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.
Related
Hi, I'm thinking of teaching English in South Korea. I'd be going in maybe 4 or 5 months and was wondering if it is worth it to get the Galaxy S2 or not. I will need to get a laptop but my family might be helping me out with that. I will want to travel to Japan, China, maybe some other countries. I know it uses a SIM card but will it work in these countries as well? Do you think it is worth it? I'll be there for a year. Maybe I should get a cheap phone and maybe get a tablet instead. Any advice would be great.
Is it any kind of substitute for a Camera?
P.S. I would be selling my current Samsung Epic from Sprint to cover a good portion of the cost.
Hello.
I'm korean and please refer my reply.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1052222
If you will resident(living) in south korea, you will purchased korea galaxy s2 from SKTelecom or KoreaTelecom contract.
But , in short stay and many country traveling and return to your country to use, i recommend buy the EU galaxy S2.
Any more advise?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
I beg to differ!!
The con's you mentioned here aren't much of a problem. Most of the world still uses triband gsm and having a quad band won't do much of good and how many of us really uses mms when we are using emailing or video calling!!
If you see the pro's they is NFC which is gonna be must feature in all smart mobile in future. Next gen samsung mobile is having NFC in all the models. So isn't it cool to have right now than later? well there are lot of apps in android for fm, so having a native fm on mobile is pointless. And DMB is an extra asset too. last but not the least bloatware can be removed in many ways as like rooting
So what do you think guys?
Pulverizer said:
Hello.
I'm korean and please refer my reply.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1052222
If you will resident(living) in south korea, you will purchased korea galaxy s2 from SKTelecom or KoreaTelecom contract.
But , in short stay and many country traveling and return to your country to use, i recommend buy the EU galaxy S2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My gsm galaxy s 1 picked up signal just fine travelling SK and japan last year. You might not be able to get full speed 3g though
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I think I've convinced myself to get one of these, but am wondering if I am correct in my understanding that there are 2 versions coming: One with LTE and one without.
If that is correct, will the LTE version still do everything radiowise (GSM/HSPA+ etc) and just also add LTE capabilities to the mix?
Finally, I am working in Sweden at the moment, I assume the LTE version will work with Telia's network (in LTE mode)?
kentmartin said:
I think I've convinced myself to get one of these, but am wondering if I am correct in my understanding that there are 2 versions coming: One with LTE and one without.
If that is correct, will the LTE version still do everything radiowise (GSM/HSPA+ etc) and just also add LTE capabilities to the mix?
Finally, I am working in Sweden at the moment, I assume the LTE version will work with Telia's network (in LTE mode)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what me and a lot of other people are wondering about. The marketing rep for Samsung said in a video that it will have HSPA+ AND LTE but does that mean two different models? Or that the capabilities of both are stock? The spec sheets don't say anything about LTE on any of the pre-order sites I've found but the samsung page says that it is an LTE device. I'm completely confused. I wanna buy the unlocked unbranded version but not if it doesn't include LTE...
I saw from somewhere that the Korean version will have LTE support. No information about NFC.
Sent from my HD2 using XDA App
Yeah we get LTE + NFC for korean market but it sucks when you leave the country and realize it's not gonna work
jamesyb0i said:
Yeah we get LTE + NFC for korean market but it sucks when you leave the country and realize it's not gonna work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
James,
Why does it not work when you leave the country?
Also, do you know if the LTE+NFC version does everything the non-LTE version does (eg HSPA+)?
I'm thinking of just ordering one in from S Korea if it does....
I too want to know: HSPA+ AND LTE or is it one or the other but not both?
Thanks,
Any further update on LTE now that there has actually been some delivery ?
Is there a S Korean ship date for the LTE version?
Yes, very good question! I have been following this release closely the last couple of days, but no words on this issue!
It's really strange, as this is the one real deal breaker for me. No way I am going to buy this device without LTE.
But don't you guys think that they are releasing this in the beginning of next year when first movers have bought this and the fuzz about the product stops? I guess so, unfortunately. It's basically the same story with Galaxy S II / LTE version.
Hello everyone,
I am really confused about different versions of Galaxy S4 and their compatibility with Wind mobile in Canada.
As far as I know, there are i9500, i9505 and i377 variants.
I was looking forward to buy the i9505 model but I'm not sure if it is compatible with Wind mobile network. (Right now I am outside of Canada for a while so getting a phone in a duty free shop makes sense.)
Does anyone know if i377 or any other variants of Galaxy S4 is compatible with Wind mobile?
If it matters, right now I have a T999V (galaxy S3) which works fine with Wind's network.
Thanks in advance
SirM2X said:
Hello everyone,
I am really confused about different versions of Galaxy S4 and their compatibility with Wind mobile in Canada.
As far as I know, there are i9500, i9505 and i377 variants.
I was looking forward to buy the i9505 model but I'm not sure if it is compatible with Wind mobile network. (Right now I am outside of Canada for a while so getting a phone in a duty free shop makes sense.)
Does anyone know if i377 or any other variants of Galaxy S4 is compatible with Wind mobile?
If it matters, right now I have a T999V (galaxy S3) which works fine with Wind's network.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GT-i9500 uses the exynos octa core cpu and isn't available in North America because it doesn't support LTE here.
The GT-i9505 is the international S4 that uses the qualcomm quadcore cpu which is marketed in the USA as i377 (at&t) and i377m (bell/rogers/telus) in Canada. These 2 variants don't support AWS bands out of the box, but users have shown a way to enable that on these phones.
There is also another variant of the i9505 marketed as SGH-M919 for T-Mobile in USA and SGH-M919V for Wind/Videotron in Canada. These support AWS bands out of the box and work perfectly well on all North American providers such as At&t, Rogers, Bell, Virgin Mobile, T-Mobile, etc.
Hope this helps your dilemma!
dj_aj said:
The GT-i9500 uses the exynos octa core cpu and isn't available in North America because it doesn't support LTE here.
The GT-i9505 is the international S4 that uses the qualcomm quadcore cpu which is marketed in the USA as i377 (at&t) and i377m (bell/rogers/telus) in Canada. These 2 variants don't support AWS bands out of the box, but users have shown a way to enable that on these phones.
There is also another variant of the i9505 marketed as SGH-M919 for T-Mobile in USA and SGH-M919V for Wind/Videotron in Canada. These support AWS bands out of the box and work perfectly well on all North American providers such as At&t, Rogers, Bell, Virgin Mobile, T-Mobile, etc.
Hope this helps your dilemma!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your elaboration.
In other words, if I went and bought an SGS 4 with model number i9505, it wouldn't work on -say- Wind mobile out of the box? Should I strictly go for M919? Or are they all the same i9505 hardware only different radios? This "radio": are we referring to the baseband firmware or the actual circuitry inside the phone itself?
Sorry for asking again but I'm trying to clear up the confusion.
Thank you very much in advance
SirM2X said:
Thank you for your elaboration.
In other words, if I went and bought an SGS 4 with model number i9505, it wouldn't work on -say- Wind mobile out of the box? Should I strictly go for M919? Or are they all the same i9505 hardware only different radios? This "radio": are we referring to the baseband firmware or the actual circuitry inside the phone itself?
Sorry for asking again but I'm trying to clear up the confusion.
Thank you very much in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) All GT-i9505 variants have the same hardware which includes the radio chip, cpu, ram etc.
2) The software part (modem) that controls the radio module is different in the variants which is why some of the users were able to 'activate' AWS band support on the At&t/Rogers/Bell S4 by flashing the appropriate modem/rom.
3) I believe if you purchase the GT-i9505 it will still work on Wind Mobile and the other carriers. But keep in mind that you may or may not be able to connect to LTE or lose reception in some areas where they only run the network on a respective band.
This is where you have to do your homework. Go to Wind Mobile's website and see what bands they use & then cross reference them with the GT-i9505 supported bands.
After you do that yourself and are fairly confident that the phone should work. I'd suggest that you call up Wind mobile and ask them to ensure if that model will work on Wind completely. Just a heads up, you may not get the most knowledgeable tech on your first try...so you may have to try again.
If you just really want that model from the duty free, just get it! I'm sure one of the more advanced users here will be able to point out what needs to be tweaked for it run flawlessly on whatever network.
dj_aj said:
1) All GT-i9505 variants have the same hardware which includes the radio chip, cpu, ram etc.
2) The software part (modem) that controls the radio module is different in the variants which is why some of the users were able to 'activate' AWS band support on the At&t/Rogers/Bell S4 by flashing the appropriate modem/rom.
3) I believe if you purchase the GT-i9505 it will still work on Wind Mobile and the other carriers. But keep in mind that you may or may not be able to connect to LTE or lose reception in some areas where they only run the network on a respective band.
This is where you have to do your homework. Go to Wind Mobile's website and see what bands they use & then cross reference them with the GT-i9505 supported bands.
After you do that yourself and are fairly confident that the phone should work. I'd suggest that you call up Wind mobile and ask them to ensure if that model will work on Wind completely. Just a heads up, you may not get the most knowledgeable tech on your first try...so you may have to try again.
If you just really want that model from the duty free, just get it! I'm sure one of the more advanced users here will be able to point out what needs to be tweaked for it run flawlessly on whatever network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
Now that clears everything up
bought the GT i9500
I bought the GT i9500 galaxy s4 when I was on vacation outside Canada.
Now I'm back here and cannot connect to wind network.. It always goes on roaming :crying:
Please someone let me know what to do with my phone. Can I sell it to someone using Rogers/Bell/Telus? as my friend has a rogers sim card and its working on my phone
Also would be thankful if someone could tell me what could I do to make wind work on my phone.
I had the simcard cut by the phoneseller when I bought it so I could use it when I come back here. Could that be the problem? I mean, would it work if I bought a new small sim card from Wind?
No it won't work.I
I got a phone UK from 3 network and it didn't work and after lots of research I found that it is missing the AWS mode. Mine also works with Rogers, Telus and Bell but not Wind mobile. The store just cut my cimcar for $5 and did not work.
I was reading that there is a ROM or firmware that should be updated.
good luck and let me know if you fixed it.
Samsung Galaxy S4 on Wind Mobile
Were you able to get this working on WIND Mobile? I am in the same predicament, and need to get this working but it just keeps roaming. Wonder if there is a ROM that can be flashed to support the AWS frequency for WIND.
unhappy_with_s4 said:
I bought the GT i9500 galaxy s4 when I was on vacation outside Canada.
Now I'm back here and cannot connect to wind network.. It always goes on roaming :crying:
Please someone let me know what to do with my phone. Can I sell it to someone using Rogers/Bell/Telus? as my friend has a rogers sim card and its working on my phone
Also would be thankful if someone could tell me what could I do to make wind work on my phone.
I had the simcard cut by the phoneseller when I bought it so I could use it when I come back here. Could that be the problem? I mean, would it work if I bought a new small sim card from Wind?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Activate AWS on i9505
Check out this link to learn how to activate AWS
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2291589
Hi everyone, I currently own a Xperia Z1 (a fantastic phone by the way) but since it is bootloader locked there aren't many things to do with it, so
I, being the flashaholic that I am, decided to trade it for a galaxy S4 so I started searching here in my country (The Dominican Republic) for somebody to trade it with, but I need know two things:
-First: my carrier uses the 900Mhz band for 3g (As I understand only the international/sprint and verizon support that frecuency)
could somebody confirm if the T-mobile one also works on 900mhz (Carrier Orange Dominicana).
-Second: I would like to know what is the most "hack" friendly of all of the S4 Variants, I mean as close to a nexus devices as possible.
I believe the i9500 (international) to be the the one i'm looking for, but that version is getting a bit harder to get here, and I've heard bad things about the bootloader of the verizon version,(how bad it actually is?) so if I have to choose one of the carrier's version, considering the two things above, which one should a go for?
thanks for reading this.
Im in the Caribbean and my carriers 3g band is 850. The most hack friendly is definitely the i9505 (snapdragon version) which is what I have and it supports the 900 3g band. So there you go get the i9505, it has LTE as well you never know when it may come to your country.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
jamboss said:
Im in the Caribbean and my carriers 3g band is 850. The most hack friendly is definitely the i9505 (snapdragon version) which is what I have and it supports the 900 3g band. So there you go get the i9505, it has LTE as well you never know when it may come to your country.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying, the i9505 looks like an excellent choice, but then again is rather difficult to get an international here, Most sellers / owners willing to sell/trade have either the verizon or sprint version (a few others have the T-Mobile one) so if I were to choose between the verizon's or Sprint's, which one would be the wisest choice? (I know that both support the 900mhz 3g frecuency) I heard both aren't too open to mods (Locked Bootloaders, self sim locking, etc.... )
Out of the blue this website/forum posted this exact post made by me. Is this even legal? seems like they are stealing XDA threads info and posting thm as their own
http://www.usoftphone.com/t187961.html
Is there any difference between these phones from my bit of research I see posts about W8 owners flashing F custom roms. I know that letter differences don't always mean any changes since I am coming from a Galaxy S 2 i9100M which is virtually the same as the international to the point I just started referring to it as the international online.
I want to know since I am looking to update and due to my carrier refusing to give me a new contract pricing on the W8 unless I increase my monthly bill (I'm grandfathered into a really good promo plan. $63 when it would be $90 for the exact same now)
If they are not exactly the same would I have any problem using the F in Canada on Telus
Official Samsung page for the W8:
http://www.samsung.com/ca/support/model/SM-G900WZKABMC-techspecs
Official page for the F:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/mobile/product/smartphone/SM-G900FZDAO2U-spec
Looks like the frequencies supported might vary slightly. I am not sure whether the F will run on Canadian LTE bands, and I hope someone who knows the local frequencies can chime in.
I am personally using a Rogers W8 model in Toronto.
mediumsteak said:
Official Samsung page for the W8:
http://www.samsung.com/ca/support/model/SM-G900WZKABMC-techspecs
Official page for the F:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/mobile/product/smartphone/SM-G900FZDAO2U-spec
Looks like the frequencies supported might vary slightly. I am not sure whether the F will run on Canadian LTE bands, and I hope someone who knows the local frequencies can chime in.
I am personally using a Rogers W8 model in Toronto.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bump...
i have the exact same question regarding using the F version in Canada with Rogers wireless...
thanks.
Thanks for those links about the frequencies. I have decided that if I get one I will just get the local W8. For better frequency compatibility plus the fact I had forgotten about the recent trend of region locking that might of caused a problem with getting the F version.
If you are Canadian avoid the F at all times! It won't be compatible with your LTE bands!! You need the 700Mhz band and that is not supported with the F version.
johan81 said:
If you are Canadian avoid the F at all times! It won't be compatible with your LTE bands!! You need the 700Mhz band and that is not supported with the F version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but i thought rogers uses more than just the 700 mhz frequency as part of their 4g network..?
kl25 said:
but i thought rogers uses more than just the 700 mhz frequency as part of their 4g network..?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct, also the 2600 band, which is also not supported by the F version and it is supported by the W8.
Anyone know if I can flash a G900F modem on W8? I was given one as a gift bought online and now I have a small problem in my country with it.
Any new info?
Hi,
I would also be really interested by a way to flash the modem on the S5. I own a W8 and have some issue using it in France...
Any idea ??