I am pretty sure there were other topics like that, but I've also done my research and yet something still troubles me. From what I understand this is what the two version of S4 breaks down to...But I could be wrong.
I9500:
Exynos 5, Octa-core (Technically 4+4cores)
Supposedly no LTE support
Available in few countries
Supposedly the "international" version?
Technically the faster one
I9505:
Snapdragon, Quad core.
Advertised as LTE version.
Available is more countries
More importantly, available in North America. (I live in Canada)
However, from time to time as I am researching this; Some people will say that the Exynos chip is also LTE compatible, although I'm pretty sure I've read otherwise as well. So which is it?
Also, I'm by no means an expert in wireless technology, so can someone kindly break it down to me that what will I be missing out if I were to get the i9500 instead of the i9505? Currently I have the i9500 on pre-order, but it should be painless for me to cancel it as well. However, if I were to wait for the i9505, I'm not sure when carriers over here will get it, and it'll be locked. (That said, I do know it is easy to unlock). I also travel to HongKong and Japan on occasion, so I would need my phone to work in those two places as well.
I would be very appreciative if someone could answer my questions and concerns, thank you.
Like you said 9500 will feature exynos octa, it doesn't have lte.
《posted from s3》
Related
According to phoneArena, the S4 has a 1.6 and a 1.2 quad. However, on Sprint and Best Buy's site (all US carriers, supposedly), it's only got a single quad 1.9. I've already pre-ordered, so it's not exactly a game-changer (especially coming from the Evo3D), but can anyone confirm what it's supposed to be? I'm on Sprint, but I'd be curious to see what people say about the other carriers as well.
I'm pretty sure it will be the LTE version. Phonearena are not from US if I'm not wrong, so they are not updating those things frequently and accurately. At east when they talk about carriers in US
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
The US, UK and a whole bunch of the rest of the world are (initially) getting the 1.9 snapdragon variant which is the one going on sale at Best Buy. The phone that PhoneArena tested was the Octa variant that has the big little configuration and no LTE which goes to the rest of the world except some Korean phones which gets an Octa with LTE on at least one carrier. If you are shopping online be aware that many of the sites have reposted Samsungs language from one of the press releases verbatim and the version they have for sale may or may not be what their website says, best to confirm before buying.
Hey I have an opportunity to grab a Korean S4 (SHV-E300K/S). I am wondering if there will be any issues to using this phone in HK? The LTE bands appear to be compatible. I was wondering if the phone will be locked or if there is something that just won't work? I've never been to Korea so I don't know how phones are sold there so any insight will be appreciated.
Thanks in Advance!
Did some digging around and apparently KT telecom, (1 of the 2 large operators in South Korea) did not lock the previous release of the S3.
Also including the article which mentions the LTE bands just in case anyone's interested.
http://www.sammobile.com/2013/04/02/galaxy-s4s-korean-variant-shv-e300sk-to-feature-exynos-5-octa-clocked-at-1-8ghz-confirmed-by-fcc/
Still hoping to get some input before pulling the trigger. Thanks
I'm very interested in this, and I've been trying to do some research. I have a best friend who's brother lives in Korea and works at Samsung, and she told me that if I wanted the Korean version, he'd do his best to ship one to my specifications.
Long story short, I want the Exynos + LTE, but the information online is few and in between.
Sent from my Xperia ion LT28i using xda premium
Well if you can find out anything from that person who works for Samsung that would be much appreciated. I'm willing to pull the trigger if:
a) they sell phones outright off contract in Korea,
b) the phone is carrier unlocked, and
c) I can set English menus.
I am willing to Gamble with the LTE bands and the software compatibility quirks that I may experience.
Perhaps someone from Korea can shed some light?
Thanks.
pygo said:
Well if you can find out anything from that person who works for Samsung that would be much appreciated. I'm willing to pull the trigger if:
a) they sell phones outright off contract in Korea,
b) the phone is carrier unlocked, and
c) I can set English menus.
I am willing to Gamble with the LTE bands and the software compatibility quirks that I may experience.
Perhaps someone from Korea can shed some light?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To answer your questions,
Phones are available in English menu and you only need to worry about the LTE bands as they are not carrier locked in Korea. You might need to set some settings to work in your country and chances should be high as I heard the Octa supports 20 bands of LTE.
I'm not sure what you meant by outright but you can walk into any shop and buy it if that's what you meant. Alternatively, if you know anyone in Korea they should be able to get it for you but not in the next few days because right now it seems that it's all on contract until stock are more abundant.
Sent from my IM-A860K using xda premium
It would be really cool if the Korean GS4 could work with USA LTE. But the price~! Right now, it's being sold for around $1,100 USD~!
What's special about Korean models? Don't other countries have octa too?
tuxonhtc said:
What's special about Korean models? Don't other countries have octa too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have octa + LTE.
Sent from my IM-A860K using xda premium
Okay, so I'm very confused. I too have the opportunity to grab a Korean version, but instead of the OP, I reside in the US, would I run into ANY problems if I got this version? LTE I understand might possibly work/might not, but is there anything else to be concerned with?
All galaxy korean version has following problems.
1. All operator too many customizing ==> it will cause unstable, because all known that they request too many modify frameworks also.
2. Too many have bloat apps.(operator apps, avg 10 + apps exist, some apps are not support uninstall, yeah rooting will delete that apps, but it make an another error)
3. UMTS band are only 1900/2100 (official), previous galaxy have only UMTS 2100 (SKT/KT model only, LGU+ model using CDMA 1800(that frequncy only exist in korea over the world)
4. LTE band are only 850/1800. (SKT 850/1800 , KT 1800 / LG U+ 850)
5. Maybe Firmare not compatible with Global version (I930X / N710X )
6. you may not use USSD code (korean all operator doesn't support USSD code, so korean localizing version remove USSD function)
I lived in korea, but i don't use our korean galaxy models. This time I also ordered galaxy s4 on UK. Because UK model is always Europe open model and it has nearly Samsung reference model. (Doesn't have or 1~2 bloat app exist)
i'm very hate too many localizing. it will always phone make unstable.
Pulverizer, thank you for the info! I think I'll be going for the i9500 now.
Thank You to all who took the time to reply!
I'm likely going to get a local machine now to reduce the need to tinker.
This is also a very informative link from an shv-e300 user for any of those who are still fence sitters! Very good information is given at the bottom of page 3!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2253148&page=3
I to was tempted for Korean
This information will keep me to in the US/UK LTE version.
I'm going to buy the S4 in a few weeks, and I can't decide which one to choose, especially after google released the one running vanilla android.
The international, i9500 exynos variant is the best one, I think, as its the international version and it might get more dev support.
on the other hand, the i9505 snapdragon variant is more reliable when it comes to dev support, as qualcomm does release the source code for its SD600 processor.
The google edition, as its going to support LTE, i think will be based on the i9505, as our dear Samsung very conveniently disable the LTE radios on its exynos processors.
So I am confused which one to buy.
If i get the i9505 (snapdragon), would i be able to flash an AOSP/AOKP rom perfectly, without any issues? Like will I be able to switch between AOSP and touchwiz without any hassle? and as the google edition will have the same chipset, would i be able to run rock solid and bug free aosp roms on it? (i honestly am more inclined towards touchwiz than aosp/aokp, but i dont mind switching for some time)
Also, I heard that i9500 has a better camera sensor, and has slightly better battery life than i9505. Is that true?
And qualcomm is going to release the snapdragon 800 within a couple of months, and i dont want to buy a phone for about $800 (nearly 50k in rupees here in India) only to realize that my latest gadget is now obsolete. I have already experienced that with my iPad 3 .
I'll be moving to USA in august for college, and honestly, i dont think LTE would be much use to me as 3G is more than enough for my needs. Plus LTE is a huge battery hog.
Also, as our dear Samsung does not release source code for exynos, more CM/AOKP/PA devs will move towards the i9505, and with that logic, the i9500 should get more support from devs working on TW based roms, like salesale and :indie: (I love neatrom on my S2).
So which one should I get?
P.S. Only the i9500 version is available in India, I'll have to get the i9505 from amazon if I end up buying that.
Just be careful what bands the phone supports. I think if you in the States it would be wise to get your carrier branded version
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium HD app
Obagleyfreer said:
Just be careful what bands the phone supports. I think if you in the States it would be wise to get your carrier branded version
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as both the i9500 and i9505 are unlocked and unbranded, I think I'll go for either of them, as they will be compatible with all bands worldwide, not only US and India. Also, I prefer not to be tied to a network with a contract. (I'm more of a free bird )
But the question that remians in, which one should I go for? The i9500, the i9505, or the stock google edition?
The google edition will be based on i9505, so on one hand i'll recieve updates as soon as they are released, but would i be able to switch between AOSP roms and TW-based roms?
diwakarchopra said:
as both the i9500 and i9505 are unlocked and unbranded, I think I'll go for either of them, as they will be compatible with all bands worldwide, not only US and India. Also, I prefer not to be tied to a network with a contract. (I'm more of a free bird )
But the question that remians in, which one should I go for? The i9500, the i9505, or the stock google edition?
The google edition will be based on i9505, so on one hand i'll recieve updates as soon as they are released, but would i be able to switch between AOSP roms and TW-based roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just received my i9500 a week ago and I am lovin it! The phone is one heckuva beast and I have yet to run into any problems with it. Also a heads up, I've heard TouchWiz runs smoother on the i9500 than the i9505 as it is optimized for it better. The camera is definitely one of this phone's highlights and I can say for myself that I see the differences in camera sensors/image quality between the two.
Sorry for the late reply, I was busy with my high school finals!
And thank you all for your opinions, but im still pretty much confused on which one to go for. the i9500 or thr i9505?
As I said before, the variant needs to be GSM, and only two networks in the US offer GSM: AT&T and T-Mobile.
I'll be moving to West-Lafayette, Indiana in a couple of months, therefore, I need to know which one of the two (AT&T and TMobile) would support the GS4 properly. I dont care about 4G LTE as HSDPA+ is fast enough for me, but I've heard that some frequencies don't work properly on those networks, resulting in poor reception and slow data transfer speeds.
So, it would be really helpful is someone could point me in the right direction, should I go for i9500 or i9505? I'm a bit more inclined towards i9500.
Thanks in advance!
Go for the one with Samsung's modified version of Android. Don't wait for the Google Edition. The advantage with this one is as soon the Google Edition drops, there will be AOSP ROMs for the Samsung edition S4 but the vice-versa won't be true.
echenze said:
Go for the one with Samsung's modified version of Android. Don't wait for the Google Edition. The advantage with this one is as soon the Google Edition drops, there will be AOSP ROMs for the Samsung edition S4 but the vice-versa won't be true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's all fine, but now I'm asking which one should I go for? the i9500 (Exynos) or the i9505 (snapdragon)? I'm not sure which one would work better in Lafayette Indiana on AT&T or T-Mobile (in terms of network coverage, 3G download/upload speeds etc)
hello. I found on an online store two versions. the P605 and the P601. the P601 says LTA but I don't know what that is. P601 is also 50$ less. what is the difference between them?
galaxy2014 said:
hello. I found on an online store two versions. The p605 and the p601. The p601 says lta but i don't know what that is. P601 is also 50$ less. What is the difference between them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
601 = 3g
605 = 4g/lte
Hello galaxy 2014,
The difference is the speed of the internet connection via the cell phone network.
3g includes different "speed standards like UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+ and offers you up to 42 Mbit/s.
LTE is a newer standard which offers you up to 300 MBit/s.
LTE is not available in every region yet.
Some other users could argue that I should not answer you as you may find all the answers in wikipedia, but all to often, we talk about technical details as if they were spoon and knife - but they are not.
Greeetings
Ulu
It is a little more than that. The 601 is based on Samsung's Exynos chipset and the 605 is based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon S800 chipset. Performance-wise they are somewhat similar, and won't matter much in daily usage. Qualcomm's stuff has more developer support though. As an example rooting has so far been easier on the S800 (and atm doesn't trip the efuse). That might not matter much, and only potentially matters if you wan't to mess about with stuff though!
Hi. Im living in Russia and there are only exynos variant available. After using rather bad exynos note 4 (overheat, bad reception, 3g/4g battery drain, poor aosp development) i decided to buy snapdragon variant of s7 edge. I believe samsung is using superior versions of their handsets in key markets such as NA and China. But for my surprise all s7 edge sold in USA are carrier bound. My question are there unlocked s7 edge snapdragon? What carrier should i choose? Will at-t and t-mobile phones work with other gsm carriers around the world. Also i need no carrier bloatware and unlocked bootloader. As for network i need band 20 800Mhz and band 7 2600Mhz.
Thanks in advance.
TANKRED_ENDURES said:
Hi. Im living in Russia and there are only exynos variant available. After using rather bad exynos note 4 (overheat, bad reception, 3g/4g battery drain, poor aosp development) i decided to buy snapdragon variant of s7 edge. I believe samsung is using superior versions of their handsets in key markets such as NA and China. But for my surprise all s7 edge sold in USA are carrier bound. My question are there unlocked s7 edge snapdragon? What carrier should i choose? Will at-t and t-mobile phones work with other gsm carriers around the world. Also i need no carrier bloatware and unlocked bootloader. As for network i need band 20 800Mhz and band 7 2600Mhz.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of the U.S. devices cover band 7 nor 20 i guess, those bands aren't used over there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks_in_Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks
Also, normally carrier locked devices won't work for other carriers unless you hack (was not possible at recent devices afaik) it or pay for unlocking it. But you could be lucky there at the s7 with it locking just at first boot. It could be, that it'll lock to your carrier instead of the one you bought it from, but you'll have to verify that it works before, also it'll only work, if it never has been booted by any employ at the carrier you bought it to ship it locked already.
Tectas said:
None of the U.S. devices cover band 7 nor 20 i guess, those bands aren't used over there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks_in_Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks
Also, normally carrier locked devices won't work for other carriers unless you hack (was not possible at recent devices afaik) it or pay for unlocking it. But you could be lucky there at the s7 with it locking just at first boot. It could be, that it'll lock to your carrier instead of the one you bought it from, but you'll have to verify that it works before, also it'll only work, if it never has been booted by any employ at the carrier you bought it to ship it locked already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw people importing note 4 sm-910c to USA because its compatible with US lte frequences Same model sold in Russia. I think device itself can support this frequnces though they are not used there.
I'd wait before presuming the Snapdragon model will be superior to the Exynos, especially in terms of things like overheat and reception. It's certainly possible it will be the better option, but there is no guarantee yet. And especially with the debacle on the 810, Snapdragon haven't exactly covered themselves in glory recently.
Hardly anyone has the Exynos model yet, whilst there are a lot of T-Mobile customers in the US who have the Snapdragon, some of who are reporting being unable to use the VR headset for more than 30 minutes without the phone complaining of overheat. Wait until next week and there will be proper comparison reviews that go beyond Snapdragon having a few extra meaningless numbers on some benchmark. That's when an informed decision can be made as to whether it's worth going through the bother of buying your device out of territory and forsaking the manufacturer guarantee.
removed
Beefheart said:
I'd wait before presuming the Snapdragon model will be superior to the Exynos, especially in terms of things like overheat and reception. It's certainly possible it will be the better option, but there is no guarantee yet. And especially with the debacle on the 810, Snapdragon haven't exactly covered themselves in glory recently.
Hardly anyone has the Exynos model yet, whilst there are a lot of T-Mobile customers in the US who have the Snapdragon, some of who are reporting being unable to use the VR headset for more than 30 minutes without the phone complaining of overheat. Wait until next week and there will be proper comparison reviews that go beyond Snapdragon having a few extra meaningless numbers on some benchmark. That's when an informed decision can be made as to whether it's worth going through the bother of buying your device out of territory and forsaking the manufacturer guarantee.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. I bother buying snapdragon mostly because of lower TDP and better 4g reception in past models. If exynos become equal in this areas i see no point in importing. And i dont wanna wait long cause if i preorder before 18 march i will get free gear vr though i dont need it xD
Tectas said:
removed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note 4 have both sd and exynos variants. Its note 5 only nave exynos.
TANKRED_ENDURES said:
Note 4 have both sd and exynos variants. Its note 5 only nave exynos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's why I've removed the post, mixed the numbering, sorry.
But if you take a look, at least here aren't any of those bands supported at the U.S. variants.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/how-to/detailed-sm-g935-s7-info-t3326180
But what about carrier software? I heard some carriers replace stock samsung apps like browser. Also is it true what at-t and tmobile phones recieve updates later than their unlocked counterparts?
TANKRED_ENDURES said:
But what about carrier software? I heard some carriers replace stock samsung apps like browser. Also is it true what at-t and tmobile phones recieve updates later than their unlocked counterparts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would be the first time I hear something like the browser replaced by a carrier, but maybe possible, in common they just add stuff though and make small changes (modem, bootscreen,...). And yes, carrier devices in common get updates later, because the carriers have to incorporate their changes (which can be a few days to months, depends on the carrier), but at the european variants we're lucky with stock roms at least (or at least have been). In most cases you simply can flash a unbranded rom there through odin without second thought.