I am considering to get Galaxy S8. Currently, I live in Canada, and variant sold here is G950W, which has Snapdragon.
Still, I have a choice among International (G950F), South Korean Variant with 6GB RAM (G950N aka G950S, G950K, G950L but likely to get G950S), or Canadian variant (G950W). However, I am hesitating because,
1. Snapdragon Galaxy S8 seems to have locked bootloader. I heard that someone having G950W couldn't root it because odin said "fail" while flashing G950W CF Auto-Root method here. (If there is anyone who successfully root G950W, please inform me.) Also, as International variant has Exynos, it seems like there won't be that much ROM for G950W and Snapdragon variants.
2. I am also thinking about getting International variant (G950F). However, it will take very long time to get it online, and I am worried about "region lock". However, I can easily find resellers selling G950F in Canada online.
3. The last consideration is G950S/K, which are GSM based South Korean variant. I know that South Korean variant is not region locked because of South Korean regulations that bans network lock (Carriers in South Korea don't lock phones at all since late 2010). It has 6GB RAM and best specification among these variants, but again, it will be hard to get South Korean variant because there are not many resellers in Canada selling such variants. However, if I have an opportunity to go for a trip there (and have somewhat high likeliness), I am likely to be able to get off-line and switch SIM to it right away. However, it is not certain and hard to find resellers selling S8 Korean variant.
Performance-wise, a game I play frequently is rhythm-based, and more likely to have accurate timing on Snapdragon devices. I am not a hard-core phone gamer (Only game I play is rhythm-based game by klab and some puzzle games. I don't play intense games on my phone (rather, I play intense games on PC.), so difference in performance itself is not a big deal.
Related
Never buy a phone in Mainland China because it's manufactured for the Chinese market with lots of restrictions, ie. no Google, etc etc
So, I'll be visiting the USA and I'm planning on buying an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to bring back for use in mainland China (where I have a job).
As I'm reading up about it, I'm learning about "region lock," and so I really need some good advice:
The N9005 seems better because of Qualcomm Snapdragon. N900T has Snapdragon too.
The sellers I'm looking at on say they have factory unlocked N9005, N900T, and N9000.
What would you do if you wanted an unlocked Note 3 for use in China???? (I'm not tech savvy, so I'll have trouble rooting it. I want to buy it unlocked and just use it, not root it first.)
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.
Samsung Exynos 8890 Models (from wikipedia):
>SM-G935F (International Single Sim, Malaysia)
>SM-G935FD (International Dual Sim, Malaysia)
>SM-G935W8 (Canada)
>SM-G935S (South Korea SK Telecom)
>SM-G935K (South Korea KT)
>SM-G935L (South Korea LG U+)
(I'm going to assume that this is the complete list of all S7 Edge models with the Exynos octa-core, please let comment if you know of any other models)
The SM-G935F and SM-G935FD models appear to be the most common ones that I see in the rooting threads. If someone could elaborate the differences between the models listed above it would be greatly appreciated.
I live the the U.S. and I would like to get a hold of the best "Titanium Silver" S7 Edge that can be fully rooted. I eliminated all the ones with the Snapdragon 820 processor already since they have locked boot-loaders. I am not very savvy with Amazon and Ebay; After looking at some of the reviews on Amazon I'm worried that I will end up with a broken or fake S7 Edge, it seems that there are a lot of legit ones that have display issues and are sold as new devices. Iv'e also noticed that some models have "Galaxy S7 Edge" printed on the back of the phone while the rest do not, if possible I would like a version without that. There is also this rare 64gb that I'm curious about.
If you have an Exynos S7 Edge, where exactly did you purchase it from and how well does it work in the U.S.?
How do you make sure you are getting a legit new phone and not a scam?
What is the best model for rooting, custom roms, etc.
The F and FD are basically the same thing except the FD is dual sim.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Rum Dumpster said:
Samsung Exynos 8890 Models (from wikipedia):
>SM-G935F (International Single Sim, Malaysia)
>SM-G935FD (International Dual Sim, Malaysia)
>SM-G935W8 (Canada)
>SM-G935S (South Korea SK Telecom)
>SM-G935K (South Korea KT)
>SM-G935L (South Korea LG U+)
(I'm going to assume that this is the complete list of all S7 Edge models with the Exynos octa-core, please let comment if you know of any other models)
The SM-G935F and SM-G935FD models appear to be the most common ones that I see in the rooting threads. If someone could elaborate the differences between the models listed above it would be greatly appreciated.
I live the the U.S. and I would like to get a hold of the best "Titanium Silver" S7 Edge that can be fully rooted. I eliminated all the ones with the Snapdragon 820 processor already since they have locked boot-loaders. I am not very savvy with Amazon and Ebay; After looking at some of the reviews on Amazon I'm worried that I will end up with a broken or fake S7 Edge, it seems that there are a lot of legit ones that have display issues and are sold as new devices. Iv'e also noticed that some models have "Galaxy S7 Edge" printed on the back of the phone while the rest do not, if possible I would like a version without that. There is also this rare 64gb that I'm curious about.
If you have an Exynos S7 Edge, where exactly did you purchase it from and how well does it work in the U.S.?
How do you make sure you are getting a legit new phone and not a scam?
What is the best model for rooting, custom roms, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Model number on the back is Snapdragon version.
You should be very careful about frequencies. Check the ones for your provider because you can easily end up with phone that can get only 3g. Check the frequencies for international model(935F) and compare with your provider.
That's the most important thing to do. The rest is a matter of personal preferences.
Hi folks, I browsed this forum a few times and finally decided to make an account after all the wonderful information I've read here.
I realize there's probably no simple way to answer this question. But I'd like to buy the "best of the best" S8 I possibly can. I'm interested in the S8 specifically and not the S8 Plus. It's a phone I intend on keeping for a while, so long as nothing catastrophic happens. As such, I'm open to all possibilities.
I'm based in the USA but I would like to have the one with the most available bands to get the maximum availability on networks while traveling. I read on another thread that so far there are ways to unlock the bands in the firmware after flashing the Canadian firmware to the device. (I think this was referring to the Snapdragon North American version). But features such as Wifi Calling on T-Mobile won't work after that.
Because of carrier locks, it appears that certain models of phones only have certain bands enabled depending on which provider they were released for (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc). This is a bit of a problem, if for example, I wanted to use an AT&T phone on T-Mobile, or wanted to pop in a local SIM while traveling.
I'm presently on Verizon, but I'm not under contract and so I'm willing to switch to perhaps T-Mobile, AT&T, or whatever other GSM carriers are available. As such, CDMA capabilities aren't really a major issue for me. It would be nice, but not a deal breaker. I also get conflicting info where some sellers say their unlocked phones won't work for CDMA carriers; while others claim that the unlocked phones have all the CDMA capabilities unlocked as well.
I'm wondering also, if the Snapdragon or Exynos is preferable? The general consensus among developers seems to be that Exynos is preferable to Snapdragon when it comes to future mods, rootability, etc. What is the downside to Exynos?
Lastly, what do you think of the DUAL SIM version? My main reason for holding off on my purchase is debating whether I should get the dual SIM version or not. It would be a nice feature to have, for a phone I intended on setting up and keeping for a while. The only hesitation as far as this goes, is warranty coverage issues.
Would the international version have all the bands enabled? I've also read the Chinese and South Korean versions have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which is pretty sweet.
Thanks!
TurboSloth said:
Hi folks, I browsed this forum a few times and finally decided to make an account after all the wonderful information I've read here.
I realize there's probably no simple way to answer this question. But I'd like to buy the "best of the best" S8 I possibly can. I'm interested in the S8 specifically and not the S8 Plus. It's a phone I intend on keeping for a while, so long as nothing catastrophic happens. As such, I'm open to all possibilities.
I'm based in the USA but I would like to have the one with the most available bands to get the maximum availability on networks while traveling. I read on another thread that so far there are ways to unlock the bands in the firmware after flashing the Canadian firmware to the device. (I think this was referring to the Snapdragon North American version). But features such as Wifi Calling on T-Mobile won't work after that.
Because of carrier locks, it appears that certain models of phones only have certain bands enabled depending on which provider they were released for (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc). This is a bit of a problem, if for example, I wanted to use an AT&T phone on T-Mobile, or wanted to pop in a local SIM while traveling.
I'm presently on Verizon, but I'm not under contract and so I'm willing to switch to perhaps T-Mobile, AT&T, or whatever other GSM carriers are available. As such, CDMA capabilities aren't really a major issue for me. It would be nice, but not a deal breaker. I also get conflicting info where some sellers say their unlocked phones won't work for CDMA carriers; while others claim that the unlocked phones have all the CDMA capabilities unlocked as well.
I'm wondering also, if the Snapdragon or Exynos is preferable? The general consensus among developers seems to be that Exynos is preferable to Snapdragon when it comes to future mods, rootability, etc. What is the downside to Exynos?
Lastly, what do you think of the DUAL SIM version? My main reason for holding off on my purchase is debating whether I should get the dual SIM version or not. It would be a nice feature to have, for a phone I intended on setting up and keeping for a while. The only hesitation as far as this goes, is warranty coverage issues.
Would the international version have all the bands enabled? I've also read the Chinese and South Korean versions have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which is pretty sweet.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get your answers? I have same don't like doubts, specially related to processor and dual chip tech.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
The only "downside" to the exynos version is the lack of CDMA support. It is superior in pretty much every other regard.
If you're considering a G950U.. I believe the AT&T model covers the most LTE bands. The Verizon version lists TDD LTE bands if those are useful to you. (But lacks other important bands)
To your question, the G950F/FD is likely your best bet.
Where do I found a list of models? I saw that in Brazil we have SM-G950, but what I see is here is only SM-G950F
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
I guess if you go with the exynos variant you will miss near fully playable gamecube/wii emulation. The exynos does other stuff better tho.
For the dual SIM variant, they have also just released a 6gb/128gb version, model number is SM-G9550. That's the best one you can get for the dual SIM variant: http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/business/business-products/mobile-device/smartphones/SM-G9550ZKGTGY.
Only downside is no Band 66 support though if you are planning to be on T-Mobile.
Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk
Hi, where can i buy the S8 Plus SM-G9550 (128GB, Snapdragon, 6GB Ram)?
thx in advance
Hi mate iv always preferred going for a G9xxF/FD version since They are Exynos in-case of Root or mods Exynos gets them first and if u get a FD added advantage of the dual sim. Good Luck
Hi codex1998, i don't need root and mods. My opinion is that the SM-G9550 is the better and most powerful phone.
Hi everyone, how about official firmware updates for different models ?
Is there any difference which models receives updates, which not ?
Some of my friends use different models and here is my statistic based on their phones:
s7 edge FD (dual sim): Android 7.0, last update August 2017,
note 8 (I believe its F model): 7.1 - August 2017,
s8 FD (dual sim) - 7.0 - Oct 2017,
2x s8+ FD (dual sim) - 7.0 Oct 2017.
So i am looking into getting an S8 and I am in north america. Even though exynos is a tiny bit faster it seems thats its just a few numbers higher in benchmarks and wont make a difference in real world usage plus i really like the idea of manufacturers warranty for me in USA.
A few people said on reddit that I should get a Snapdragon USA S8 because "it has 4x4 mimo" which will make performance on t mobile much better. One person said for that feature i need a t mobile branded s8 ( which is $200 more than the deal I am looking at on amazon for a generic USA snapdragon unlocked S8)
can anyone share some info about this if you know anything?
You can flash the T-Mobile firmware if you want to the US unlocked S8 and get those features. It probably doesn't matter if you're on T-Mobile but the international version lacks CDMA and LTE bands 13 and 41, so you wouldn't be able to use it on Verizon or Sprint, while the US model can.
I recommend the Note 8.
Hardware wise snapdragon models are all the same. Buy the one you're looking at and flash T-Mobile fw on it.