Database Users

HD2 3G Question

So I am looking at getting the HD2 to replace my 3Gs iPhone. I actually just tried a Nexus One and while it is a great device there are some items that need to be addressed, mainly in the fit and finish side, plus full out of box Exchange support.
SO, with that said. I noticed MobileCity has the HD2 for $719 and this feels like a good price for this device. It is however the import version and the guy on the phone said it will NOT work in any USA 3G system.
My question is this, with a ROM update will this device work just fine on the T-Mobile 3G system today?
Thanks!

Current HD2 will not work 3G US
Please note that the hardware of the HD2 is only 1900/2100 bands. For 3G in the USA you will need 1700Mhz for T-Mo or 850Mhz for AT&T.
No softwre will do it, if the radio band is not supported by hardware. Rumor says T-MO will have the US version of HD2 by the end of Q1/2010. my guess is April 2010. Note that if you are on AT&T even unlocking will not work for you even then.
Personally- I 'lost' my 3G by buying the current HD2 model. It worth it, as for SMS/emails the 3G is not needed, and I can have WiFi free hot spots ..

Bummer, but a glimmer of hope there....
So you saying you do not miss the 3G service at all? I would also be in wifi coverage at home and in the office, heck I could even just stay with AT&T for now. Would you be able to compare it to an iPhone 3GS?
I thought that the HD2 radios were the same for both the US and the Europe versions as they are quad-band radios and it was just a software update for the radios.

socialwill said:
I thought that the HD2 radios were the same for both the US and the Europe versions as they are quad-band radios and it was just a software update for the radios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are now 4 distinct locality based versions of the HD2 with different radio bands for UMTS/3G
Quad band refers only to the GSM element, not UMTS

Well slap me and call me Susan, I did not know there were 4 units...which one is the device I should look at then even if it would not work on 3G?

socialwill said:
Well slap me and call me Susan, I did not know there were 4 units...which one is the device I should look at then even if it would not work on 3G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There you go Susan- details on PDAdb

Great! Thanks for the link.
Anyone able to say they are happy they went from a 3GS to the HD2? If so, why?

NeilM said:
There you go Susan- details on PDAdb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense, but PDAdb is utter trash. 4 different units of HD2? The Tmo US having 900/2100? Another HD2 US having 850/1900? Tmo US is on a 1700/2100 UMTS so no, that link to Tmo US HD2 is completely wrong. When did the 850/1900 HD2 was even mentioned anywhere on the net? AFAIK, the closeless you'll come to AT&T 3G is the australian version which has 850/2100 UMTS. I'd be careful giving people that link with unsubstantiated information.

Thanks. What device do you have?

So now the question is would it be better to wait for the T-Mobile version or go with a current device?

So I'm assuming that you have T-Mobile? If you do, just wait for the Tmo version to be release around March. That's all you need to know if you want Tmo 3G.
In case you want AT&T 3G, there's no news of 850/1900 band other than the Australian version that i talked about above. The Australian version is coming out at the end of this month.

Damn..now the question is whether to wait for the Australian version or just get it tonight from eBay.

iPhone 3Ha vs. HD2
had both. there is no way the iPhone beats the HD2 in any category but battery. but you can have two batteries...
the iPhone is slower , bloated, had to be jail broken of you consider any customizing, and must have itunes and Apple support. not for me. was a bitter trial.
why EBay? see www.networkingrus.com . got 3 phones from them already.
bigE

BigE said:
had both. there is no way the iPhone beats the HD2 in any category but battery. but you can have two batteries...
the iPhone is slower , bloated, had to be jail broken of you consider any customizing, and must have itunes and Apple support. not for me. was a bitter trial.
why EBay? see www.networkingrus.com . got 3 phones from them already.
bigE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What makes networkingrus.com so good? Just curious, but I like the site.

lude219 said:
So I'm assuming that you have T-Mobile? If you do, just wait for the Tmo version to be release around March. That's all you need to know if you want Tmo 3G.
In case you want AT&T 3G, there's no news of 850/1900 band other than the Australian version that i talked about above. The Australian version is coming out at the end of this month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, actually I am on AT&T so it would be a break of contract to move to T-Mobile, however it would be a cheaper data plan over all..
What are most people using here? T-Mobile or AT&T for the HD2?

socialwill said:
No, actually I am on AT&T so it would be a break of contract to move to T-Mobile, however it would be a cheaper data plan over all..
What are most people using here? T-Mobile or AT&T for the HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using AT&T without data plan.

I am on T-Mobile simply for the fact I save $50 dollars a month for the inconvenience of only having the Edge network.

omershahab said:
I'm using AT&T without data plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you doing that?

FunMCRider said:
I am on T-Mobile simply for the fact I save $50 dollars a month for the inconvenience of only having the Edge network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is the device on Edge only? Part of me wants to move now, however the other part of me says if I am going to get a device on T-Mobile, why not just wait for the 3G edge version from T-Mobile.

In the US it's going to be Edge only. I'm using it in Canada (Edge only again) but to be honest, haven't really missed much. I don't surf on it that much and I'd rather do it over Wifi anyways (home/office)

Aquiring US version of HD2 in UK?

I was looking at the best deal i could get on the HD2 when i heard about the US version, has there been any news on the 'upgraded' US version coming to anywhere else? Namely the UK? I dont want to sign up to a contract to then see the better version released
Or would an imported handset from the US work in the UK?

3g high speed data wouldn't work in the uk. and before you ask no, flashing a different rom or radio wouldn't fix that, the frequencies are built into the hardware.
for the sake of the extra rom in my opinion it isn't worth it and to be honest I suspect they'll be difficult to get as they will be tmobile usa locked.

synyster31 said:
I was looking at the best deal i could get on the HD2 when i heard about the US version, has there been any news on the 'upgraded' US version coming to anywhere else? Namely the UK? I dont want to sign up to a contract to then see the better version released
Or would an imported handset from the US work in the UK?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
samsamuel said:
3g high speed data wouldn't work in the uk. and before you ask no, flashing a different rom or radio wouldn't fix that, the frequencies are built into the hardware.
for the sake of the extra rom in my opinion it isn't worth it and to be honest I suspect they'll be difficult to get as they will be tmobile usa locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see why 3G data wouldn't work. The handset is listed as 1700 (AWS) / 2100.
If it only worked on the T-Mobile USA bands they would have just listed it as 1700 (AWS) [even though it still needs 2100 to work on T-Mobile USA].
Without 2100 the phone could only be used in a tiny handful of countries - well, not even a handful really, which would very much destroy some of the appeal of the phone.
If you really want one then Ebay will be your friend. However considering all the problems this phone has had I wouldn't buy one that I couldn't return or exchange, I really wouldn't.

Oh ok thanks guys, just a thought.
Think i'll plump for the Uk one then & see what happens
Thanks

I asked htc back then, even if thair response was obviously the "commercial" one, it was clear enough, "that version of hd2 has been customized especially for tmobile usa and will not be available elsewhere also because it won't work on other networks." or something along those lines.

T-Mobile vs European Version

You can buy an HD2 from T-Mobile for $450, or you can buy a European version (I assume quad band) from Amazon for $700. My question is - what bands are supported on the T-Mobile version? Will that GSM band(s?) work on AT&T? Other than working in Europe, any other advantage in going with the $700 version?
Ideally I'd wait for an EVO 4G, but my current phone is coughing up blood, and don't know if it will make it to the summer...

DrawnToScale said:
You can buy an HD2 from T-Mobile for $450, or you can buy a European version (I assume quad band) from Amazon for $700. My question is - what bands are supported on the T-Mobile version? Will that GSM band(s?) work on AT&T? Other than working in Europe, any other advantage in going with the $700 version?
Ideally I'd wait for an EVO 4G, but my current phone is coughing up blood, and don't know if it will make it to the summer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all HD2 are quadband GSM, so it will work on any GSM EDGE network
euro HD2 has 900/2100MHz 3G band
telsla HD2 has 850/2100MHz 3G band (ATT)
Tmo USA HD2 has 1700/2100MHz 3G band
EVO 4G is CDMA, only works on Verizon

The Telstra version he mentions is about $780-800USD, just fyi.

Mind you that you have been able to buy T-mobile HD2's in europe and elsewhere for quite some time. It's confusing for the owners of said version when threads get labelled like this. Specify T-mobile US in thread titles.

chribruu said:
Mind you that you have been able to buy T-mobile HD2's in europe and elsewhere for quite some time. It's confusing for the owners of said version when threads get labelled like this. Specify T-mobile US in thread titles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! You mean that there are other parts of the world where they have had the HD2 for some time and that the US its actually playing catch up?

Yes, but the US candidate is quite a sprinter; with more ROM and double the Flash memory, the EU version is left in a sore 2nd place even after the late start

Balerathon said:
Yes, but the US candidate is quite a sprinter; with more ROM and double the Flash memory, the EU version is left in a sore 2nd place even after the late start
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually...double the ROM and exactly the same RAM

Benefits of the T-mobile USA HD2?

I live in the US. I am on the t-mobile network (without data) using a Euro HD2.
What are the benefits of having the T-mobile USA HD2? I have the Euro version.
Basically someone wants to buy my HD2 for $550.00 USD (Which I bought for $600.00 USD). Why couldn't they just get the T-mobile version? It's cheaper.
In terms of hardware wise, its exactly the same internally except that American HD2 has 1GB of ROM. I mean, if I can shove the American hd2 hardware into the euro framework, I would.
Someone tell me why I shouldn't sell my euro HD2 and buy a brand-new, in-box American HD2 on ebay for $400.00 USD?

lemonspeakers said:
I live in the US. I am on the t-mobile network (without data) using a Euro HD2.
What are the benefits of having the T-mobile USA HD2? I have the Euro version.
Basically someone wants to buy my HD2 for $550.00 USD (Which I bought for $600.00 USD). Why couldn't they just get the T-mobile version? It's cheaper.
In terms of hardware wise, its exactly the same internally except that American HD2 has 1GB of ROM. I mean, if I can shove the American hd2 hardware into the euro framework, I would.
Someone tell me why I shouldn't sell my euro HD2 and buy a brand-new, in-box American HD2 on ebay for $400.00 USD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. US version uses different frequences for 3G. So if you're planning to use your phone primarily on any network other than T-Mobile US, and you care about 3G, then you should keep your European version.
2. US version is locked to T-Mobile network. (Can be unlocked, though)
3. US verision is slightly longer, may be an issue if you're using a hard case.
Other than that I don't see any reasons why you shouldn't.

American HD2 can have 3G only in US and almost nowhere else on Earth. It's as simple as that. If you travel a lot, you would most probably get Euro HD2.

vponomarev said:
1. US version uses different frequences for 3G. So if you're planning to use your phone primarily on any network other than T-Mobile US, and you care about 3G, then you should keep your European version.
2. US version is locked to T-Mobile network. (Can be unlocked, though)
3. US verision is slightly longer, may be an issue if you're using a hard case.
Other than that I don't see any reasons why you shouldn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Can the Euro HD2 use American AT&T 3G? Or are the frequencies totally different. As far as I know, I wont be going anywhere outside of the US any time within the next 5 years.
2) It can be unlocked, sure. Was the Euro Hd2 every lock to begin with? Mines was already unlocked when I got it on ebay.
3) That extra 1mm length does make the US HD2 ugly. But It doesnt hurt since I HATE using device cases since it takes the beauty away from the device. I use invisibleshield (Looks best if you know how to put one on!) and a Vuikiti Screen protector.
I can always swap out the color hardware keys to the euro's all-white keys, and the main screen as well so I don't have the t-mobile logo. If I am correct, the extra 1mm length is on the bottom of the rubber coating cover and not on the glass?
I am still not convinced why I shouldn't sell my HD2 and buy a new one for much, MUCH, much cheaper...

lemonspeakers said:
1) Can the Euro HD2 use American AT&T 3G? Or are the frequencies totally different. As far as I know, I wont be going anywhere outside of the US any time within the next 5 years.
2) It can be unlocked, sure. Was the Euro Hd2 every lock to begin with? Mines was already unlocked when I got it on ebay.
3) That extra 1mm length does make the US HD2 ugly. But It doesnt hurt since I HATE using device cases since it takes the beauty away from the device. I use invisibleshield (Looks best if you know how to put one on!) and a Vuikiti Screen protector.
I can always swap out the color hardware keys to the euro's all-white keys, and the main screen as well so I don't have the t-mobile logo. If I am correct, the extra 1mm length is on the bottom of the rubber coating cover and not on the glass?
I am still not convinced why I shouldn't sell my HD2 and buy a new one for much, MUCH, much cheaper...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The glass is slightly longer on the US HD2, I believe. I got a vikuiti screen protector for my t-mo US HD2 and it doesn't fit perfect... but it isn't that noticeable. I would go ahead and the the T-Mo US HD2 if you're using T-Mobile anyways.

lemonspeakers said:
1) Can the Euro HD2 use American AT&T 3G? Or are the frequencies totally different. As far as I know, I wont be going anywhere outside of the US any time within the next 5 years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, yes, Euro HD2 will work with AT&T 3G. I had a Euro version of HTC Kaiser and tried it once with a friend's AT&T SIM and 3G worked.

vponomarev said:
As far as I know, yes, Euro HD2 will work with AT&T 3G. I had a Euro version of HTC Kaiser and tried it once with a friend's AT&T SIM and 3G worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummm, no. The Euro HD2 will not work with AT&T 3G. If it did, do you think people (like myself) would spend $800-900 for the Telstra model?

Benefits of Tmo-us HD2:
dropped calls
3G and Edge switching
different ROM
slightly longer phone?
only Tmobile Band frequency...
I don't if you would still call them benefits though lol...
meh, I'll keep the TMOUS HD2 though.

vponomarev said:
As far as I know, yes, Euro HD2 will work with AT&T 3G. I had a Euro version of HTC Kaiser and tried it once with a friend's AT&T SIM and 3G worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some phones are "world" phones and have radios to go around the globe, not many offer full 3g though. All GSM phones work on Edge though. I would love it if they would do the same with the 3g frequencies. Would make their roll outs cheaper as everyone has the same gear...
Only the Telstra Aussie version works with ATT3g if you live in an 850 mhz zone. Which ATT is trying to switch over to completely I believe.
The T-Mobile phone has been good to me, I do switch to edge and back more than I would like but so far I am not sorry I bought it.
If you have the Euro phone why not try the proxy tweak on this forum (if you use att) and see how much you can get out of edge?

ozkaya said:
American HD2 can have 3G only in US and almost nowhere else on Earth. It's as simple as that. If you travel a lot, you would most probably get Euro HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought this too, but I just traveled with my unlocked U.S. T-Mobile HD2 in Netherlands and Latvia and got 3G with my prepaid T-Mobile NL and BiFri sim cards.

[Q] HD2's non support for ATT 3g.

Ok. Im a little new for all the different terms with a cell phone radio and all that. But theres something that i just cant seem to get a grip on. The US HD2 supports only the 1700/2100mhz for UMTS. Which means all of us ATT users cant have the use of 3g and i believe it hinders the use of the HD2 here on ATT. Theres a few things I cant seem to understand and some things I need technical expertise on:
Ive been reading about the hd2 and i found that the cellular modem is built inside the snapdragon processor. (found that from qualcomm and on pdadb.net)
If the processor is the same for both models why cant it accept the umts850 and 1900 mhz bands?
Answer to that: Im told its hard-coded on the 3g chips and cant be changed.
Question to that answer: Why is there a ROM update for the Dopod HD2 that in fact ADDS support for the UMTS900 MHZ band? If its hard-coded on the chip then why is there a software update for it? Can that update be somehow modified to add umts 850/1900/etc band support. its just some of the specs and things ive found online (mostly here at XDA) just dont seem to add up.
My overall summary:
Processors are both the QSD8250 which supports ALL GSM types (by that i dont mean all freq. bands.) So the cellular modem inside the phones are the same.
Different basebands on the different models when its "hard-coded" on the phones themselves.
Why a software update adding support for another baseband freq?
Someone please elighten me. I just think that theres more to this whole baseband thing than we know since we seem to believe one thing, but theres other official work that disproves those claims.
I use:
TMO HD2 (HardSPL'd and unlocked to AT&T)
WM ROM: Omega XT V14
Android ROM: Mdeejay's Froyo Sense 3.1
Radio: 50.4 version.

The reason the Dopod HD2 got that software update is because that band was always there, but WinMo couldn't utilize it. What you have read about the processor being locked to band X/X is completely correct. The T-Mobile US HD2 will only ever support 1700/2100 because thats what revision of Snapdragon it's using. The Dopod model is using a different revision and always had support for the 900 band. The only way the US HD2 will ever get 3G on ATT is if ATT switches to the 1700 band, or if the processor is upgraded. If you really wan't 3G that bad, I would look into getting an international HD2 as some of them do indeed support ATT 3G.

Ok but if all 3 (us,Telstra,and dopod) use the qsd8250b then wouldnt they all be able to add support for other frequencies that the 3g chip can use or is it that there's different antenna types for different regions or somethin?
Sent from my HTC HD2

What I mean is that, when they are makeing the processors for each board revision, IE the US and EU boards, they enable or disable the frequencies at a hardware level. You can't just flip a switch and have that feature turned on, its not that simple. The processor type is the QSD8205B, but there are many different internal revisions. The antenna's for GSM networks are more or less the same, no matter what the frequency.

ahh see thats what i was thinking... (darn it got my hopes up for nothin) I do wanna get the international but i dont have 500+ to spend and i doubt i can trade in this hd2 for the telstra one, but boy would it be nice (we have a 3g microcell and id like to be inside my house to be able to make a call, even though inside i have 2 bars sometimes and it wont call at all)
Dang it ATT. You and your messed up networks.....

Mourer09 said:
i doubt i can trade in this hd2 for the telstra one, but boy would it be nice (we have a 3g microcell and id like to be inside my house to be able to make a call, even though inside i have 2 bars sometimes and it wont call at all)
Dang it ATT. You and your messed up networks.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would be surprised. People might trade due to the fact that the US version has double the internal memory..

Well if anyone would trade please pm me I could throw in like 50-100 cash if you have something worth it please.

crisisinthecity said:
You would be surprised. People might trade due to the fact that the US version has double the internal memory..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know how much this slows down the speed / performance of the T-Mo HD2?
I got an HD2 specifically to move away from the lag so many winmo devices have and never looked back since. I'm on ATT and it would definately be nice to have 3G.

okay so i reacently read on engadget that att bought qualcomms 700mhz band or soemthign like that. would that mean we get 3g or soemthing liek that?

Most likely 4g. (Why would they want a second 3g network) And if thats the case, there is NO hd2 anywhere which can handle 700mhz,

FIT4C said:
Do you know how much this slows down the speed / performance of the T-Mo HD2?
I got an HD2 specifically to move away from the lag so many winmo devices have and never looked back since. I'm on ATT and it would definately be nice to have 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy yourself a HTC HD2 T8585, this is supported on ATT 3G network.
I got 1690 down / 2201 up
with my TMO HD2 on ATT
I got 70 up / 226 down
YMMV

qqdawg said:
Buy yourself a HTC HD2 T8585, this is supported on ATT 3G network.
I got 1690 down / 2201 up
with my TMO HD2 on ATT
I got 70 up / 226 down
YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love to get my hands on a T8585, however don't have the $500+ extra available funds for one. Sometime this year I will track one down. It's a great backup phone to my Dell Streak, especially since now we can boot to Android directly.

qqdawg said:
Buy yourself a HTC HD2 T8585, this is supported on ATT 3G network.
I got 1690 down / 2201 up
with my TMO HD2 on ATT
I got 70 up / 226 down
YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The T8585 is the model that TmoUS sells. It definitely does NOT support 3g on AT&T!

hitekredneck said:
The T8585 is the model that TmoUS sells. It definitely does NOT support 3g on AT&T!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it is not, the T8585 is the Euro version of the HD2 (512 LEO)
From SamSamuel on XDA
T9193 is the telstra and uses
GSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100MHz
T8585 is the regular HD2 and uses
GSM 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS 900/2100MHz
Not sure what the model number of the tmous is (PB81120 is the model ID) and it works on
GSM850/900/1800/1900, UMTS: Band I (2100);UMTS: Band IV (AWS);UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

European/Asian/TmoUS HD2 (aka T8585) = NO workie on AT&T 3G
Telstra HD2 (aka T9193) = YES workie on AT&T 3G
There, hopefully that's better for the everyone who are still confuse of which is which.

lude219 said:
European/Asian/TmoUS HD2 (aka T8585) = NO workie on AT&T 3G
Telstra HD2 (aka T9193) = YES workie on AT&T 3G
There, hopefully that's better for the everyone who are still confuse of which is which.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and T 9193 is for Australia with 512rom

coldest~~~ said:
and T 9193 is for Australia with 512rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only the TmoUS HD2 has 1024 ROM. The rest has 512, yes.