t mobile (G950T) firmware on snapdragon unlocked (G950U)? - Samsung Galaxy S8 Questions and Answers

hey all, i am on T MOBILE USA and i was going to get their branded S8 but since i am on prepaid they would be charging me a premium at $800 for an S8, F*** THAT.
so now I want to get the regular unlocked snapdragon variant which is cheaper in my case, but i still want the t mobile features like advanced messaging, wifi calling, and 4x4 mimo which would come with running their firmware. can i load t mobile firmware on an unlocked snapdragon S8 since they are both Snapdragon? or is there issues since they are different models (G950U and G950T)?

kofman13 said:
hey all, i am on T MOBILE USA and i was going to get their branded S8 but since i am on prepaid they would be charging me a premium at $800 for an S8, F*** THAT.
so now I want to get the regular unlocked snapdragon variant which is cheaper in my case, but i still want the t mobile features like advanced messaging, wifi calling, and 4x4 mimo which would come with running their firmware. can i load t mobile firmware on an unlocked snapdragon S8 since they are both Snapdragon? or is there issues since they are different models (G950U and G950T)?
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S8 from T-Mobile is G950U. Yes, you can flash US Unlocked S8(G950U1) with T-Mobile's firmware(as I have done)
Use the "Flashing Standard Firmware" option:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/how-to/snap-guide-flashing-standard-fw-carrier-t3625817

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Unlocked/International Version for use with US/GSM Carrier

I would definitely prefer an unbranded phone, usually that means 'International' model? Any suggestions on where I should be looking to buy one?
Here on "pre-order launch" day, the only offers I see are for carrier branded phones.
In case I've made an error in logic, I'll note what I'm trying to do: I use a MVNO GSM carrier with an unlimited data plan, so I'm looking for a "GSM" S7-EDGE that is carrier unlocked. I'll check the LTE bands and all... the question is, where to buy one of these?
Not sure on international models however you'll want to check out tmobile. There always unbranded and I believe I read somewhere it has all 4 bands except cmda? Can't confirm the cmda one. Also the bootloader are unlocked.
Expansys and eBay are your best bets when the time comes
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Shoulon said:
Not sure on international models however you'll want to check out tmobile. There always unbranded and I believe I read somewhere it has all 4 bands except cmda? Can't confirm the cmda one. Also the bootloader are unlocked.
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TMOBILE phones are not Unbranded at all - they include a bunch of bloat and their branding is all over the software in their phones - I don't think they put the name TMOBILE on the phone itself, but I thnk Unbranded means much more than just that. I am not meaning to criticize, just pointing out the fact that I don't think TMOBILE Phones could be considered unbranded.
Having said that, they do work beautifully on other compatible networks.
Just preordered my Samsung Galaxy S7 (930T). Hopefully this T-Mobile phone will get rooted quick. I'm done with AT&T phones.... paid outright, and will unlock through T-Mobile....
mocsab said:
TMOBILE phones are not Unbranded at all - they include a bunch of bloat and their branding is all over the software in their phones - I don't think they put the name TMOBILE on the phone itself, but I thnk Unbranded means much more than just that. I am not meaning to criticize, just pointing out the fact that I don't think TMOBILE Phones could be considered unbranded.
Having said that, they do work beautifully on other compatible networks.
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He might be talking about the international versions and not the US version.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
Tidbits said:
He might be talking about the international versions and not the US version.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
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My Bad... thanks for the heads up
Here's an unlocked probably European phone from Expansys
http://www.expansys-usa.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-unlocked-32gb-black-onyx-288135/
I think it's the European because it's listed as an Octa core (Processor: Octa-Core / 2.3 GHz Quad + 1.6 GHz Quad) if I'm not mistaken the SD820 isn't Octa but the Exynos is and Europe is supposed to be getting Exynos.
If those bands are correct that is very limiting. I'd still hold out and wait to see the full support listing.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
Isn't that you can just use qualcomm's QXDM,QPST and DFS to unlock all the band? Just need have root first.
maybe, but you should rely on it. Let's just say for example Samsung changes how things are in this version or we can't find an exploit for 6 months to a 1 year? That's just me though. I'd rather be safe than sorry.
So I was planning to get the international version (Exynos) Galaxy S7 Edge, but After using the Live Chat on Samsung website, they told me as of today the International Version of S7 DOESN"T support the Samsung Pay yet.... any ideas?
I am trying to unlock one for my family member from t mobile. Anyway to unlock it for international use without paying a fortune?
---------- Post added at 04:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:16 AM ----------
Is it true what they are saying that when you first put the sim in the phone and turn it on it locks itself to that carrier?? SO IF I PUT IN att sim in tmobile phone it will be locked to att ?
UnixSlayer said:
Just preordered my Samsung Galaxy S7 (930T). Hopefully this T-Mobile phone will get rooted quick. I'm done with AT&T phones.... paid outright, and will unlock through T-Mobile....
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Sorry to break it to you but the bootloader on the TMO S7 Edge is locked down now like ATT and Verizon without root available
"And on that bombshell!"
Sent from my Smokin G935A
Check out the Canadian version sm-g935w8. It has exynos, supports samsung pay and can be rooted. The specs say it supports all the north American lte bands. If you buy one from a Canadian samsung experience store, it comes with factory unlock codes
Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Free mobile app
I'm getting an Exynos S7 Edge and am thinking of installing an unbranded Rom from Sammobile, any idea which?
I'm in Australia, so no Samsung Pay yet, but it could be handy.
I'm sure certain European Roms get updates sooner too.
Ok, checked Sammobile again and this looks safe. Looks to be an unbranded Australian rom.
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/67083/G935FXXU1APAW_G935FXSA1APAW_XSA/

SM-G950F on T-Mobile US - CSC, WiFi Calling, VoLTE, 256QAM, 4x4 MIMO?

I am considering upgrading to the S8. I like that the G950F has an unlocked bootloader on a phone that has (almost) everything I want.
But it seems like it's a bit of a hassle to get it to work fully on the T-Mobile network. It looks like I can flash the CSC to enable WiFi Calling and VoLTE on it, but is there any hope for 256QAM and 4x4 MIMO? There's hardly any information about this other than one or two threads. So I'd like to know:
If I go with the G950F over the T-Mobile or Unlocked US variants, what am I missing out on out of the box?
What will flashing the T-Mobile CSC not fix? (I currently think it does fix WiFi Calling and VoLTE.)
Can I flash the T-Mobile US modem on the G950F to fix this, or will that just brick my device? (Snapdragon image on Exynos terrifies me.)
Am I missing some other way (like a secret service mode or something) that would allow me to force 256QAM and/or 4x4 MIMO on the G950F?
I really hate that I can't just have a US model with an unlocked bootloader...
I think Galaxy S8 International variant maybe missing some bands and I would suggest you either get T-Mobile as you mentioned or US unlocked. With US unlocked which I already ordered from Samsung, should support all T-Mobile features: VoLTE, Band 12 and WiFi Calling. At the moment Samsung offers $200 off if you trade in any Android or iOS device. Just check their page for Trade-in details.
Charkatak said:
I think Galaxy S8 International variant maybe missing some bands and I would suggest you either get T-Mobile as you mentioned or US unlocked. With US unlocked which I already ordered from Samsung, should support all T-Mobile features: VoLTE, Band 12 and WiFi Calling. At the moment Samsung offers $200 off if you trade in any Android or iOS device. Just check their page for Trade-in details.
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Can I trade any device?
I got a one plus one somewhere.
borisb said:
Can I trade any device?
I got a one plus one somewhere.
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I don't see why you can't. It said any Android/iOS device, but just has to be in good condition. Check it out: http://www.samsung.com/us/trade-in/terms-and-conditions/
I'm using an international S8 on Tmobile, works fine. I'm in the middle of nowhere and it actually gets better signal than a Tmobile Pixel and S6 Edge I had before.
sketron13 said:
I'm using an international S8 on Tmobile, works fine. I'm in the middle of nowhere and it actually gets better signal than a Tmobile Pixel and S6 Edge I had before.
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Does you phone show 4G or 4G LTE?
It has 4G LTE shown
sketron13 said:
It has 4G LTE shown
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Hmm, I don't remember which bands exactly and how many, but F model had some bands missing for T-Mobile.
Just one night frequency
The exynos variant lacks 4x4 mimo and 256qam from what I've read. It achieves 1gb down via 5xCA. But also only allows it to max upload at 150mb/s
So it would only be able to utilize the 3xCA from tmobile. And not get max possible downloads. But the F does support all 3 of t-mobile's used bands
Acoustichayes said:
The exynos variant lacks 4x4 mimo and 256qam from what I've read. It achieves 1gb down via 5xCA. But also only allows it to max upload at 150mb/s
So it would only be able to utilize the 3xCA from tmobile. And not get max possible downloads. But the F does support all 3 of t-mobile's used bands
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Got it. That's what I was looking for, thanks. My understanding is that it's a hardware issue that can't easily be fixed via service mode or flashing something, but it doesn't look like I'd miss out on much overall.
I am in a 4x4 MIMO service area though so maybe I'll just hold out for now and see what happens over the next few weeks/months.
Can someone point me to the thread for how to make a sm-g950f have volte and wifi calling on T-Mobile?
My searches turned up nothing concrete if this is possible but I found a Note 8 thread that sounded promising.
Does anyone know if I were to flash the latest Germany T-Mobile firmware (DTM) from Sammobile, would that enable VoLTE, WiFi Calling here in the US?
Currently my G950F S8 has the Australian (XSA) firmware installed and it doesn't have VoLTE or WiFi Calling. The WiFi Calling setting in Quicktiles is greyed out.

clarify this for me regarding US version of S8

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.

Sim-free Galaxy S8 (SM-G950UZKAXAA) vs AT&T Galaxy S8 (SM-G950UZKAATT)

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dtrikk said:
Im on the AT&T network and I'm looking to buy an S8. The samsung website has two choices that would work: the Sim-free Galaxy S8 (SM-G950UZKAXAA) and the AT&T Galaxy S8 (SM-G950UZKAATT). The sim-free model appeals to me because I wouldn't have carrier bloat and I could take the phone to another carrier if I wanted to. However, I've seen some comments that the sim free model gets updates well after the carrier models do and that the sim-free model has weaker reception and you lose out on certain features (volte, wifi-calling, etc.). Could anyone comment on these differences? Thanks
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The unlocked one allows you to switch carriers whenever and will get updates faster, the ATT one is a locked one and gets slower updates. ALWAYS buy the Unlocked one, and if you want the ATT one, you can just change the firmware to be that variants.
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SM-G975U1 in Europe?

Hello everybody, about 2 years ago I was in the USA and I bought a S10+ SM-G975U1 from Ebay. I bought it because I prefered the SnapDragon to the Exynos but at the time I didn't know that this model was completely locked and not compatible with EU networks Carrier Aggregation since I thought it was a global version.
Now, is there anything I could do, like flashing firmware or something that could make the device "better working" in EU (like enabling carrier aggregation) or everything is locked? Thanks.
S5Mini. said:
Hello everybody, about 2 years ago I was in the USA and I bought a S10+ SM-G975U1 from Ebay. I bought it because I prefered the SnapDragon to the Exynos but at the time I didn't know that this model was completely locked and not compatible with EU networks Carrier Aggregation since I thought it was a global version.
Now, is there anything I could do, like flashing firmware or something that could make the device "better working" in EU (like enabling carrier aggregation) or everything is locked? Thanks.
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All EU firmware is only compatible with Exynos SoC's. Since you have the Snapdragon SoC your only option for enabling Call Features is acquiring the Exynos model. To ensure all Call Features work the best option is buying your Service Provider's device.

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