Can Unlocked Phone From Different Service Provider Be Used With T-Mobile?

[TomBrooklyn]

1. Is it true that any Samsung S4 manufactured for a different service provider can be used for T-Mobile if it is unlocked?

2. What, if anything, would be lost, if one were to buy a Samsung S4 phone that had been originally manufactured for a different service provider such as Verizon, ATT, or Sprint, etc., and unlocked and used for T-Mobile?

3. Will only Samsung S4 phones made for T-Mobile contain certain functions T-Mobile provides?

 

[TomBrooklyn]

Interestingly, I see this thread has 140 views now, but not a single reply.

I wonder why that is. If you are a future thread viewer, perhaps you could post why you opened this thread.

 

[draconianchaos]

Off the top of my head. The sprint phone won't work on tmo. The Verizon phone will work on the hspa data network per Verizon owning the 700mhz band of spectrum. After the FCC ruling went through any Verizon phone using that band of spectrum must be sim unlocked. You won't get voice as Verizon uses CDMA for that. AT&T would be your best bet as you'll get voice and data though coverage won't be the same as a tmo SKU due to differing bands. You'd have to inquire about coverage in your area. You will miss out on tmo wifi calling and other services and your system updates will come from the carrier the phone is tied to.

 

[TomBrooklyn]

draconianchaos:

Thanks for that information.

A salesman at a T-Mobile store told me any Samsung S4 would work if I got it unlocked. The implication was it would work fully and exactly the same as a TMobile phone. So it sounds like that is not the case.