[AC Question]

I am trying to determine what I need to cross check if a particular phone will work on a particular carrier.

The phone I am considering is the HTC ONE M9 or A9. In looking at the actual phone specs for the A9:

2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
4G: LTE B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(1700/2100), B5(850), B7(2600), B8(900), B17(700), B20(800)

The carrier I am using now is Simple Mobile, a T-Mobile MVNO.

I looked up some reviews for this phone and some claimed that on T-Mobile is was not getting LTE but some other reviews say 4G works.

Simple Mobile's web site says "To receive 3G/4G/LTE data speeds, make sure it has the 1700 or 1900/AWS band; otherwise, it will only work on EDGE."

Does it mean it should support 4G LTE because the phone has LTE B1(2100) and B4(1700/2100) listed? I don't quite understand the B1, B2 etc terminology.

If not, is there a HTC phone that works well with Simple Mobile?

[bmhillegass87]

Hello!

These are great questions. Part of the issue you might be experiencing in looking up reviews is which version of the phone are you looking to purchase? The M9 & A9 have a ton of different variants, and if the correct version is not purchased you could experience some connectivity issues. Here is the information provided by Simple Mobiles website regarding unlocked devices (i'd go this route rather than a T-Mobile compatible device):

In order to connect to the SIMPLE Mobile 4G LTE network, your device must operate on Band II, IV or in certain areas, Band 12. For 3G or other 4G service, your device must operate on Band II (1900 MHz) or IV (1700/2100 MHz). GSM devices that do not support these bands may operate at 2G (EDGE) speeds.

Based on this, I cross checked with GSM Arena's site for the GSM unlocked variants of these 2 devices. They absolutely match up to meet the connectivity requirements. You would need to ensure you have the correct APN setting on the device, and some of it stems from geographic location. However, I don't see any issues here.

HTC One M9 - Full phone specifications

HTC One A9 - Full phone specifications

Swappa is great place to pick up either of these devices. I've linked you to the GSM unlocked variants to ensure compatibility.

https://swappa.com/buy/htc-one-m9-unlocked

https://swappa.com/buy/htc-one-a9-unlocked

2 new M9's at a decent price on here! Nothing in the way of the A9 as of this time but they pop up.