may pick up a nitro to compare side by side.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

Pirateghost said:
according to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(system_on_chip)
its the same processor in both. the international Raider is clocked at the same speed and the AT&T variant (Vivid) is slightly Underclocked from the factory. but they are both capable of the same speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very interesting
HP TouchPad, T-Mobile Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, HTC Vivid, NTT DoCoMo Galaxy S II LTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the Galaxy S2 variants i knew them all
what i did not know was the HP TouchPad is the SAME!!!!! as our phones just super sized

AllGamer said:
very interesting
the Galaxy S2 variants i knew them all
what i did not know was the HP TouchPad is the SAME!!!!! as our phones just super sized
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i love my touchpad...lol. i got a galaxy tab, but couldnt get rid of the touchpad, so i gave it to my 8 yr old

spielnicht said:
...(plus I'm hearing lousy signal and data speeds on AT&T).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you seeing this? None of the reviews I've read have mentioned that. One thing that may not be widely understood is that you need to have your account provisioned to get HSPA+ data speeds. The old wap.cingular.com gateway is apparently capped in terms of data speeds. You need the IMEI of a "4G" capable AT&T phone in order to get a 4G data plan and the right code added to your account - AT&T doesn't recognize the IMEI of the GN as 4G capable. My plan is to buy the SGS2 Skyrocket with my upgrade, activate it on the 4G unlimited data plan, then sell it and use the SIM in an unlocked GN once the 32GB HSPA+ GN is available.

dwboston said:
Where are you seeing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read it in multiple posts here on XDA under the GN section. My line was fine with HSPA+ since I had the Atrix, and they said I wouldn't need a new SIM for the Skyrocket...which I believe since I'm getting 45mbs here in DC.

[Q] Buying a no-contract smart phone

I'm a T-Mobile Prepaid customer using a simple $19 phone but am planning to purchase a no-contract smart phone, say Samsung Galaxy S 2 or HTC Amaze 4G.
If I buy one of these for T-Mobile Prepaid, am I locked in there, or the phone is useful even if I might move onto another carrier such as Verizon or ATT, or to another Plan within T-Mobile later?

xdabyk said:
I'm a T-Mobile Prepaid customer using a simple $19 phone but am planning to purchase a no-contract smart phone, say Samsung Galaxy S 2 or HTC Amaze 4G.
If I buy one of these for T-Mobile Prepaid, am I locked in there, or the phone is useful even if I might move onto another carrier such as Verizon or ATT, or to another Plan within T-Mobile later?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you are not locked in if you buy a phone off contract. You will not be able to move to verizon or sprint with the phone though, because they use CDMA and not GSM like the rest of the world.

you can outright buy the phone, but check to see if they have a pre-paid plan/data plan for that phone, it will not be unlocked so you cannot move. You can request t-mobile to unlock it though, but you will not get the same 4g speeds

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A

lowandbehold said:
No you are not locked in if you buy a phone off contract. You will not be able to move to verizon or sprint with the phone though, because they use CDMA and not GSM like the rest of the world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Does that mean I can use the Samsung Galaxy S2 No-Contract Model I buy from/for T-Mobil Prepaid now for other carriers of GSM? May I understand from your reply message(s) that T-Mobile is a GSM format carrier(and so is AT&T?) as opposed to Verizon and Sprint being a CDMA guys? If so, I can use the phone as long as my next carrier is a GSM guy? Does this make sense?

djjuice said:
you can outright buy the phone, but check to see if they have a pre-paid plan/data plan for that phone, it will not be unlocked so you cannot move. You can request t-mobile to unlock it though, but you will not get the same 4g speeds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To: djjuice -
Thank you. I will do some homework in order to understand what "locked", "unlock" and " . . . will not get the same 4g speeds" mean.

Even unlocked the phone may not support the 3G or "4"G data speed between TMobile and AT&T. The AT&T Galaxy S II will not run on TMobile 3G data, only Edge (2G) data, because they run on different frequencies, same thing with the TMobile Galaxy S II does not support AT&T frequencies. If you buy the phone off contract from TMobile, they should unlock it for you, but there is no guarantee it will work (fully) anywhere else.
If you buy a phone off of craigslist even though you are buying it off contract you cannot guarantee it can be unlocked freely. For example if you buy an AT&T phone used from someone, AT&T will not unlock it for you for free until it's a certain number of months old (based on when the first person bought it from AT&T). You would have to pay a third party for an unlock code (if there is no help here on xda to unlock it).
It's best to just buy a phone for the carrier you plan on using. That ensures its going to work, and that it will work at full speed. If you really think you are going to switch to AT&T buy one of their branded phones, or Verizon etc. Verizon and Sprint both use CDMA, but they are very resistant to allowing another carriers phone on their network. Plus their 4G networks are different types (Verizon uses LTE, Sprint WiMax) so they wouldn't work fully regardless.

Thank you, quarlow.
My budget is around $600 max. So I'm inclined to purchase an HTC Amaze 4Z or Samsung Galaxy S2 for use for T-Mobile Prepaid at Target or at T-Mobile. T-Mobile Net Shop is selling Galaxy S2 Re-Furbished at a discount price. Hear Galaxy S2 have high rate of initial failures and therefore maybe better to buy a re-furbished one that has failed once and was repaired by qualified repairman. Below is how I come to think of buying a smart phone now. I've been happy with a simple prepaid phone buying 100 minutes at a time, which lasts more than a year for me. I also use a Sony Clie, a PDA running Palm Desk Top, which has gone obsolete long time ago. With a smart phone such as Galaxy or Amaze 4Z, I can leave not only the PDA but also a digital camera home. I do not need to access my PDA data over internet. I will import necessary data from my PC to my new smart phone either via cable or via WIFI before going out. That's why I want to remain "Prepaid Customer" not a customer with monthly fees. (Besides, I am not so much interested in leaving my data at ISP's servers.)
Thank you.

I haven't heard of high failure on the Galaxy S II's for TMo. But I have seen several studies showing refurbished devices have lower failure rates because they can have problem components replaced, and have to pass full qa testing twice.
If you are going to put all your data on your phone via USB on the computer, or wifi, then data compatibility won't matter. That changes the whole issue of taking it to another carrier. Any att or TMo phone that is unlocked will make and receive phone calls, text messages and mms messages just fine on the other network. You will only notice the difference when web browsing, or downloading files. If you aren't going to do that, then it wont make a difference.
Knowing that and your budget I would say get a international version of the phone. Get the Galaxy S II (i9100), or the Galaxy Note, or the Galaxy Nexus. All of those phones are top tier, and international versions will receive updates quicker. The Nexus being the Google device will be the first ICS device to get the next version of android, so its the most future proof. The GSM version of any of those phones will likely come unlocked.
The i9100 has a 4.3" screen, and 1.2Ghz dual core Exynos chip. The TMo version has a 4.5" screen (same resolution) with 1.5Ghz dual core qualcomm chip. The bigger screens did have issues with splotches and vertical lines far more than the 4.3" screen. With them being the same resolution the smaller screen is crisper. The Exynos chip is made by Samsung and widely regarded as the better chip, even at a slower speed. It also comes with a more powerful gpu than the qualcomm chip. So, the graphics are better, and games run better. The att version (i777) is almost exactly the same as the i9100, except it has the U.S. norm of 4 buttons, vs the international 3 buttons. The dev support on xda for the i9100 is unmatched by any other phone, its an amazing device with a huge support and user base.
The Galaxy Note is a 5.3" half phone half tablet with a stylus, and 1.4Ghz dual core Exynos chip. Its screen is a whopping 1280x800 resolution. But, for some that's too big.
The Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65" screen with 720p resolution (this screen is pentile which means it doesn't have as many sub pixels as it could. Its hard to explain, Google pentile vs rgb and there should be plenty of explinations. But, most reviews say at that resolution you need a microscope to tell). But the real strength with that device is that its the pure Google device. Its running Android the way its meant to be ran, unbloated and unrestricted. That is the Rolls Royce of Android phones for the next year. The Nexus S is last years Google device, and will be the first gingerbread device with an official ICS upgrade, if it isn't already upgraded. Its like a Mercedes at this point, its got the pure android experience, but its running last years tech: 4" screen, 1Ghz single core hummingbird chip.
I'm sure that is way more information than you ever wanted to know, but I hope it helps.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

quarlow said:
Even unlocked the phone may not support the 3G or "4"G data speed between TMobile and AT&T. The AT&T Galaxy S II will not run on TMobile 3G data, only Edge (2G) data, because they run on different frequencies, same thing with the TMobile Galaxy S II does not support AT&T frequencies. If you buy the phone off contract from TMobile, they should unlock it for you, but there is no guarantee it will work (fully) anywhere else.
If you buy a phone off of craigslist even though you are buying it off contract you cannot guarantee it can be unlocked freely. For example if you buy an AT&T phone used from someone, AT&T will not unlock it for you for free until it's a certain number of months old (based on when the first person bought it from AT&T). You would have to pay a third party for an unlock code (if there is no help here on xda to unlock it).
It's best to just buy a phone for the carrier you plan on using. That ensures its going to work, and that it will work at full speed. If you really think you are going to switch to AT&T buy one of their branded phones, or Verizon etc. Verizon and Sprint both use CDMA, but they are very resistant to allowing another carriers phone on their network. Plus their 4G networks are different types (Verizon uses LTE, Sprint WiMax) so they wouldn't work fully regardless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the T-mobile SGSII supports AT&T 3g.

lowandbehold said:
Actually the T-mobile SGSII supports AT&T 3g.
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Click to collapse
Att 3G runs on 850 and 1900, with preference on 1900 generally. The TMo looks to have 850, but not 1900. So like the vibrant the support will be spotty at best. It may work in some places, but not everywhere.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

To quarlow and lowandbehold -
Very informative! Thank you very much.
I will stay with the plan to go for a Galaxy S2(i1900) or an HTC Amaze 4Z for TMO Prepaid. If there be good prepaid phone service(s) available from other carrier(s), I'd definitely want to learn about.

Best Phone to use on Straight Talk

Hello everyone,
As you can see I am a newbie and this is my first post. Excuse me if a thread like this was made before, but after searching on the web I recently found out that I can use my E71 sim card on AT&T phones. I would like people's opinion on which phone I should buy? I also hear from fellow students that CES 2012 just happend. Should I wait for the new phones or just purchase a phone that is out now?
Thanks and much appreciated

Depends what you want, how much you can afford a month and how much your willing to spend on a phone. If your looking for prepaid virgin mobile is good, they have the motorola triumph, htc wildfire s, lg optimus v, lg optimus slider and samsung intercept (all are android) look up some planes on the internet, at&t prepaid is good but metro pcs has nice 4g phones and android phones, I see you want to no whats the best phone from straigt talk, i dont no much about the phones but check out metro,virgin, and at&t
HTC Wildfire S (VM) "s-off" "rooted" Stock Rom

Well I just read up on how ST has a loop hole and you can use mainly AT&T phone and some T-Mobile phones with the right 3G frequencies. I was willing to spend no more than $250 for a phone, but I don't know how long the loop hole is going to be open so I don't want to spend a lot on a phone and it not work. I was looking at the Atrix but various sites aren't every accurate when it came to comparing it to the Infuse or Inspire and other phones.

Do u want prepaid? For 250 you can by a nice prepaid phone
HTC Wildfire S (VM) "s-off" "rooted" Stock Rom

Straight Talk offers 2 android phones. The LG Optimus Q and the Samsung Galaxy Precedent.

If u want more android for prepaid id say metro pcs or virgin mobile
HTC Wildfire S (VM) "s-off" "rooted" Stock Rom

From what I read can't I just use any phone from AT&T and use my sim card on it? The phones from ST are entry level android and I want a full fledge android phone if there is such a thing.

Yes, you can use any AT&T smartphone on Straight Talk, I did it for about a year. For under $250, I'd try and get an AT&T band Nexus S, an Infuse, or maybe a Galaxy S2 if you can go an extra $100 higher. It's definitely worth the extra cash.

My local Walmart thinks there will be a new Android phone available in February 2012 for Straight Talk, any idea on make/model? or if worth the wait?

Look at virgin mobile, 4g is coming this year but all there other Android is 3g
Sent from my HTC_A510c using XDA App

I have been doing some reading and is it worth buying a 4G phone, since ST doesn't use 4G yet. Until they upgrade their bands?

Android311 said:
Look at virgin mobile, 4g is coming this year but all there other Android is 3g
Sent from my HTC_A510c using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're missing the point of the OP. He's not asking for recommendations for carriers, or phones on other carriers. He's only interested in StraightTalk, and since ST's GSM phones (at least, the E71) runs on AT&T, you can just stick the E71's SIM card in an AT&T phone and use it. He's asking for good/cheap AT&T phones to run on StraightTalk.
So, to answer the OP's question, I would probably try to go with a Nexus S (look for the AT&T band one, like entropism said), or maybe a used iPhone 4.

Need Help, Advice, or Reviews of New phones - I am looking for a new one

Okay I am looking for a new phone on T Mobile. I am looking at Samsung Galaxy S III. Does anyone have one and give a review on it. Are there better phones on T Mobile or phones that may be coming out this year that I should wait for? Does anyone know if any phones with the Nvidia Tegra are going to be coming out for T-Mobile
The only in depth reviews for Galaxy S III were for the international version with the quad core.
Does anyone know if HTC One X will work on T-Mobile?

depends what are you needed..
generally...sgs3 have a more performance...
but one x is have the beautiful design

htc one x will work on t-mob but am not sure about data bands.. check for data bands otherwise you may stuck with 2g.
galaxy s3 will be best choice , but also check htc one s

it should depend on how long you want to stick with the phone, and whether you want to use 3G or 4G/LTE...

Spud37 said:
Okay I am looking for a new phone on T Mobile. I am looking at Samsung Galaxy S III. Does anyone have one and give a review on it. Are there better phones on T Mobile or phones that may be coming out this year that I should wait for? Does anyone know if any phones with the Nvidia Tegra are going to be coming out for T-Mobile
The only in depth reviews for Galaxy S III were for the international version with the quad core.
Does anyone know if HTC One X will work on T-Mobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy a galaxy s2 and root it to the max!

justajoel94 said:
Buy a galaxy s2 and root it to the max!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I actually have a SGSII now because i found it and rooted it. I want to have at least 3G if not 4G. The reason i am looking is that i have a lot of credit with tmobile and i have that upgrade option right now.

Spud37 said:
Okay I am looking for a new phone on T Mobile. I am looking at Samsung Galaxy S III. Does anyone have one and give a review on it. Are there better phones on T Mobile or phones that may be coming out this year that I should wait for? Does anyone know if any phones with the Nvidia Tegra are going to be coming out for T-Mobile
The only in depth reviews for Galaxy S III were for the international version with the quad core.
Does anyone know if HTC One X will work on T-Mobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The One X will only work on 2G/EDGE speeds until the refarm is done in your area. I personally didn't like the S3 because of the size so I went with the HTC One S. I think the 1S has the perfect size for a phone and has the same processor as the T-MO S3 but it all comes down to what YOU want in a phone.

illmatic. said:
The One X will only work on 2G/EDGE speeds until the refarm is done in your area. I personally didn't like the S3 because of the size so I went with the HTC One S. I think the 1S has the perfect size for a phone and has the same processor as the T-MO S3 but it all comes down to what YOU want in a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the refram has been done. They are pushing for the family to upgrade phones right now. My mom still has an old flip phone. Her signal seems to be getting worse.
I just looked it up and apparently the quad core SIII and the One X are not available in the US. Does the One S have a MicroSD slot? The SIII does have a slight advantage with the extra gig of ram. As for size i really need to hold them and see if they can fit comfortably in my pocket.