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Advice on buying Galaxy S8+ SM-G9550 6GB version for european market

Hi All,
It's been a long while since I have posted something, but I have been using and reading up on XDA with much gratitude since I joined in 2010. The community represented here is just awesome in every way, and I would like you all to know that. I wanted to ask you guys for advice on the following matter:
I currently own a galaxy note 5 in the Netherlands, which I have purchased in Dubai. I decided on the dual sim model, since I find the dual sim capability for my work and private sim very important. The phone has done me well in the last 18 months (worked without any trouble in NL, and is rooted), but now I think it's time to replace it. My new phone of choice would be the Galaxy S8 plus, preferably the 6GB model. Of course this would also need to be the dual sim version, otherwise I could just buy the normal version here in the Netherlands. I have some friends living over in Hong Kong, which would allow me to buy the phone there.
Now for the hard part. Not only does the phone need to be dual sim, it also needs to support all dutch bands (including volte if possible) and it must be able to be rooted (adblock on its own is enough reason to justify that, let alone all other possibilities). I am used to flashing kernels and roms on my phones, as per the consice instructions found on this forum.
The phone that meets my criteria seems to be the SM-G9550 (6GB) that can be bought in Hong Kong. Would you guys please advise me on whether you think that would function here in the Netherlands and whether I can root it? And if not, what would you advise me to do given the above?
Thanks a ton in advance

@kimi4life
The G9550 is the Chinese/HK variant of the GS8+, and while it does support LTE Bands 3, 7 and 20 (those used by Vodafone NL), the combination of bands, known as Carrier Aggregation (or 4G+), may or may not work. Moreover, VoLTE and WiFi calling (if applicable) will NOT work with this variant.
The reason behind this, is the CSC. Since the G9550 is only sold in China and Hong Kong, it does not have a Netherlands CSC (Carrier Specific Customization), so you'll have all Chinese and possibly even carrier bloatware for China.
There is a way to get a G955FD CSC (EU variant) on your G9550 (CN/HK variant) phone by rooting it and flashing a custom ROM and CSC switcher, you can check Nicholaschum's thread in the Discussion section on how to do that. Do keep in mind that doing all that voids KNOX and there is no way to reset the KNOX counter.
However, the Chinese variant has no custom ROMs, and you'd be better off with the Exynos G955FD variant.
I wouldn't recommend going through all the trouble though, the 64GB/4GB S8+ is pretty good on its own. If you pick up a G955FD, and pop in a Netherlands SIM card, it'll automatically switch to the right CSC based on your country and what carrier you're on. This variant can be rooted, has a few decent stock based custom ROMs, and gets software updates more often than the Chinese variant. You will also have no issues about LTE band compatibility since the 955FD fully supports all networks in Netherlands.

murtaza02 said:
@kimi4life
The G9550 is the Chinese/HK variant of the GS8+, and while it does support LTE Bands 3, 7 and 20 (those used by Vodafone NL), the combination of bands, known as Carrier Aggregation (or 4G+), may or may not work. Moreover, VoLTE and WiFi calling (if applicable) will NOT work with this variant.
The reason behind this, is the CSC. Since the G9550 is only sold in China and Hong Kong, it does not have a Netherlands CSC (Carrier Specific Customization), so you'll have all Chinese and possibly even carrier bloatware for China.
There is a way to get a G955FD CSC (EU variant) on your G9550 (CN/HK variant) phone by rooting it and flashing a custom ROM and CSC switcher, you can check Nicholaschum's thread in the Discussion section on how to do that. Do keep in mind that doing all that voids KNOX and there is no way to reset the KNOX counter.
However, the Chinese variant has no custom ROMs, and you'd be better off with the Exynos G955FD variant.
I wouldn't recommend going through all the trouble though, the 64GB/4GB S8+ is pretty good on its own. If you pick up a G955FD, and pop in a Netherlands SIM card, it'll automatically switch to the right CSC based on your country and what carrier you're on. This variant can be rooted, has a few decent stock based custom ROMs, and gets software updates more often than the Chinese variant. You will also have no issues about LTE band compatibility since the 955FD fully supports all networks in Netherlands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a ton for the clear explanation! It would seem the G955FD would be the best choice then. I'm not sure if these are also sold in HK, i'll just check online if they are. Small bummer on the storage space, since I've heard it is not expendable when using the second sim. Then again, if I go abroad I might as well switch out one of the sims and place an SD card.

kimi4life said:
Thanks a ton for the clear explanation! It would seem the G955FD would be the best choice then. I'm not sure if these are also sold in HK, i'll just check online if they are. Small bummer on the storage space, since I've heard it is not expendable when using the second sim. Then again, if I go abroad I might as well switch out one of the sims and place an SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
955FDs aren't available in HK, but the dual SIM S8+ has been launched in the UK and is available in Dubai as well.
In fact, I bought my 955FD in Dubai as well.

murtaza02 said:
955FDs aren't available in HK, but the dual SIM S8+ has been launched in the UK and is available in Dubai as well.
In fact, I bought my 955FD in Dubai as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has just launched in the Netherlands I heard. Ordered it at the Samsung shop just now - looking forward to it!

kimi4life said:
It has just launched in the Netherlands I heard. Ordered it at the Samsung shop just now - looking forward to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, congratulations!
You'll really enjoy it.

murtaza02 said:
Well, congratulations!
You'll really enjoy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for the advice! I'll get back to you on the best way to root when I received it

my friend is brining me over a G9550 from HK over the weekend. o2 in the UK have not cleared the s8/s8+ for wifi calling and volte yet, but when they do, where is the link to root and install custom rom and csc on it so i can hopefully get it to work with these services?
im getting the phone for free, so i can't complain with free!

mikey_sk said:
my friend is brining me over a G9550 from HK over the weekend. o2 in the UK have not cleared the s8/s8+ for wifi calling and volte yet, but when they do, where is the link to root and install custom rom and csc on it so i can hopefully get it to work with these services?
im getting the phone for free, so i can't complain with free!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check Nicholaschum's thread in the S8+ Forums for the Korean variant.

murtaza02 said:
Check Nicholaschum's thread in the S8+ Forums for the Korean variant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will the korean exynos firmware or custom rom built for that device even work for the snapdragon G9550?!

No need to root for adblocker, you can get adblocker through "Adhell" or "Disconnect for samsung browser" in play store. I don't think rooting is worth it on such a new device with many functions out of the box. Substratum also got samsung support without root.

mikey_sk said:
will the korean exynos firmware or custom rom built for that device even work for the snapdragon G9550?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it won't.

I have a G9550 (6GB/128GB) from Hong Kong and can confirm Vodafone 4G does not work on it, only 3G

nugget123 said:
I have a G9550 (6GB/128GB) from Hong Kong and can confirm Vodafone 4G does not work on it, only 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd considering it supports the necessary bands.
Have you set it to LTE mode?

murtaza02 said:
That's odd considering it supports the necessary bands.
Have you set it to LTE mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought it would support it straight out the box too but it only connects to 3G:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fsz6fqvop0ke7z3/2017-07-03 08.50.30.png?dl=0

nugget123 said:
I thought it would support it straight out the box too but it only connects to 3G:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fsz6fqvop0ke7z3/2017-07-03 08.50.30.png?dl=0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sure you have the APNs right?
Dial *#2683662# and tell me if a Service Mode menu pops up.

Erm I did get some OTA configurations when I put my Vodafone sim card in but I didn't accept them settings as it was browser changes and I didn't think they affected my data connection, could they be it?
It said:
service mode
menu not exist
press back to continue
current command is 1000
Edited to add:
I just looked in my access point list in settings and it does come up with Vodafones access point settings
Edited again to add:
I spoke to Vodafone who checked my APN settings and assured me they were correct
Edited again again to add:
Added the APN settings manually, restarted my phone and now it works with 4G ?

nugget123 said:
I have a G9550 (6GB/128GB) from Hong Kong and can confirm Vodafone 4G does not work on it, only 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i put a vodafone uk sim in it and and it works perfectly on 4G
both slots gve me 4g, o2 in slot 1 and voda in slot 2
only thing i dont get anymore is 4G+ - any help on this?

mikey_sk said:
i put a vodafone uk sim in it and and it works perfectly on 4G
both slots gve me 4g, o2 in slot 1 and voda in slot 2
only thing i dont get anymore is 4G+ - any help on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because the Chinese variants don't support carrier aggregation on the same bands used by networks in the UK.

I have 4g+ in china and Hong Kong but not here on voda uk

Global rom on Snapdragon N20U version ?

Hello guys,
in my country (france) if i import a N20U with the snapdragon processor, i know for example samsung pay and volte doesn't work and updates software maybe not in same time (and different?), my question is, can i flash a qualcomm version with a global rom intended for the model with exynos processor? and if it's possible samsung pay volte etc work like the europe version after that?
Maybe it's a stupid question but the last time i used odin for flash a phone it's in 2012 so .. ?

alex47310 said:
Hello guys,
in my country (france) if i import a N20U with the snapdragon processor, i know for example samsung pay and volte doesn't work and updates software maybe not in same time (and different?), my question is, can i flash a qualcomm version with a global rom intended for the model with exynos processor? and if it's possible samsung pay volte etc work like the europe version after that?
Maybe it's a stupid question but the last time i used odin for flash a phone it's in 2012 so ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I wouldn't assume that Samsung pay and VoLTE wouldn't work - it's actually likely they would, as Samsung Pay appears to work if the phone's CSC is for a country/region with Samsung Pay, and VoLTE appears to work if the phone has your carrier's frequencies and your carrier supports it;
2) Short answer is no, you can't flash an Exynos ROM on a Snapdragon model;
3) if your goal is to get a Note 20 with the Snapdragon processor, I would suggest you also check out the thread on the HK SM-N9860.

jtOttawa said:
1) I wouldn't assume that Samsung pay and VoLTE wouldn't work - it's actually likely they would, as Samsung Pay appears to work if the phone's CSC is for a country/region with Samsung Pay, and VoLTE appears to work if the phone has your carrier's frequencies and your carrier supports it;
2) Short answer is no, you can't flash an Exynos ROM on a Snapdragon model;
3) if your goal is to get a Note 20 with the Snapdragon processor, I would suggest you also check out the thread on the HK SM-N9860.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer

alex47310 said:
Thanks for your answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope it is helpful. I would add that while Samsung Pay likely would work in France using a U.S. N20U, it would be the U.S. version of Samsung Pay, and therefore not all cards from France would necessarily work with it, as again, Samsung Pay appears to be inextricably linked to the phone's CSC (country-specific code).
That said, as you will see in the thread on the HK SM-N9860, users are reporting good success with Samsung Pay outside of HK, for example.
Would welcome others weighing in on the compatibility and pros/cons of different ROMs with the various models of Note, as my knowledge is very limited in that regard.

alex47310 said:
Hello guys,
in my country (france) if i import a N20U with the snapdragon processor, i know for example samsung pay and volte doesn't work and updates software maybe not in same time (and different?), my question is, can i flash a qualcomm version with a global rom intended for the model with exynos processor? and if it's possible samsung pay volte etc work like the europe version after that?
Maybe it's a stupid question but the last time i used odin for flash a phone it's in 2012 so ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in the UK and volte works perfectly. I tried with 2 different mobile operators. The same with wifi calling. Samsung Pay also works perfectly, it just displays Chinese promos.

jtOttawa said:
Hope it is helpful. I would add that while Samsung Pay likely would work in France using a U.S. N20U, it would be the U.S. version of Samsung Pay, and therefore not all cards from France would necessarily work with it, as again, Samsung Pay appears to be inextricably linked to the phone's CSC (country-specific code).
That said, as you will see in the thread on the HK SM-N9860, users are reporting good success with Samsung Pay outside of HK, for example.
Would welcome others weighing in on the compatibility and pros/cons of different ROMs with the various models of Note, as my knowledge is very limited in that regard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for all precisions, i will check the threads about this model

VirtualWaver said:
I live in the UK and volte works perfectly. I tried with 2 different mobile operators. The same with wifi calling. Samsung Pay also works perfectly, it just displays Chinese promos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chinese promos ? on samsung pay you mean ? you have the SM-9860 ?

alex47310 said:
chinese promos ? on samsung pay you mean ? you have the SM-9860 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just until VirtualWaver replies, that's right - because it is the HK version of Samsung Pay on that model. His point was that he was using it successfully outside of HK, in the UK.
The key differences between the HK model and the N20U you are considering (apart from US vs HK Samsung Pay) is the HK model is dual-SIM, and comes with 256 GB of storage (versus the US base model's 128 GB).
Note as well the discussions in the threads about getting 5G on the HK model, which may be problematic.

alex47310 said:
chinese promos ? on samsung pay you mean ? you have the SM-9860 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, promos related to country of CSC (Hong Kong in my case) - see the attached screenshot.
I have SM-9860 imported from Hong Kong (via Wondamobile).
All works great, only Hong Kong related ads in the app instead of your local ads and it doesn't allow to use UK transport card, only Smart Octopus (HK travel card) but this is only to touch in in transport without turning on the phone - you can still touch in and pay in public transport by swapping to Samsung Pay in lock screen and authorising the payment via biometrics.
I added my UK bank card and a few store cards and they all work flawlessly.

Confirmed Samsung Pay worked in Canada too ( SM-N9860 ), however not anymore since I rooted

inningsdefeat500 said:
Confirmed Samsung Pay worked in Canada too ( SM-N9860 ), however not anymore since I rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is 5G working for you?

jtOttawa said:
Is 5G working for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't tested but cannot right? but due to bands

jtOttawa said:
Hope it is helpful. I would add that while Samsung Pay likely would work in France using a U.S. N20U, it would be the U.S. version of Samsung Pay, and therefore not all cards from France would necessarily work with it, as again, Samsung Pay appears to be inextricably linked to the phone's CSC (country-specific code).
That said, as you will see in the thread on the HK SM-N9860, users are reporting good success with Samsung Pay outside of HK, for example.
Would welcome others weighing in on the compatibility and pros/cons of different ROMs with the various models of Note, as my knowledge is very limited in that regard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's helpful
This csc is annoying because the phone will have updates at the same time as China and I read that the updates are really later than in France

VirtualWaver said:
Yes, promos related to country of CSC (Hong Kong in my case) - see the attached screenshot.
I have SM-9860 imported from Hong Kong (via Wondamobile).
All works great, only Hong Kong related ads in the app instead of your local ads and it doesn't allow to use UK transport card, only Smart Octopus (HK travel card) but this is only to touch in in transport without turning on the phone - you can still touch in and pay in public transport by swapping to Samsung Pay in lock screen and authorising the payment via biometrics.
I added my UK bank card and a few store cards and they all work flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok i see it's not a big problem for adds if it's just in samsung pay , i saw a lot that website ( wondamobile ) on forums, it's seems more serious than sellers on rakuten, i'm just a little bit scare about warranty

SM-N9860 newbie - which CSC?

Hi
My SM-9860 is on its way to me and I am trying to get my head round the options. I think it will have TGY but I am confused about whether I should change this. I will be using it primarily in Latin America (where we don't have 5G yet).
Is someone willing to explain the benefits/disadvantages/differences of TGY, BRI or CHC, which, I believe, are the options available to me? I'm not really bothered about call-recording, which, I understand, is a difference. I definitely want Google Play services, though.
Edit: I also don't care about Samsung Pay.

n-j-f said:
Hi
My SM-9860 is on its way to me and I am trying to get my head round the options. I think it will have TGY but I am confused about whether I should change this. I will be using it primarily in Latin America (where we don't have 5G yet).
Is someone willing to explain the benefits/disadvantages/differences of TGY, BRI or CHC, which, I believe, are the options available to me? I'm not really bothered about call-recording, which, I understand, is a difference. I definitely want Google Play services, though.
Edit: I also don't care about Samsung Pay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's plenty of threads about this on here. Go read.

Limeybastard said:
There's plenty of threads about this on here. Go read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I have been doing. But there appear to be no clear, but often contradictory, answers. That was why I was hoping someone would be able to explain it to me.

n-j-f said:
That's what I have been doing. But there appear to be no clear, but often contradictory, answers. That was why I was hoping someone would be able to explain it to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a whole thread about explaining the differences between chc and bri and tgy. I've seen it and even participated in that thread.
People that want call recording use chc. Bri and tgy are almost identical and I never noticed anything different when using samkey to change my previous note 20 ultra from tgy to bri.
I hope the sm-n9860 supports carrier aggregation for you in your region. Because it didn't in N America for me.
My sm-n985F note 20 ultra non 5G did support partial carrier aggregation for me in USA however.

Limeybastard said:
There's a whole thread about explaining the differences between chc and bri and tgy. I've seen it and even participated in that thread.
People that want call recording use chc. Bri and tgy are almost identical and I never noticed anything different when using samkey to change my previous note 20 ultra from tgy to bri.
I hope the sm-n9860 supports carrier aggregation for you in your region. Because it didn't in N America for me.
My sm-n985F note 20 ultra non 5G did support partial carrier aggregation for me in USA however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I appreciate your help. I will try to search again for the thread you mention. I may need to use different search words.

Deleted and asked elsewhere.

Steps to get the SM-N9860 optimal for UK use

Hello all,
I have recently purchased a shiny new Hong Kong version of the Note 20 Ultra 5G (SM-N9860). I am based in the UK, and want to get the most functionality out of the phone, namely:
- 5g capability on the Three network
- Samsung Pay working
- inbuilt call recorder
- VoLte working
I have had a read through various posts on these forums, and it seems I would need to do one or both of the below:
- Change the CSC using the Google Dialler trick
- Change the firmware using the patched ODIN tool, and a firmware from Sammobile
Now my question is threefold:
- What combination of the above two steps do I take?
- Which region do I change the CSC and/or firmware to (UK or otherwise)?
- If I have to change either the CSC and/or firmware to a region with the exynos variant, will that cause problems, as the SM-N9860 is the snapdragon version?
Thank you for bearing with me

I have the same phone. There's a menu hack code to get 5g working (whitelist) and it's fine for me (Vodafone UK), although I disable it as it rips through the battery. I think that works for Vodafone and EE, but not sure about Three as they might use a different band. Wouldn't touch them with a bargepole anyway.
Samsung Pay let me register my Nationwide UK card with the HK portal. Took a few goes but it works fine now.
I'm very happy with the phone (no idea what VOLTE is) and I don't need call recording. All works without changing the firmware.

Voice over LTE = Volte

kradcliffe said:
I have the same phone. There's a menu hack code to get 5g working (whitelist) and it's fine for me (Vodafone UK), although I disable it as it rips through the battery. I think that works for Vodafone and EE, but not sure about Three as they might use a different band. Wouldn't touch them with a bargepole anyway.
Samsung Pay let me register my Nationwide UK card with the HK portal. Took a few goes but it works fine now.
I'm very happy with the phone (no idea what VOLTE is) and I don't need call recording. All works without changing the firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you register your uk cards with samsung pay hk?

Just put the details in and it accepted them. I really can't remember the process as it was so long ago.

kradcliffe said:
Just put the details in and it accepted them. I really can't remember the process as it was so long ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, also where did you find the menu hack code for 5g

It's on Google. Just search for Note 20 Ultra Hong Kong 5g whitelist or somethig like that.

Question S22 Ultra esim enable TGY csc

Hello all, new here! Never rooted a device, I'm very technical and confident but would like to ask the question as to why I'm looking to root or change CSC.
Currently my S22 ultra 512 is a Dual sim Hong Kong purchased device. TGY is the current CSC, basically I'd like to use the esim option and phones sold in Asia specifically China, Hong Kong & Macau at least I'm told have this disabled. My note20 ultra dual sim is the same. By changing csc/firmware can I enable this feature that other s22s have? Basically is there another s22 with identical hardware dual SIM and all that I can put on the phone that will enable this feature? I'd like call recordeding if possible as a phone feature rather app but it's not important. I'll attach screen shots of what versions I currently have. Sorry if I'm asking the wrong questions I'm technical but new to android rooting.. Willing to PayPal or donate to anyone who can assist me through the process. SM-S9080 TGY I know the Taiwan sold device is basically the same hardware but have not received a clear answer if esim is enabled, thinking no but figured I'd mention it. I'd also like to do the same to my Note20 Ultra. Thanks in advance

Watching

I think SM-S908E/DS is the same hardware
Dual sim snapdragon variant for midd&le east

hoss_n2 said:
I think SM-S908E/DS is the same hardware
Dual sim snapdragon variant for midd&le east
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, so worth a try? I'm fairly worried and willing to pay for advice. Rather not brick my phone .. [email protected]
Or WhatsApp is +85254440929
Appreciate the quick response.

I'm hoping this works out, I assume if it does my Note 20 ultra 512g dual sim hk spec phone will to using the same principle?

hoss_n2 said:
I think SM-S908E/DS is the same hardware
Dual sim snapdragon variant for midd&le east
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would there be any issues using a UAE CSC such as XSG? Or would another CSC be suggested? I'm aware that in parts of UAE you can not use WhatsApp or equivalent calling ect? Sorry for the basic questions, last one lol.. Doing this will root the phone or just change the software?
Thank you kindly

12453RS3 said:
Would there be any issues using a UAE CSC such as XSG? Or would another CSC be suggested? I'm aware that in parts of UAE you can not use WhatsApp or equivalent calling ect? Sorry for the basic questions, last one lol.. Doing this will root the phone or just change the software?
Thank you kindly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Egy csc have call recording , but this is only valid for s22 ultra because both are snapdragon , for note 20 ultra different hardware
12453RS3 said:
Would there be any issues using a UAE CSC such as XSG? Or would another CSC be suggested? I'm aware that in parts of UAE you can not use WhatsApp or equivalent calling ect? Sorry for the basic questions, last one lol.. Doing this will root the phone or just change the software?
Thank you kindly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hi Guys, someone can confirm if CSC TGY have esim activated on S22 ultra SM-S9080? o wich carrier could have it?

I'm having exactly the same issue... just tried out the HK and CN variant. Both don't an eSIM support.
However, I've also read somewhere that Samsung has "dropped" the eSim support in on of the recent Firmware versions, because the had too much trouble with that.
So the quesetion is: Is this a regional issue (e.g. TGY, etc.) or is is a "Version" issue (e.g. an earlier version still might have it)
Best!

hoss_n2 said:
I think SM-S908E/DS is the same hardware
Dual sim snapdragon variant for midd&le east
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi i have a s9080 hk model and tried flashing the s908e/ds firmware through odin buy kept getting failed partition error

i want to share my experience with my note9, it was the N variant - South Korea, i had network issues in which case i had to root my phone and install a custom rom which had csc of my country and i worked great.
if you could do with a rooted phone follow this:
1. check if your phone is listed as rootable.
2. check if your phone has a custom rom:
if YES you could see or ask for what you need ( in the Rom's forum or the developer).
if NO wait and keep researching.
dont flash another region firmware even if its the "same phone" you might break the phone.

Okay, quick info: I've flashed all three regions (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) on the SM-S9080 (current firmware versions june to Sep) and none of them have eSIM support.
This is really annoying - especially when all the offical samsung websites praise that the phone supports esim.
I'm personally pretty pissed off and the key reason is that I know that other users of the same phone in other regions of the world can use it and I'm not able to do this, because the programmers just want to make their lives easy and "silently" drop this feature from the firmware.
Something similar happened about 15 years back with a Sony device and since then I've never ever bought anything from Sony again (neither phone nor anything else). So the same is probably going to happen with Samsung.

SamLux said:
Okay, quick info: I've flashed all three regions (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) on the SM-S9080 (current firmware versions june to Sep) and none of them have eSIM support.
This is really annoying - especially when all the offical samsung websites praise that the phone supports esim.
I'm personally pretty pissed off and the key reason is that I know that other users of the same phone in other regions of the world can use it and I'm not able to do this, because the programmers just want to make their lives easy and "silently" drop this feature from the firmware.
Something similar happened about 15 years back with a Sony device and since then I've never ever bought anything from Sony again (neither phone nor anything else). So the same is probably going to happen with Samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you flash a different CSC, I read that since basically the firmware reads your sim, grabs the CSC from that, that if you leave it out, on the boot up screen before you start the setup, you can hold Volume down, I believe or some button combo to skip through set up so you don't need a SIM to complete it.. then you have the actual firmwares original CSC and not the one that was read from your SIM card.. Cuz if not no matter what firm u are you flashing, if your SIM card is in there and you run set up it's going to go by that. The firms are supposedly all the same but what's changes is the CSC each time.. now overseas, United States, snapdragon vs Exyno it's a different story. They do have different firmware's...
But I do know that the phones are basically all universally the same all the same hardware but it's the firmware the software that does all the matter of difference... Including the bootloader for instance. We all have the same hardware but I can't unlock mine it's software there that can do it.. if I find the site up forward it for you.. have you gone into the service mode after enabling it? There's a bunch of crap you can do in there that has to do with antennas and SIM cards and ESIM stuff you might just need to enable something.

soyelreyy said:
When you flash a different CSC, I read that since basically the firmware reads your sim, grabs the CSC from that, that if you leave it out, on the boot up screen before you start the setup, you can hold Volume down, I believe or some button combo to skip through set up so you don't need a SIM to complete it.. then you have the actual firmwares original CSC and not the one that was read from your SIM card.. Cuz if not no matter what firm u are you flashing, if your SIM card is in there and you run set up it's going to go by that. The firms are supposedly all the same but what's changes is the CSC each time.. now overseas, United States, snapdragon vs Exyno it's a different story. They do have different firmware's...
But I do know that the phones are basically all universally the same all the same hardware but it's the firmware the software that does all the matter of difference... Including the bootloader for instance. We all have the same hardware but I can't unlock mine it's software there that can do it.. if I find the site up forward it for you.. have you gone into the service mode after enabling it? There's a bunch of crap you can do in there that has to do with antennas and SIM cards and ESIM stuff you might just need to enable something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I've (think to have) learned so far:
There are two different hardware combinations: (a) the snapdragon variant and (b) the Exynos combination. For each combination, there are differernt firmwares available
Each firmware (e.g. SN-S9080) is a special combination of modem-settings, software configuration, etc. that is geared to optimize the phone performance and battery consumption
For each firmware, you have then certain CSC variants, wihch then further add which apps are available, etc. (for example in the Taiwan variant, Google is available, while in the China Mainlaind variant it is not)
During the first-time installation process, you can choose the language of the phone (and maybe also the CSC), but you can't change the firmware
Therefore, my problem is this: I've tried all the CSCs which are available for m firmware (SN-S9080) but none has eSIM support. Now I want to flash a differetn firmware (e.g the SM-S908E firnware), but Odin currently doesn't let me flash this onto my phone.
Does anyone have a guidline of how to flash a SN90E firmware onto a phone which currently runs a SN-S9080 firmware?
Best!

SamLux said:
What I've (think to have) learned so far:
There are two different hardware combinations: (a) the snapdragon variant and (b) the Exynos combination. For each combination, there are differernt firmwares available
Each firmware (e.g. SN-S9080) is a special combination of modem-settings, software configuration, etc. that is geared to optimize the phone performance and battery consumption
For each firmware, you have then certain CSC variants, wihch then further add which apps are available, etc. (for example in the Taiwan variant, Google is available, while in the China Mainlaind variant it is not)
During the first-time installation process, you can choose the language of the phone (and maybe also the CSC), but you can't change the firmware
Therefore, my problem is this: I've tried all the CSCs which are available for m firmware (SN-S9080) but none has eSIM support. Now I want to flash a differetn firmware (e.g the SM-S908E firnware), but Odin currently doesn't let me flash this onto my phone.
Does anyone have a guidline of how to flash a SN90E firmware onto a phone which currently runs a SN-S9080 firmware?
Best!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think the chinese s9080 is locked down only because you cant flash other firmware like other models most secret codes like to change bands dont work and this model took agesto get one ui 5.0 update

Well, I can flash different CSC variants, e.g. the Taiwan or the HK variant (and these are not multi-CSC firmwares, but seperate files).
However, does anyone have an idea of how to flash e.g. the S908E firmware onto a phone that is currently running S9080?
I was able to flash all files of the S9080 variant (including BL - the boot loader), so that means that the phone is *not* locked, right?
I've tried to click the repartitioning option (because the S908E is bigger than the S9080), but that also didn't help.
Do I maybe really need need to "root" the phone first for flashing another firmware? This doesn't sound logicall, so I tried to avoid rooting so far ...
Any ideas or a link to a "how to" is warmly welcome ...

soyelreyy said:
When you flash a different CSC, I read that since basically the firmware reads your sim, grabs the CSC from that, that if you leave it out, on the boot up screen before you start the setup, you can hold Volume down, I believe or some button combo to skip through set up so you don't need a SIM to complete it.. then you have the actual firmwares original CSC and not the one that was read from your SIM card.. Cuz if not no matter what firm u are you flashing, if your SIM card is in there and you run set up it's going to go by that. The firms are supposedly all the same but what's changes is the CSC each time.. now overseas, United States, snapdragon vs Exyno it's a different story. They do have different firmware's...
But I do know that the phones are basically all universally the same all the same hardware but it's the firmware the software that does all the matter of difference... Including the bootloader for instance. We all have the same hardware but I can't unlock mine it's software there that can do it.. if I find the site up forward it for you.. have you gone into the service mode after enabling it? There's a bunch of crap you can do in there that has to do with antennas and SIM cards and ESIM stuff you might just need to enable something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with an without SIM card didn't make a dfference. The firmware files for 9080 are all single CSCs anyway.

So after more than five weeks of trying around, I finally have to say that it seems impossible to enable eSIM on a 9080 (i.e. the version bought in China).
I've tried so many things by now (the VN Rom, the Dr Ketan Rom, switching CSC to Hong Kong or Taiwan, etc.).
So my conclusion is this: You have two options
a) Don't buy a Samsung Galaxy phone at all
b) If you really want to by a Samsung, then buy on from a region where there are the least restrictions on your firmware in the first place.
Everything afterwards turns into frustration.