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Hi,
I am considering buying new Oneplus 7 on some other market than EU, because of pricing of OP company in different regions (especially Europe) is just outrageous. Buying it in USA is an issue because of the import fees (plus everyone is saying that in USA you can buy only TMobile version of the phone..)
So I thought abot United Arab Emirates. My father is an expat there, and the price ends up 130 EUR cheaper then Europe price (which is shameful, shameful, shameful, that everywhere in the world the phone is at least 130 EUR cheapaer), speaking about the Blue variant, 8/256 GB thru amazon.ae.
But I am wondering if there is any catch about UAE version, it is very secretive and restrictive kinggdom, especially in their efforts to block all but state monitored networks and VoIP/VoLTE apps.
But maybe I am just as paranoid as the UAE government is.. Thanks for your replies.
Feel free to buy it. It is global version as in Europe. No changes to firmware whatsoever.
Nexus5-32GB said:
Feel free to buy it. It is global version as in Europe. No changes to firmware whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen! I bought one from amazon.ae...No restrictions, it's a totally unlocked variant but the only difference is that you might be getting GM1913/ GM1910 rather than the Europe version...there won't be any difference in the hardware except for when you might get an update to the software...Since it's oneplus, you can easily install any global version of the Oxygen OS via the system updater rather than actually waiting for the update to be pushed to your phone...
Go ahead...save the 130Euro...
I am planning on buying a OP7 from a third-party seller in Canada, but I don't like my phones opened out of its factory packaging. Some people told me if I buy from this third-party seller, they get them from China and just change it to Oxygen OS, which would not be good for 2 reasons, 1) Since I live in Canada the Chinese version wouldn't work (I'm with Telus) and 2) I don't like my phones tinkered with as I mentioned before.
So do you guys know if OnePlus Hong Kong sells Global phones or Chinese phones? And if they do sell global phones, the third-party sellers usually wouldn't mess with them right? They wouldn't have a reason to?
Thanks a lot!
Minchan_5 said:
I am planning on buying a OP7 from a third-party seller in Canada, but I don't like my phones opened out of its factory packaging. Some people told me if I buy from this third-party seller, they get them from China and just change it to Oxygen OS, which would not be good for 2 reasons, 1) Since I live in Canada the Chinese version wouldn't work (I'm with Telus) and 2) I don't like my phones tinkered with as I mentioned before.
So do you guys know if OnePlus Hong Kong sells Global phones or Chinese phones? And if they do sell global phones, the third-party sellers usually wouldn't mess with them right? They wouldn't have a reason to?
Thanks a lot!
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Click to collapse
I am also from Canada and all versions of this phone even the china models work in Canada on every network except freedom mobile.
rohaanS said:
I am also from Canada and all versions of this phone even the china models work in Canada on every network except freedom mobile.
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Click to collapse
That's because they have the same hardware! Software is the only difference.
Hi Guys,
I have a possibility to buy an Unlocked version of Note 20 Ultra 5G from the US and ask a friend to bring it to the UK with them.
Apart from Snapdragon advantage, it will be even a little cheaper than buying in the UK.
I am, however, a bit worried about 5G support in the UK. I spent many hours torturing different Samsung US Live Chat Agents and BestBuy Live Chat Agents with the same questions and they all advised that the phone is fully unlocked and 5G will work in the UK. They also said there is no Region Lock so I can directly insert a UK sim card to it.
However, I am taking it with a grain of salt as the agents seem to care about sales only. Also, I couldn't find official band specifications for Note 20 Ultra on Samsung's website (correct me, if I am wrong, please).
Does anyone know if the 5G will work in the UK? Will VoLTE work? I know Samsung Pay won't work but I don't care at all - I always use Google Pay instead.
Also, will I get a Samsung firmware if I buy it from BestBuy, for firmware updates?
I really want to import it but don't want to end up getting a phone that will not have 5G or any other significant feature.
Can you please shed some light on this? Thanks.
You need to check the actual 5G bands on the device are compatible with your cellular provider.
ekerbuddyeker said:
You need to check the actual 5G bands on the device are compatible with your cellular provider.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, this is what I was thinking about too but I couldn't find any band specs on Samsung's website apart from generic 5G thing.
Any idea where can I find them? Thanks.
VirtualWaver said:
Thanks, this is what I was thinking about too but I couldn't find any band specs on Samsung's website apart from generic 5G thing.
Any idea where can I find them? Thanks.
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Click to collapse
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/S...he Note 20 Ultra is,a starting price of $1300.
https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=6280
Thanks a lot for the info.
Surprisingly, neither Samsung Chat nor their Facebook support do not know the specs, saying they are not published on the website which is strange.
According to the phonescoop site it doesn't support n78 which is the UK spec, but what is really surprising that it doesn't even list all 4G bands that are supported in the UK but I remember people were saying S20 Ultra was working fine with UK 4G... I am trying to call their e-commerce department to get a confirmation from them directly.
Man, the Samsung really messed the things up with their rubbish processor policy. To be honest I was not bothering until the point when then started to sell Snapdragon in their home country which really speaks loud on how good it is in comparison with Exynos.
This is also a dilemma I am facing as well. I can choose between a US Unlock or an International Unlock. The question I am wondering is whether I can get Samsung Pay to work. I currently live in Japan. I had a Note 8 unlocked international , connected to a US vpn, that I was able to register my US credit cards on Samsung Pay and it worked flawless here. I was able to use Samsung Pay out in town with no problems. Yet ever since the Note 9 I have not been able to get it to work again. My thinking was to instead of buying an international unlocked version, was to get a US unlocked version and try to activate/register Samsung Pay via US vpn to see if it would work. Do you guys think that is doable? Or should I just go for the international Note 20 Ultra and call it a day?
cezeff said:
This is also a dilemma I am facing as well. I can choose between a US Unlock or an International Unlock. The question I am wondering is whether I can get Samsung Pay to work. I currently live in Japan. I had a Note 8 unlocked international , connected to a US vpn, that I was able to register my US credit cards on Samsung Pay and it worked flawless here. I was able to use Samsung Pay out in town with no problems. Yet ever since the Note 9 I have not been able to get it to work again. My thinking was to instead of buying an international unlocked version, was to get a US unlocked version and try to activate/register Samsung Pay via US vpn to see if it would work. Do you guys think that is doable? Or should I just go for the international Note 20 Ultra and call it a day?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was reading in many places that Samsung Pay is region locked so it won't work properly. But it might be different in case of Japan.
I personally don't use Samsung Pay at all so can't say but hopefully someone else would advise.
So I spent another 30 minutes on the phone with Samsung and am, honestly, shocked to say the least.
Not only they had not idea about 5G and 4G frequencies of their own product, they were just repeating something like "well it says it support mmwave and we googled and saw the UK also supports mmwave so it should work" which is complete nonsense (the UK doesn't even support mmwave yet, its a US thing!). The UK is using band 78 which is 3..5Ghz so all I wanted from them is to confirm if the US version has 3.5Ghz or not. Another disappointment on Samsung....
So I am currently stuck, this is, really, a gamble, not sure if the risk worth it or not. Something tells me the 5G won't work in the UK and this doesn't' worth it.
How come Samsung doesn't know what frequencies their own product supports? Is it that hard for them to get? Its rubbish!
Us Note 20 doesn't work with 5G band in UK. If you want a working snapdragon 5G note 20 or note 20 ultra you have to by N986N model from South Korea, which is one sim only but it has 256gb internal storage....
manager77 said:
Us Note 20 doesn't work with 5G band in UK. If you want a working snapdragon 5G note 20 or note 20 ultra you have to by N986N model from South Korea, which is one sim only but it has 256gb internal storage....
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Yes, it seems to. I will try my luck with Wondamobile and order the HK version once available. Don't want to buy the Exynos...
Thanks for your help!
It seems like a lot of hassle just to get a snapdragon version. You may gain performance (that's probably not even noticeable in normal every day tasks) and a possible gain in battery life... but gain hassles with the UK network bands, import duty, warranty issues and resale value.
There are meant to be tweaks on the Exynos 990 in the Note20 version, so why not wait and see a reasonable handful of reviews on this subject first?
.
apprentice said:
It seems like a lot of hassle just to get a snapdragon version. You may gain performance (that's probably not even noticeable in normal every day tasks) and a possible gain in battery life... but gain hassles with the UK network bands, import duty, warranty issues and resale value.
There are meant to be tweaks on the Exynos 990 in the Note20 version, so why not wait and see a reasonable handful of reviews on this subject first?
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is also true, especially the resale value part (Wondamobile covers all import duties, etc so no probs from that side).
I am also waiting for the reviews, even though Ice Universe advised the rumors about tweaked Exynos are not legit. Still, hope dies last
Decisions, decisions
apprentice said:
It seems like a lot of hassle just to get a snapdragon version. You may gain performance (that's probably not even noticeable in normal every day tasks) and a possible gain in battery life... but gain hassles with the UK network bands, import duty, warranty issues and resale value.
There are meant to be tweaks on the Exynos 990 in the Note20 version, so why not wait and see a reasonable handful of reviews on this subject first?
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting...I know you said wait for the reviews, yet if you had the choice which version would you get or which version do you normally get? I'm looking at making a decision between the snapdragon or the exynos... I'm pretty sure I've always had exynos, yet this maybe the last year I'm able to afford upgrading to the latest and greatest... I want to ensure I'm getting the best bang for the buck... I'm thinking the Korean unlocked snapdragon maybe the best bet.
cezeff said:
Interesting...I know you said wait for the reviews, yet if you had the choice which version would you get or which version do you normally get? I'm looking at making a decision between the snapdragon or the exynos... I'm pretty sure I've always had exynos, yet this maybe the last year I'm able to afford upgrading to the latest and greatest... I want to ensure I'm getting the best bang for the buck... I'm thinking the Korean unlocked snapdragon maybe the best bet.
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Click to collapse
Depending on where you live though, if in Europe than HK would be a better choice as it has a better network compatibility with European 5g and GSM standards than Korean version. I was also reading that Koren version comes with specific Korean settings and bloatware that cannot be removed, hence, it is cheaper than HK version.
I was reading today that one guy on Twitter apparently tested Note 20 Ultra Exynos and said it is more optimised and faster than the same processor in S20 Ultra, but still not on par with Snapdragon.
I will probably try my luck with Wondamobile once they will have the HK version available.
cezeff said:
Interesting...I know you said wait for the reviews, yet if you had the choice which version would you get or which version do you normally get? I'm looking at making a decision between the snapdragon or the exynos... I'm pretty sure I've always had exynos, yet this maybe the last year I'm able to afford upgrading to the latest and greatest... I want to ensure I'm getting the best bang for the buck... I'm thinking the Korean unlocked snapdragon maybe the best bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see you are in the US, so you will automatically get the Snapdragon version. This is technically a better chipset for both performance and battery life, but the evidence seems to point to about a 6% performance boost (on the Galaxy S20) and about 1hr more battery power. But these figures are only relevant if you are pushing the phone to absolute limits. As with all benchmarking, results are clinical and most likely aren't noticeable in every day usage and the majority of people really don't care much.
However what we do care about (here in non US markets) is that we are paying the same amount (often more) for something that technically has an inferior chipset. But Samsung seemed to have addressed this with the Exynos version having a bigger (256Gb) base storage.
There are rumours banding about that the Exynos 990 has been much improved/ramped up, also addressing the overheating issues on previous devices. So it remains to be seen if this holds true. But the crux of my input here is that is it really worth the OP going to the trouble of importing a phone from the US or S.Korea to the UK, based on all the above? Especially if something goes wrong you most likely don't have a warranty. At the price of a Note 20 Ultra that's a lot of money to lose if you get a fault.
apprentice said:
I see you are in the US, so you will automatically get the Snapdragon version. This is technically a better chipset for both performance and battery life, but the evidence seems to point to about a 6% performance boost (on the Galaxy S20) and about 1hr more battery power. But these figures are only relevant if you are pushing the phone to absolute limits. As with all benchmarking, results are clinical and most likely aren't noticeable in every day usage and the majority of people really don't care much.
However what we do care about (here in non US markets) is that we are paying the same amount (often more) for something that technically has an inferior chipset. But Samsung seemed to have addressed this with the Exynos version having a bigger (256Gb) base storage.
There are rumours banding about that the Exynos 990 has been much improved/ramped up, also addressing the overheating issues on previous devices. So it remains to be seen if this holds true. But the crux of my input here is that is it really worth the OP going to the trouble of importing a phone from the US or S.Korea to the UK, based on all the above? Especially if something goes wrong you most likely don't have a warranty. At the price of a Note 20 Ultra that's a lot of money to lose if you get a fault.
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Click to collapse
Well I live in Japan .. Shipping and importing is not really an issue for me... Even with the improvements to exynos, it still seems the snapdragon is the better chipset (?).. I can source an unlocked 256 snapdragon from Korea, yet now am concerned about the bloatware on the phone... wouldn't the Hong Kong version also include some form of bloatware?
---------- Post added at 06:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:35 PM ----------
VirtualWaver said:
Depending on where you live though, if in Europe than HK would be a better choice as it has a better network compatibility with European 5g and GSM standards than Korean version. I was also reading that Koren version comes with specific Korean settings and bloatware that cannot be removed, hence, it is cheaper than HK version.
I was reading today that one guy on Twitter apparently tested Note 20 Ultra Exynos and said it is more optimised and faster than the same processor in S20 Ultra, but still not on par with Snapdragon.
I will probably try my luck with Wondamobile once they will have the HK version available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't the HK version include bloatware as well?
cezeff said:
Well I live in Japan .. Shipping and importing is not really an issue for me... Even with the improvements to exynos, it still seems the snapdragon is the better chipset (?).. I can source an unlocked 256 snapdragon from Korea, yet now am concerned about the bloatware on the phone... wouldn't the Hong Kong version also include some form of bloatware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry, I was just going by the country flag on your profile.
I don't know if the HK version will be full of bloatware. However, I think Samsung have toned down their bloatware over the past 2-3 years anyway (certainly in the UK versions), instead opting to provide links to downloads of their apps that might interest you. I actually really like the Samsung Browser for example but it's no longer installed by default, so I had to install it from the Galaxy Store.
apprentice said:
Ah sorry, I was just going by the country flag on your profile.
I don't know if the HK version will be full of bloatware. However, I think Samsung have toned down their bloatware over the past 2-3 years anyway (certainly in the UK versions), instead opting to provide links to downloads of their apps that might interest you. I actually really like the Samsung Browser for example but it's no longer installed by default, so I had to install it from the Galaxy Store.
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Click to collapse
I will second the Samsung Browser - absolutely the best and works super fast. My to go browser, in fact.
I am not sure about bloatware content but there was a deal on HotUKDeals website where Wonda was selling S20 from Korea and it was cheaper and people was saying the comments that the reason is that it has many pre-configured Korean bloat that cannot be removed even with package managers.
It looks like (from my research on the web) that HK version doesn't have these.
apprentice said:
Ah sorry, I was just going by the country flag on your profile.
I don't know if the HK version will be full of bloatware. However, I think Samsung have toned down their bloatware over the past 2-3 years anyway (certainly in the UK versions), instead opting to provide links to downloads of their apps that might interest you. I actually really like the Samsung Browser for example but it's no longer installed by default, so I had to install it from the Galaxy Store.
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Click to collapse
No problem. I do agree that Samsung has toned it down. I think I'll go ahead and pre-order the Korean snapdragon with 256gb in mystic white... mystic bronze looks great, yet I can't do much with it, even putting on a skin the frame would stick out like a sore thumb... If anything I can disable bloatware via ADB shell without root... One of the reasons I buy unlocked phones is because the bloatware on Japanese locked phones are absolutely crazy... The system is also proprietary, losing much of the customization other regions have, along with super long delayed updates...
---------- Post added at 07:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:01 PM ----------
VirtualWaver said:
I will second the Samsung Browser - absolutely the best and works super fast. My to go browser, in fact.
I am not sure about bloatware content but there was a deal on HotUKDeals website where Wonda was selling S20 from Korea and it was cheaper and people was saying the comments that the reason is that it has many pre-configured Korean bloat that cannot be removed even with package managers.
It looks like (from my research on the web) that HK version doesn't have these.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll roll with the Korean version for now.. If there is any excessive bloated I'll ADB shell it and if anything else maybe flash a universal ROM later down the road... Thanks for you guys input
cezeff said:
No problem. I do agree that Samsung has toned it down. I think I'll go ahead and pre-order the Korean snapdragon with 256gb in mystic white... mystic bronze looks great, yet I can't do much with it, even putting on a skin the frame would stick out like a sore thumb... If anything I can disable bloatware via ADB shell without root... One of the reasons I buy unlocked phones is because the bloatware on Japanese locked phones are absolutely crazy... The system is also proprietary, losing much of the customization other regions have, along with super long delayed updates...
---------- Post added at 07:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:01 PM ----------
I'll roll with the Korean version for now.. If there is any excessive bloated I'll ADB shell it and if anything else maybe flash a universal ROM later down the road... Thanks for you guys input
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please let us know how once you get it
I will also hold on and wait for Exynos review. Hope it will be available soon.
I am not a gamer at all, but am a power user and do appreciate when the phone heats less and consumes less battery. Also, apparently, Snapdragon's reception is better. So will wait for reviews before getting. For now, I cancelled my Samsung order from the UK.
Hello guys,
I hope everyone is doing fine out there regarding this worldwide pandemic!
I am here asking for help regarding my Note 20 Ultra.
I have a SM-N9860 model (i think this is China, Hong Kong variant) with Snapdragon CPU.
I live in Europe, Romania and because my phone was build for an other region, I can't use some of the mandatory apps(samsung pay), I dont't have access to updates from europe, I have a different layout for my keyboard, etc.
Now, here is the question: is it possible to flash the Romania's stock ROM version on my phone? Keep in mind that in europe there are no official Snapdragon variants and that means that I will flash an Exinos ROM on a Snapdragon phone.
I hope I found the right topic to post my question.
Have a nice day, everybody!
no you cant flash an exynos rom on snapdragon. I have the n9860 in israel im waiting for android 11 still.
never used samsung pay or google pay, cash is king.
That's not really what I wanted to hear
But, thanks God I did not atempted to flash a new ROM before asking!
Thank you for your answer!
Have a good night!
Same still waiting for Snapdragon Android 11 .... best phone
but last inline for 11 update with UI3.0
Either it's Hong Kong or Taiwan. Why did you buy Chinese version?
It was advertised as Snapdragon version and that's it. Nobody said anything about region, neither US nor China...
RISHI RAJ said:
Either it's Hong Kong or Taiwan. Why did you buy Chinese version?
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Click to collapse
Its the best on paper... snapdragon, got all the accessories ( case & earphone ) + dual sim
and 256gb base instead of 128gb of the us version..
---
They schedule it at January 2021, so it's not that this model are late, it's just the other model get it earlY
I know this is contrary to what everyone says, but a few years ago I did successfully flash Exynos ROM on to a Snapdragon Samsung phone and everything worked fine, this might be anecdotal and I am not responsible if you try this yourself and brick your phone.
It was the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 which I ordered and received from eGlobalCentralUK (ceased trading), they sold Chinese variant phones.
Global variant had the Exynos 9810 chip (SM-N960F/DS)
China variant had the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip (SM-N9600/DS)
I remember doing so because Samsung Pay didn't support any UK banks and only had Chinese banks. I have used Odin plenty before, so without checking on Google if it's possible to do this I just did it. I downloaded the official UK firmware from Sammobile and flashed the SM-N960F/DS (BTU) firmware on to the SM-N9600/DS Note 9. Everything worked to my knowledge, but I didn't do any specific tests like 2G/3G/4G on the phone.
Later when I got the Note 10+ and tried to sell my phone to MusicMagpie, they offered me £300 revised £0 for it because it wasn't UK variant and they can tell because it was Snapdragon.
Edit: grammar
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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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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.
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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?
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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...
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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
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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
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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.
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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.