The Gear S3 is not officially (and probably never will be) available in my country. We have only just started receiving the Gear S2 in November 2016 from unofficial suppliers so I'm not prepared to wait another year for the S3.
I want to order the Gear S3 Frontier LTE from eBay. The description says the watch comes from South Korea and has carrier branding (boot screen) and apps but is not carrier locked. It also apparently supports the LTE bands that my carrier uses.
1. What is the procedure for another carrier to register an eSIM on their network? (ie. Is it likely that I would be able to use the LTE function? I mainly just want the call forwarding function)
2. Can the boot screen logo be changed back to the original Samsung logo? (Remove the Korean mobile service provider branding?)
3. What is the possibility of flashing a standard ROM to replace the carrier branded ROM?
4. Are there any other hardware differences?
Byte_76 said:
The Gear S3 is not officially (and probably never will be) available in my country. We have only just started receiving the Gear S2 in November 2016 from unofficial suppliers so I'm not prepared to wait another year for the S3.
I want to order the Gear S3 Frontier LTE from eBay. The description says the watch comes from South Korea and has carrier branding (boot screen) and apps but is not carrier locked. It also apparently supports the LTE bands that my carrier uses.
1. What is the procedure for another carrier to register an eSIM on their network? (ie. Is it likely that I would be able to use the LTE function? I mainly just want the call forwarding function)
2. Can the boot screen logo be changed back to the original Samsung logo? (Remove the Korean mobile service provider branding?)
3. What is the possibility of flashing a standard ROM to replace the carrier branded ROM?
4. Are there any other hardware differences?
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Click to collapse
The LTE feature would be useless, unless your countries carriers support e-sims. We have this same issue in Canada no support, so even a compatible US S3 with LTE would not work.
Ok, I thought as much. Thanks for the feedback.
Related
Not too long ago, I had heard that the Verizon Galaxy S3 would support global roaming in a future update. With the Verizon Galaxy S3 release imminent, I was wondering if this was still the case.
I recently ordered a Galaxy S3 for my Dad, considering his contract with Verizon was up and the data plans were changing. Now, my dad often travels back and forth between the US and South Korea; so often in that he carries two different Android phones for each country (DROID Incredible on Verizon and Nexus S on KT).
Would it be possible for him to dump both the Incredible and Nexus S phones and use only Verizon Galaxy S3 on both of the carriers (if unlocked), by just swapping out the SIM card when traveling between Korea and the US? He will be keeping KT as his cell provider in Korea and from what I've heard, KT does allow foreign phones to be registered on their network, as long as they're unlocked. Both Verizon and KT support CDMA & LTE, but I'm not sure if their frequency bands overlap and if the Verizon S3 would be able to hook onto both without having to flash the radio.
I see that there's already a Voodoo S3 SIM Unlock app on Google Play (probably not compatible with Verizon S3 yet, but maybe eventually possible?).
Either way, it'd be awesome to be able to use the S3 as his main phone on both carriers with a simple SIM card swap! Does anyone have any insight on this, whether it would be possible or not?
CKTurbo128 said:
Not too long ago, I had heard that the Verizon Galaxy S3 would support global roaming in a future update. With the Verizon Galaxy S3 release imminent, I was wondering if this was still the case.
I recently ordered a Galaxy S3 for my Dad, considering his contract with Verizon was up and the data plans were changing. Now, my dad often travels back and forth between the US and South Korea; so often in that he carries two different Android phones for each country (DROID Incredible on Verizon and Nexus S on KT).
Would it be possible for him to dump both the Incredible and Nexus S phones and use only Verizon Galaxy S3 on both of the carriers (if unlocked), by just swapping out the SIM card when traveling between Korea and the US? He will be keeping KT as his cell provider in Korea and from what I've heard, KT does allow foreign phones to be registered on their network, as long as they're unlocked. Both Verizon and KT support CDMA & LTE, but I'm not sure if their frequency bands overlap and if the Verizon S3 would be able to hook onto both without having to flash the radio.
I see that there's already a Voodoo S3 SIM Unlock app on Google Play (probably not compatible with Verizon S3 yet, but maybe eventually possible?).
Either way, it'd be awesome to be able to use the S3 as his main phone on both carriers with a simple SIM card swap! Does anyone have any insight on this, whether it would be possible or not?
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Click to collapse
As far as I understand it, the Verizon S3 needs a software update to unlock the GSM bands within the radio, which currently is not available...Also the LTE Bands are Not Compatible, according to my research Verizon uses 700/750 KT uses 1800. The Verizon S3 has 700/750 LTE Support...Also note while the Verizon S3 likely will have GSM support via a software update it will be Edge bands not WCDMA/HSPA+...as for the CDMA side out of luck there too according to KT they use the 1800 band and the Verizon S3 only has 850/1900 band for CDMA...in short getting the Verizon S3 will in no way help your father ditch his second phone...If your father is an international traveler he would be better suited to using a GSM carrier then buying a phone like the Galaxy Nexus which is pentaband WCDMA, this will work in any country that has WCDMA, I can vouch personally that my GNex (GSM Unlocked) works in S. Korea with HSPA+ Data Speeds as I was just there this past February.
So though the GS3 would most likely not be able to use 4G (through HSPA+, I may also be misunderstanding...) would it be able to have 3G overseas? I ask since I will be traveling to China later this year and being able to use 3G over there would be more convenient than getting another phone...
Are the T-mobile and AT&T Gear S3 devices the same model?
Well, the AT&T watch is model #SM-R765ADAAATT and the T-Mobile watch is model #SM-R765TDAATMB. Makes me think that they are not the same.
Pretty sure they're the exact same internally, but just programmed with respective carrier settings.
OK, thanks. Found a deal on a T-Mobile version. Not going to use the 3g part so I threw an offer on the T-Mobile version.
So, an ATT Samsung Gear S3 (Frontier, LTE version) device can perform flawless on TMobile network? can someone confirm this?
Thanks
Since the S3 uses an eSIM, I think they are restricted to their respective networks, regardless of hardware specifications.
But the phone and watch do not have to be on the same network.
A little over a 3months ago I was tricked into getting a the Frontier version of Verizon's Gear S3 from Best buy. I later learn that this model will never have 4G LTE like the S2 and I'll never be able to add an independent line outside Bluetooth. I'm also told I can can't refund on it. Does anyone one know a way I can add a separate phone line to this device or if it's possible to add 4G LTE to it? Thanks E
The Frontier comes in two versions, a Bluetooth only model and an LTE model. Only the latter has the requisite hardware that allows it to have cellular service. The LTE radio is built in, it cannot be added after manufacture.
Verizon doesn't sale the Gear S3, although there are rumours that it will sometime in the future. All the Frontier LTE models operate on AT&T or T-Mobile.
Hi all. I bought a galaxy watch 4 lte version rose from Uk samsung site and would like to use in Hong Kong. (Coz this version is not available in hk) I have asked the cs from uk samsung site and they said the lte function can only be used with UK carriers because the components in the watch are specified for UK carriers only. But then I have checked the carrier band in both Hong Kong and UK and seems they are using the same lte band. So does anyone know will the lte function work in HK in this case? If not, I may have to return the watch to samsung. Thanks.
Here's the carrier list I found :
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 - The Official Samsung Galaxy Site
Reach for a healthier you in the Galaxy Watch 4 with Wear OS, featuring fitness tracking, body composition, blood pressure, ECG, step counting and more!
www.samsung.com
Regional locks. A nasty thing indeed. I am going to return my GW4 because of this(no LTE available foir my country). Think about doing the same thing.
I want to purchase a GW4 classic LTE from usa and use it in India.
I understood that it should be possible because the hardware should remain same irrespective of the region/country?
This is so with smartphones also because a samsung phone will be compatible with mobile carriers globally.
Region specific firmware is just to enable/disable settings or apps.
Please correct if my understanding is wrong.
My T-Mobile LTE watch 4 did not connect to any network, neither in Europe nor in India. When checked with TMO I was told that LTE connectivity will work only in the US, despite my having international roaming. Why so, no idea.
The LTE frequency bands are different.
Only Roaming 3g in Mexico and Canada had worked on my prior Samsung T-Mobile LTE watch's. Haven't traveled yet with my watch 4 LTE....