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So I am on this great trip through Asia (currently in Nepal, for the curious), but unfortunately my HTC phone got wet and stopped serving me. So soon I will be going to Bangkok, and I was considering getting myself a phone there. My question is whether phones in Thailand, and especially the Huawei Ascend brand, come with a simlock? I also wonder the same for the Samsung Galaxy line. And if these phones are simlocked, are these locks easily removed? I know that Huawei delivers tools to root your phone easily, but does rooting also give me a simlock free phone?
Probably this question has been answered somewhere on this forum, but please excuse me for not searching thoroughly since Nepal has horrible internet connections and posting this question already requires tremendous efforts and time. So imagine what searching a forum would be like.
iLaurens said:
So I am on this great trip through Asia (currently in Nepal, for the curious), but unfortunately my HTC phone got wet and stopped serving me. So soon I will be going to Bangkok, and I was considering getting myself a phone there. My question is whether phones in Thailand, and especially the Huawei Ascend brand, come with a simlock? I also wonder the same for the Samsung Galaxy line. And if these phones are simlocked, are these locks easily removed? I know that Huawei delivers tools to root your phone easily, but does rooting also give me a simlock free phone?
Probably this question has been answered somewhere on this forum, but please excuse me for not searching thoroughly since Nepal has horrible internet connections and posting this question already requires tremendous efforts and time. So imagine what searching a forum would be like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxy Series have both sim locked and unlocked versions!!
the can be locked to orange, o2, version, or few like this..
i have tried unlocking s2 and s3 they were real easy to unlock..
if you want i could also make you a video tutorial for that.. just subscribe to my youtube channel (see my signature)
or you could simply buy an unlocked one ie international version of phone!!
Hope you enjoy your trip
Ok great, so Galaxy series would be a safe bet. Im not sure if I should trust the sometimes dodgy resellers in Bangkok though, that's why I also would like to know for sure for the Huawei series. I can't seem to find any reference of it on google though.
I emailed Huawei USA last week asking about availability and pricing and they wrote back that they had no information and that I needed to contact the international division. So, I did, still waiting to hear back. Looks like this is not coming to the US though based on that interaction.
Do Huawei phones ever come to the US?
sanjsrik said:
I emailed Huawei USA last week asking about availability and pricing and they wrote back that they had no information and that I needed to contact the international division. So, I did, still waiting to hear back. Looks like this is not coming to the US though based on that interaction.
Do Huawei phones ever come to the US?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can buy the Ascend Mate 2 directly from GetHuawei.com and it will work on AT&T and T-Mobile although I don't have details about full LTE speeds or not. Since Huawei supposedly created that site for american consumers to buy the Mate 2, I am hoping they will quickly make the Mate 7 available via that site and that it will support full LTE speeds - not Cat 6 since I think it is barely supported in the US (if at all) so far.
I don't see the Mate7, in the USA, being sold for the same price point as the Mate2.
Also, having owned the Mate2 for a couple months, I see the light! High class specs,
in "real world" operation, are for the birds. Yes, the Mate2 has a slower processor,
lower density screen, older android build, but, I use up two 2000 minutes, 2gb of data,
couple hundred text, emails and it works like a champ, fast, bright clear screen. For
my preferences, these "mid spec" devices work perfectly, and save me a LOT of money.
sanjsrik said:
I emailed Huawei USA last week asking about availability and pricing and they wrote back that they had no information and that I needed to contact the international division. So, I did, still waiting to hear back. Looks like this is not coming to the US though based on that interaction.
Do Huawei phones ever come to the US?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks like Huawei has started answering questions on their mobile store website:
http://www.huaweimobileshop.com/hua...ndroid-4-4-octa-core-3gb-32gb-smartphone.html
From Luis at 9/15/14 10:33 AM:
hello i live in newyork city ( USA ) i have 3 questions :
1- Do You Ship To United States. ( Newyork City ).
2- Which Website Can I Place My Order. And Buy The Mate 7.
3- Does The Ascend Mate 7 Comes With The Google Play Store Install.
¡¡ THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!
From Huawei Mobile:
Thank you for your mail.
We support shipping to United States,
Huawei Ascend Mate7 will be released at the end of September,
We will email you at the first time when the Huawei Ascend Mate7 smartphone be available,
you need to download the Google Play Store in the APPS center.
Looks like a couple more weeks until it's officially released. But on the bright side, it looks like it will be available direct from Huawei for shipping to the US.
Not compatible with the T-Mobile 4G LTE network, better check about AT&T to be sure
Techngro said:
It looks like Huawei has started answering questions on their mobile store website:
http://www.huaweimobileshop.com/hua...ndroid-4-4-octa-core-3gb-32gb-smartphone.html
From Luis at 9/15/14 10:33 AM:
hello i live in newyork city ( USA ) i have 3 questions :
1- Do You Ship To United States. ( Newyork City ).
2- Which Website Can I Place My Order. And Buy The Mate 7.
3- Does The Ascend Mate 7 Comes With The Google Play Store Install.
¡¡ THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!
From Huawei Mobile:
Thank you for your mail.
We support shipping to United States,
Huawei Ascend Mate7 will be released at the end of September,
We will email you at the first time when the Huawei Ascend Mate7 smartphone be available,
you need to download the Google Play Store in the APPS center.
Looks like a couple more weeks until it's officially released. But on the bright side, it looks like it will be available direct from Huawei for shipping to the US.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got a response back from them, NOT compatible with the T-Mobile 4G LTE site, just letting you know.
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.
Users from eastern Europe/Europa, maybe from other parts of the world other than America report horrible google habits...
NO 5g. NO Volte! NO VoIP ! Sometimes No SIM detected (of course the SIM is in the phone) ! Can't use internet when you are in a call..
These people talk to phone companies (Orange, Vodafone, Telekom) about this Horrible problems . The answer was that stupid google block this options in these part of the world because they don't give a f*ck about people from these countries.
Could not satisfy google insatiable GREED! for money !
Do you friends have this on your Pixel 7 pro ? If so how do you even use the phone?..
Any of you have Graphene OS on your Pixel 7 pro ? These problems are still threre?
I post this because i want to buy Pixel 7 pro..
Thank you.
Happy new year !!! All the best !
If it was down to greed they would let the phones run fully everywhere and not give a toss whether it worked or not.
Meh, don't get me started...
Gookill is the worst. Anything higher than Android 10 sucks. Might as well be Apple now.
Same deal as MS did; Google wants to force you to use cloud rather than expandable storage. All the more user data for them to collect. Google is wholesale spreaders of disinformation, hype, biased censorship, and are highly politically biased/manipulative.
Recommendation; buy a Note 10+ running on Android 9 or 10. No variable refresh rate display but better color/gamma accuracy and calibration. Good cams and up to 1tb expandable storage.
A long lived dependable workhouse that gets good SOT and runs like a bat out of hell. Even though it's 3 yo it keeps pace with the newest flagships for most tasks, only slightly slower and sometimes faster. Almost always gets better SOT. Excellent form factor, balance and build quality. Runs well stock once optimized. If you want to stay stock the Snapdragon variants are the best.
I didn't understand what you mean. I have two devices in the family. one with GOS and one original Stock. Both are working without any problems.
There aren't many reports either about the problems you are mentioning, at least not in Germany.
Germany is not really in the middle of nowhere now is it? Just like the Netherlands where I live.
Never be the first to buy a new phone and do your research before buying.
I do have to agree that this phone has its share of issues, minor ones but nevertheless.
My stock dialer just doesn't work, replaced it.VERY annoying!
My stock camera app goes black after a couple of shots when shooting at night. Booting fixes it. VERY annoying!
The stock launcher is so basic and with the un-removable search bar. Replaced by Lawnchair. VERY annoying!
What else...
I do love the phone though, battery life for one is truly epic, photo quality likewise!
I'm in Italy, on TIM provider, no such issue. I have 5G, VoLTE, I can use internet when calling and my SIM is always detected. My provider is testing VoIP now, but I'm not interested as I'm on an unlimited 5G plan.
My dialer and camera app work perfectly.
Stock launcher is stock launcher, you have a ton to choose from. If you prefer a wholy stock phone, buy an iPhone.
I suggest to edit title to "Horrible Google in Germany".
It's also not a Germany problem. I have 2 Prepaid Sims in (blau (o2network) and a vodafone callya as esim). For both volte is working without problem, the vodafone one also have 5g, no problems with dialer or anything else....
blackspp said:
Germany is not really in the middle of nowhere now is it? Just like the Netherlands where I live.
Never be the first to buy a new phone and do your research before buying.
I do have to agree that this phone has its share of issues, minor ones but nevertheless.
My stock dialer just doesn't work, replaced it.VERY annoying!
My stock camera app goes black after a couple of shots when shooting at night. Booting fixes it. VERY annoying!
The stock launcher is so basic and with the un-removable search bar. Replaced by Lawnchair. VERY annoying!
What else...
I do love the phone though, battery life for one is truly epic, photo quality likewise!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock launcher should be fast, stable and very user customizable. One reason I like Samsung's... lol, at least the N10+ as their hardware after this just doesn't hit the mark. The N9 is way too slow to be practical. Pixel's philosophy is sort of one size vanilla fits all and lacks needed customization options in my opinion. Clearly if you need to resort to using a 3rd party launcher Pixel fell short of meeting your needs with this core UI application. *meh*
After Android 10 Google Android went to scoped storage dumb bunny hell. Pie is still my preferred OS. This 3 yo flagship with 3 yo firmware provides a better overall user experience, balance and functionality in my opinion. It's a joy to use and very capable. It's not drowning in needless security protocols or hardware bloat... it just works day after day. Security for me is simply not an issue in real time usage; this load is over 2.5 yo, still fast, stable with no known security breaches. I use a few modifications and practices but nothing too drastic on this stock Android to achieve this. I spend very little time doing maintenance and troubleshooting.
So yeah, not liking Google's or Samsung's constant ball drops. No slam dunks, for years now. Pathetic.
MrBelter said:
If it was down to greed they would let the phones run fully everywhere and not give a toss whether it worked or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO !
Only sale in Rich country's ! That's GREED .
Germany is Not a poor conuntry.
About google...
Google destroyed OxygenOS with his creap apps. Now "works" to annihilate Motorola UI.
Icreap is poop. Prison! To decode an icreap is called jail break.
Samsung is full of bloatware & the BS with ecosystem... And the Really Slow charging... Samsung Note 10+ 5g is the most beautifull phone for me. In my case was slow. Oneplus 8 Pro.. compared to Note 10+ was flying.
Back to Pixel 7 pro. My hope was that someone have Graphene Os on the phone and all the blocking is gone. With the Privacy of Graphene, too.
The problems i mentioned are in Romania & other eastern Europe.
SilentEYE said:
I didn't understand what you mean. I have two devices in the family. one with GOS and one original Stock. Both are working without any problems.
There aren't many reports either about the problems you are mentioning, at least not in Germany.
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error
null0seven said:
NO !
Only sale in Rich country's ! That's GREED .
Germany is Not a poor conuntry.
About google...
Google destroyed OxygenOS with his creap apps. Now "works" to annihilate Motorola UI.
Icreap is poop. Prison! To decode an icreap is called jail break.
Samsung is full of bloatware & the BS with ecosystem... And the Really Slow charging... Samsung Note 10+ 5g is the most beautifull phone for me. In my case was slow. Oneplus 8 Pro.. compared to Note 10+ was flying.
Back to Pixel 7 pro. My hope was that someone have Graphene Os on the phone and all the blocking is gone. With the Privacy of Graphene, too.
The problems i mentioned are in Romania & other eastern Europe.
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So how come the Pixel 5a was only sold in 2 countries if that was genuinly the case?
This topic is a little bit of rage, but to put things into perspective. OP is right at some points. I live in Slovakia and I have had so far:
Pixel 5
Pixel 6
Pixel 6 Pro
Pixel 7
Pixel 7 Pro
And neither of them was fully functional in Slovakia. What I mean by that? VoLTE/VoWiFi/5G are not working with any of the available carriers. I have checked with them all personally. They have proved and confirmed the issues are on the Google side.
In order to achieve full functionality, you must root the phone and use all sort of mods to enable all of the features. And to this day, I am not sure why is Google doing this. For this reason only I am switching between my Z Fold4 and iPhone 14 Pro. The moment Google will finally and kindly enable 100% of functionality to its Pixel devices in every country, I am getting it full time.
gpvecchi said:
I'm in Italy, on TIM provider, no such issue. I have 5G, VoLTE,
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Works because it has carrier configs made by Google for TIM (222-01)
null0seven said:
Users from eastern Europe/Europa, maybe from other parts of the world other than America report horrible google habits...
NO 5g. NO Volte! NO VoIP !
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That's because Google has a very bad habit to play like they're Apple (on network side)
But with no significant market share
"The carrier should contact us to ""certify"" our phone to their network"
which translates in
"Won't enable anything until X carrier contacts us to add their network to our internal whitelist"
Funny enough, that problem exist even with "certified" carriers, like windtre (222-88) where you can't use their N78 60mhz only because Google ""certified"" only 40mhz N78 max for them, doesn't matter if with other phones even 150€ everything works perfectly
That problem will exist with other carriers if they will have more spectrum than allowed by their carrier policies (like EE [UK network] if they will merge their N78 blocks)
Is it country specific? I'm in the UK and I have been with 3 different providers/operators since I have had my Pixel 7 Pro. Here it seems more down to the telecom operator.
The first - No 5G, no VoWiFi, No VoLTE
The second - No 5G, no VoWiFi, No VoLTE
Now on my 3rd provider where I get 5G, VoWiFi, and VoLTE
The first two simply say they do not support the device. I'm not sure why that would be, they also didn't 'sell' any current Pixel Phones.
Is there a charge or operating cost to Google (or someone else) to support a device with the extra network functionality? Maybe the operator doesn't believe it's worth paying for the smaller number of potential customers with that device. Or maybe some operators never get the choice to activate those features based on their country/region? Who knows.
pemz82 said:
Is it country specific? I'm in the UK and I have been with 3 different providers/operators since I have had my Pixel 7 Pro. Here it seems more down to the telecom operator.
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Not, more like carrier specific
Are the first two providers MVNO?
chabuje99 said:
Not, more like carrier specific
Are the first two providers MVNO?
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All 3 have been MVNO. One uses O2, one Vodafone, and the final is Three (Hutchison UK)
pemz82 said:
All 3 have been MVNO. One uses O2, one Vodafone, and the final is Three (Hutchison UK)
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pemz82 said:
The first - No 5G, no VoWiFi, No VoLTE
The second - No 5G, no VoWiFi, No VoLTE
Now on my 3rd provider where I get 5G, VoWiFi, and VoLTE
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Odd. I'm in the UK and I'm on Vodafone UK on pay monthly, using a Pixel 7 Pro bought from Very so it's network unbranded and unlocked. I took delivery mid October just after release date and I have had fully working 5G and VoLTE since day one and voice over WiFi has worked since the November update.
Not sure what you could have been doing wrong.
Beefheart said:
Odd. I'm in the UK and I'm on Vodafone UK on pay monthly, using a Pixel 7 Pro bought from Very so it's network unbranded and unlocked. I took delivery mid October just after release date and I have had fully working 5G and VoLTE since day one and voice over WiFi has worked since the November update.
Not sure what you could have been doing wrong.
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They were MVNO's not the main network.
First was Sky Mobile (who use O2)
Second was Lebara (who use Vodafone)
Third is Smarty (who use Three)
Sky and Lebara could have opened access for 5G/VoLTE/VoWiFi for Pixel phones but chose not to for whatever reason. The parent networks they run on (O2 and Vodafone) allow access to these features on Pixel devices. So it is not the physical network, it is the carrier choosing not to allow access.
Thankfully Smarty do allow access to all features for Pixel devices.
pemz82 said:
They were MVNO's not the main network.
First was Sky Mobile (who use O2)
Second was Lebara (who use Vodafone)
Third is Smarty (who use Three)
Sky and Lebara could have opened access for 5G/VoLTE/VoWiFi for Pixel phones but chose not to for whatever reason. The parent networks they run on (O2 and Vodafone) allow access to these features on Pixel devices. So it is not the physical network, it is the carrier choosing not to allow access.
Thankfully Smarty do allow access to all features for Pixel devices.
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Understood. I'm moving when my contract is up in March, and likely to Talk Mobile who is an MVNO owned by Vodafone and who use their network. My son currently uses them so I will check with his sim card before moving.
Issue for me is that 3 are totally toilet in my area in terms of signal so I can't use Smarty.
Like i wrote in OP, users of Pixel 7 Pro complain to Orange, Vodafone, Telekom phone companies. The answer was that google block these options & they colud do nothing about it, because of google don't let them.
I want to buy the phone, but it works horrible in my country.