Buying direct from carrier

[nickthorley]

I may not have my terminology correct here but I believe there are various radio bands in the phone and the more that are used, the more have to be licensed from the chip manufacturer - lets say qualcomm but we have exynos and hence samsung in the UK. I have been told that samsung will only license the core bands they need to save costs but the carriers may license and use more bands so that their network appears to be faster and better than the competitors. On this basis, would you say that you are always best to buy your phone from a carrier (buying for the full price not finance) as its optimised for their network rather than buying direct from samsung or is the licensing thing a myth?

 

[anon(1733)]

Not sure on the technical stuff in regards to chipsets and what specific bands you need. But for me I found buying the carrier version for me works best. I need Wi-Fi calling for example that I can't get on the unlocked model. So for me I have to get the carrier model to ensure I get all the features I need.

 

[Kendahl Titcomb]

I think your making this more confusing than it needs to be. When you buy a Note 8 from TMobile the bands it has in the phone are the same bands say in a Verizon phone..The only difference is that the carrier has them buffed or specific to their Network so as to create better signal strength to their Network. So the better option is to buy from direct source like Samsung and pay roughly the same and have it work on all LTE and network bands for all networks no matter where you take it. Samsung even has trade in credits, free stuff, and even financing not unlike the carrier options. So simply it's best to buy from Samsung and have the radio bands unlocked

 

[Chromium 4]

Not sure on the technical stuff in regards to chipsets and what specific bands you need. But for me I found buying the carrier version for me works best. I need Wi-Fi calling for example that I can't get on the unlocked model. So for me I have to get the carrier model to ensure I get all the features I need.

I have to agree with this position. Several years ago I brought an LG phone from B&H photos that was unlocked and supposedly had all of the bands to run on my carrier, T-mobile. However I found I could not use Wi-Fi calling, had poor reception that resulted in dropped calls and never received any software updates. So when I purchased my Note8 from Samsung Direct, I chose the T-mobile version.

 

[Blues Fan]

I have to agree with this position. Several years ago I brought an LG phone from B&H photos that was unlocked and supposedly had all of the bands to run on my carrier, T-mobile. However I found I could not use Wi-Fi calling, had poor reception that resulted in dropped calls and never received any software updates. So when I purchased my Note8 from Samsung Direct, I chose the T-mobile version.

I bought my last two phones (note 8 and s8 plus) direct from Samsung.

However, some have had bad luck with pre ordering and not getting the phones first. I got my s8 Plus on time AND I would have got my Note 8 on time if it wasn't for UPS and then of course hurricane Irma you might recall. The day they shipped them for some reason UPS didn't get my phone on the plane in time. Then the following day here in FL my local airport, RSW cancelled all flights and they flew it to Miami. Then Irma hit and it sat in Miami for almost a week due to power outages there it said.

Yea when I evacuated to just north of Tampa and Irma was forecasted to hit southwest FL as a cat 4 I was worrying about my Note 8 lol.