Saturday 31 January 2015

Beware of the 4G LTE capability - Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F 4G LTE 16GB BLACK International Unlocked Version No Warranty Review


Okay, if you're here you probably have made your research about the S5 so you know it's an awesome phone. I do, however, wanna talk about some aspects of this version since it's and unlocked version.

First of all, yes, do you get the SM-G900F version. So don't be afraid you'll pay for that one and get a SM-G900H instead (that was one of my concerns when searching for it since a read different reviews that talked about that). Also, I read in some of the questions that it didn't came with a box; that it was new and had all of the plastics but that it didn't came with a box. False, the box is there with no signs of being opened since all of the stickers are still intact. If you compare it with the box of a phone that has been bought at a carrier, the specs list is in a different order, uses different words but in the end it's all the same. The biggest difference, I think, is the fact this one says LTE while carrier ones say 4G LTE. But then again, no big deal.
However, although 4G capable, I am NOT able to get 4G signals all the time. I have an AT&T sim card and for the first days I wasn't able to get 4G at all. I then called costumer service and they updated my phone info (cause apparently the system registered it as a 2G phone rather than a 4G device) and guided me through creating the specific APN settings for AT&T's network. Sadly, even after that it didn't worked. But after that though, I started having problems with my network signal. I didn't always had all of the signal bars and my phone even started disconnecting from the network completely displaying the "Only emergency calls" sign. To which in many occasions I had to reboot it more than one time in order for it to get signal again. Long story short, I am now able to get 4G speeds in SOME areas for a little amount of time. And it's 4G, not 4G LTE. The rest of the time it's stuck at H or H+. Yes, I know that not every single area is 4G capable, but I live in Boston and I know for a fact we're pretty much set. Also, it's frustrating to be sitting next to someone on the train and seeing how their phone has 4G LTE even underground, when mine disconnects from the network and enters "only emergency calls" mode. And, to make things worst, although my browser and apps work, I'm am NOT able to send multimedia messages. I've spent more than 3 hours total speaking with AT&T's technical support and they assure me they've done everything in their power but that the problems seems to be my phone. Of course, they can't guarantee that a phone that isn't bought from them will get 4G speeds or any data whatsoever and the only thing they can recommend at this point is for me to reset my phone and call back again in order to be guided though the process from the beginning.
Honestly, I don't even have an unlimited internet plan, so I have to be cautious with my data usage and there for only use it when I'm on the train. The rest of the time I'm either at home or at work, both of where I have wifi connection. H+ is almost 4G and the speed isn't bad, really. So if this isn't a deal breaker for you, buy it! Also, I'm not saying every single phone and carrier will have this problem, I tend to be a little unlucky when it comes to this things so it could just be me! I'm just disappointed because the phone itself says 4G on the back where it usually says "Galaxy S5" so it's quite ironic that I can only get 4G speeds at certain locations for a couple of minute...

Also, the phone does NOT bring a USB 3.0 cable, it brings a 2.0 cable with no Samsung branding... I don't really know it that means anything at all, but been the SM-G900F version I did expected it to bring the USB 3.0 cable.


Beware of the 4G LTE capability -   Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F 4G LTE 16GB BLACK International Unlocked Version No Warranty Review

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