Factory unlocked vs carrier unlocked? - General Questions and Answers

It seems to me that, at least with Samsung, there may be a difference between a phone which is factory unlocked versus one that has been carrier locked and is now unlocked.
For instance, with a Samsung Note 20 Ultra 5G, there are many different model numbers. The models numbers ending in XAA are the factory unlocked models where carrier models may end in suffixes like ATT, SPR and VZW etc. In the case where phones end with carrier suffixes, it seems that the radios in those phone may not get unlocked to support all the bands even after the phone is carrier unlocked. Am in imagining this? In the case of Samsung at least, when a phone is unlocked from a carrier, is its radio unlocked also or am I right that the radio can still be limited to the bands which were allowed for that carrier even after the unlock?
Thanks

Factory Unlocked – The phone, when purchased, is not attached to any carrier.
Carrier Unlocked – You could connect your phone to any carrier to any carrier of your choice. Some carriers may require you to have a paid in full status; some may need to have at least 60 days of service before you could get your phone in a carrier unlocked state.
Advantages of a Carrier Unlocked Phone​
With a carrier unlocked phone, you can get all of the features and updates that are available for that phone from the carrier.
You could do a payment plan, maybe having a deposit from $0.00 to $100.00, depending on your relationship with your carrier.
You could get additional discounts through carrier incentives.
The carrier could assist you with any issues since they get trained with that device.
Advantages of a Factory Unlocked Phone​
You could use the phone on whichever carrier you want
Updates come straight from the manufacturer and tend to be faster.
You could purchase whichever phone you like. For example, One Plus is compatible with Verizon, but it’ not available through Verizon.
You don’t have to pay the activation fee when buying those an unlocked phone.

Related

[Q] Which model is carrier unlocked, has USA LTE, and has an unlockable bootloader

I'm trying to figure out which one I'd need to look at (to keep an eye on price).
I'm looking for the one that is
Carrier Unlocked
I'm on Cricket and bring my own device
Has USA LTE bands
I'm in the USA
Has an unlockable bootloader
I intend to put TWRP on as well as custom ROMs.
(I like the hardware, not the software).
Is there a specific model/model number I should be looking at?
From what I understand, my only option for all three might be buying in person (site requires service or existing account it seems) at a T-Mobile store, unless there's a model I'm missing.

Verizon version Bootloader status?

The the bootloader going to be unlockable on verizon, like the nexus 6? The article about variants confused me a lot.
Same.
Is there any downsides from purchasing from google vs Verizon? Will we get access to the same LTE bands, etc.?
In the past, have google versions of phones have come with unlocked bootloaders but verizon come with locked versions of the same devices?
Having to put a fresh ding on your credit is if you want a payment plan is a downside. Also no free Daydream.
Doubtful. See article: http://www.xda-developers.com/jcase-verizon-pixel-phone-may-not-be-bootloader-unlockable/
Early indicators are that the verizon one will be locked up hard and no way to unlock. At least not without a hack. Potential problem that has been around for a while, is that verizon, being verizon, is unlikely to permit units not sold BY verizon to connect to verizon.
In other words, you have an evil provider.
Does anyone have a link to the "article about variants"? I had trouble finding it.
Where did you see that Daydream is not included in the payment plan?
I have no inside information to add to the leaks that have already been made, but I think it's worth waiting and seeing.
Today's tweets suggesting that the VZW Pixels will not have an unlockable bootloader contradict previous leaks. The previous leaks come with supporting evidence - specifically I'm referring to this post: https://plus.google.com/+NathanBenis/posts/UaGDjHDikgi
At the time, this deliberately cryptic post was widely misinterpreted by the press, who simply deduced that the Pixel could be carrier SIM-locked and/or prevent bootloader unlocking. What they missed is that the two are LINKED - a carrier SIM-locked device will prohibit bootloader unlocking.
Presumably this means a few things:
1. Verizon is prohibited from carrier-locking by the FCC (per their 700Mhz D block spectrum purchase agreement), so my money is that VZW devices will also be bootloader-unlockable out of the box.
2. There are many ways to remove a SIM carrier lock; e.g., obtain a code from your carrier (often free for members of the military, or if your account has been in good standing for many months, or your device contract is paid off, etc) or obtained from internet code generators for a ~$20 fee. It stands to reason that inputting a code obtained from any of these avenues could also allow for bootloader unlocking.
"Confirmed: the Verizon Pixel's bootloader will not be unlockable"
http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/10/04/confirmed-verizon-pixels-bootloader-will-not-unlockable/
Thanks for the response, the $550 htc 10 is way more tempting though
Yeah, is this true?
I can tell you with 100% certainty that it's locked. - Source not those two.
Well, all bootloaders come locked. The question is can it be unlocked? I don't disagree that the vzw one will not be unlockable, but that means there has to be a different sku/model just for the verizon one. I haven't seen any details on this, but if there is a definite, different sku/model, then I'm pretty sure the vzw will not be unlockable. If not, I don't know, maybe it will be unlockable.
The only difference in the VZW variant is that its bootloader is locked. Aside from that, all the bands are the same, and it is NOT carrier locked.
Your first and second points could not be more wrong. SIM lock has no relation to bootloader lock. Every Verizon smart phone I've owned has been SIM unlocked and bootloader locked.

Works with all carriers out of box?

I was recently informed by a mobile carrier rep that all models of the S8 are already unlocked and I have been reading around that it supports both GSM and CDMA on a single device. I am using AT&T (a GSM carrier) but their service around my location in near no existent and I am trying to switch over to Verizon or US Cellular which are CDMA carrier. I'm looking for some confirmation on this and the steps i would need to take to switch providers and keep the same phone. I have. I know that the United States models can be flashed to a different carriers official software but would this be necessary?
They are all the same hardware and all support the same radio bands. Depending on your carrier and which firmware you're running, some features may or may not work on all carriers. I'm not sure about your AT&T version, but the T-Mobile versions come carrier locked. They must be paid off and activated on T-Mo for 40 days before they will unlock it. I believe Sprint is also carrier locked. From what I understand Verizon is unlocked out of the box, as have all VZW LTE devices been for a few years now. AT&T is the one carrier I'm unsure of. Easiest way to find out is to put a different carriers SIM card in and see if it works. If it is carrier locked, AT&T will unlock it for free as long as it is paid off. Just request it through the AT&T website.
Once you switch to Verizon, I HIGHLY recommend flashing either the XAA unlocked firmware, which will detect your SIM automatically and optimize it for VZW. It will be bloatfree, but may be missing VOLTE, WiFi Calling, etc. If you want all the VZW features, flash the VZW Carrier firmware, and be ready for the VZW bloat as well.
Mr. Orange 645 said:
They are all the same hardware and all support the same radio bands. Depending on your carrier and which firmware you're running, some features may or may not work on all carriers. I'm not sure about your AT&T version, but the T-Mobile versions come carrier locked. They must be paid off and activated on T-Mo for 40 days before they will unlock it. I believe Sprint is also carrier locked. From what I understand Verizon is unlocked out of the box, as have all VZW LTE devices been for a few years now. AT&T is the one carrier I'm unsure of. Easiest way to find out is to put a different carriers SIM card in and see if it works. If it is carrier locked, AT&T will unlock it for free as long as it is paid off. Just request it through the AT&T website.
Once you switch to Verizon, I HIGHLY recommend flashing either the XAA unlocked firmware, which will detect your SIM automatically and optimize it for VZW. It will be bloatfree, but may be missing VOLTE, WiFi Calling, etc. If you want all the VZW features, flash the VZW Carrier firmware, and be ready for the VZW bloat as well.
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Thank you I went ahead and I am using an unlock service and I will be switching to some sort of carrier and flashing to that carrier's firmware.
I have a Verizon S8+ and popped in my tmobile sim and it works perfectly. I made no apn changes. I looked in the apn settings and all the settings for various vendors were already in there.
Oyeve said:
I have a Verizon S8+ and popped in my tmobile sim and it works perfectly. I made no apn changes. I looked in the apn settings and all the settings for various vendors were already in there.
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If I read correctly, he's going the other way, from ATT to VZW, so I don't think all the features will work without the VZW firmware.
i've flashed the phone over to the unlocked fw and unlocked carrier following the Snap+ Flashing Guide on these forums so now i'm waiting for my carrier unlock to be completely free. Will provide and update once i recieve my code and use it.

Unlocked Version vs Carrier Specific

I was looking to buy the Galaxy Note 8, and is it worth buying the Unlocked version over the ATT version? I know I will save a little money, and also have less bloatware. I could not find much info on the basebands of these phones, there would not really be any basebands the unlocked version wouldnt have that the ATT version has? I assume that it would just be smarter to get the unlocked version?
Someone correct me if I am wrong
Sorry this is somewhat unrelated to the S8+
Thanks
Somebody mentioned the carrier specific ones may get updates more frequently. Regardless, the only unlock that really matters to me is bootloader unlock. US Snapdragon S8/S8+ are not bootloader unlocked--regardless whether the model is carrier unlocked or not. Only the Chinese and Hong Kong Snapdragon S8/S8+ bootloaders can be unlocked so far. My recommendation is to pre-order the Note 8 as you were interested in that phone, but that if you were planning on sticking with the same carrier and wanted updates more frequently, getting a carrier specific Note 8 might be best.
I'm in the same situation. I currently with att prepaid, they have LTE+ (LTE advanced). I did speed test twice, getting 127mb down, 30mb up, 115mb down, 28mb up. I'm not sure if unlocked version note8 has all the LTE bands. I thinking of just getting att version and if I want to switch carrier in the future, I just pay for those unlock service.
netnerd said:
I thinking of just getting att version and if I want to switch carrier in the future, I just pay for those unlock service.
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Be careful about those assumptions, make sure the AT&T variant has all the bands needed for full rate.
Recently switched from ATT to Verizon, and ended up getting a new phone (not *really* complaining since it's the GS8+) because my 1 yr old GS7edge AT&T model didn't have support for the correct LTE bands to work properly with the Verizon network.
I'm planning on staying with the same carrier, I just figure I'd get update faster, have less bloat ware, and have more lte bands (with the unlocked version)
Isn't that all accurate?
ALL the US versions have the same exact hardware and support the same exact bands. The ONLY difference is the carrier specific firmware. And you can change that by flashing whichever firmware you want through ODIN.
brendan4t said:
I was looking to buy the Galaxy Note 8, and is it worth buying the Unlocked version over the ATT version? I know I will save a little money, and also have less bloatware. I could not find much info on the basebands of these phones, there would not really be any basebands the unlocked version wouldnt have that the ATT version has? I assume that it would just be smarter to get the unlocked version?
Someone correct me if I am wrong
Sorry this is somewhat unrelated to the S8+
Thanks
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Click to collapse
I have both S8 T-mobile and S8 unlocked. They have identical LTE bands. Moreover, when inserting SIM cards from different providers the CSC is changed to that provider and some specific options are enabled. I put in T-mobile SIM card and used it without any issues. Put in Vodaphone Europe SIM card and CSC changed from TMB to XAA (unlocked) and phone still had all LTE bands available and worked. I'm sure it's the same for ATT. Also, from previous experience if you get ATT version and change providers you'll not get updates anymore unless you go to Samsung to have your phone updated, as all OTA's go through ATT servers.
Go for unlocked.

Question Does the regular unlocked version work with Verizon or do I have to buy 'unlocked' through Verizon?

Just wondering if the regular unlocked version supports mmwave or if I have to buy through Verizon. This gets on my nerves now.
Unlocked should in theory work with all carriers unless a carrier does certain odd things that couldn't be included on the "catch all" unlocked devices.
From what I can see it should work with Verizon phone and data just fine. Only the Verizon model it looks like comes with UWB (Ultra Wideband) though since that's Verizon's way of doing things if that interests you.
If you want that, will mean that you will have to have carrier injected junk though and buy the carrier version, get updates from the carrier, and have to have it unlocked by the carrier or sell it if you switch carriers. It will probably need to be unlocked by the carrier to put a custom rom on there also if you wanted to go that way. Its win and lose.
Coming from someone who just got the Verizon variant, it is indeed loaded with bloatware. It is also completely locked down from flashing roms or unlocking, verizon removed the oem unlock option entirely from their variant. So you can't even Odin flash to the unlocked firmware. Also the unlocked in the US is $349.99 right now versus $499 from Verizon directly. Although if you really want that UWB 5G then your only option is the Verizon model. Though imo not worth it. Go for the $349 one and enjoy it.
tserv95 said:
Coming from someone who just got the Verizon variant, it is indeed loaded with bloatware. It is also completely locked down from flashing roms or unlocking, verizon removed the oem unlock option entirely from their variant. So you can't even Odin flash to the unlocked firmware. Also the unlocked in the US is $349.99 right now versus $499 from Verizon directly. Although if you really want that UWB 5G then your only option is the Verizon model. Though imo not worth it. Go for the $349 one and enjoy it.
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So I got the 349 one and it works with 5G was pleasantly surprised when I saw the 5G appear on my cell. All reps said phone compatible and the 5G Sim etc etc
Transferring device was painless.
I love the phone. I'm coming from using an Axon 7 never had a samsung phone before but like it. Got rid of a lot of samsung crop but customized it the way I like.
Thanks for your reply!
This is US market specific. For the A53 5G, any of the US carrier versions (with the exception of Tracfone) SIM unlocked will work on any of the big 3 carriers. Most of the versions (including Verizon owned Visible) are A536U, which is the version with Sub-6. A536V is the Verizon version with mmWave. I don't know what A536D from Tracfone is. Yes, you can get Sub-6 5G on Verizon.
But if you want to bootloader unlock, whether you are directly purchasing from Samsung or any SIM locked versions from carrier, it is not possible. See https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/psa-there-is-no-oem-unlock-on-us-galaxy-a53s.4443189/
I can confirm that the unlocked US version purchased from Samsung DOES work with Verizon. And like b1283822 said, does have/support Sub-6 5G, no UW.

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