Hey folks,
My apologies if this has been discussed thoroughly.
What's the best Galaxy Note 3 version if I wish to do the following:
Use AT&T's LTE network
Use my phone in any region: Canada, Europe, South America (I will actually be traveling to these places)
Have minimal to zero bloatware
Receive Android OS updates in a timely manner, unlike on AT&T's Galaxy S2 Skyrocket which took 45234551234 years later
My original intent was to purchase an International version on release day, but that was halted due to the region-lock issue. The next best solution at the time was to purchase a T-Mobile branded one since it could work on AT&T's LTE network while AT&T's version of the phone had a locked bootloader.
What's the best choice today?
Thanks
bump
Honestly, if you can get it, I would get the Canadian Variant. More specifically the Bell's Model. Unlockable, Easy to Root and Minimal Bloat.
codyrichards said:
Honestly, if you can get it, I would get the Canadian Variant. More specifically the Bell's Model. Unlockable, Easy to Root and Minimal Bloat.
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Thanks! Better than T-Mobile's Note 3?
My AT&T contract has already expired and either I can remain on it or switch to T-Mobile. Only thing is that I'm still grandfathered under AT&T's unlimited data plan and I haven't seen any signs of them throttling me even at ~10GB (knock on wood).
I used to be on T-Mobile a thousand years ago when their service wasn't the best, but seems like they've come around...
codyrichards said:
Honestly, if you can get it, I would get the Canadian Variant. More specifically the Bell's Model. Unlockable, Easy to Root and Minimal Bloat.
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Bell/Rogers/TELUS Note 3's are all the same thing. TELUS CSC has the least bloatware, only My Account app and I think that can be disabled without rooting BUT you can change the CSC without rooting anyway.
Sent from my SM-N900W8
I'm trying to decide if I'm going to own the AT&T galaxy s7 edge. This is just my observation, but it seems that there are fewer root options and less custom user development with each new model of the Samsung Galaxy S phones from AT&T. This seems to be more with with AT&T versions because they seem to be trying to do everything in their power to limit users from rooting their phones. This may go further than AT&T, but that's where my experience is limited to. I'd go with another carrier or buy an unlocked one, but I just can't justify the cost when my job pays for the phone and the bill. Worst case scenario is that I'll just stop rooting my phone rather than buy one somewhere else, but I love the flexibility and options it gives me. There are many custom functions I enjoy on my phone made possible by rooting it.
So my question to the community is this, and please share your thoughts even if you disagree:
Do you too also see a decline in the root options and custom development effort in AT&T Galaxy S phones over the years? Do you think this is going to change? And are there other phones you feel are better to own with comparable functionality to the Galaxy S series that receive much more custom user development support? Thank you all!
There is no question that development has fallen away on ATT phones - primarly because of the locked bootloader that ATT started back with the S4 - is has only gotten worse since then.
I am on ATT and I stopped buying ATT phones after the S4. The flexibility and options that are open to me using a TMobile phone on ATT are worth whatever additional cost to me so I just deal with it. I am fortunate, I have a good job and my wife doesn't bi..ch too much.
Custom Rom Developoment on the S6 and Note 5 for all carriers seemed to be less overall than I remember on the Note 4 and the S5 before that - maybe because Samsung pissed everyone off when they didn't include an External SD Card and they elminated the removal battery. The Exynos Processor probably played a big role too - I hope we see more on the S7 and S7 edge....
It's probably not a good idea if you want to use CM on ATT S7. And I would recommend you to get oneplus or nexus if you want to use CM or other custom ROMs.
Edited: I am also considering getting tmobile S7 for att use. Just don't know if that gonna work.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
I have had to stick with ATT since it is the only signal to penetrate the building I am in. My S4 was a T-Mobile model which was all unlocked with good amount of development. My s5 is w8 Canadian model also with pretty good development. I actually considered getting an ATT s7 but I'm sure I would soon be dissatisfied with stock only. Plus 30 months of $26 extra bill for device would be terrible. So I am going to wait and buy another international one when available for less than 6 or 7 hundred bucks.
I left ATT for one of these reasons, got so sick and tired of their Nazi BS crappy way of doing things the past couple of years. I used to LOL at Verizon for being the worst, well ATT has far surpassed them for the worst carrier in the U.S. ( Not talking network )
Back in the day, the ATT Note 2 was AWESOME, and tons of XDA development available for that phone, and then the Note 3 things started to change, and only got worse. The S4 was a disaster, at first it was rootable and had development, then ATT passed an update, and totally locked down that phone.
Plus their billing sucks, my monthly bill was never consistent, even though I was on a good plan. Every month my bill was a little higher, or way higher, but never exactly what it should be.
Fast forward to last Summer, My wife and I moved to T-Mobile at the launch of the Note 5, pick up the T-Mobile Note 5, and both are rooted running a great ROM. And T-Mobile's monthly bill, for seven months straight, been exactly the same, no funny business.
I'm with AT&T for the past two years. Two years ago AT&T kicked T-Mobile off all their cell towers in my area, and my signal became nonexistent. I ordered an S7 Edge through T-Mobile. Once the phone is unlocked, works fine on AT&T network. I won't buy another AT&T phone. I was lucky with my S5. I used the Towel Root exploit, and was lucky to have not updated.....
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the feedback! Since work will buy the phone, I'm thinking about getting the AT&T S7 Edge, selling it, then getting a T-Mobile version with the money I sell it for maybe make a little or lose a little, but it shouldn't be a huge difference.
It is not only ATT Samsung phones that have seen a decrease in development - pretty much all phones have seen a decrease in development. Reason? Android is much better than it used to be! I had the S6 Edge+ (928G) unlocked and liked it, but eventually sold it. After a month or two I missed it and go a good deal on the ATT version. Man, the battery and signal strength are MUCH better than the 928G I had. There was bloat, but 99% of it can be disabled or uninstalled. I have gotten quite used to Samsung Pay and Android Pay and you can not use those with root.
madgalaxy said:
It is not only ATT Samsung phones that have seen a decrease in development - pretty much all phones have seen a decrease in development. Reason? Android is much better than it used to be! I had the S6 Edge+ (928G) unlocked and liked it, but eventually sold it. After a month or two I missed it and go a good deal on the ATT version. Man, the battery and signal strength are MUCH better than the 928G I had. There was bloat, but 99% of it can be disabled or uninstalled. I have gotten quite used to Samsung Pay and Android Pay and you can not use those with root.
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I simply cannot use a phone without AdAway, so I must root it. I hate ads/spam more than people hated Hitler.
I haven't felt a desire to unlock and root my phone. I have a Moto X Pure. I did have a Note 4 ATT variant and if it just came with Samsung bloat, I would have been fine but it's that ****ty at&t bloat that made me frustrated.
We went from a Note 3 to a Note Edge... Note 3 wasn't too bad and I did have it rooted with towelroot I think.
Note Edge didn't gain enough popularirty and nobody really cared to do anything with it anyways. We skipped the Note 5 and now going with a S7 Edge. I realized I didn't need to root or load a custom ROM on my Edge and I've been fine... Might stay that way with the S7 Edge we'll see...
that being said, I have a Gear S and that is locked down with ATT too.
Thought about going to T-Mobile, but our service is real good with AT&T so we didn't wanna change... I wouldn't mind trying T-Mobile though.
razorseal said:
We went from a Note 3 to a Note Edge... Note 3 wasn't too bad and I did have it rooted with towelroot I think.
Note Edge didn't gain enough popularirty and nobody really cared to do anything with it anyways. We skipped the Note 5 and now going with a S7 Edge. I realized I didn't need to root or load a custom ROM on my Edge and I've been fine... Might stay that way with the S7 Edge we'll see...
that being said, I have a Gear S and that is locked down with ATT too.
Thought about going to T-Mobile, but our service is real good with AT&T so we didn't wanna change... I wouldn't mind trying T-Mobile though.
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I was thinking about switching to tmobile but I was wondering if there is any way to test for tmobile signal in my building?
Ublock Origin works wonders
schn1tt3r said:
I simply cannot use a phone without AdAway, so I must root it. I hate ads/spam more than people hated Hitler.
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Ublock Origin > Firefox Mobile
Just adding (maybe not for you) but there are options out there for people that want Android/Samsung Pay and won't have root.
My honest openion, avoid AT&T, get a unlocked varient, You will thank me later.
I wish unlocked variations of phones worked on Verizon because that's what i would do. Verizon has the same issue with development going down the hill and also all the bloat ware, late updates...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How is development for Verizon galaxy devices?
Does the T-Mobile variant have the same bands as at&t? Can I get the free Samsung gear vr? Can't seem to find the answers to these anywhere.
I also agree that development across all devices has went down allot.
The way I look at it, from Samsung stand point, if u want features like Gear VR and Samsung Pay, it's best not to root anyway since most of the root breaks those features.
Without those features you might as well get a non feature packed Android such as a Nexus.
Now days before making a device purchase, it's pretty obvious which device has the better dev community. If u go dev route and get a Nexus you loose luxury features such as Samsung Pay Gear VR etc....
Android is so powerful now days, the need for root and custom Roms just ain't needed anymore.
The G1 and HTC Evo and Samsung Vibrant (old school devices) days are a different story.
Just a warning for anybody who wants to use a non AT&T phone on their network. They will not allow it to use VoLTE at all.
spankmatic22 said:
I was thinking about switching to tmobile but I was wondering if there is any way to test for tmobile signal in my building?
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You'll be sorry if you switch.... I left T-Mobile two years ago because of signal problems in the financial capital of the world. NYC... and they are still having the same problems two years later since AT&T kicked them off their cell towers.....
http://callingouttmobile.com/
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lordloki77 said:
Does the T-Mobile variant have the same bands as at&t? Can I get the free Samsung gear vr? Can't seem to find the answers to these anywhere.
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I was with T-Mobile for 15 years up until two years ago when I switched to AT&T.... I had mad signal problems in my house.... I've had no problem since I moved. I order only T-Mobile phones because they are easier to root, and I unlock them.... and use them on AT&T....
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lordloki77 said:
Does the T-Mobile variant have the same bands as at&t? Can I get the free Samsung gear vr? Can't seem to find the answers to these anywhere.
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I was with T-Mobile for 15 years up until two years ago when I switched to AT&T.... I had mad signal problems in my house.... I've had no problem since I moved. I order only T-Mobile phones because they are easier to root, and I unlock them.... and use them on AT&T....
From what I read about the Note 6 the device is going to be a beast. These are rumors but:
6-inch flexible display
Android 6.0.1
4K Resolution
16-Core processor
Exynos + Snapdragon Chipset
6 GB RAM
32, 64, 128 GB Internal Storage
Micro SD card support (200 GB)
20 MP Primary camera
4000 mAh Battery
Also I read it will come with a dock so this thing is going to replace some computers with these specs.
I need to get it when it comes out in August but obviously it's going to be locked down on Verizon. What do you guys think the best carrier to buy it from to have it work on the Verizon network, unlocked, and eventually rooted? I think Sprint is the only other carrier using CDMA technology so I'm thinking to buy the Note 6 from Sprint full price without a contract. Any thoughts?
Us Cellular os CDMA
jcip17 said:
From what I read about the Note 6 the device is going to be a beast. These are rumors but:
6-inch flexible display
Android 6.0.1
4K Resolution
16-Core processor
Exynos + Snapdragon Chipset
6 GB RAM
32, 64, 128 GB Internal Storage
Micro SD card support (200 GB)
20 MP Primary camera
4000 mAh Battery
Also I read it will come with a dock so this thing is going to replace some computers with these specs.
I need to get it when it comes out in August but obviously it's going to be locked down on Verizon. What do you guys think the best carrier to buy it from to have it work on the Verizon network, unlocked, and eventually rooted? I think Sprint is the only other carrier using CDMA technology so I'm thinking to buy the Note 6 from Sprint full price without a contract. Any thoughts?
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US Cellular is CDMA. I to am tired of Verizon, but I just read an article that the S7 and S7 edge are locked down on T-Mobile and Sprint just like our Verizon Note 4's. That just leaves US Cellular but they might be dm-verity locked down too for all I know. No more Samsung phones for me. Nexus looks like the only way to go anymore.
I bought a USC Note 4 with the intent of having it unlocked and using it on Verizon. I was prepared for the only band incompatibility being that USC doesn't broadcast on band 13 LTE, so the phone didn't support that band. Band 4 LTE is supported... which is verizon's "XLTE" (the fast one)... and in most places I go, band 4 is prevalent. So... you should install LTE Discovery and see what bands you connect to everywhere to make sure you'll get LTE when you need it. In short... you won't get the most thorough LTE coverage with US Cellular... but it may be a non-issue to you if Band 4 is prevalent where you need it.
As far as my experience with that Note 4... I never got far enough to try. Turned out that the device I bought on Amazon was essentially "stolen" from the carrier because the device was still on a payment plan... which wasn't being paid on. And surprise! They wouldn't unlock a blacklisted phone. I filed a claim with Amazon, and I got a full refund. Better yet... I got to keep the device. I ended up buying a Developer Edition Note 4, and now my 2yr old son and I have the same phone. (It can't be used on ANY carrier now that it's blacklisted... but it's great for playing non-internet-connected games and episodes of PAW Patrol.)
PM me if you have questions about anything from above this line.
If they sell a Dev Edition of the Note 6... I'm buying one, even if I have to sell a kidney. But, I don't think I'll have to make that difficult decision. There's about as much chance of Samsung making (or should I say Verizon allowing Samung to make) another Developer Edition phone as there is a chance that I'll grow a spare 3rd kidney to sell.
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kerfex said:
US Cellular is CDMA. I to am tired of Verizon, but I just read an article that the S7 and S7 edge are locked down on T-Mobile and Sprint just like our Verizon Note 4's. That just leaves US Cellular but they might be dm-verity locked down too for all I know. No more Samsung phones for me. Nexus looks like the only way to go anymore.
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I didn't look into the other variants of the S7... but I'm saddened at the notion that even T-Mo has locked it down. I was in a T-Mo store a few months ago, hoping that the coverage was going to get better in my area. I asked if T-Mo would ever lock the bootloaders like Verizon insists upon, and he said no. If the S7 is bootloader-locked in all variants (from Samsung, not by the carrier)... it's got to be because they want to push Samsung Pay, which shouldn't work if the phone is rooted. Ugh... what a shame. They should just do it like Nexus phones... Android Pay just doesn't work if you're rooted. If you restore to stock, it works again. No need to lock the device down just to make sure one feature will always work.
Also... don't forget about Motorola phones in addition to Nexi. These are the only mainstream "carrier-agnostic" phones being produced, but there are more like the Nextbit Robin, which just got TWRP. By "carrier-agnostic" I mean they are sold direct from the manufacturer with all carrier bands enabled by default. CDMA, GSM, etc.
I have the s7 edge on Verizon. got a great deal just a couple weeks ago. $400 and plan on upgrading to s8 when it arrives.
I have the unlimited grandfather Verizon plan and I get a $75 discount on my bill for any service I decide to use to money is not an issue.
I am so tired of Verizon and there **** blocking ways. late updates. products like the samsung s3 frontier not being available yet and the locked boot loaders and the sometimes impossible root methods.
any input would be good from att fans and ex verizon people. thanks.
Bootloader is locked on at&t and there updates normally take long but nougat came pretty quick the services is amazing
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using XDA-Developers Legacy app
SSDD. It's no different. Att also has locked bootloaders, limited products ( try getting a droid or a pixel ). **** blocking, buy a pixel and bring it over to att. You loose VOLTE and wifi right off the get go, no way around it. Stay where you are unless you are getting a crap ton of goodies to switch carriers. You will be just as discouraged on att as you are on verizon.
What Am I Getting Into If I Go with the Unlocked S8 SM-G950F? I'm in the US & AT&T
An experienced Google Phone Root & ROM'er I'm looking at getting an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 SM-G950F from B&H Photo/Video.
Soooo much to read its killing me. I need a jump start in the right direction in the forest.
I use AT&T post paid here in the US. I basically want to TWRP for NANDs' & TBU, and Theme.
What will I have to put up with on the negativity side?
Will Oreo & updates be easy to get onto the device?
Will AT&T give me issues?
Thanks
Anything AT&T-specific or Qualcomm-related will not work. Such as HD voice / WiFi calling and Samsung Pay. Updates will roll in at the same time when the 950F is updated worldwide. Other than aforementioned feature losses, AT&T will be none the wiser and the phone will work just like any unlocked phone does.
Having said that, I do not see an upside of the Exynos 8895 this time around. The SD835 and the Exynos 8895 come out of the same fab (Samsung Semiconductor) on the same lithography (10 nm LPE), and are tuned to perform similarly as has been a tradition for the Galaxy series. Reviews confirm that they are roughly equal, and If anything SD835 seems to have an edge in battery endurance thanks to Qualcomm's advanced modem technology.
Besides which, Samsung sell unlocked phones directly from their website with a generous promotion that lets you trade in older phones, and having a record with them might come in handy if you need to use the warranty service in the future.
I can think of only one advantage of the Exynos variant of the S8 - that it does not have that stupid "Galaxy S8" marking on the back of the phone, which is a huge eyesore on all Snapdragon variants of S8/S8+ and the Note 8.