Howdy XDA peeps.. I would like to get an S7 Edge and see that there are a lot of different models out there. Some with Snapdragon, Dual SIM, Exynos (sp), etc.
I have the T-Mobile branded Sony Xperia Z3 right now, love the phone, but hate that the bootloader is locked! I am stuck on Lollipop with no Marshmallow in sight.
Which S7 Edge is best for:
- Band 12 LTE and VoLTE access
- Unlocked bootloader
I know the AT&T version has unlocked bootloader, but does it have Band 12 access?
Should I get the International version?
If I go International and it has the Exynos (sp) processor I pretty much won't have access to ROMs... Is that correct?
Thanks!
No North American Qualcomm SOC-equipped S7 has an unlocked bootloader. If you want to root, you'll need the international version (or the Chinese Qualcomm version, but that likely brings other issues).
Thank you very much, I appreciate it!
meyerweb said:
No North American Qualcomm SOC-equipped S7 has an unlocked bootloader. If you want to root, you'll need the international version (or the Chinese Qualcomm version, but that likely brings other issues).
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Related
This is really confusing. Most of the threads are written such that 'how to root while updating to OF2/OF3'...it doesn't tell me which versions allow rooting in the first place? Any help. Coming from the GS3
As far as I know, the S5 Active is only available as an AT&T phone, which means it will have a locked bootloader and any somewhat newer firmwares will be unrootable. Pre-lollipop builds (Anything below OF2) are rootable but still have a locked bootloader.
Just a word from the wise, don't get an S5 Active, and DEFINITELY don't get an AT&T phone. a GS5 (regular) with a thin case (Spigen slim armor or neo-hybrid/ otterbox commuter) will be WAY more durable anyway, plus it's still waterproof/dustproof.
Get yourself a G900T (T-Mobile variant), or a G900AZ (Cricket wireless variant --Cricket is a subsidiary of at&t--), or even a G900F. Those all have unlocked bootloaders and will allow you to root, install custom recovery, custom roms, whatever you want forever. I personally have a G900T using it on AT&T with no issues, as the G900T supports all the same frequencies (and an extra one!) as the G900A (AT&T model). The G900F doesn't support every single band AT&T uses, so I would pick one of the other two if you want 100% compatibility.
MAKE SURE if you buy a G900T or G900AZ that it is UNLOCKED or you won't be able to use it. And after you get it, you'll have to call AT&T support and give them the new phone's IMEI number in order for LTE to work.
Hope what I said makes sense..
FYI The best place to buy a phone is always (XDA's own..) Swappa!
https://swappa.com/
Sean89us said:
As far as I know, the S5 Active is only available as an AT&T phone, which means it will have a locked bootloader and any somewhat newer firmwares will be unrootable. Pre-lollipop builds (Anything below OF2) are rootable but still have a locked bootloader.
Just a word from the wise, don't get an S5 Active, and DEFINITELY don't get an AT&T phone. a GS5 (regular) with a thin case (Spigen slim armor or neo-hybrid/ otterbox commuter) will be WAY more durable anyway, plus it's still waterproof/dustproof.
Get yourself a G900T (T-Mobile variant), or a G900AZ (Cricket wireless variant --Cricket is a subsidiary of at&t--), or even a G900F. Those all have unlocked bootloaders and will allow you to root, install custom recovery, custom roms, whatever you want forever. I personally have a G900T using it on AT&T with no issues, as the G900T supports all the same frequencies (and an extra one!) as the G900A (AT&T model). The G900F doesn't support every single band AT&T uses, so I would pick one of the other two if you want 100% compatibility.
MAKE SURE if you buy a G900T or G900AZ that it is UNLOCKED or you won't be able to use it. And after you get it, you'll have to call AT&T support and give them the new phone's IMEI number in order for LTE to work.
Hope what I said makes sense..
I habve an at&t variant OC5 phone available on Swappa should I get that or not, because I can't find a rooting guide for OC5
Or are you saying buy unlocked so you can use it on AT&T?
Problem is I can't find the SM-G900AZ anywhere used....might just go with the Zenfone 2 . DISSAPOINTING SAMSUNG and ATT I loved the GS3 and was looking forwar to the GS5
Which frequencies does the T mobile version NOT share?
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zetsui said:
I habve an at&t variant OC5 phone available on Swappa should I get that or not, because I can't find a rooting guide for OC5
Or are you saying buy unlocked so you can use it on AT&T?
Problem is I can't find the SM-G900AZ anywhere used....might just go with the Zenfone 2 . DISSAPOINTING SAMSUNG and ATT I loved the GS3 and was looking forwar to the GS5
Which frequencies does the T mobile version NOT share?
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Click to collapse
The T-Mobile version shares all the same frequencies plus includes an additional frequency which AT&T does not use, so therefore the T-Mobile (G900T) retains 100% compatibility with AT&T. Yes, if you want to use a G900T on any carrier besides T-Mobile it will have to be unlocked. Luckily it's not hard to find an unlocked G900T.
Let me make this clear: If it's AT&T and it's a Samsung phone and it's on lollipop, don't expect to be able to root it. Go with a T-Mobile or factory unlocked phone.
Hello!
Given that all US Galaxy S7 / S7 edge are the same model (G930 / G935) , is it possible flash another US carrier firmware without tripping KNOX?
(I don't have S7, but plan to buy later).
They aren't the same. There's different radio support in the Verizon model and Sprint model. They are not listed ast G935, but as G935V, G935S, G935T, etc. Pretty sure you can't cross flash the firmware without issues. But, just guessing.
The GSM versions of the S7 sold via T-Mobile, AT&T, etc. are not compatible with CDMA (Verizon, Sprint, etc.)
What would be the benefit? Just asking out of curiosity as I am considering buying this device.
i read something, way before the release of the device, that there was only 1 model of the device listed on the FDD certification. (will look for link later), i just confirmed this info was false (Too good to be true)...
What i actually wanted was (given this was true, which is not) to buy a Verizon S7 and put an Sprint Firmware, this because Verizon firmware has a lot of modifications... but
blackknigt said:
i read something, way before the release of the device, that there was only 1 model of the device listed on the FDD certification. (will look for link later), i just confirmed this info was false (Too good to be true)...
What i actually wanted was (given this was true, which is not) to buy a Verizon S7 and put an Sprint Firmware, this because Verizon firmware has a lot of modifications... but
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Click to collapse
I read the same thing..one model for all providers..also it said once it's loaded to a provider..it's locked there..
Don't know if it's true, but do remember reading it on the pre launch days
ibcenu said:
I read the same thing..one model for all providers..also it said once it's loaded to a provider..it's locked there..
Don't know if it's true, but do remember reading it on the pre launch days
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Yea it was some model up in Canada that was able to do that. You bought it but once you put the sim in for that provider it locked to it.
ibcenu said:
I read the same thing..one model for all providers..also it said once it's loaded to a provider..it's locked there..
Don't know if it's true, but do remember reading it on the pre launch days
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Click to collapse
it is actually right, it's One Hardware, but has modification on the processor's NVRAM to change the frequency bands, and as the bootloader is LOCKED, now you can't change it as you could with S5 (till we get a way to unlock the bootloader) (not S6 because of the Exynos chip)
see this Thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/general/how-to-add-rf-lte-frequency-bands-to-t2886059
Hi,
So after the Note 7 absolutely fiasco I'm back on my Note 5. Missing the goodness and really hope they continue the Note series. Just curious for those in Canada - is your S7 Edge (the W8 variant) unlocked bootloader and Exynos, or do I have to go the eBay route again?
@Class said:
Hi,
So after the Note 7 absolutely fiasco I'm back on my Note 5. Missing the goodness and really hope they continue the Note series. Just curious for those in Canada - is your S7 Edge (the W8 variant) unlocked bootloader and Exynos, or do I have to go the eBay route again?
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Click to collapse
Yeah bro. I'm on the same boat as you. Returned my note 7 last night and I'm back with the s7 edge. The Canadian variant is exynos with an unlocked bootloader and plenty a rom to choose from. [emoji4]
Sent from my SM-G935W8 using XDA-Developers mobile app
I have the S7 edge W8 variant (Videotron) and I can confirm you that the bootloader isn't locked. In fact, only the Snapdragon 820 version has a locked bootloader. The Exynos variant comes, out of the box, with an unlocked bootloader.
It's good to be Canadian, we got the better S7 model (Better battery life, slightly faster, better DAC, unlocked, many custom ROMs)
Hello
I have been looking for confirmation regarding the Canadian variant of the S8 and S8+ (if they are indeed the Snapdragon or Exynos chipset).
I see a lot of old posts and rumor that bootloaders are locked and unlocked, but which is it ?
Do canadian carries (Rogers) sell the:
Samsung Galaxy S8 (Exynos) (dreamlte) or Samsung Galaxy S8+ (Exynos) (dream2lte)
Has anyone confirmed if the:
SM-G955W variants
have unlocked bootloaders?
trying to confirm this so I know I have root+recovery, if anyone could assist with this.
Thanks
EDIT: I suppose this is my confirmation?
https://www.androidinfotech.com/2017/05/root-samsung-galaxy-s8-plus-canada-sm-g955w-nougat.html
The Canadian variant is snapdragon, there is root but you cannot unlock the bootloader at this moment in time, this means no custom recovery and therefore no proper roms and no kernels.
For future reference on other phones, GSMArena lets you choose which variant you want to see the pecs for on their site- https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-8161.php#g950w
If you want an unlockable snapdragon you need the G9500
sofir786 said:
The Canadian variant is snapdragon, there is root but you cannot unlock the bootloader at this moment in time, this means no custom recovery and therefore no proper roms and no kernels.
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Ouch. That REALLY sucks. Canada usually always has unlocked bootloaders. That's a shame. Guess I will have to look for the international variant
kekistaneerefugee said:
For future reference on other phones, GSMArena lets you choose which variant you want to see the pecs for on their site- https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-8161.php#g950w
If you want an unlockable snapdragon you need the G9500
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I don't need snapdragon, I rather just have unlocked bootloader. Thank you for the heads up !
I suppose I will need to look for
SM-G950F, SM-G950FD
as they have unlocked bootloaders
So I purchased this phone off of Ebay, only thing it said was International version. Once I got the phone I found it was a UAE phone.
Is there a way to flash a different locale to it? Things like Android Pay don't work, and I can't get into the Samsung Beta because the SIM and Phone region do not match.
As far as I know, Canada gets the International version of the CPU.
AluminumHaste said:
So I purchased this phone off of Ebay, only thing it said was International version. Once I got the phone I found it was a UAE phone.
Is there a way to flash a different locale to it? Things like Android Pay don't work, and I can't get into the Samsung Beta because the SIM and Phone region do not match.
As far as I know, Canada gets the International version of the CPU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the wrong section to be posting this in. Should've been in questions section. But Canada has the snapdragon processor and the international has the exynos processor. Snapdragon has locked bootloader and exynos has unlocked bootloader. There is a thread with steps on how to flash different carrier firmware
If anything you should be excited. I'm Canadian and stuck on the romless Snapdragon version.
moocman42 said:
This is the wrong section to be posting this in. Should've been in questions section. But Canada has the snapdragon processor and the international has the exynos processor. Snapdragon has locked bootloader and exynos has unlocked bootloader. There is a thread with steps on how to flash different carrier firmware
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Click to collapse
Okay, thank you.
Yes this is totally wrong selection but i don't idea about this, may be possible, I'm Canadian and stuck on the romless Snapdragon version.
jimmygarison said:
Yes this is totally wrong selection but i don't idea about this, may be possible, I'm Canadian and stuck on the romless Snapdragon version.
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I had a UAE S6 and it worked fine in Canada. Got all the updates from Samsung on the UAE schedule (aka sooner than Canada)
Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk