Samsung S4 4G Question..

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Aaroona

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#119513 4-Jun-2013 11:39

Im looking at picking up a Samsung S4 to replace my now dating iPhone 4S, which I am becoming increasingly frustrated with.

My question is though; I can get a good price of a Telecom 9505, the problem is, the guy at the vodafone store told me that the ones sold by Telecom and 2D have locked the 4G freq's out, which means I would be unable to use my vodafone sim in that phone, to get 4G coverage, but 3G would work fine.
He also went on to explain that once 4G is released with Telecom and 2D, then they will release a "software update" to enable the 4G side of things.

This sounds like BS to me, but I want to ask here to be sure, just in case I am wrong and buy the wrong version...

Anyone?

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#830408 4-Jun-2013 11:48

As I am aware Telecom or 2D do not lock out 4G / LTE access on the S4 9505 and as long as you use the correct APN ' vodafone ' it should work fine

johnr

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#830411 4-Jun-2013 11:51

I think the Nokia 920 has 4G / LTE locked down

scottjpalmer

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#830412 4-Jun-2013 11:58

I have seen 2deg say here on GZ that a software update will enable LTE once they launch

johnr

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#830414 4-Jun-2013 12:00

Ok so the 2D S4 might be locked down

Aaroona

3193 posts

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#830422 4-Jun-2013 12:06

Hmm okay.. that definitely makes me wonder then. While not completely related to the thread, is there any functional differences between all the versions?

I've been told they run different software from each other (whatever minor differences they may be), but I'm just trying to justify the extra cost Vodafone associates with the device?

Would you get SW updates faster because its more 'vanilla' as they say?

johnr

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#830423 4-Jun-2013 12:10

Each carrier approves software updates for the handsets they sold

NZtechfreak

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#830425 4-Jun-2013 12:25

The i9505 I had was actually a 2deg handset and Vodafone 4G worked fine on it.

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boby55

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#830429 4-Jun-2013 12:30

As far as I know telecom don't lock the 4g on their S4 so you should be fine.

From the telecom site:
"Get future-proofed with the 4G compatible Galaxy S4"

jeffnz

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#830434 4-Jun-2013 12:41

slightly off topic but seems that Telecom S4 is cheaper than both Vodafone and 2D. I was going to buy a black Vodafone one from NL yesterday but found the price difference was significant.

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Aaroona

3193 posts

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#830435 4-Jun-2013 12:42

Thanks for the reply guys...

So looks like it's not carrier dependant, which is nice.

Next issue I need to think about is the space... apparently you aren't install apps on an SD card...!? Not sure if 16GB will be enough and was looking at using an SD card, but thats that idea out the window..

chevrolux

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#830442 4-Jun-2013 12:47

I have a 16GB S3 and haven't come anywhere near filling it up. I am pretty sure there is an app that lets you move your apps to SD if you wanted to though.

I have music/media on a 16GB SD card.

uglyb0b

335 posts

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#830447 4-Jun-2013 12:55

Make sure the Telecom one isn't I9505T. Telecom have used the T version of the previous Galaxy S models, (as do Telstra Australia) which according to some article's I've read, have some components changed slightly so it will have impaired performance on frequencies other than 850mhz.

I don't know how true this is as I've only seen it in a couple of articles but they were pretty thorough. I also don't know if there is a T version of the S4, but I would definitely check before buying just in case.

Aaroona

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#830450 4-Jun-2013 12:59

yeah, I've checked and the models that are supplied by 2D and Telecom as well as Vodafone, are the i9505's.

This purchase is being put on hold though, cause they only have the 16GB version available, and given you cant install apps to the SD card now, it's a deal breaker.. Coming from iPhone, I have approx. ~6-8GB of apps installed. So it'll run out pretty quickly.

Ahh well, good to have an answer for anyone else potentially looking at purchasing this phone

mrgsm021

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#830507 4-Jun-2013 14:48

uglyb0b: Make sure the Telecom one isn't I9505T. Telecom have used the T version of the previous Galaxy S models, (as do Telstra Australia) which according to some article's I've read, have some components changed slightly so it will have impaired performance on frequencies other than 850mhz.

I don't know how true this is as I've only seen it in a couple of articles but they were pretty thorough. I also don't know if there is a T version of the S4, but I would definitely check before buying just in case.

I've been in to a telecom shop to have a play with their S4 on demo display and it is GT-I9505X. I subsequently went into a Vodafone store and had a look at their S4 on display which is the same GT-I9505X but obviously firmware version is different.

uglyb0b

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#830534 4-Jun-2013 15:32

The X just indicates that it is a demo only device with no sim slot, SD slot. Kind of like a WiFi only version purely for store live demo purposes.

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