Basically what title says
Got one off eBay, works great with US carriers, but the rom included is from Saudi Arabia, so whenever I try to use Samsung Pay it tells me my cards are not supported.
Anyone know what stock ROM I can flash to it so i can use Samsung pay normally?
Theoretically i could just flash every one until i find which one works but if someone has already done this it would be quite a time saver and im guessing i might not be the only one with this issue.
https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/SM-G960F/
https://samsung-firmware.org/model/SM-G960F/
I've checked both these sites but none have any Americas or US Roms, Ive used the Mexico/Claro one on my old S8 with good success so that one should work, but i don't see it for this version (SM-G960F, S9)
Any help would be apreciated
XSG works but you will get ads and promotions for United Arab Emirates. But it let me use my US cards with no problem.
SM-G960F/FD is not intended for use in the US so none of the firmware's will enable Samsung pay as they do not have the correct CSC for the US. Obviously you wont be able to flash the rom for the US S9 (SM-G960U) on your SM-G960F as the US version has the snapdragon 845 and the rest of the word (except Canada and China) gets the Exynos 9810.
What you are hoping for is for someone to find a way to replace a CSC from an Exynos s9, with the CSC from the Snapdragon s9. Sorry to destroy your hopes but dont think that this will ever happen.
Your best bet is to use Google Pay (Or just put your card inside your case and act like you've got samsung pay).
Like I said. With XSG it WILL work in the US but with Ads from UAE. I use it that way in the US with no issues.
Yeah I've used other country roms in the us no problem but this one is not working, I am using XSG atm, it may be possibly because UAE doesnt support American Express? I would possibly need to find a rom from another country that does, usually the Mexico one works but it's currently not available and there's no Canada or Panama either,
Related
I want to buy a Galaxy S9. Since there are some complains about the exynos version (battery life, performance, especially 3d performance in games) i want to get the Snapdragon version. Custom Roms etc. doens't matter for me. Is it possible to just order the Galaxy S9 g9600 Hong Kong Version and use it normaly here in germany? Does the region even matter?
>>UPDATE<<
tl;dr: Yes you can!
I'm also interested in getting an answer from somebody who has experienced with this.
After Googling around, I think you will have no problem using the phone. The only problem is that the ROM is full of bloat targeted to the Asian audience. What people do normally is they flash the Brazilian version, which uses the same hardware, and should be a very clean rom. I would feel more confident if somebody came and confirmed who I read around.
I bought the S9 online from Hong Kong (SM-G9600/DS) to use in Australia and it works well with full 4g (LTE) bands. I would assume that it would also work fine with European bands as well. I have not had any issues with the phone at all.
The only potential issue is that you wont be able to use VoLTE outside of Hong Kong. Personally this doesn't bother me.
I'd recommend importing the SM-G9600 form overseas.
---------- Post added at 01:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------
CaraMuuu said:
I'm also interested in getting an answer from somebody who has experienced with this.
After Googling around, I think you will have no problem using the phone. The only problem is that the ROM is full of bloat targeted to the Asian audience. What people do normally is they flash the Brazilian version, which uses the same hardware, and should be a very clean rom. I would feel more confident if somebody came and confirmed who I read around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm after buying a SM-G9600 online from Hong Kong, it has NO Asian Bloatware and overall a fairly clean rom. Most pre-installed apps are actually useful (such as Facebook or Twitter). The only difference that I have noticed over 4 weeks of having this phone is that in the shopping option of bixby vison (where you point the camera at an object and it comes up with a product you can buy) it shows Hong Kong results. And also the advertising in samsung pay is in Chinese.
None of this a problem that affects overall usability and is very minor. I would definitely recommend buying the SM-G9600 from Hong Kong.
Would it make sense to flash the Brazil ZTO ROM or is the Hong Kong ROM just fine?
Hows the battery life on the HK version? HK has the snapdragon variant i assume it has good battery?
Could Hk version S9/S9+ be root now? Does anyone know how to root Hk version S9/S9+?
Good day. I am thinking in getting a Snapdragon version (American or HK), and would love to know if it works in Europe too.
It seems that the battery life of the phone with Exynos is far worse
If this is the case and the phone is locked to Asia region, is there any way to unlock the phone without an Asia SIM card? Or do I have to send it back?
EDIT: The phone got shipped today and should arrive the end of this week or next week. I will make an update if the Galaxy S9 Dual Sim from Hong Kong is region locked or not
Update: The Galaxy S9 arrived today and everything works perfectly. I had no region sticker on the box and my german simcard works just fine. The only bloatware, that is preinstalled are some microsoft apps (word, excel, powerpoint, onedrive). Overall i am very happy that everything is working flawlessly.
Flik210 said:
Update: The Galaxy S9 arrived today and everything works perfectly. I had no region sticker on the box and my german simcard works just fine. The only bloatware, that is preinstalled are some microsoft apps (word, excel, powerpoint, onedrive). Overall i am very happy that everything is working flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried using\running Samsung Pay?
athos86 said:
Have you tried using\running Samsung Pay?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, i haven't. Here in Germany it is not often used. Even Apple pay is rarely seen.
Flik210 said:
No, i haven't. Here in Germany it is not often used. Even Apple pay is rarely seen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I asked so because I read that the only potential issues in buying a different region version could be Samsung Pay and VoLTE not working.
Inviato dal mio SM-N910F utilizzando Tapatalk
Does the Hong Kong version support VoLTE or wifi calling? I bought a G9600/DS with the Latin America CSC (has OWO in the version number as opposed to TGY in the HK version) and it does not support either feature. Can you let us know please. I'm thinking of flashing with the TGY CSC if it supports VoLTE and Wifi calling.
sentron said:
Does the Hong Kong version support VoLTE or wifi calling? I bought a G9600/DS with the Latin America CSC (has OWO in the version number as opposed to TGY in the HK version) and it does not support either feature. Can you let us know please. I'm thinking of flashing with the TGY CSC if it supports VoLTE and Wifi calling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HK version does support both VoLTE and VoWiFi but will that work in non-HK carrier in other countries I have doubts
I am also very curious about VoLTE in other countries. Let us know.
Flik210 said:
I want to buy a Galaxy S9. Since there are some complains about the exynos version (battery life, performance, especially 3d performance in games) i want to get the Snapdragon version. Custom Roms etc. doens't matter for me. Is it possible to just order the Galaxy S9 g9600 Hong Kong Version and use it normaly here in germany? Does the region even matter?
>>UPDATE<<
tl;dr: Yes you can!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will work Germany, no problem.
---------- Post added at 09:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 PM ----------
voLTE will only work in Hong Kong. If you root and use a custom ROM the CSC Code can be modified. This is only possible if your device's bootloader is unlocked. As the CSC Code is Region or Carrier Specific you'll need to match your new code to the location and/or carrier.
varcor said:
It will work Germany, no problem.
---------- Post added at 09:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 PM ----------
voLTE will only work in Hong Kong. If you root and use a custom ROM the CSC Code can be modified. This is only possible if your device's bootloader is unlocked. As the CSC Code is Region or Carrier Specific you'll need to match your new code to the location and/or carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi guys,
I also want to buy one S9 with Snapdragon from overseas, what site did you use?
Best Regards
Amazon and Ebay both offer the Snapdragon variation. Ebay is usually less expensive.
insid3r said:
Hi guys,
I also want to buy one S9 with Snapdragon from overseas, what site did you use?
Best Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got mine from an ebay seller. Just look for a sm-g9600 or sm-g9650 if you want the plus.
Hi, I'm looking to see how many people on here have gotten the SM-G9600 variant--that's the international unlocked Snapdragon one, with an unlocked bootloader (and able to flash treble universal images, albeit at the cost of some Samsung-specific features).
I want the snapdragon variant because it has better graphics performance, and CDMA flexibility if I ever need to switch carriers (I'm in the USA). Although as of now I'm planning on using it with AT&T.
For those who have gotten this model, what do you think of it? Was it a good choice? Have you had to flash different firmware to get it to work on your home network? Was the process pretty painless, or did you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it set up how you like it?
I got the SM-G9600 (SM-G9600/DS) online from Hong Kong and am using it in Australia. It works perfectly here straight of the box. Works with the full range of 4G+ (LTE) networks. The only thing that doesn't work is the VoLTE (though once a method for root on the snapdragon s9 is found, a CSC change would change this).
Would recommend.
preambean said:
I got the SM-G9600 (SM-G9600/DS) online from Hong Kong and am using it in Australia. It works perfectly here straight of the box. Works with the full range of 4G+ (LTE) networks. The only thing that doesn't work is the VoLTE (though once a method for root on the snapdragon s9 is found, a CSC change would change this).
Would recommend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! If you don't mind me asking, where did you buy it? I've seen some on Amazon, but I'm not sure the best way to import it. I think ideally I'd get either a Hong Kong or a Latin American one (I hear the Chinese ones tend to have some bloat added), but I don't think I'll have an easy time specifying which kind to an Amazon merchant, ha.
Since the bootloader is unlocked, I don't think getting root should be tremendously difficult. Hopefully that means it will come soon :fingers-crossed:
nelsyv said:
Awesome! If you don't mind me asking, where did you buy it? I've seen some on Amazon, but I'm not sure the best way to import it. I think ideally I'd get either a Hong Kong or a Latin American one (I hear the Chinese ones tend to have some bloat added), but I don't think I'll have an easy time specifying which kind to an Amazon merchant, ha.
Since the bootloader is unlocked, I don't think getting root should be tremendously difficult. Hopefully that means it will come soon :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought mine off ebay. Best option for here in Australia.
Just ordered the SM-G9600, wondering what hoops I'll need to jump through in order to use Samsung Pay with US banks/cards? Anybody know?
I was planning on flashing the Hong Kong (TGY) firmware to it (CSC is G9600TGY2ARE6), if anyone is familiar with that.
EDIT: Another question I thought of—there's not a separate firmware for the dual SIM variants, is there? It runs the same one as single SIM? I only noticed one HK firmware per release date on updato...
I would like to know if there is a fix too.
I love samsung pay and it doesn't work on my g9600(on att).
I am interested in the solution too.
Hi all,
I live in Europe and am planning to buy a Snapdragon S20+ from HongKong.
I've checked which network bands the HK phone supports and all bands I need are there.
Before placing the order I want to check with you guys if I have a clear picture of all limitations that come with buying a HK S20+ in Europe.
The list I compiled so far:
- No Samsung Pay (I don't care, won't use it)
- VOLTE may or may not work depending on your carrier (I don't care, I barely call and if I call I don't care about the quality)
- No warranty in Europe .
- Difference in timing of updates
Anything else I should take into account?
YH93 said:
Hi all,
I live in Europe and am planning to buy a Snapdragon S20+ from HongKong.
I've checked which network bands the HK phone supports and all bands I need are there.
Before placing the order I want to check with you guys if I have a clear picture of all limitations that come with buying a HK S20+ in Europe.
The list I compiled so far:
- No Samsung Pay (I don't care, won't use it)
- VOLTE may or may not work depending on your carrier (I don't care, I barely call and if I call I don't care about the quality)
- No warranty in Europe .
- Difference in timing of updates
Anything else I should take into account?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Carrier Aggregation may suffer, which will reduce download speeds. I have a Hong Kong variant, VoLTE, WiFi Calling and Samsung Pay work however I'm in the US, your results may vary as you mentioned depending on the carrier. Don't expect you can modify the CSC, you can't change it. Samkey doesn't support HK variants and OXM, which allows Preconfiguration changes for different European CSC's isn't embedded in the software. Updates have come in a timely fashion every month and there's no Carrier Branded Bloatware. Even though the device has some limitations I've been pleased with the HK variant, anything but Exynos!
varcor said:
Carrier Aggregation may suffer, which will reduce download speeds. I have a Hong Kong variant, VoLTE, WiFi Calling and Samsung Pay work however I'm in the US, your results may vary as you mentioned depending on the carrier. Don't expect you can modify the CSC, you can't change it. Samkey doesn't support HK variants and OXM, which allows Preconfiguration changes for different European CSC's isn't embedded in the software. Updates have come in a timely fashion every month and there's no Carrier Branded Bloatware. Even though the device has some limitations I've been pleased with the HK variant, anything but Exynos!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I'll go for the HK version then. Don't see any reason why I shouldn't.
Actually Samsung Pay should work in Europe flawlessly, only thing that won't work is rewards. To be more precise, rewards do work, but the rewards shown are the ones of the phone's original country...
As for the Samkey CSC change limitation, I remember reading a post here about a user that changed CSC from Taiwan to Hong Kong using Samkey...
Rulsar_Tec said:
Actually Samsung Pay should work in Europe flawlessly, only thing that won't work is rewards. To be more precise, rewards do work, but the rewards shown are the ones of the phone's original country...
As for the Samkey CSC change limitation, I remember reading a post here about a user that changed CSC from Taiwan to Hong Kong using Samkey...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. I'm currently not using or planning to use Samsung Pay but that might change in the future.
Regarding the CSC limations, I don't see any reason why I would need to change the CSC.
Reason why you may want to think twice is that in the event if you get unit with poor uniformity seller may not be willing to replace it as easily
How do you plan on buying it?
Sharpshooterrr said:
How do you plan on buying it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine from T-Dimension. Just be sure to order from their .de or .co.uk site and you don't have to pay any customs. Cheeper then the Exynos version here in Sweden. Took about 2 weeks to get the phone. First they ship it from HK to their warehouse in UK then from there to me.
Skickat från min SM-G9860 via Tapatalk
I have ordered the phone from WondaMobile.
They have the HongKong Snapdragon version for the same price as the Exynos in my country.
Also no customs are being charged as they will ship it from/via the UK.
I have ordered S20 ultra also from WondaMobile. I was on 6th of May and I'm hopping the delivery will not take to much time. I also hope I don't have to send it back because of broken camera glass or other issues which s20 ultra suffers...
Hello
My S20 Ultra comes to WondaMobile and is amazing (model 512/16GB)
Samsung Pay and Volte work perfectly.
Photos are fantastic.
I also have the Snapdragon version
Get it. I had the Exynos and it had a poor battery life plus other disadvantages
Could someone check for me ?: Dutch (the Netherlands) language included in the HK version? Mi
is the hongkong version better than the chinese version ??? any differnce
and what about 5g my country supports sub 6 which is 3.5 bandwith
ChromeFR said:
Could someone check for me : Dutch (the Netherlands) language included in the HK version? Mi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is.
dr.memo1o said:
is the hongkong version better than the chinese version ??? any differnce
and what about 5g my country supports sub 6 which is 3.5 bandwith
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung pay and Google services work.
5g is ok for France
Hello, what is the CSC, what is the use of it and why someone would change it? Are the european languages supported in this version?
I need help understanding all the differences between the various S20 Plus 5G versions. I live in Italy and I want to buy the Snapdragon international unlocked but I miss some points in using an international version here where we can only find the Exynos one.
Speaking about the various names, so far I understood
Snapdragon 865 – 12GB RAM:
SM-G986U - Factory Unlocked from US
SM-G986N - South Korea (?)a lot of bloatware and a custom intro animation, so not the original and "pure" Android version(?)
SM-G9860, SM-G9868 - China, Hong Kong, Japan, Brazil
I've found a good price for the SM-G986N in a European store but I'm missing some details:
My phone will update as soon as the update is rolled out in Korea? And then about the bloatware, easily removable to make the phone lighter and snappier? Regarding this I was wondering if I can flash the US firmware or is it impossible due to hardware differences between the SM-G986N and the SM-G986U? I really miss this point, if there only are software-related differences between devices with the same CPU or also hardware ones.
I've found sometimes the US version in some stores but there were crazy prices or very limited availability.
Which version would you guys suggest me to go for? Thanks in advance for any answer.
EDIT #1 after chieco's answer: rootable phone isn't a priority
you need to get this model SM-G9860 because it has the least bloatware, SnapDragon aaaaaand most important, it can be rooted! Also since your warranty is handled thru the seller and not Samsung you don't need to worry about knox effecting your warranty.
chieco said:
you need to get this model SM-G9860 because it has the least bloatware, SnapDragon aaaaaand most important, it can be rooted! Also since your warranty is handled thru the seller and not Samsung you don't need to worry about knox effecting your warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion, I wasn't actually thinking aboutroot, but knowing I can do that if I want is certainly an added value!
ianeze46 said:
Thanks for the suggestion, I wasn't actually thinking aboutroot, but knowing I can do that if I want is certainly an added value!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SM-G9860 will get OTA Updates regardless of your Service Provider, it's Dual-SIM unlike South Korean Variant, it's less expensive than the SM-G986N or SM-G986U and it's as close as you'll get to a pure Android Device when compared to any other Samsung offerings. The only real disadvantages are it may not be 5G Compatible depending on your Service Provider and Warrant Repairs typically aren't handled by the seller unless you buy it directly from Samsung.
SM-GM9860 is the one you need.
I'm using it in the Netherlands and everything works like a charm.
Please do check beforehand whether the device supports all network bands that your telecom provider is operating on.
Forget about the SM-986N. It is single SIM and has a lot of Korean bloatware.
YH93 said:
SM-GM9860 is the one you need.
I'm using it in the Netherlands and everything works like a charm.
Please do check beforehand whether the device supports all network bands that your telecom provider is operating on.
Forget about the SM-986N. It is single SIM and has a lot of Korean bloatware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only heard about Samsung Pay, it's the only feature that won't work here in Europe with the SM-GM9860 right? (There's Google Pay, so no problems with that)
All the other "Samsung's" ones like Knox, Pass etc. should work normally as far as I know. Can you confirm?
I checked the bands here in Italy and all should work normally. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
YH93 said:
SM-GM9860 is the one you need.
I'm using it in the Netherlands and everything works like a charm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get it in a Dutch (online) shop (if so, where?) or did you import it?
ianeze46 said:
I've only heard about Samsung Pay, it's the only feature that won't work here in Europe with the SM-GM9860 right? (There's Google Pay, so no problems with that)
All the other "Samsung's" ones like Knox, Pass etc. should work normally as far as I know. Can you confirm?
I checked the bands here in Italy and all should work normally. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about Samsung Pay.
I've read some stories (can't recall on which forum) from European users who confirmed that Samsung Pay works fine on their Snapdragon S20.
I'm not using it myself so cannot confirm.
I can confirm though that the other features that you're mentioning work perfectly.
---------- Post added at 01:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:39 PM ----------
anandus said:
Did you get it in a Dutch (online) shop (if so, where?) or did you import it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I imported from HongKong via Wondamobile.com.
I can recommend this shop. They're very fast in shipping out the phone (took about a week to arrive), you don't pay any customs fees and they are very helpful in answering any questions you have.
The only thing I recommend to buy yourself if you order from Hongkong is a wallcharger that is compatible with the powersockets in your country.
Samsung Pay does work, you're only getting Hong Hong ads.