Long story real short.
-Military member, moving to England for a few years
-Need new phone
-Like to tinker. Have rooted/rom'ed/messed with phones in the past (moderate to advanced user)
-Needs to be GSM to work (Currently have AT&T). Would like to use it as I return to USA as well for vacation.
-Prefer unlocked/non-region locked as well as tinker friendly and durable. Id like the bootloader unlocked and read the U still has the locked bootloader.
-Not tied to any carrier... I will have to use the networks and sim cards in Europe.
Looked at:
Galaxy S7 930U. If I get the Euro version (930F), I am reading some stuff about having to use it for 5 minutes in its region before it unlocks.
Nexus 6P looks interesting for faster software updates but the thing is freaking huge. I like one handed operation.
I usually Root mainly just to get full file explorer features and to get wifi-tethering for travel. Tethering is a MUST have for me. Looks like the S7 tethers out of the box for free? or am I wrong? Does the Nexus 6P do the same? I would imagine it is easier since its not tied to a carrier.
I am losing interest in Rom'ing and looking for more stability and just the few features I need. Any ideas? Open to any suggestions. I am leaving soon so I need to make a decision soon. Worse case, I go to best buy and pick up the 930U S7.
Thanks in advance. I wish I had more time before I go to read up on this but It is kind of spur of the moment I am deciding to upgrade.
Hello, we already have two threads for this question here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1620179
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1846277
Thread closed.
Nathan
Forum Moderator
I bought this phone from **** Smith which is an online shop that has been bought out by Kogan a year ago and although the store is in Australia, the phone seems to be imported from Korea. When I turn on the phone I get a Korean Telecom logo on boot along with the Samsung logo. I knew that wasnt normal for a phone that was bought from an Australian store but I let it slide, however, when I go into Bixby, I get Korean content from the Korean YouTube and I also get other Korean information. I hate having Korean content showing on my phone, is there any way to change it? Also, whenever I click on the weather app and just tap on the weather for the week, it takes me to a website which is a Korean weather website.
notsteven said:
I bought this phone from **** Smith which is an online shop that has been bought out by Kogan a year ago and although the store is in Australia, the phone seems to be imported from Korea. When I turn on the phone I get a Korean Telecom logo on boot along with the Samsung logo. I knew that wasnt normal for a phone that was bought from an Australian store but I let it slide, however, when I go into Bixby, I get Korean content from the Korean YouTube and I also get other Korean information. I hate having Korean content showing on my phone, is there any way to change it? Also, whenever I click on the weather app and just tap on the weather for the week, it takes me to a website which is a Korean weather website.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have bought a genuine AUSTRALIAN S8+
henklbr said:
You should have bought a genuine AUSTRALIAN S8+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No ****, wanna tell me anything else I dont know? ""
Install australian android via odin.
+1 for NeedleGames' reply - just download the Australian version of the sm-g955f software and flash via odin. The hardware is exactly the same.
Just remember though, you'll need to go back to **** Smith/Kogan if you ever need to use your warranty...
Samsung don't honor warranty repairs for grey imports....
notsteven said:
No ****, wanna tell me anything else I dont know? ""
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to get aggressive with him, he had a point. You should've known what you were getting into when you bought it.
If you say it has a Korean Telecom logo when you boot it up, it's the SM-G955N variant, only launched in South Korea, specifically for their carriers. No way to remove the bloat without rooting the phone.
There's a separate discussion thread for the Korean S8+: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8+/how-to/sm-g955n-samsung-galaxy-s8-korean-128gb-t3612058
NeedleGames said:
Install australian android via odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not that simple.
lwid said:
+1 for NeedleGames' reply - just download the Australian version of the sm-g955f software and flash via odin. The hardware is exactly the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same hardware doesn't mean Odin or the phone is gonna accept the file for a G955F.
People really need to read up before they give out suggestions.
Is anyone able to help me out with using Odin to change my phone? Obviously Im a beginner with very little knowledge on this kind of stuff
notsteven said:
Is anyone able to help me out with using Odin to change my phone? Obviously Im a beginner with very little knowledge on this kind of stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't change anything.
Read the thread I linked, you'll have to root your phone and get rid of all the carrier bloatware.
**** Smith aka Kogan
notsteven said:
I bought this phone from **** Smith which is an online shop that has been bought out by Kogan a year ago and although the store is in Australia, the phone seems to be imported from Korea. When I turn on the phone I get a Korean Telecom logo on boot along with the Samsung logo. I knew that wasnt normal for a phone that was bought from an Australian store but I let it slide, however, when I go into Bixby, I get Korean content from the Korean YouTube and I also get other Korean information. I hate having Korean content showing on my phone,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a similar experience to you, whilst comparison shopping on line I was given no cause to believe that the phone on offer by **** Smith Electronics was any different to that on offer by the other Iconic Australian suppliers such as JB HiFi, Harvey Norman or The Good Guys. My assumption was that the product was cheaper simply because **** Smith Electronics no longer has stores or staff to maintain. I never even heard of "grey imports".
So whilst I take the point made by Murtaza02 that we "should have known what we were getting into", its not unless you scroll down past the "also bought with this product" section and into the product description that you are alerted to the fact that this is a "direct import international version" (whatever that means to the non-suspecting consumer). And even if you do investigate further, the website states:-
"You may notice minor differences when compared with models purchased locally, however, all international models are supplied with an Australian compliant generic charger and are suited for use in Australia."
"Minor differences" ? The differences are significant enough to prompt savvy shoppers who deliberately purchase grey imports for the substantial savings that they can offer to turn around and go to a lot of trouble "flashing" the phone so that it "works like the Australian versions of the phone"
I regret my purchase with **** Smith Electronics AKA Kogan. And whilst I assume some responsibility for not having investigated the origin of the phone further before my purchase, even in retrospect, I feel I was never given any cause to do so.
In fact it seems to me that the whole DSE website is nothing more than a front for the Hong Kong based drop shipping company and the purchase procedure deliberately engineered so as to not raise suspicion in the mind of the consumer that the phone is anything other than a genuine Australian version.
On my further research, the $999 price point avoids alerting the consumer that this is an imported model by not attracting GST, and the "limit 1 per customer" in retrospect is a further prevention of the consumer being alerted to GST obligations and therefore the fact that the phone is a "grey import". DSE advertise "Don't pay $1345" (for the same phone is implied here). And they say shipping is "ex stock" and "1-2 days".
I really feel in the case where an Australian Iconic Business such as **** Smith Electronics is offering a phone for purchase within Australia that they need to make it clear to consumers from the onset and within the front matter that this is a "grey import" and differs from the "Australian" version so that consumers can make an informed decision and are not duped or fooled or led to believe otherwise.
Hi guys,
I want to get the HK version of this phone (because general consensus seems to be the Snapdragon is better than Samsung's processor that comes in all the EU models) and I want to have a solid idea of what potential ramifications there are from doing this.
From what I gather, the HK model is SM-S9080.
I'm pretty clear on the ramifications from the actual importing of the device, such as loss of Samsung's warranty and things like that. What I'm struggling with is the technical aspects of it.
I've done some Google-fu to the best of my ability, but I must admit I'm a little overwhelmed by all the technical jargon, numbers, codes, etc that seem to be involved. Hopefully you can help me understand better...
I know that both Samsung Pay and Samsung Member Benefits will not work in the UK, however this does not bother me as I have no intentions of using those anyway.
The network provider I use in the UK is EE and, from what I can tell, the HK model supports all the necessary bands including 5G (source here: https://www.kimovil.com/en/frequency-checker/GB/samsung-galaxy-s22-ultra ). However, I have heard that 5G could be arbitrarily deactivated in the UK by the software or hardware in the phone or something like that due to the model differences. Is this true?
Will there be any weird branding issues that can't be easily removed? By this I mean is it going to have weird chinese branding that can't be removed without flashing/rooting/etc (I'd personally prefer not to do any of that stuff). Could I just change the language to English and have it be visually indistinguishable from a 'native' UK model?
Will Google Play be affected? I don't know if there are any china-related politics that would impact my ability to use Google's services. Sorry if that is a stupid question.
What is a CsC and will it matter regarding the function of the phone? I've seen this term being used a lot while googling but I have no idea what it means or how exactly it affects the use of the phone.
How would updates work? Would there be any issues on that front?
Is there anything else I need to consider from a technical point of view that I have missed?
Hopefully these aren't stupid questions. Thank you in advance.
arstulex said:
Hi guys,
I want to get the HK version of this phone (because general consensus seems to be the Snapdragon is better than Samsung's processor that comes in all the EU models) and I want to have a solid idea of what potential ramifications there are from doing this.
From what I gather, the HK model is SM-S9080.
I'm pretty clear on the ramifications from the actual importing of the device, such as loss of Samsung's warranty and things like that. What I'm struggling with is the technical aspects of it.
I've done some Google-fu to the best of my ability, but I must admit I'm a little overwhelmed by all the technical jargon, numbers, codes, etc that seem to be involved. Hopefully you can help me understand better...
I know that both Samsung Pay and Samsung Member Benefits will not work in the UK, however this does not bother me as I have no intentions of using those anyway.
The network provider I use in the UK is EE and, from what I can tell, the HK model supports all the necessary bands including 5G (source here: https://www.kimovil.com/en/frequency-checker/GB/samsung-galaxy-s22-ultra ). However, I have heard that 5G could be arbitrarily deactivated in the UK by the software or hardware in the phone or something like that due to the model differences. Is this true?
Will there be any weird branding issues that can't be easily removed? By this I mean is it going to have weird chinese branding that can't be removed without flashing/rooting/etc (I'd personally prefer not to do any of that stuff). Could I just change the language to English and have it be visually indistinguishable from a 'native' UK model?
Will Google Play be affected? I don't know if there are any china-related politics that would impact my ability to use Google's services. Sorry if that is a stupid question.
What is a CsC and will it matter regarding the function of the phone? I've seen this term being used a lot while googling but I have no idea what it means or how exactly it affects the use of the phone.
How would updates work? Would there be any issues on that front?
Is there anything else I need to consider from a technical point of view that I have missed?
Hopefully these aren't stupid questions. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the csc is the carrier aspect of the phone , ie what bands of each type of network connections are used,and country specific bloatware , the csc is also what carrires the software restrictions based on the laws of the country it is coded for. you would get hongkong specific updates with a csc from that region as far as i can sumise, you may even need to use a hongkong routed vpn to receive them, but again thats a guess
Hi, I've got a 12GB/512GB S9080 on the TGY CSC here in the UK. I'm on O2UK but my 5G works fine. I have no weird carrier branding and I don't get any Chinese characters anywhere. I use Google Pay just fine (never used Samsung Pay on any of my devices)
No issues on updates, in fact I got the latest May update on the 28th of April.
I got this phone through techinthebasket and paid over £300 less than the equivalent Exynos version direct from Samsung.
If you have any questions regarding the device just ask
p.dixon0 said:
Hi, I've got a 12GB/512GB S9080 on the TGY CSC here in the UK. I'm on O2UK but my 5G works fine. I have no weird carrier branding and I don't get any Chinese characters anywhere. I use Google Pay just fine (never used Samsung Pay on any of my devices)
No issues on updates, in fact I got the latest May update on the 28th of April.
I got this phone through techinthebasket and paid over £300 less than the equivalent Exynos version direct from Samsung.
If you have any questions regarding the device just ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks mate.
Funnily enough that's the website I was looking at getting mine from too. I did email them to ask where they source their models from because I've read elsewhere that TGY is ideal for UK use but they haven't got back to me yet (weekend of course). Glad to hear they are selling TGY.
Only question I have would be about techinthebasket themselves. Roughly how long did it take to arrive and did it arrive sealed?
Hi mate, yeah I've used techinthebasket a few times now (I've bought a Note8 and a Surface Pro 4 from them previously) and it does take a little while for the items to arrive, even paying for expedited it still took 5 working days. All items were factory sealed too.
If it helps, I traded the Note8 for the Note9 directly to Samsung when the Note9 came out and I got the full £400 at the time. The SP4 developed the prolific screen shake fault after about a year and Microsoft replaced it free of charge.
p.dixon0 said:
All items were factory sealed too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this possible? I thought Samsung region-locks their phones until a call is made with a SIM from the 'home' region.
Don't these importers have to open up the box to do this so that you can actually use a UK SIM in it when it gets to you?
p.dixon0 said:
Hi, I've got a 12GB/512GB S9080 on the TGY CSC here in the UK. I'm on O2UK but my 5G works fine. I have no weird carrier branding and I don't get any Chinese characters anywhere. I use Google Pay just fine (never used Samsung Pay on any of my devices)
No issues on updates, in fact I got the latest May update on the 28th of April.
I got this phone through techinthebasket and paid over £300 less than the equivalent Exynos version direct from Samsung.
If you have any questions regarding the device just ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're my savior. Thank you a lot!
Buying it today
arstulex said:
Is this possible? I thought Samsung region-locks their phones until a call is made with a SIM from the 'home' region.
Don't these importers have to open up the box to do this so that you can actually use a UK SIM in it when it gets to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure to be totally honest. Both my Note8 and S22U came sealed with what looked like the same seals my Note9 came with directly from Samsung. Maybe techinthebasket open and reseal? Whatever they do or don't do the phone works as expected and didn't show any signs of being opened.
When I first started both phones (without a SIM) they were both in Chinese. When I put my UK SIM in they behave as expected.
The good thing with techinthebasket is that you can only pay with PayPal - as such, if you have any issues you're covered.
p.dixon0 said:
I'm not sure to be totally honest. Both my Note8 and S22U came sealed with what looked like the same seals my Note9 came with directly from Samsung. Maybe techinthebasket open and reseal? Whatever they do or don't do the phone works as expected and didn't show any signs of being opened.
When I first started both phones (without a SIM) they were both in Chinese. When I put my UK SIM in they behave as expected.
The good thing with techinthebasket is that you can only pay with PayPal - as such, if you have any issues you're covered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They gotta do what they gotta do, and if that means I get a Snapdragon phone for significantly less than a local Exynos then who am I to complain? Lol.
I just didn't know if they had found some way to circumvent region-locking without opening the box.
Exactly, as I say it's over £300 less for what is technically a better device
p.dixon0 said:
Exactly, as I say it's over £300 less for what is technically a better device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too bad that they deliver only in France,UK, Germany and not the rest of Europe...I would instantly sell my S22 Ultra if I have the occasion to buy a Snap S22 Ultra. Also, a big minus: you can't use eSIM which it's a really nice feature.
robi101012981 said:
Too bad that they deliver only in France,UK, Germany and not the rest of Europe...I would instantly sell my S22 Ultra if I have the occasion to buy a Snap S22 Ultra. Also, a big minus: you can't use eSIM which it's a really nice feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are plenty of websites out there that deal in grey imports. Unless I'm missing something there are probably sites that do deliver to your country.
I don't know if I'd call lack of eSIM a big minus though. Once I put my SIM card in a phone I pretty much just forget it exists until I buy a new phone. Do people really swap out their SIMs that often that an eSIM really matters?
arstulex said:
There are plenty of websites out there that deal in grey imports. Unless I'm missing something there are probably sites that do deliver to your country.
I don't know if I'd call lack of eSIM a big minus though. Once I put my SIM card in a phone I pretty much just forget it exists until I buy a new phone. Do people really swap out their SIMs that often that an eSIM really matters?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're travelling in a country that doesn't support Roaming, then yeah, it's a good feature
The S9080 is dual SIM so you can still use a local SIM as well if you're traveling...
p.dixon0 said:
The S9080 is dual SIM so you can still use a local SIM as well if you're traveling...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's easy to say this, but I do prefer esims since I can purchase them online and I don't need to lose time in stores to purchase it.
I'm sure a saving of over £300 would offset the minor inconvenience. Personally, I have a tariff that gives me free roaming in Europe and the USA amongst others so it's a non-issue for me
p.dixon0 said:
Hi, I've got a 12GB/512GB S9080 on the TGY CSC here in the UK. I'm on O2UK but my 5G works fine. I have no weird carrier branding and I don't get any Chinese characters anywhere. I use Google Pay just fine (never used Samsung Pay on any of my devices)
No issues on updates, in fact I got the latest May update on the 28th of April.
I got this phone through techinthebasket and paid over £300 less than the equivalent Exynos version direct from Samsung.
If you have any questions regarding the device just ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First time reading 5G working on the SM-9080 outside of Hong Kong. What speeds are you registering?
p.dixon0 said:
I'm sure a saving of over £300 would offset the minor inconvenience. Personally, I have a tariff that gives me free roaming in Europe and the USA amongst others so it's a non-issue for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I would save, but I would also throw money since no warranty it's provided to me
Also Widevine L3, so yeah, a big trade-in for some of us...I'll wait for the Honor Magic 4 Pro and get that device since it's superior.
About the same download speed as 4G+ for me, the upload speed is double though.
As a side note. This it's on O2UK in the North East of England in my house, where O2UK say there is poor 5G coverage.
robi101012981 said:
Yeah, I would save, but I would also throw money since no warranty it's provided to me
Also Widevine L3, so yeah, a big trade-in for some of us...I'll wait for the Honor Magic 4 Pro and get that device since it's superior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a year warranty provided by techinthebasket.
All my streaming services work as expected so not bothered about Widevine.
I'll continue to enjoy my phone while you think of another put down and wait for your superior device.
Hi all, I'm asking here because there is no dedicated subforum for XCover 6.
So, I'm planning on buying Galaxy XCover 6Pro but I'm getting confused if there are different version of it out on the market? I've noticed that shops in my country (Poland) mark phones they are selling using these three different product numbers:
sm-g736bzkdeeb,
sm-g736bzkdeee,
sm-g736bzkd
with the first one (EEB) being called "Enterprise Edition" appearing in most of stores while the offical samsung.com store lists XCover 6Pro with "EEE" product number. Neverthless google shows up a samsung page for the "EEB" model too.
https://www.samsung.com/uk/business/smartphones/xcover/galaxy-xcover6-pro-sm-g736bzkdeeb/
https://www.samsung.com/levant/business/smartphones/xcover/galaxy-xcover6-pro-sm-g736bzkdeee/
So i checked the specs, in stores and on these samsung pages and they all appear to be the same XCover 6 Pro, 6GB 5G phones with Dual Sim in black colour.
So here is my question. Are they really the same phone or there is some difference that's my eye is missing?
The difference between the two devices you have named, is that one is made for the German market (EEB) and one is made for the eastern European and Swiss/Austrian markets (EEE).
There may be some issues with things such as samsung pay if you are using a device outside of its region but overall the device should work fine either way.
With the previous model (G715FN), I was able to flash to my local firmware without issue and all bands worked flawlessly as well as all localised features such as samsung pay. Unfortunately once this is done, you will not receive OTA updates any longer as it recognises your device has been modified. This may be because I tripped knox doing all this.
The only other thing to look out for is that you aren't buying a device that has been locked to a given carrier, or requires a sim from that carrier for activation.
Again, there's usually ways around this but you don't need to complicate your life like that.
If you are able to buy locally, surely they can give you some assurances that the device will work with your local providers?
There is no difference in specs, bands etc, it's just localisation support and operator specific configurations to worry about.
Samsung generally include all international MBN files in their modem config files so it's not such a huge deal these days as long as you can successfully register the device for use.
bandario said:
The difference between the two devices you have named, is that one is made for the German market (EEB) and one is made for the eastern European and Swiss/Austrian markets (EEE).
There may be some issues with things such as samsung pay if you are using a device outside of its region but overall the device should work fine either way.
With the previous model (G715FN), I was able to flash to my local firmware without issue and all bands worked flawlessly as well as all localised features such as samsung pay. Unfortunately once this is done, you will not receive OTA updates any longer as it recognises your device has been modified. This may be because I tripped knox doing all this.
The only other thing to look out for is that you aren't buying a device that has been locked to a given carrier, or requires a sim from that carrier for activation.
Again, there's usually ways around this but you don't need to complicate your life like that.
If you are able to buy locally, surely they can give you some assurances that the device will work with your local providers?
There is no difference in specs, bands etc, it's just localisation support and operator specific configurations to worry about.
Samsung generally include all international MBN files in their modem config files so it's not such a huge deal these days as long as you can successfully register the device for use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for detailed explanation!
Anyone tried root with Magisk?
bandario said:
Anyone tried root with Magisk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one I got recently, but have not used Magisk. Doesn't one have to access bootloader to do that? Which is my question: Anyone have an unlock for the bootloader?
Yes. There's instructions Here