new galaxy s5 - spark, Vodafone, or 2 degrees

Forums › Android › new galaxy s5 - spark, Vodafone, or 2 degrees

CutCutCut

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#160516 9-Jan-2015 14:57

I've been tasked with getting my father in law a new s5, I was going to order one from Harvey Norman on sale right now. Which carrier is quicker in getting the updates out? And which laden their s5 with bloatware?

Thanks

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#1211192 9-Jan-2015 15:06

Get the handset from the carrier the phone will be used on, They are not the same

sbiddle

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#1211194 9-Jan-2015 15:09

You should only ever buy a handset for the network you're planning to use it on. There are plenty of minor settings such as fast dormancy which differ between networks and will lead to issues such as worse battery life if misconfigured.

nathan

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#1211198 9-Jan-2015 15:16

iPhone doesn't seem to have different SKUs for different Telco, any ideas why this is different vs say Samsung?

johnr

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#1211202 9-Jan-2015 15:21

As above they are not the same we are giving you the best advice, iPhone is different again

johnr

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#1211206 9-Jan-2015 15:23

Example for iPhone remember when VF launched 4G and only the iPhones with a Vodafone sim in it would show the option to enable 4G / LTE?

CutCutCut

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#1211218 9-Jan-2015 15:35

Good to know. What about parallel imported versions? How much effect does using a different carriers version have on day to day scenario? Or is that like asking how long is a piece of string.

CutCutCut

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#1211455 9-Jan-2015 23:05

Are Vodafone still selling the 900f version of the s5? That's what it says on the Vodafone website, the Harvey Norman one doesn't mention the model, but the spark one is the 900i. Because the phone will often be in rural fringe areas would it not be wise to get a model with 700mhz support even if it's not the carriers handset in that case?

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Shoes2468

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#1211462 9-Jan-2015 23:26

yes the "i" model is what you want if possible, however 4g doesn't allow calling so even if he has 4g and no 3g then calling cannot be done anyway. until in 3g/2g range

nakedmolerat

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#1211464 9-Jan-2015 23:28

if it is for rural area, spark *may* have better coverage than vodafone from my past experience

johnr

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#1211466 9-Jan-2015 23:33

nakedmolerat: if it is for rural area, spark *may* have better coverage than vodafone from my past experience

Depends on the rural location Vodafone have built many RBI sites and also bolted band 3 and 28 LTE onto them just before Christmas, Coverage map would not reflect these new sites yet either

nakedmolerat

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#1211467 9-Jan-2015 23:38

johnr:
nakedmolerat: if it is for rural area, spark *may* have better coverage than vodafone from my past experience

Depends on the rural location Vodafone have built many RBI sites and also bolted band 3 and 28 LTE onto them just before Christmas, Coverage map would not reflect these new sites yet either

I guess the best way is to actually try it with different SIMs.

CutCutCut

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#1211470 10-Jan-2015 00:01

Ok, clear as mud lol. So if he's on Vodafone, generally speaking he'd be better off with the Vodafone version, but in this case, he "might" actually be better off with a spark 900i version?

johnr

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#1211472 10-Jan-2015 00:03

CutCutCut: Ok, clear as mud lol. So if he's on Vodafone, generally speaking he'd be better off with the Vodafone version, but in this case, he "might" actually be better off with a spark 900i version?

No

It's this simple get a handset from the carrier they are using for best results, End of story

nakedmolerat

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#1211484 10-Jan-2015 06:03

CutCutCut: Ok, clear as mud lol. So if he's on Vodafone, generally speaking he'd be better off with the Vodafone version, but in this case, he "might" actually be better off with a spark 900i version?

NO! NO! NO!

As per JohnR reply above, if you want to use on vodafone network, buy from vodafone. If you want to use it on Spark network, buy from Spark. If you want to use it on 2Degrees, buy it from 2Degrees.

I was commenting on the coverage - from my past experience, Spark has better coverage for rural areas but JohnR pointed out that this may not be the case. It sounds like your dad is already on Vodafone network. If he has no issue using Vodafone currently then he should just stick with it.

CutCutCut

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#1211488 10-Jan-2015 06:53

Ok, cool. Thank you.

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