Google Play reps can switch your N5 order from the 820 to 821 model?

[smileman]

can anyone confirm whether they've had this done in either the U.S. or Canada?

i was hoping to save my usual $100 by buying my Nexus phone stateside and then bringing it back to the overpriced UK. but the gimped LTE on the U.S. 820 model makes this a problem unless, like UKROB, you can call Google Play and switch your order to model 821?

Nexus 5 models 820 and 821: What's the difference? | Android Central

UKROB: The "other version" of the Nexus 5 (D821) literally covers Rest of World AND CANADA.

D821 Covers: Canada's FASTEST LTE (Band 7) [so better to own this version in Canada], European continent, African continent, Middle-East, Australia/New Zealand and some other parts of Asia.

** So in other words it's far better to have the D821 version of the Nexus 5 if you live in Canada and travel a lot **

The Nexus 5 D820 would only be good for those people who live in the US and don't travel a lot. PERIOD.

I've called Google Play to have my D820 version exchanged for the D821. This option SHOULD have been provided to us on Google Play!

 

[briankariu]

Am thinking its just the radio that is making that distinction. I will definitely try flashing the international firmware once I get my N5

 

[smileman]

Well, I got impatient and called Google Play U.S.

And of course the rep was clueless about the differences between the 820 and 821, LTE fragmentation, etc., so I spent some time getting him up to speed and he "escalated my question to Tier 2 Support". I'll report back once I know more.

Btw, if you're like me and split time between the U.S. and UK/Europe then I would recommend going with the world phone version of the N5 (D821). The reason is you can actually get pretty good data speeds in the U.S. on Tmobile's HSPA+ network. With my Nexus 4, in cities like NY, San Jose, etc. I consistently get speeds on the order of 10/Mbps. Whereas in a city like London on Three or Giffgaff you're lucky to get around 2-3/Mbps on a N4.

So in other words, in the U.S. the LTE will only give you a 2x speed bump from what you were getting with a Nexus 4. Whereas in a city like London, with the N5 you're looking at something like a 10X speed increase!

Now, if only the Giffgaff folks will pull their heads out of their behinds and reveal all about how they intend to offer and price LTE...

 

[smileman]

Heard back from Google and unfortunately there does not appear to be a way to get the D821 in North America:

Unfortunately, you can only purchase devices that are used and available to that country. If you purchase a Nexus 5 in North America (United States and Canada are included in North America), you will get a device that is only available to North America. A device that is used, for example, in the United Kingdom, can't be purchased in North America.

Google reserves the right to reject an order if you do not live in a country from which devices may be purchased via the Google Play store. Please note any device order attempts that do not comply with Terms of Sale may result in account suspension (See https://forums.androidcentral.com/e.../en_us/about/device-terms.html&token=EBcw42q3 for more details.).