I'm looking to buy an S4 unlocked to use with straight talk, but I'm not sure if I should go with the i9505 or the i337. I've read where some people say the AT&T version will have lots of updates, which will slow down the performance of the phone, and that it can not be rooted. On the other hand, the i9505 will not have 4g LTE. I'm undecided on which one to choose. I could deal with not having LTE speeds if I absolutely had to, and I want to have the option to root my phone if I decide to. Can anyone confirm if this info is correct, and based on what I want out of the phone which one I should get?
r0xy100.77 said:
I'm looking to buy an S4 unlocked to use with straight talk, but I'm not sure if I should go with the i9505 or the i337. I've read where some people say the AT&T version will have lots of updates, which will slow down the performance of the phone, and that it can not be rooted. On the other hand, the i9505 will not have 4g LTE. I'm undecided on which one to choose. I could deal with not having LTE speeds if I absolutely had to, and I want to have the option to root my phone if I decide to. Can anyone confirm if this info is correct, and based on what I want out of the phone which one I should get?
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Click to collapse
Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 have 4G LTE.
I know it has LTE capabilities, but the way I understood it was it just wouldn't work in the US?
Related
I just received (and opened) a new I9500 from Amazon that I intend to activate on the Verizon network sometime this week. After I did some research, I found that the I9500 does not support LTE. Is there a significant benefit to using LTE over a 3G network? Is it worth attempting to return the phone in favor of the I9505 (if possible)?
I'm kind of nervous now. I feel like I may have made a mistake, but I'm not sure and that's why I'm here. >.<
Next time I purchase a phone, I'll do things in the right order...
VerTiGo_Etrex said:
I just received (and opened) a new I9500 from Amazon that I intend to activate on the Verizon network sometime this week. After I did some research, I found that the I9500 does not support LTE. Is there a significant benefit to using LTE over a 3G network? Is it worth attempting to return the phone in favor of the I9505 (if possible)?
I'm kind of nervous now. I feel like I may have made a mistake, but I'm not sure and that's why I'm here. >.<
Next time I purchase a phone, I'll do things in the right order...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i9500 is a good phone but still does not support LTE
LTE vs 3G deftnlty a difference in speed but 3g will cost less and battery friendly now
If u are ok with 3G i9500 is a very good device its ok if u dont change it also
But if u care to use many diffrnt Roms / CM10 build etc u myte wanna go with i9505
VerTiGo_Etrex said:
I just received (and opened) a new I9500 from Amazon that I intend to activate on the Verizon network sometime this week. After I did some research, I found that the I9500 does not support LTE. Is there a significant benefit to using LTE over a 3G network? Is it worth attempting to return the phone in favor of the I9505 (if possible)?
I'm kind of nervous now. I feel like I may have made a mistake, but I'm not sure and that's why I'm here. >.<
Next time I purchase a phone, I'll do things in the right order...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you should do things in order my friend and do your research. If you wanna use LTE on Verizon then get the Verizon galaxy s 4. Just came out not too long ago. And change the title of the thread while you're at it, it's misleading.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Err. How do you plan to activate I9500, a GSM device on Verizon to begin with?
I9500 is out and out GSM device. Forget LTE, it wont work on Verizon at all.
Huge difference. About 25Mbps worth of speed loss.
Max 3g speed is around 7 whereas 4g can go up to 100.
It hovers sound 20 in the UAE these days.
Funkym0nkey said:
Err. How do you plan to activate I9500, a GSM device on Verizon to begin with?
I9500 is out and out GSM device. Forget LTE, it wont work on Verizon at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are absolutely correct. Verizon just told me that I can't activate the device on their network. I'm an idiot.
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.
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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)
Hey guys, I'm getting my hands on my friend's Galaxy S4. He is on an AT&T plan and got then phone from them through an upgrade. I personally prefer Verizon. I was wondering if I could get some help on making his phone work for me. I have a SIM card and everything, currently using a RAZR MAXX. I've done a little looking around, and from what I gathered, the phone is capable of working with verizon, but I'll have to load a different kernel and ROM onto it. I've looked through http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557 that thread and found some nice info, but I'm not yet confident enough in my knowledge to go through with it. I've decided on the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305781 CLEANROM 1.6.5, but I don't know what else I'm going to need to have in order to make this phone work for me. I also don't know if I'll need to download the Verizion or the AT&T version of this. Thanks for all the help, I'm really wanting to make this work for me so I can actually get a powerhouse of a phone.
Xray55 said:
Hey guys, I'm getting my hands on my friend's Galaxy S4. He is on an AT&T plan and got then phone from them through an upgrade. I personally prefer Verizon. I was wondering if I could get some help on making his phone work for me. I have a SIM card and everything, currently using a RAZR MAXX. I've done a little looking around, and from what I gathered, the phone is capable of working with verizon, but I'll have to load a different kernel and ROM onto it. I've looked through http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557 that thread and found some nice info, but I'm not yet confident enough in my knowledge to go through with it. I've decided on the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305781 CLEANROM 1.6.5, but I don't know what else I'm going to need to have in order to make this phone work for me. I also don't know if I'll need to download the Verizion or the AT&T version of this. Thanks for all the help, I'm really wanting to make this work for me so I can actually get a powerhouse of a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. it won't work.
xuanphucn said:
Nope. it won't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is what I read about on the post I linked not true then?
Xray55 said:
Is what I read about on the post I linked not true then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your link is to a thread regarding other variants of S4 roms. Although you can use other S4 roms on the i337, the phone wont work on verizon carrier.
Kaze105 said:
Your link is to a thread regarding other variants of S4 roms. Although you can use other S4 roms on the i337, the phone wont work on verizon carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about that. ROM shouldn't matter too much, you just have to have it SIM unlocked and I believe it won't work too well due to the different frequencies between carriers and so you may not get LTE or something. Maybe someone can correct me though.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Verizon/Sprint phones use CDMA.
ATT/T-Mobile use GSM
I don't think you can use a CDMA phone on a GSM network and vice versa.
EDIT:
Per the replies below, it looks like it ispossible.
Here is a thread from the Verizon forums.
Also, if this WIKI page is correct, the Verizon S4 has both CDMA and GSM radio's where the ATT S4 only has a GSM radio.
The first thing to identify on the phone is whether or not it is on the stock AT&T ROM and what version that ROM is. If it is I337UCUAMF3 then changing the bootloader/kernal/rom is not even an option to begin with which means there would be no way to change out the modem to support other carrier bands (such as those used by Verizon). On top of that, although I have heard that the modem hardware is the same on all versions of the S4 I have not heard anyone confirm that they have successfully enabled CDMA services on the I337.
rayburne said:
Verizon/Sprint phones use CDMA.
ATT/T-Mobile use GSM
I don't think you can use a CDMA phone on a GSM network and vice versa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some that work on other networks without the need for modem changes. I read about some using the Verizon on AT&T, and I used the droid Bionic, a Verizon exclusive with a locked boot loader, on AT&T.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
The strange thing is you can use a Verizon S4 on AT&T but you can't do it the other way around. Verizon phones all come unlocked, allowing you to use the phone anywhere around the world.
The AT&T S4 does not contain the CDMA chip allowing you to use it on the Verizon network, plus it has to do something with IMEI. If you give the IMEI to Verizon, they won't be able to locate which device you are trying to activate because it's not in the system. But if you use a Verizon S4 and put in a AT&T SIM card, you don't have to register the IMEI with AT&T or T-Mobile.
emckai said:
The strange thing is you can use a Verizon S4 on AT&T b.
you can't do it the other way around. Verizon phones all come unlocked, allowing you to use the phone anywhere around the world.
The AT&T S4 does not contain the CDMA chip allowing you to use it on the Verizon network, plus it has to do something with IMEI. If you give the IMEI to Verizon, they won't be able to locate which device you are trying to activate because it's not in the system. But if you use a Verizon S4 and put in a AT&T SIM card, you don't have to register the IMEI with AT&T or T-Mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that this is true about the verizon s4. I have a Verizon s4 and have used AT&T and straight talk on it. My brother uses that phone daily on his AT&T account.
I will test my AT&T s4 when I get around to finding my sim card.
sundigen said:
I can confirm that this is true about the verizon s4. I have a Verizon s4 and have used AT&T and straight talk on it. My brother uses that phone daily on his AT&T account.
I will test my AT&T s4 when I get around to finding my sim card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure you won't be able to use an AT&T S4 on Verizon because the AT&T S4 doesn't have the CDMA capabilities.
emckai said:
I'm pretty sure you won't be able to use an AT&T S4 on Verizon because the AT&T S4 doesn't have the CDMA capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I noticed that the ATT S4 doesn't have everything that the Verizon S4 has in the service menu. Like I can turn on all the different bands in the service menu, but on my ATT S4 I get restrictions on wcdma.
I'm new to all this. I traded a iPhone for the ATT version because I couldn't figure out how to make the Verizon version work on straight talk..
Not two days after I have the ATT I somehow got it working... Lol. So now I have two with unlocked bootloaders and sum unlocked...
sundigen said:
Yea I noticed that the ATT S4 doesn't have everything that the Verizon S4 has in the service menu. Like I can turn on all the different bands in the service menu, but on my ATT S4 I get restrictions on wcdma.
I'm new to all this. I traded a iPhone for the ATT version because I couldn't figure out how to make the Verizon version work on straight talk..
Not two days after I have the ATT I somehow got it working... Lol. So now I have two with unlocked bootloaders and sum unlocked...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Methods used to obtain this?
I am I believe sim unlocked because I no longer see the prompt for password apon boot but the verizon doesn't connect.
Thank you in advance!
Hi, so this may sound like a stupid question, but I have searched and searched via google even, and I don't know if im searching the terms incorrectly, or getting incorrect information...
I want to buy a Carrier-Free, Bloatware Free Galaxy S4 (Or 5 when it comes out, or even an HTC One)
I want to use it on AT&T GoPhone with LTE.
I see the different variants only working with AT&T 2G/3G or only H+, or only LTE.
When looking for a bloatware, and carrier free S4, what model should I be looking at?
Thanks in advance!
Bump
Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk
i9505
I'm assuming you live in the US since you are talking about AT&T LTE , Only possible answer i can get for you is to get the i9505 (No contract) & then rooting it and removing all the bloatware you do not like.
i9500 does not have LTE therefore i9505 is the most suitable for you
Alternatively You can get i9505 and install a custom rom which basically removes much of the unwanted apps & even then if you want to remove some more bloatware you can always do that.
You will get full and better support in this XDA forum 100% dedicated to AT&T Galaxy S4.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att
great isn't it?
lolo9393 said:
You will get full and better support in this XDA forum 100% dedicated to AT&T Galaxy S4.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att
great isn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, that's not what I'm looking for. I am not looking for the AT&T variant of the s4, since I would like a carrier free phone. Hence why I was posting in this forum and not the AT&T.
ExjeetzZ said:
I'm assuming you live in the US since you are talking about AT&T LTE , Only possible answer i can get for you is to get the i9505 (No contract) & then rooting it and removing all the bloatware you do not like.
i9500 does not have LTE therefore i9505 is the most suitable for you
Alternatively You can get i9505 and install a custom rom which basically removes much of the unwanted apps & even then if you want to remove some more bloatware you can always do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the i9505 is an unlocked version? Do the unlocked phones also come with bloatware?
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
justinisloco said:
Unfortunately, that's not what I'm looking for. I am not looking for the AT&T variant of the s4, since I would like a carrier free phone. Hence why I was posting in this forum and not the AT&T.
So the i9505 is an unlocked version? Do the unlocked phones also come with bloatware?
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I think every S4 is coming with bloatware. Root and remove the bloatware is the only way to get rid of it.
What do you mean with unlocked? The bootloader? In this case you have to look for a I-9505 with android 4.2.2 and firmware older than mh5. (Germany) every newer firmware has a locked bootloader.
Wondering how I can get an LTE s5 on straight talk, unlocked phone.. In the US.. I've read that you don't want the H model but the F model... But i also read some people on amazon have a lot of trouble with that.. With it mostly resorting to h+. Obviously I want to avoid that because I wouldn't want to buy a new phone only to be able to use half of its network features..
Predator1123123 said:
Wondering how I can get an LTE s5 on straight talk, unlocked phone.. In the US.. I've read that you don't want the H model but the F model... But i also read some people on amazon have a lot of trouble with that.. With it mostly resorting to h+. Obviously I want to avoid that because I wouldn't want to buy a new phone only to be able to use half of its network features..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought the T-Mobile S5, unlocked it and have used it on both Straight Talk GSM plans with no issues.