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Should I buy i9500 or i9505 or others

My Galaxy s3 just died this morning So I'm thinking of buying a new phone. But I don't have too much budget on my hands. My needs are:
1) Good community support: I want to buy phone which has Stable CM12.1 release. Please let me know are there any major bugs on cm12.1 roms for i9500 ?
2) Good Camera: I believe s4 has one
3) Expandable Memory
4) Good battery backup
5) Good Display
Also the US cousin of i9500 i.e. i9505 is also available for little more, but if I go for that I would lose warranty and will also spend little more. So is it worth to go for i9505 ? I know it has 4g which i9500 doesn't have. But how good are the lollipop ROM stability on i9505, is it more stable ? Any other things which I'm missing out ?
Also I have option to go for oneplus one, but I don't know how good is the quality of phone when compared with Samsung ? I want to use it for atleast next 2-3 years

Avoid US models of S4 unless from T-Mobile (M919). The AT&T (I337) and Verizon (I545) models come with locked bootloaders which make customization difficult. The Verizon and Sprint (L720) models use CDMA instead of the global standard GSM, making them difficult to use outside of the US.
Canadian devices don't have the bootloader or CDMA issues, but if you live anywhere in Europe you will want the I9505. The LTE bands of US and Canadian devices are different, and you may get slow LTE, if any LTE at all. Whether Android 5.x.x runs well on it is a matter of opinion. Some will swear by it while others curse it. You'll have to try it out for yourself.
The I9500 has no LTE but also has little custom ROM support. I don't recommend it.

oh, I thought i9500 had good ROM support
Anyway will look for others then..thanks

Will go for LG G2 d800 then..

That's a good choice, but you were contemplating the OnePlus One as well. What made you select the G2 over the One?

G2 camera got ois ..only thing I miss in s4.. one plus one and yuphoria got official cm os .. greatly customizable
Mafioso said:
Will go for LG G2 d800 then..
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Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
That's a good choice, but you were contemplating the OnePlus One as well. What made you select the G2 over the One?
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One plus one is only 16gb, 64gb is expensive
I'm getting g2 32gb for lot less, even cheaper than one plus 16gb..hardware/ram pretty much same between them two..

Heed help with buying snapdragon s7 edge.

Hi. Im living in Russia and there are only exynos variant available. After using rather bad exynos note 4 (overheat, bad reception, 3g/4g battery drain, poor aosp development) i decided to buy snapdragon variant of s7 edge. I believe samsung is using superior versions of their handsets in key markets such as NA and China. But for my surprise all s7 edge sold in USA are carrier bound. My question are there unlocked s7 edge snapdragon? What carrier should i choose? Will at-t and t-mobile phones work with other gsm carriers around the world. Also i need no carrier bloatware and unlocked bootloader. As for network i need band 20 800Mhz and band 7 2600Mhz.
Thanks in advance.

TANKRED_ENDURES said:
Hi. Im living in Russia and there are only exynos variant available. After using rather bad exynos note 4 (overheat, bad reception, 3g/4g battery drain, poor aosp development) i decided to buy snapdragon variant of s7 edge. I believe samsung is using superior versions of their handsets in key markets such as NA and China. But for my surprise all s7 edge sold in USA are carrier bound. My question are there unlocked s7 edge snapdragon? What carrier should i choose? Will at-t and t-mobile phones work with other gsm carriers around the world. Also i need no carrier bloatware and unlocked bootloader. As for network i need band 20 800Mhz and band 7 2600Mhz.
Thanks in advance.
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None of the U.S. devices cover band 7 nor 20 i guess, those bands aren't used over there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks_in_Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks
Also, normally carrier locked devices won't work for other carriers unless you hack (was not possible at recent devices afaik) it or pay for unlocking it. But you could be lucky there at the s7 with it locking just at first boot. It could be, that it'll lock to your carrier instead of the one you bought it from, but you'll have to verify that it works before, also it'll only work, if it never has been booted by any employ at the carrier you bought it to ship it locked already.

Tectas said:
None of the U.S. devices cover band 7 nor 20 i guess, those bands aren't used over there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks_in_Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks
Also, normally carrier locked devices won't work for other carriers unless you hack (was not possible at recent devices afaik) it or pay for unlocking it. But you could be lucky there at the s7 with it locking just at first boot. It could be, that it'll lock to your carrier instead of the one you bought it from, but you'll have to verify that it works before, also it'll only work, if it never has been booted by any employ at the carrier you bought it to ship it locked already.
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I saw people importing note 4 sm-910c to USA because its compatible with US lte frequences Same model sold in Russia. I think device itself can support this frequnces though they are not used there.

I'd wait before presuming the Snapdragon model will be superior to the Exynos, especially in terms of things like overheat and reception. It's certainly possible it will be the better option, but there is no guarantee yet. And especially with the debacle on the 810, Snapdragon haven't exactly covered themselves in glory recently.
Hardly anyone has the Exynos model yet, whilst there are a lot of T-Mobile customers in the US who have the Snapdragon, some of who are reporting being unable to use the VR headset for more than 30 minutes without the phone complaining of overheat. Wait until next week and there will be proper comparison reviews that go beyond Snapdragon having a few extra meaningless numbers on some benchmark. That's when an informed decision can be made as to whether it's worth going through the bother of buying your device out of territory and forsaking the manufacturer guarantee.

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Beefheart said:
I'd wait before presuming the Snapdragon model will be superior to the Exynos, especially in terms of things like overheat and reception. It's certainly possible it will be the better option, but there is no guarantee yet. And especially with the debacle on the 810, Snapdragon haven't exactly covered themselves in glory recently.
Hardly anyone has the Exynos model yet, whilst there are a lot of T-Mobile customers in the US who have the Snapdragon, some of who are reporting being unable to use the VR headset for more than 30 minutes without the phone complaining of overheat. Wait until next week and there will be proper comparison reviews that go beyond Snapdragon having a few extra meaningless numbers on some benchmark. That's when an informed decision can be made as to whether it's worth going through the bother of buying your device out of territory and forsaking the manufacturer guarantee.
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Good point. I bother buying snapdragon mostly because of lower TDP and better 4g reception in past models. If exynos become equal in this areas i see no point in importing. And i dont wanna wait long cause if i preorder before 18 march i will get free gear vr though i dont need it xD

Tectas said:
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Note 4 have both sd and exynos variants. Its note 5 only nave exynos.

TANKRED_ENDURES said:
Note 4 have both sd and exynos variants. Its note 5 only nave exynos.
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Yes, that's why I've removed the post, mixed the numbering, sorry.
But if you take a look, at least here aren't any of those bands supported at the U.S. variants.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/how-to/detailed-sm-g935-s7-info-t3326180

But what about carrier software? I heard some carriers replace stock samsung apps like browser. Also is it true what at-t and tmobile phones recieve updates later than their unlocked counterparts?

TANKRED_ENDURES said:
But what about carrier software? I heard some carriers replace stock samsung apps like browser. Also is it true what at-t and tmobile phones recieve updates later than their unlocked counterparts?
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Would be the first time I hear something like the browser replaced by a carrier, but maybe possible, in common they just add stuff though and make small changes (modem, bootscreen,...). And yes, carrier devices in common get updates later, because the carriers have to incorporate their changes (which can be a few days to months, depends on the carrier), but at the european variants we're lucky with stock roms at least (or at least have been). In most cases you simply can flash a unbranded rom there through odin without second thought.

S8 + Processor and Unbox Event

Why wasn't there been no information about Chipset that is being used at S8 / S8+? Does anybody have any idea what is the chip that will be shipped globally? (Snapdragon 835 or Exynos). Nonetheless, the unpacked event was not so exciting as I expected. There is nothing much to say other than Screen ratio, Bixby and Dex.
Were you really as excited as you though earlier? Did Samsung fulfilled your expectation.

They said we made a new 10nm processor so it's obviously the Exynos, they didnt mention snapdragon so i guess it will be like the S6 with exynos only, maybe.

SM-G950F/FD/N, SM-G955F/FD/N aka International and Korean will be the Exynos 8895
G950U/0 and G955U/0 + US variants will be the Snapdragon 835

Most likely we're gonna get the SD835 version. At least that's what Mobilesyrup said.

Soufiansky said:
They said we made a new 10nm processor so it's obviously the Exynos, they didnt mention snapdragon so i guess it will be like the S6 with exynos only, maybe.
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They also manufactured the sd835 , which is also 10nm processor
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LinS123 said:
Most likely we're gonna get the SD835 version. At least that's what Mobilesyrup said.
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If the note 7 and s7 trend continues yep.bootloader probably locked again also.
Which means most of us will end up with an international Exynos model lol.
Sent from my Note 7, S7 Edge or S6

What should we order an international model or us. Yes im verizon and us. Only reason i ask ... i have the note 4 and the roms are mostly f and g variant which are india and europe.

happy2472 said:
What should we order an international model or us. Yes im verizon and us. Only reason i ask ... i have the note 4 and the roms are mostly f and g variant which are india and europe.
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Samsung international phones don't work on Verizon.

always found it odd that the USA still hold on the less deployed cdma networks. they need to go GSM all the way!

mikey_sk said:
always found it odd that the USA still hold on the less deployed cdma networks. they need to go GSM all the way!
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Actually they are. Sprint and Verizon only use CDMA for fallback and voice for now. There lte is gsm and once volte gets widespread enough CDMA will be shut down and refarmed for lte.

Which is the ideal version of the S8 to buy? Dual SIM international? Snap or Exynos?

Hi folks, I browsed this forum a few times and finally decided to make an account after all the wonderful information I've read here.
I realize there's probably no simple way to answer this question. But I'd like to buy the "best of the best" S8 I possibly can. I'm interested in the S8 specifically and not the S8 Plus. It's a phone I intend on keeping for a while, so long as nothing catastrophic happens. As such, I'm open to all possibilities.
I'm based in the USA but I would like to have the one with the most available bands to get the maximum availability on networks while traveling. I read on another thread that so far there are ways to unlock the bands in the firmware after flashing the Canadian firmware to the device. (I think this was referring to the Snapdragon North American version). But features such as Wifi Calling on T-Mobile won't work after that.
Because of carrier locks, it appears that certain models of phones only have certain bands enabled depending on which provider they were released for (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc). This is a bit of a problem, if for example, I wanted to use an AT&T phone on T-Mobile, or wanted to pop in a local SIM while traveling.
I'm presently on Verizon, but I'm not under contract and so I'm willing to switch to perhaps T-Mobile, AT&T, or whatever other GSM carriers are available. As such, CDMA capabilities aren't really a major issue for me. It would be nice, but not a deal breaker. I also get conflicting info where some sellers say their unlocked phones won't work for CDMA carriers; while others claim that the unlocked phones have all the CDMA capabilities unlocked as well.
I'm wondering also, if the Snapdragon or Exynos is preferable? The general consensus among developers seems to be that Exynos is preferable to Snapdragon when it comes to future mods, rootability, etc. What is the downside to Exynos?
Lastly, what do you think of the DUAL SIM version? My main reason for holding off on my purchase is debating whether I should get the dual SIM version or not. It would be a nice feature to have, for a phone I intended on setting up and keeping for a while. The only hesitation as far as this goes, is warranty coverage issues.
Would the international version have all the bands enabled? I've also read the Chinese and South Korean versions have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which is pretty sweet.
Thanks!

TurboSloth said:
Hi folks, I browsed this forum a few times and finally decided to make an account after all the wonderful information I've read here.
I realize there's probably no simple way to answer this question. But I'd like to buy the "best of the best" S8 I possibly can. I'm interested in the S8 specifically and not the S8 Plus. It's a phone I intend on keeping for a while, so long as nothing catastrophic happens. As such, I'm open to all possibilities.
I'm based in the USA but I would like to have the one with the most available bands to get the maximum availability on networks while traveling. I read on another thread that so far there are ways to unlock the bands in the firmware after flashing the Canadian firmware to the device. (I think this was referring to the Snapdragon North American version). But features such as Wifi Calling on T-Mobile won't work after that.
Because of carrier locks, it appears that certain models of phones only have certain bands enabled depending on which provider they were released for (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc). This is a bit of a problem, if for example, I wanted to use an AT&T phone on T-Mobile, or wanted to pop in a local SIM while traveling.
I'm presently on Verizon, but I'm not under contract and so I'm willing to switch to perhaps T-Mobile, AT&T, or whatever other GSM carriers are available. As such, CDMA capabilities aren't really a major issue for me. It would be nice, but not a deal breaker. I also get conflicting info where some sellers say their unlocked phones won't work for CDMA carriers; while others claim that the unlocked phones have all the CDMA capabilities unlocked as well.
I'm wondering also, if the Snapdragon or Exynos is preferable? The general consensus among developers seems to be that Exynos is preferable to Snapdragon when it comes to future mods, rootability, etc. What is the downside to Exynos?
Lastly, what do you think of the DUAL SIM version? My main reason for holding off on my purchase is debating whether I should get the dual SIM version or not. It would be a nice feature to have, for a phone I intended on setting up and keeping for a while. The only hesitation as far as this goes, is warranty coverage issues.
Would the international version have all the bands enabled? I've also read the Chinese and South Korean versions have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which is pretty sweet.
Thanks!
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Did you get your answers? I have same don't like doubts, specially related to processor and dual chip tech.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

The only "downside" to the exynos version is the lack of CDMA support. It is superior in pretty much every other regard.
If you're considering a G950U.. I believe the AT&T model covers the most LTE bands. The Verizon version lists TDD LTE bands if those are useful to you. (But lacks other important bands)
To your question, the G950F/FD is likely your best bet.

Where do I found a list of models? I saw that in Brazil we have SM-G950, but what I see is here is only SM-G950F
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

I guess if you go with the exynos variant you will miss near fully playable gamecube/wii emulation. The exynos does other stuff better tho.

For the dual SIM variant, they have also just released a 6gb/128gb version, model number is SM-G9550. That's the best one you can get for the dual SIM variant: http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/business/business-products/mobile-device/smartphones/SM-G9550ZKGTGY.
Only downside is no Band 66 support though if you are planning to be on T-Mobile.
Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk

Hi, where can i buy the S8 Plus SM-G9550 (128GB, Snapdragon, 6GB Ram)?
thx in advance

Hi mate iv always preferred going for a G9xxF/FD version since They are Exynos in-case of Root or mods Exynos gets them first and if u get a FD added advantage of the dual sim. Good Luck

Hi codex1998, i don't need root and mods. My opinion is that the SM-G9550 is the better and most powerful phone.

Hi everyone, how about official firmware updates for different models ?
Is there any difference which models receives updates, which not ?
Some of my friends use different models and here is my statistic based on their phones:
s7 edge FD (dual sim): Android 7.0, last update August 2017,
note 8 (I believe its F model): 7.1 - August 2017,
s8 FD (dual sim) - 7.0 - Oct 2017,
2x s8+ FD (dual sim) - 7.0 Oct 2017.

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.