[Q] The Captivate Glide vs The Stratosphere II? - Samsung Captivate Glide

I learned the Stratosphere II existed like a week ago and I've been researching this phone like crazy. Seems like a better version of the Glide. Is this essentially an unofficial update of the Glide? The specs seem to match up, with the only thing lacking on the Strat's side is the megapixels (the Glide has 8, the Strat 2 has 5) and the Strat 2 having a dual 1.2GHz CPU compared to Glide's dual 1.0GHz CPU.
I've been looking to get a Glide for a long time. I've been keeping up with this board for updates and everything. And while it seems like an awesome phone, the GPS problems worry me. But, there are plenty of guides here so when I finally get a Glide, I can see if the GPS solutions here work.
But the Stratosphere II...I mean its so new I don't think anyone has figured out how to root it yet. So no custom roms for the time being, but I'm sure it would be coming as more people learn of its existence and start working on it.
My main cause of concern is the GPS, as I travel to Mexico alot. I already have service there that I maintain here (Movistar) by going to a tienda every three months and putting a few dollars on it. While you can't root the Stratosphere II, I could at least slap the SIM card in there and use it (apparently if I buy it outright Verizon can/should/will unlock the GSM functionality for me) until that magical moment does come when a root guide finally pops up online. And I could be wrong but I think there's no GPS issues with the Stratosphere II.
So that's where I am. Get the Glide for pretty cheap ($225 online), with the ability to root and flash roms but with shaky GPS (and apparently no Jelly Bean?), or get the Stratosphere II for not pretty cheap ($445 directly from Verizon) with no ability to root or flash roms, but, great (as far as I know) GPS? Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

I knew about the original Stratosphere but not the 2. It looks like a nice device. Personally I wouldn't buy a device without root, let alone some sort of dev community. I can pretty much confirm your GPS worries about the Glide. It blows and there is no nicer way to put it. I have tried tweak apps, modding files myself, even copying the conf files right from my N7 to it. It still takes like 2 minutes to get a lock and loses it rather easily. Compared to my N7 which takes under 10 seconds.
The Glide is a good phone though. Our dev community kind of sucks, being so small and relying on key people to do most of the work. But at least we have one and a pretty decent JB builds.
I'm not sure what to suggest. If you can live on stock without root and such, the Strato 2 looks nice. But after having my Glide for nearly a year, I still really like it. But I don't use GPS much with it either.

I sell for all carriers so I'll give you my thought.
Glide is an older device with a tegra 2 processor and operates on GSM. It has an older touch wiz on it meaning the skin and other tweaks Samsung applied to the gs3 isn't all their.. The strat 2 is a well built phone slightly smaller than its older brother. But had newer touch wiz along with newer things Samsung threw in. I'm not going to go into a lot of tech specs of the two phones since u can do that but if I had a choice it would be the strat 2 because of the newer touch wiz which is faster and nicer to look at. Plus the over all look and feel much nicer on the strat 2.. the glide is pretty bulky you really must consider who you want to pay monthly and who has better coverage Verizon or AT&T?
Good luck Bud.:beer:
My battery is dead now.. Have fun!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

bobbinthreadbare said:
I knew about the original Stratosphere but not the 2. It looks like a nice device. Personally I wouldn't buy a device without root, let alone some sort of dev community. I can pretty much confirm your GPS worries about the Glide. It blows and there is no nicer way to put it. I have tried tweak apps, modding files myself, even copying the conf files right from my N7 to it. It still takes like 2 minutes to get a lock and loses it rather easily. Compared to my N7 which takes under 10 seconds.
The Glide is a good phone though. Our dev community kind of sucks, being so small and relying on key people to do most of the work. But at least we have one and a pretty decent JB builds.
I'm not sure what to suggest. If you can live on stock without root and such, the Strato 2 looks nice. But after having my Glide for nearly a year, I still really like it. But I don't use GPS much with it either.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. I have a rooted Epic 4G (hence my name), so I know the joys of having a rooted phone. But I want to switch to a GSM device (more on that below in dincdoes.me), but unlike you would rely on the GPS a lot.
dincdoes.me said:
I sell for all carriers so I'll give you my thought.
Glide is an older device with a tegra 2 processor and operates on GSM. It has an older touch wiz on it meaning the skin and other tweaks Samsung applied to the gs3 isn't all their.. The strat 2 is a well built phone slightly smaller than its older brother. But had newer touch wiz along with newer things Samsung threw in. I'm not going to go into a lot of tech specs of the two phones since u can do that but if I had a choice it would be the strat 2 because of the newer touch wiz which is faster and nicer to look at. Plus the over all look and feel much nicer on the strat 2.. the glide is pretty bulky you really must consider who you want to pay monthly and who has better coverage Verizon or AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is, I want to go to Net10, do their BYOD program, and basically have AT&T service through Net10. Why? Net10 has that international coverage plan, its like $60-$65 a month, and I can call my friends in Mexico (via an 800 number I believe) and talk as long as I want (well as long as THEIR minutes will allow). And it makes no difference if its to a landline or a cell phone. Also when I go TO Mexico, just swap out the Net10 sim card for my Movistar one.
Also, at least in NC, the AT&T coverage is second only to Verizon. Definitely better than Sprint, and T-Mobile might as well not even exist with its shaky coverage.
The GPS function is VERY IMPORTANT to me, especially in Mexico, and I have seen my friends in Mexico's Androids use GPS (Google Maps) to find stuff just fine. So...I may have to go ahead and get the Strato 2 and just live with it being unrooted for a while.

That's a tough decision. If time wasn't a factor, I would wait a month or two to see what happens with the i415 (Stratosphere) within the XDA community. Unfortunately for qwerty keyboard lovers, the phones we want don't get as much hype and publicity as the candybar phones. Otterbox and CyanogenMod barely acknowledged our phones. We happened to get VERY lucky getting this much support for the i927 (Captivate Glide) as the early stages were definitely desperate.
I'm currently running the Vanilla Rootbox rom and even though there are still a few bugs, the essentials work well enough for me not to upgrade. I heavily use GPS as I have a memory of a fish and it works flawlessly.
Long story short, after watching the i927 go from a simple request in a Captivate forum to it's own forum with no devs to what it is today, I would go with the Captivate Glide. Who knows if the i415 will get also get lucky with support or not? After all, qwerty phones are a dying breed.

rogernizzLe said:
That's a tough decision. If time wasn't a factor, I would wait a month or two to see what happens with the i415 (Stratosphere) within the XDA community. Unfortunately for qwerty keyboard lovers, the phones we want don't get as much hype and publicity as the candybar phones. Otterbox and CyanogenMod barely acknowledged our phones. We happened to get VERY lucky getting this much support for the i927 (Captivate Glide) as the early stages were definitely desperate.
I'm currently running the Vanilla Rootbox rom and even though there are still a few bugs, the essentials work well enough for me not to upgrade. I heavily use GPS as I have a memory of a fish and it works flawlessly.
Long story short, after watching the i927 go from a simple request in a Captivate forum to it's own forum with no devs to what it is today, I would go with the Captivate Glide. Who knows if the i415 will get also get lucky with support or not? After all, qwerty phones are a dying breed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. Well...what I am considering is getting the Glide (the Rogers version, which it appears that you have) and just root and put a rom on it (I would like one that mimic's the Jelly Bean, but if the Vanilla Rootbox you're using is fine, I may try that), and use that until more development pops up for the Stratosphere II. If you have the Rogers Glide, and your GPS problems are nil...I don't know, I'm considering it. I probably should have mentioned if I get the Glide it would be the Rogers version (somehow its cheaper than the AT&T version, which costs more than the Stratosphere II! ).
I could do that, or just get a Strato 2 and live without root/flashed roms for a while (but if it already has Jelly Bean may not need it). Thinking, thinking...
Is time a factor? Well I plan on going to Mexico sometime in April, so kinda sorta. But since I plan on making regular trips, not really, I guess.

5-row keyboard!
rogernizzLe said:
That's a tough decision. If time wasn't a factor, I would wait a month or two to see what happens with the i415 (Stratosphere) within the XDA community. Unfortunately for qwerty keyboard lovers, the phones we want don't get as much hype and publicity as the candybar phones. Otterbox and CyanogenMod barely acknowledged our phones. We happened to get VERY lucky getting this much support for the i927 (Captivate Glide) as the early stages were definitely desperate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If all other things were equal, and they're not (in terms of development progress here on xda), I would go for the 5 row keyboard. One of the things I found very irritating very early on with the glide is that every time you type a number, you have to hit Alt first. Given the number of characters and numbers in text these days, this gets really old, really fast.
If I had had more patience, and thought more deeply at the time, I suspect I would have preferred to wait.
CDN$0.02.

bs27975 said:
If all other things were equal, and they're not (in terms of development progress here on xda), I would go for the 5 row keyboard. One of the things I found very irritating very early on with the glide is that every time you type a number, you have to hit Alt first. Given the number of characters and numbers in text these days, this gets really old, really fast.
If I had had more patience, and thought more deeply at the time, I suspect I would have preferred to wait.
CDN$0.02.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forgot the Glide only had four rows. As much as I've been using my Epic 4G...well it would be a learning curve to go from 5 rows to 4.

Stratosphere II has a locked bootloader and hasn't even been rooted yet. Also, while I haven't seen any reports yay or nay, it probably suffers the same domestic GSM lock all other Verizon phones have. It is possible to counter this, but not without a lot of dev support and root.
I switched from Captivate Glide to the Galaxy S Relay 4G. It has 5 rows, supports AT&T and a few other odd UMTS frequencies (Wind Mobile for instance) and has a fairly decent (but small) dev community with a working unofficial cyanogenmod 10.
The other choice is the Motorola Photon Q for Sprint, which comes comes with GSM capabilities, but you have to remove the pre-soldered SIM chip and add a SIM card adapter. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1929143 I have seen no information on whether it is locked domestically for GSM. It can be reflashed to Cricket and PagePlus on the CDMA side as well, and there is a CM 10 for it http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1929143

Nardholio said:
Stratosphere II has a locked bootloader and hasn't even been rooted yet. Also, while I haven't seen any reports yay or nay, it probably suffers the same domestic GSM lock all other Verizon phones have. It is possible to counter this, but not without a lot of dev support and root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. That no one has tried to root or unlock or even just manipulate the settings on this phone, which to me appears to be the true [yet unofficial] successor to the Epic 4G...blows my mind. Is there just no interest, or people don't know that it exists...I just don't understand.
I switched from Captivate Glide to the Galaxy S Relay 4G. It has 5 rows, supports AT&T and a few other odd UMTS frequencies (Wind Mobile for instance) and has a fairly decent (but small) dev community with a working unofficial cyanogenmod 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well my gameplan was to have a phone I can use both in the US and in Mexico...in Mexico it wouldn't be a big deal, but here any GSM (like from Net10) will go straight to the T-Mobile network since its a T-Mobile phone. And T-Mobile sucks and doesn't appear to be getting any better. I don't know how good or bad the 4G functionality is, but its not enough to have me go back to T-Mobile. That was a year of hell, not just from the almost non-existent coverage but the idiotic customer service as well. My uncle still has them and he complains about them all the time, but he's with them for a reason (something about coverage in Canada, I forget).
The other choice is the Motorola Photon Q for Sprint, which comes comes with GSM capabilities, but you have to remove the pre-soldered SIM chip and add a SIM card adapter. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1929143 I have seen no information on whether it is locked domestically for GSM. It can be reflashed to Cricket and PagePlus on the CDMA side as well, and there is a CM 10 for it http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1929143
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not good at soldering. Plus if I mess up, gotta buy another phone.
Dang. Looks like I'll have to stick with the Glide for now. Well, I'll have to GET the Glide, then stick with it for now.

Um, I hate to break it to you, but your gsm service depends on which sim card you have. I am using the Galaxy S Relay just fine on AT&T.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda premium

Nardholio said:
Um, I hate to break it to you, but your gsm service depends on which sim card you have. I am using the Galaxy S Relay just fine on AT&T.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not the way Net10 worded it, and I've spoken to them many times. They said it depends on the phone itself, as far as the BYOD program goes.

QWERTY Geek here
I've had the following QWERTY phones:
OG Droid
Stratosphere 1
Stratosphere 2 (current phone)
And my wife had the Captivate Glide until she dropped it recently.
Here are my thoughts:
1. Out of this list of phones, the Stratosphere 2 is best, no question. It's slightly faster than the Captivate Glide, has NFC, has a 5 row keyboard, has Verizon LTE, and has Bluetooth 4.0. There's hardly anyone even talking about this phone, much less getting dev/root work going. Sucks, too, since this is basically a Galaxy S3 Lite w/ QWERTY. Everything about this phone is solid.
2. The Captivate Glide GPS's sucked. And the ICS upgrade was an utter disaster. The new ICS upgrade isn't as bad, but the GPS on this phone is definitely much worse than any other phone on the above list. My wife stopped using it altogether and would just use Google Maps like I did back in the iPhone 3G days.
3. I liked the Captivate Glide's keyboard, but my wife hated it. She preferred the Stratosphere 1's keyboard and then the Strat 2. And in case you are wondering, I was barely surviving on the Strat1 when I upgraded in January... a 1GHz single core 512MB RAM phone just doesn't hold up any more, and battery life was awful (about 10 hours with light use, 16-20 hours with no use).
4. A Jellybean (4.1) update just came out for the Strat2. I've been holding back on upgrading due to my wife's horrible experience with ICS. In researching it, I discovered that FoxFi would apparently be broken and 4.1/4.2 has issues with a lot of N-only routers. I've been happy with the Strat2 and ICS, so I won't upgrade. But I so wish Cyanogen would pick up the slack.
5. Are we sure the Strat2 has a locked bootloader? My understanding is that Samsung phones have an unlocked bootloader but switch a flag if you change the ROM so warranty can be denied. Can someone verify?

Thank you very much for the note, some good and interesting stuff in here.
JoeFresco said:
1. Out of this list of phones, the Stratosphere 2 is best, no question. It's slightly faster than the Captivate Glide, has NFC, has a 5 row keyboard, has Verizon LTE, and has Bluetooth 4.0. There's hardly anyone even talking about this phone, much less getting dev/root work going. Sucks, too, since this is basically a Galaxy S3 Lite w/ QWERTY. Everything about this phone is solid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any comments, Glide vis a vis Galaxy S Relay 4G? [e.g. you say Stratosphere 2 is basically a Galaxy S3 Lite w/qwerty - I've yet to come across a similar 'rating' for the 4G. I believe Glide would be S2 (Sii). I don't know what the 4G is.]
For me LTE vs anything else doesn't matter - I don't do data. Wi-fi, yes, so the N only issue is biting me. (Which I think is a phone hardware, not a software, issue. Guessing.) Much the same for Bluetooth - most any bluetooth, and within, say, 10', does what I need it to do. Can you say what Bluetooth 4 brings to the party?
JoeFresco said:
2. The Captivate Glide GPS's sucked. And the ICS upgrade was an utter disaster. The new ICS upgrade isn't as bad, but the GPS on this phone is definitely much worse than any other phone on the above list. My wife stopped using it altogether and would just use Google Maps like I did back in the iPhone 3G days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
New ICS upgrade? (Link?)
JoeFresco said:
4. A Jellybean (4.1) update just came out for the Strat2. I've been holding back on upgrading due to my wife's horrible experience with ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you comment on that horrible experience? I've yet to upgrade from Gingerbread to something ICS here, so looking to be forearmed with (your) forewarning, here.
JoeFresco said:
In researching it, ... 4.1/4.2 has issues with a lot of N-only routers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm now wondering if this explains what I'm seeing on a certain router - across multiple phones and laptop. It's becoming a PITA. At home I get around some problem by setting a static IP.
Is this a common experience for people, across hardware - be it phones or laptops?

The Galaxy S Relay 4G looks like it basically has the tech of the Strat2, so I'd expect them to be equivalent. It looks like it has a physical mashup of the Captivate Glide and Strat2. Assuming you like the keyboard, the S Relay 4G looks like a better phone than the Captivate GLide. I have no experience with this phone.
Bluetooth 4 lets you use super low power bluetooth devices. StickNfind.com (I bought 6) is the first one I know of, but there will definitely be more over the next year or two. Lots of workout type devices and other sensors will start using it. It first arrived in phones in the iPhone 4s.
The Captivate Glide's original ICS upgrade was over Kies and was pulled due to horrendous user response. You can read threads all over by googling. Here's a taste: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1879432
Basically, GPS went to completely useless, phone app crashed constantly, contacts app crashed constantly, keyboard backlight never lit up, text messages coming in 15 times even though only sent once, and more. Most were fixed in a latter OTA update, though the text message thing still happened. The GPS also would sometimes go in and out of lock and wasn't really dependable.
Until the OTA update came out, I was about to have my wife take the phone back to the ATT store to exchange for a Gingerbread model under warranty. Incidentally, a month ago she dropped it and broke the screen and I replaced it with an LG Escape, which she LOVES (no qwerty). She never liked the Captivate Glide keyboard and considers the LG Escape's software keyboard to be just as good and it resolved all her other problems.
The router problem I'm seeing is only on phones that were working fine with ICS and then were upgraded to Jellybean. Here's a couple links:
https://community.verizonwireless.com/message/950253
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=34786
What you are experiencing sounds like a poor/dying router. It's definitely not normal. A firmware update may resolve the problem or you may try installing ddwrt.
Oh, here's a thread about rooting the Strat2 with no success yet:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2078615

Incidentally, I just tried to root the Samsung Stratosphere II i415 via SRSRoot, which claims it can root that phone. Unfortunately, after 3 attempts, I have nothing but failure. It tries to use root4, 4b, and 5 regardless of whether all root options or smartroot is selected.
Sucks because now VZ is forcing the JB update down. My options were simply to install now or defer 5 days. I chose the defer option, but from what I'm reading, that's a one time deal. So if I can't get rooted in the next 4 days and stop it, I'm going to be running JB whether I like it or not.

Stratosphere II gsm access
Hi
does the samsung stratosphere ii 2 work with gsm in the United States? What about internation gsm?

JoeFresco said:
Incidentally, I just tried to root the Samsung Stratosphere II i415 via SRSRoot, which claims it can root that phone. Unfortunately, after 3 attempts, I have nothing but failure. It tries to use root4, 4b, and 5 regardless of whether all root options or smartroot is selected.
Sucks because now VZ is forcing the JB update down. My options were simply to install now or defer 5 days. I chose the defer option, but from what I'm reading, that's a one time deal. So if I can't get rooted in the next 4 days and stop it, I'm going to be running JB whether I like it or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm more interested in flashing it to another service like Cricket. I think its possible, not 100% sure. People barely know this phone exists, let alone have taken the time to hook it up to QPST to see what happens.
liongood9 said:
Hi
does the samsung stratosphere ii 2 work with gsm in the United States? What about internation gsm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the question. Like I said, except for the nice fellow in this very thread, no one else really has it, so so far no one has bought it and taken it abroad to see if the GSM works. I would think its locked out the box, though. Verizon refuses to give me a straight answer, and I think its kinda obvious why: its impossible to be unlocked abroad yet locked here, meaning its unlocked all the way or not at all. Meaning if they unlock it, I could just buy it and take it to AT&T.
My guess (heck the Verizon folks are guessing if not outright lying) is that the CDMA functionality works in tandem with the GSM functionality, if you use the phone in the US. It kinda has to, since the GSM slot is also the 4G LTE slot and how you'd get the 4G functionality. Abroad, the CDMA functionality will both detect the 4G LTE SIM isn't there (you'd have to remove it to put in the international SIM from the carrier of your choice while abroad, like Telcel or Movistar in my case) and that you're not in the US, thus giving you "permission" I guess you'd say to let it be unlocked for the duration of your visit. Once you return, however, Verizon will say "Ah you're back in the US" (the CDMA will detect an active Verizon network and account) and lock it right back so you'd have no choice but to replace your international SIM with the 4G LTE sim.
Basically, Verizon through the CDMA functionality can lock or unlock the GSM functionality, merely through network detection (if you're in the US) and by itself using the GSM (4G).
So if you buy the phone outright, you'd never have to worry about the CDMA part since you never had an active service with Verizon through that phone. Without an active CDMA, its merely...a GSM phone, meaning it can be unlocked and can be used on any GSM network. Hence Verizon's reluctance to say yay or nay to whether the GSM can be unlocked. They can't stop you from buying the phone outright, but they don't have to help you unlock the GSM part and potentially take it to another carrier, either. I've heard more or less "Well by law..." yes, but they either don't know the law or count on you not knowing the law. And even pointing it out to them can simply result in "well we don't know how to unlock it, so..." Which would be BS, but there being a law won't make them do anything. They'll just find ways around it. Plausible ways.
All guesswork, and I could be 100% wrong. But hey, that's what it seems like. If I'm right, at least it could potentially be used as a GSM phone at least abroad until someone figures out how to root it.

Go for the Strat 2.
1. Faster CPU
2. Better GPS.
3. Jelly Bean Released on it.
4. 4 row keyboard, I hate having to hit ALT to hit a number. Use excel a lot and that is really annoying.
5. I think it has more internal memory as well. Glide has only 4GB useable internal memory. (they say it is an 8GB phone)
Don't get me wrong GLide is a great phone but it is stating to show its age. Unfortunately I have a 3 year contract, so still have another year and a half on it.
JB

dudejb said:
Go for the Strat 2.
1. Faster CPU
2. Better GPS.
3. Jelly Bean Released on it.
4. 4 row keyboard, I hate having to hit ALT to hit a number. Use excel a lot and that is really annoying.
5. I think it has more internal memory as well. Glide has only 4GB useable internal memory. (they say it is an 8GB phone)
Don't get me wrong GLide is a great phone but it is stating to show its age. Unfortunately I have a 3 year contract, so still have another year and a half on it.
JB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems unrootable, but I'm wondering if its unflashable. I would like to buy it, flash it to Cricket, and just wait till someone roots the sucker. Flash it to Cricket and also unlock the GSM for use abroad. :good: That's my dream anyway. :fingers-crossed:

Related

Should I get the AT&T or the International SGS3?

Hello,
I plan on getting the S3 in a couple of months, after when I save up and was wondering which one should I get? The AT&T or the international version? I will he using it on Straight Talk with the Bring your own phone plan. I'm using the Nexus right now, just having trouble trying to figure out which one I should get. Thanks!
asheehanjr said:
Hello,
I plan on getting the S3 in a couple of months, after when I save up and was wondering which one should I get? The AT&T or the international version? I will he using it on Straight Talk with the Bring your own phone plan. I'm using the Nexus right now, just having trouble trying to figure out which one I should get. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're using it on Straight Talk and you want the more powerful one, international (it's what I use). The downside is that if something goes wrong with the phone, you're pretty much screwed unless you can send it to someone in the UK or Europe to send to Samsung for repair. The upside is you have a beast phone with faster updates (custom ROMs don't show up out of thin air; you need some sort of leak or OTA to work off of for non-CM ROMs). Another perk is you get FM radio, but I don't know how important that is to you.
If you want a cheaper S3 with all the features but a slightly slower processor (only for intense gaming; 99% of things will run great), get the T-Mobile or AT&T version. I think they're like $50-$100 cheaper. You'll also be able to send the phone to Samsung US if there's an issue. I ran into a fairly common (from Google searching) issue where my i9300 could no longer make calls, but everything else including the earpiece and speaker were fine. The modem rebooted everytime I made a call and I later found out it was a hardware issue. I had to send the phone back to the Amazon seller who was in Germany so they could send it to Samsung. Cost me $73 for 3-day shipping. HOWEVER, the seller told me in an email that I have a 2-year warranty, not 1-year. So that's a perk you may want to consider. I have the Vodafone UK version, but Samsung will repair it in any country that's part of the EU (e.g. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, etc).
Basically, unless you game a lot, go for the US version. I happen to game a lot, and I didn't wanna wait for the US versions (I bought my i9300 in July). If I had waited, I'd probably have gone for the US version. And for anyone who brings up RAM, it doesn't affect performance. It only allows more apps to be open in the background, and Android fills up unused RAM anyways, so it really is not a deciding factor.
I agree with Product F(RED). Unless you're going to do intense CPU processes the US variant will suit your needs wonderfully. You won't need to worry about lag or slow downs. And if you plan to root there are custom ROMS that are faster than the Stock rom.
Product F(RED) said:
And for anyone who brings up RAM, it doesn't affect performance. It only allows more apps to be open in the background, and Android fills up unused RAM anyways, so it really is not a deciding factor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't affect performance, true, but also owning an orignal Galaxy S (i9000), I can assure you RAM is a factor when it comes to upgrading the OS!
The 512Mo in the SGS1 is the main reason why Samsung didn't upgrade the device to ICS.
There are ICS and JB custom ROMs available for the SGS1, but the device is definitely suffering from the limited of amount RAM.
Because of this, RAM, for me, is definitely a factor that made me choose the North American variant over the international one.
idk to be honest i would get galaxy note 2 at this point the gs3 is already 6m old
I was also going to hold out for the note 2, but it just to big and I already have a nexus 7.
Had both multiple times, i went ahead and stayed with the US version. I dont game at all and i see NO difference in speed, plus LTE is AWESOME.
Nickel Dime Bay said:
Had both multiple times, i went ahead and stayed with the US version. I dont game at all and i see NO difference in speed, plus LTE is AWESOME.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No LTE on Straight Talk, so it's not like it matters.
Oh wow i totally missed that, i say get the international then.

Replacing G2 with Another QWERTY Phone?

Now that G2 is two years old, many of us are considering an upgrade. But if we need a physical QWERTY keyboard and need Tmobile USA 4G GSM support, what options do we have?
The Galaxy Relay 4G is currently out on Tmobile USA but the physical keyboard is terrible, it has nearly flat keys. And it seems bulkier than the beloved G2.
I love the Motorola Photon Q design but it's not available on Tmobile USA GSM.
Does anyone have any idea what to upgrade to from a G2?
Do you really need a QWERTY phone? Devices with screen sizes of 4.3in+ its easy and efficient to use the onscreen keyboard, it makes QWERTY phones pointless imo. This coming from someone that has had tons of Blackberrys in the past and got a G2 because of this worry. In the end, I barely used my G2 physical keyboard.
My advice get a Nexus 4 and enjoy.
mail_e36 said:
Now that G2 is two years old, many of us are considering an upgrade. But if we need a physical QWERTY keyboard and need Tmobile USA 4G GSM support, what options do we have?
The Galaxy Relay 4G is currently out on Tmobile USA but the physical keyboard is terrible, it has nearly flat keys. And it seems bulkier than the beloved G2.
I love the Motorola Photon Q design but it's not available on Tmobile USA GSM.
Does anyone have any idea what to upgrade to from a G2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get used to the keys on the Relay 4G.
After using the phone for about a month, I had to use my G2 again for some tethering for the day. I couldn't type anymore on the G2. My fingers got adjusted to the way the Relay keys were and never noticed the switch until I tried typing on the G2 again.
I was really trying to convince myself to get the Relay 4G but I guess I just didn't see the value proposition because the keyboard didn't seem adequate.
Do you have root and/or custom ROMs (such as CM) on the Relay 4G? I'm not sure if it's as customisable as the G2 is currently.
ohn5788;34389718]You get used to the keys on the Relay 4G.
After using the phone for about a month, I had to use my G2 again for some tethering for the day. I couldn't type anymore on the G2. My fingers got adjusted to the way the Relay keys were and never noticed the switch until I tried typing on the G2 again.[/QUOTE]
2 years for a phone? Its still pretty good? no? Am I crazy or what? Am I the only one who thinks like that? a waste?
(i'm not juging the op here, its not the point, it is in general)
Of course, if the phone is broken, why not.
But most of the people dont care if its good for their needs, they want the lastest, we can see it with the iphone. I'm living in a big city, and I dont realy see 3g or 3gs anymore....
I had 2 phones, my first one was a krzr when it went out (2006?). My second one was this g2 (2010).
anyway, the proccess of phone making is very discusting with the rare earth extraction in china.
I'm happy with my G2 for now. I just hope for a decent attachable keyboard that you can throw on a touchscreen phone by the time I need to upgrade, although i suppose there will always be issues when it's an attachment and not naturally part of the phone....
I am very happy with DZ I had sold my Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 and purchased this...though I know it's old but don't know what happened with all brands why they stopped making qwerty phone???
I had selected this because of internal memory and now very happy on my selection now will wait hope in 2013 they launch some nice werty models.
The Relay's keyboard is great. I came from a MyTouch 4g slide (previously had a 3g slide and a G2) and when I use my wife's, it's awkward compared to the relay.
Rooting is ridiculously easy
Install recovery via Odin, then flash super user while in recovery. That's it.
There aren't many developers, but once more folks realize the potential, it'll hopefully skyrocket.
What about the battery life in Samsung Relay 4G?
I think I'd rather now go to bigger screen, instead of physical keyboard.
With light to moderate use and 2x battery this is not uncommon.

[Q] dinc replacment

What's a good replacement for the dinc
Raven2m said:
What's a good replacement for the dinc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am waiting for the Nexus 4 to get back in stock. Going to run the BYOP Straight Talk plan on it. :good:
funny thing is that if you ask that question on a Dinc forum where people are still actively using and developing for the Dinc, the correct answer should be......another Dinc! lots of used ones on eBay for under 60$. Unlocked, Rooted, overclocked and running a better OS than Stock plus EXT4 fix makes this device still a usable device today.
but on a more serious note, me using the Dinc is tied into a couple of factors-that I am on Verizon and probably staying that way but might go to one of it;s derivatives like Pageplus Cellular. this keeps me in the CDMA/3G world for the time being so any replacement would have to be compatible.
seems like this question gets asked alot-what are some 3G VZW compatible phones out there? can you take a VZW phone and bring it to Straighttalk as easy as you can with Pageplus Cellular?
tekweezle said:
funny thing is that if you ask that question on a Dinc forum where people are still actively using and developing for the Dinc, the correct answer should be......another Dinc! lots of used ones on eBay for under 60$. Unlocked, Rooted, overclocked and running a better OS than Stock plus EXT4 fix makes this device still a usable device today.
but on a more serious note, me using the Dinc is tied into a couple of factors-that I am on Verizon and probably staying that way but might go to one of it;s derivatives like Pageplus Cellular. this keeps me in the CDMA/3G world for the time being so any replacement would have to be compatible.
seems like this question gets asked alot-what are some 3G VZW compatible phones out there? can you take a VZW phone and bring it to Straighttalk as easy as you can with Pageplus Cellular?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am currently on Pageplus and don't have any complaints. I have looked around for a newer CDMA phone and the prices are crazy. The Nexus 4 is the best deal I have seen but I will have to switch to Straight Talk as it is GSM only. I don't think there is an option on Straight Talk to bring your own CDMA phone.
yes, that is my understanding on Straighttalk as well-they support sprint CDMA phones with some flashing or modification but it;s not easy. They want to push everyone to GSM.
So do you have a Dinc on pageplus? how is that working? was there any complications with getting it working on their service?
tekweezle said:
yes, that is my understanding on Straighttalk as well-they support sprint CDMA phones with some flashing or modification but it;s not easy. They want to push everyone to GSM.
So do you have a Dinc on pageplus? how is that working? was there any complications with getting it working on their service?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pageplus has been problem free for me. The website can occasionally be a pain to deal with when purchasing more minutes is my only complaint. The Dinc was a breeze to port and everything worked without any setup. If you need any info on Pageplus, go to http://www.howardforums.com/ and look up Pageplus. They have lots of info.
I have two Dinc's on Page Plus currently, no problems at all, OTA programming was all that was needed. I've activated a bunch of phones on PP over the years, for myself and for friends, and compared to the hacking you used to have to do on 'feature phones' to get WAP access working, Dincs are super easy. I've also done a few Droid X's and a Droid X2, also with no issues. Currently, newer phones, in addition to being quite expensive, are also 4G, which makes them a pain to activate on PP and usually requires some significant hacking. Definitely do your homework before buying a 4G phone with plans of activating it on PP.
It depends on your plans. If you plan on sticking with Verizon you could go with the Samsung GS3 or the Note 2 (I think Verizon has the Note 2). If large screens aren't your thing you can go with the HTC Incredible 4G or Motorola Razer M.
Sent from my Nexus 4
just switched my GF feature phone on Pageplus Cellular to a Dinc I bought on eBay running CM10.1. happened easier than I expected as I was able to do everything via live chat without holding forever on the phone. text messaging seems to work including notifications. have it on the TNT 1200 plan, lets see if that will work for a month.

[Q] SGH i257M on US AT&T

Has anyone used the SGH-I257M on US AT&T?
As I understand, it has the bands for multiple networks. The reason for asking is AT&T is dragging their feet.
Info I got from AT&T was that it has enough roll outs for Christmas and are not going to bring out the S4 Mini until January. My contract is up, S3 & S4 are too big for a pocket, I ditched my S3, I'm using an S2 clocked at 1.7 and gutted, nice phone, but time for a new toy to play with. I'm tired of waiting on the 'Mini', but flashable US Basebands will be unavailable for some time so I'm hoping someone has done this. More specifically meaning the 'non branded' SGH i257M and a functional LTE band 17. TIA
systwk said:
Has anyone used the SGH-I257M on US AT&T?
As I understand, it has the bands for multiple networks. The reason for asking is AT&T is dragging their feet.
Info I got from AT&T was that it has enough roll outs for Christmas and are not going to bring out the S4 Mini until January. My contract is up, S3 & S4 are too big for a pocket, I ditched my S3, I'm using an S2 clocked at 1.7 and gutted, nice phone, but time for a new toy to play with. I'm tired of waiting on the 'Mini', but flashable US Basebands will be unavailable for some time so I'm hoping someone has done this. More specifically meaning the 'non branded' SGH i257M and a functional LTE band 17. TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you get an unlocked SGH-I257M from Canada it will work for AT&T with LTE. I got one as an early Christmas gift for my girlfriend and it works no problem. I just put her 4G microSIM from her old phone (Pantech Burst) and set it up. The only thing I had to do was add the APN for AT&T 4G. Also, I believe it was the ChatON app that would not work in the US but it wasn't important.
EDIT: Also, a question I was thinking of as well is, if when the AT&T version comes out (or the firmware at least) could the AT&T I257 firmware be flashed on an I257M? That would minimize any issues from the phone's software..
wiisixtyfour said:
If you get an unlocked SGH-I257M from Canada it will work for AT&T with LTE. I got one as an early Christmas gift for my girlfriend and it works no problem. I just put her 4G microSIM from her old phone (Pantech Burst) and set it up. The only thing I had to do was add the APN for AT&T 4G. Also, I believe it was the ChatON app that would not work in the US but it wasn't important.
EDIT: Also, a question I was thinking of as well is, if when the AT&T version comes out (or the firmware at least) could the AT&T I257 firmware be flashed on an I257M? That would minimize any issues from the phone's software..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the reply. That is good to know. Yeah, ChatON is of no interest. As for flashing, There are multiple reports that the 9195 ROM flashes OK on the M's, 9195 also adds the FM radio that is not given functionality in the M's but restored with the 9195 OS so I would assume the AT&T version should be no problem provided AT&T isn't pulling another non standard hardware version as they have in the past with some phones. (FCC filings don't indicate that) AT&T seems to have developed a phobia in recent years about their phones being retrofitted with new OS's. Also likely they are waiting for 4.3 or a Knox implementation in the deluded belief that it is secure. Thanks again for the heads up on function, looks like the price from Canada isn't too bad right now.
wiisixtyfour said:
If you get an unlocked SGH-I257M from Canada it will work for AT&T with LTE. I got one as an early Christmas gift for my girlfriend and it works no problem. I just put her 4G microSIM from her old phone (Pantech Burst) and set it up. The only thing I had to do was add the APN for AT&T 4G. Also, I believe it was the ChatON app that would not work in the US but it wasn't important.
EDIT: Also, a question I was thinking of as well is, if when the AT&T version comes out (or the firmware at least) could the AT&T I257 firmware be flashed on an I257M? That would minimize any issues from the phone's software..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. Thank you for sharing this. I actually just bought a Canadian i257M as well and now I'm waiting for it to get shipped to me. Question; do the samsung media apps work while in the US? For example, media hub, video hub and music hub? I ask because i used to own a GS4 from att and I purchased a lot of media on those apps and would like to continue using them if possible on the GS4 mini if possible.
Much appreciated!
Eltahur said:
Hi. Thank you for sharing this. I actually just bought a Canadian i257M as well and now I'm waiting for it to get shipped to me. Question; do the samsung media apps work while in the US? For example, media hub, video hub and music hub? I ask because i used to own a GS4 from att and I purchased a lot of media on those apps and would like to continue using them if possible on the GS4 mini if possible.
Much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have some disappointment, Samsung has switched to 'Samsung Hub' on the new phones, replacing the older Media hubs and interoperability suffers a lot. T-Mobile offers a Media Hub for their new phones, AT&T may as well since the Sammy app's leave so much behind. It's going to be a wait and see I suspect. With luck AT&T will have Media Hub apps instead of the newer Samsung replacements and all you will have to do is wait. It seems quite a few people have money tied up in the old system and that may keep it alive.
But other than that, all you need to get on line is write your carrier APN. The phone is turn-key as it is. I just got an 'M' and after gutting the OS, dropping in an APN and editing the Build Prop a little (not needed) it works great on US AT&T.
There are more and more of the i257M's turning up recently in the States and hopefully someone will be able to clarify the Media Hub issue more for you better than this.
Where are you guys getting unlocked 257Ms? I can't find anything on ebay and the internet suggests canadagsm may not be reputable.
Hi...wondering if you can help given you are on AT&T 4G LTE. My i257M arrived today from canadagsm and it appears rooted. Surprise, but maybe good. BTW...canadagsm handled this order ok, not great and not responsive, but they did deliver. Anyway so far so good, but I am also on AT&T 4G LTE and wondering how to edit the APN? Why? Right now I am only getting H+ connectivity. So wondering if there is a way to do this voa the hardware or only via software? Also, can you post the Build Prop? Lastly, due to rooted phones being disallowed on my company network I can only use a stock ROM.
Lastly, as I write this I ended up going into the boot ROM and which is not CWM and for the last 30 minutes and selecting install the volume up, the screen shows DOWNLOADING, DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!! However, I am not aware I am downloading anything and seeing this screen is a bit scary. I may mess with this a little more by the time anyone gets a chance to respond, so we will see.
Thanks in advance, malloy0
systwk said:
You may have some disappointment, Samsung has switched to 'Samsung Hub' on the new phones, replacing the older Media hubs and interoperability suffers a lot. T-Mobile offers a Media Hub for their new phones, AT&T may as well since the Sammy app's leave so much behind. It's going to be a wait and see I suspect. With luck AT&T will have Media Hub apps instead of the newer Samsung replacements and all you will have to do is wait. It seems quite a few people have money tied up in the old system and that may keep it alive.
But other than that, all you need to get on line is write your carrier APN. The phone is turn-key as it is. I just got an 'M' and after gutting the OS, dropping in an APN and editing the Build Prop a little (not needed) it works great on US AT&T.
There are more and more of the i257M's turning up recently in the States and hopefully someone will be able to clarify the Media Hub issue more for you better than this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
malloy0 said:
Hi...wondering if you can help given you are on AT&T 4G LTE. My i257M arrived today from canadagsm and it appears rooted. Surprise, but maybe good. BTW...canadagsm handled this order ok, not great and not responsive, but they did deliver. Anyway so far so good, but I am also on AT&T 4G LTE and wondering how to edit the APN? Why? Right now I am only getting H+ connectivity. So wondering if there is a way to do this voa the hardware or only via software? Also, can you post the Build Prop? Lastly, due to rooted phones being disallowed on my company network I can only use a stock ROM.
Lastly, as I write this I ended up going into the boot ROM and which is not CWM and for the last 30 minutes and selecting install the volume up, the screen shows DOWNLOADING, DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!! However, I am not aware I am downloading anything and seeing this screen is a bit scary. I may mess with this a little more by the time anyone gets a chance to respond, so we will see.
Thanks in advance, malloy0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just made a thread abouu this. Just picked up a i257m and on every kind of combination of rom I'm stuck at only h+. I spent a few hours on the phone with cs to figure out why after googling a few other cases similar to ours. Turns out att doesn't support unlocked phones so the account isn't setup to push lte. What others have done, and what I'm going to try to do tomorrow is pop the sim into an att phone thss can do LTE and set it up and switch back and it should follow.
Att were assholes and wouldn't setup a device on my sim temporarily to prove to me LTE worked on my account. We popped my dim into a display g2 that was getting LTE, and got only h+. So I told him to pop the display sim in mine to see if I can get LTE, it only triggered the LTE option in the settings but never popped up saying it was getting any.. Hmm
Edit: got lte working with a new sim! All works perfect on att!
voilsb said:
Where are you guys getting unlocked 257Ms? I can't find anything on ebay and the internet suggests canadagsm may not be reputable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to throw in an update, I took the risk and ordered a 257M from CanadaGSM. Minor hiccup with the webpage didn't forward my address to their credit card processor, but they sent me an e-mail and a paypal invoice, and shipped out the phone the same day I paid. Quick customer service response time via e-mail, too (as in within a few minutes). It works great on Straight Talk, but I don't live in an LTE area so I can't test that till this weekend.
It rooted easily, and now it's running PAC.
Edited to add some information.
voilsb said:
Just wanted to throw in an update, I took the risk and ordered a 257M from CanadaGSM. Minor hiccup with the webpage didn't forward my address to their credit card processor, but they sent me an e-mail and a paypal invoice, and shipped out the phone the same day I paid. Quick customer service response time via e-mail, too (as in within a few minutes). It works great on Straight Talk, but I don't live in an LTE area so I can't test that till this weekend.
It rooted easily, and now it's running PAC.
Edited to add some information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good news for CanadaGSM...I too was leery, but after a few emails and phone calls they stepped it up big time. For now I have retired the S5 mini in favor of a Nokia Lumia 520 for $65!! Woo-eeee!! It's a super smooth phone. Apps are a little limited, but still have found everything I need except "stay awake" with charging. as for the S4 mini on LTE? No luck at all and expect one of two things...1) it's a locked Rogers phone and I am on AT&T, thus they will not allow LTE or the phone is not truly LTE capable.
voilsb said:
... ordered a 257M ... It rooted easily ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post some detail about the rooting procedure that you used? I have not yet seen a complete procedure for the SGH-I257M.
malloy0 said:
Good news for CanadaGSM...I too was leery, but after a few emails and phone calls they stepped it up big time. For now I have retired the S5 mini in favor of a Nokia Lumia 520 for $65!! Woo-eeee!! It's a super smooth phone. Apps are a little limited, but still have found everything I need except "stay awake" with charging. as for the S4 mini on LTE? No luck at all and expect one of two things...1) it's a locked Rogers phone and I am on AT&T, thus they will not allow LTE or the phone is not truly LTE capable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running the i257m on att with lte,only hiccup I had was they gave a 3g sim instead of an lte one and it took three weeks to prove it to them!
---------- Post added at 01:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:58 AM ----------
mdawdy said:
Can you post some detail about the rooting procedure that you used? I have not yet seen a complete procedure for the SGH-I257M.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the 9195 root method and 9195 roms, same phone just different lte bands.
What I did was use Odin to flash recovery then flashed the root kit then used the unlock app from the play store to be able to run att. Then I flashed my liquidsmooth and havent looked back!
I used Odin to flash philz touch recovery, then flashed the PAC nightly. Only issues so far are ROM related, like launcher preference and battery drain
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app

Wifi or wait for LTE?

I'm pretty set on getting the 10.5 S. I'm currently running an ATT LTE Note 8.0 but the lack of updates is way past annoying, especially with the input freezing bug. I like having LTE, I certainly don't want to be completely without it. I'm also still locked in a contract on the Note for another year, the good news is it only costs $10/month so its a minimal issue. So my plan at the his point is to buy the wifi only 10.5 S and keep my note 8 and basically use it as a hot spot. To purchase a hotspot would cost me $20/month so it does make sense to just keep it and use it that way. That can certainly cut down on some portability but I really only use my tablet on LTE in my truck during work so keeping the Note there for for hotspot use is no biggie. And if I do want to take a tablet with me I can always just take the Note 8. Oh, and I cannot use my phone as a hotspot because its a work phone and is locked from doing so.
I guess my point in all of this is that I dont want to enter into another LTE tablet with potential problems that will never be fixed by the cell provider and be handcuffed with a locked bootloader in the community. Atleast when you go wifi only you know Samsung is going to take care of issues and you will stay closer to the front of the line of Android development.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk 2
kmeleon77 said:
I'm pretty set on getting the 10.5 S. I'm currently running an ATT LTE Note 8.0 but the lack of updates is way past annoying, especially with the input freezing bug. I like having LTE, I certainly don't want to be completely without it. I'm also still locked in a contract on the Note for another year, the good news is it only costs $10/month so its a minimal issue. So my plan at the his point is to buy the wifi only 10.5 S and keep my note 8 and basically use it as a hot spot. To purchase a hotspot would cost me $20/month so it does make sense to just keep it and use it that way. That can certainly cut down on some portability but I really only use my tablet on LTE in my truck during work so keeping the Note there for for hotspot use is no biggie. And if I do want to take a tablet with me I can always just take the Note 8. Oh, and I cannot use my phone as a hotspot because its a work phone and is locked from doing so.
I guess my point in all of this is that I dont want to enter into another LTE tablet with potential problems that will never be fixed by the cell provider and be handcuffed with a locked bootloader in the community. Atleast when you go wifi only you know Samsung is going to take care of issues and you will stay closer to the front of the line of Android development.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I'm just going to get the wifi version since there will be wifi at the places I mainly go to and in worst case scenario I can tether using my S4. I really don't see a need to get the LTE version and pay more monthly (unless when the devs here find a way to make calls with this and you want to make calls and stuff?)
Why not just tether it to your phone? Tethering to another android device usually doesn't count against a tethering limit.
It has tended to be the case in my Samsung tablet experience that there tends to be more options when it comes to rooting and custom ROMs with the wifi varients vs. carrier tied lte variants. A personal example: I first got an lte AT&T Note 8 due to a promotion that they had at the time. That tablet ended up getting stolen, and I replaced it with the wifi version. Looking back, while it sucked shelling out extra cash for a replacement tablet, my experience with the Note 8 was MUCH better due to the ability to easily root it and a couple of really nice custom ROMs that are immeasurably better than the stock ROM, while I don't think there even are any ROMs that can be flashed to the AT&T locked-down version. I think it's rootable, but that's a relatively recent development for a device that's been out as long as the Note 8 (I think, there's a thread on the subject but I haven't looked at it).
Of course, the my take on the matter is really only relevant if you plan on rooting / modifying the device, or at least having the ability to do so, the wifi variant (or international lte version, I guess) seems to generally be the way to go.
I'm lusting hard after the Tab S 8.4, but I'm going to wait a while and keep an eye on this subforum mostly to see how development goes, and a price drop or sale would be nice when that starts to happen for these. If I end up getting this tablet (seems likely, the specs are pretty much exactly what I was hoping for in the TabPro 8.4), I anticipate that I'll end up getting the wifi version, even if I have the opportunity to get the lte version for the same price (I'm on T-mobile now and they had a promotion where they were selling the lte variants of the Samsung tablets that they had (which sucked when I checked it out) for the same price as the wifi variant with 2 GB free data or something, but not sure if that's perpetual). I now have a Note 3 and Note 8, and I really only use the tablet at home, but if I wanted to use it elsewhere I would just tether it to my phone with unlimited data, and all is right with the world
tl;dr IMO the wifi variant is the way to go so that your device isn't tied to any carrier and likely more modifiable, if you care about that. If this was a major decision that you were making that I completely solved and/or you're ridiculously generous, PM me for my address for pre-ordering purposes
I'd wait to see if the devices are rootable. I imagine that if the specs are close enough, I'd go with a Nexus 8 for the dev support. Failing that, go for the GPE version of Galaxy S.
bigbrown said:
I'd wait to see if the devices are rootable. I imagine that if the specs are close enough, I'd go with a Nexus 8 for the dev support. Failing that, go for the GPE version of Galaxy S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love to see a GPE version of the Galaxy Tab S LTE. I don't know why it's so hard to find an Android tablet with LTE that isn't owned by the carriers so I can get decent updates. All the international versions never support the proper LTE bands. The Nexus 7 LTE is the exception. I also have the AT&T Note 8.0 and the lack of updates is more than annoying.

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