Is anyone using a South Korean Note 8 in the US?

johnpjackson

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I'm trying to figure out how well a South Korean Note 8 would work here in the US. I'm hoping it would just be a matter of figuring out which carrier in my area would have the best coverage for the particular cellular and data radio bands and protocols it's built for.

I want a 256GB internal storage model Note 8 model. The 64GB model that Samsung is selling here in the US is an unforgivable kick in the groin by Samsung because 1.) My Note 7, with normal use, is running at 52GB of space consumed, and I'm already offloading my pics and videos to my 256GB microSD card. Plus, 2.) the 256GB UFS 2.1 internal storage model is being offered in mass quantities in South Korea and other countries. Micro SD expansion is a TERRIBLE next best choice to internal storage. It's a lot slower to write to and even read from. I'm TIRED of my Note 7 crawling because accessing my photos and videos on my micro SD memory card is so slow, compared to what it would be if they were all on internal storage.

As a Note 7 owner, I've availed myself of Samsung's $450 discount on purchasing a Note 8. I have already received it and I still have it sitting in its box, unopened. If I can identify a way to get a South Korean, 256GB model Note 8 to work sufficiently on the network of any carrier in my area, I am hoping I can Samsung to take the Note 8 I have back in partial exchange for one with 256GB of storage. Either that or I sell the 64GB device on the open market for as much as I can get, and use the proceeds to get my 256GB model.

Do you or anyone you know use a South Korean Note 8 on any carrier here in the US, yet? :)

-John
 
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CTREV21

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Re: Bring a 256GB South Korean Note 8 here to the US?

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johnpjackson

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Re: Bring a 256GB South Korean Note 8 here to the US?

Have you ever bought a phone this way, from ebay, from a foreign country?

I've been looking at these Note 8's listed on ebay, and what the sellers are saying is that SamsungPay will not work on them, unless they are used in South Korea. Does that make sense? I've tried asking them about it but haven't gotten a response yet.
 

L0n3N1nja

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Re: Bring a 256GB South Korean Note 8 here to the US?

First what carrier do you have? The international or Korean version of the phone as we could call it, won't support CDMA networks so no Verizon or Sprint.

As you already mentioned you won't get Samsung pay, you will also probably miss out on carrier specific features like Wi-Fi calling as well, usually doesn't work on international phones.

Samsung won't sell you an international phone not meant for the US market, you'll need to get it online and usually won't have any kind of warranty either.

But if you really want the larger storage size, nothing is stopping you from having one shipped by eBay or another website. Phone will work on T-Mobile, probably AT&T as well.
 

johnpjackson

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Re: Bring a 256GB South Korean Note 8 here to the US?

The only thing that holds me back, based on that, is SamsungPay. I really like using that. I'm already not tied to a carrier anymore, after Verizon's outrageous, reprehensible efforts last year to throw my Note 7 off their network. I still have my Note 7, fully intact, riding their network. I'm just paying HALF price per month than what I was paying them, and I'm doing it through an MVNO - PagePlus - who is just reselling the access to Verizon's infrastructure.

That's just a real kick in the nuggies about SamsungPay. I wonder what the technical detail is that insures it wouldn't work here. It seems like that would be a slippery limitation for Samsung to try and pull off without also stepping on the toes of other customers who bought their device within the bounds Samsung is imposing?
 

j_hansen

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Re: Bring a 256GB South Korean Note 8 here to the US?

Not sure about US networks but my European Note 4 is LTE/WCDMA/GSM, Korean model Note 8 could be as well but you better check with the vendor before buying
 

CTREV21

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Re: Bring a 256GB South Korean Note 8 here to the US?

International phones are always a crap shoot. My Note 5 is an international version that I used to use on Straight Talk. Never had any issues.
 

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