Cool well i guess i can deal with the bloat. Now if its purchased through samsung and i have issues do i still go through samsung or able to go through att? I ask cause if i trade in my phone for a discount on samsung, theres no return im sure for that so ill be without a phone! If its att , i can just drive to the store and see what they say.
Questions on purchasing S9 (Samsung vs ATT)
- Thread starter anon(10418614)
- Start date
Cool well i guess i can deal with the bloat. Now if its purchased through samsung and i have issues do i still go through samsung or able to go through att? I ask cause if i trade in my phone for a discount on samsung, theres no return im sure for that so ill be without a phone! If its att , i can just drive to the store and see what they say.
KP8819
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If It's the carrier version you get the features since all the At&t software is pre loaded - its still carrier locked even though bought from Samsung
KP8819
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Yes, you'll be dealing with Samsung directly... You might wanna just go to the store and weigh your options. If you decide to sign up for NEXT and go pre paid you'll get the S9 for 395$ and keep your current phone as a back up - or sell it.
I've never gotten a carrier phone though Samsung either so if what Andrew_Ackley is saying is correct it might be more hassle than it's worth in savings.
scottbeamer
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Ok well Im going to try right now, hopefully they let me get it depending on the stupid credit check.
KP8819
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Good luck!
Many don't think it is but I use it. I get the cheapest one - I think its 7.99$ monthly. Again, I keep my phones for awhile... So there's more of a chance I'll need it for some reason. I used it a few years back when I dropped my S6 and they replaced it with an S7 when they were still the current Samsung- then I traded in the S7 and got 300$ off my S9.
scottbeamer
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scottbeamer
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scottbeamer
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scottbeamer
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I'm fortunate, anyone but AT&T would require a down payment from me, because my credit sucks. I've been with AT&T for years, and they don't seem to care about my credit. I also had better credit back in the day.
Lucky! Mine sucks just as bad. Im with you on that, back then credit was good but now not so much. If i do put $500 down, i'll get it back in 12 months so i guess thats a plus.
Hold on. If you buy the AT&T version from Samsung you will get a phone that works on the AT&T network only. You won't get wifi calling, HD Voice, Video calling, etc. You will only get this if bought from the carrier. No different than buying a phone from LG, HTC, etc. that works on the AT&T network. No additional features. I have purchased many unlocked phones and they work but you don't get the carrier benefits. Updates are not fast from the manufacturer. The bloatware is minimal and way over talked about. After all my unlocked phones, I'm going back to carrier phones to get all the features I've been missing.
scottbeamer
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andrew_ackley
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He's actually right. I thought he was wrong but I went to my s9 plus at&t bought outright from samsung and it went let me activate wifi calling. Damn.
scottbeamer
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KP8819
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Exactly... No point at all.
Any unlocked phone from Samsung will work on the At&t network(without the carrier features). There is a difference between the unlocked phones and carrier version phones purchased from Samsung.
My brother bought an At&t carrier version Note 8 direct from Samsung and its exactly the same as what's sold through At&t... All the carrier features work as far as I know - He uses Wifi calling since he has zero reception at home. He did get a new sim card from the At&t store after he got it(don't really think that'd make a difference though).
IMO Unlocked versions are only good if you're planning on switching carriers while owning the phone or selling it instead of trading it in/keeping it. Yes, Most carrier services such as SMS and mobile hotspot are now supported with major U.S. GSM and CDMA networks for unlocked phones but not always & support for certain features and services such as VoWiFi and VoLTE vary(usually not available) by the wireless service provider.
Yes, carrier specific applications, or bloat as many refer to it, are not pre-loaded on Unlocked Samsung phones either... This is way overblown imo - there isn't as much as there used to be & a lot can be deleted instead of just disabled and many that can't be deleted are necessary for their features and services. If you don't want or use them then unlocked is the way to go. Personally, it's worth the extra couple bucks just to buy from At&t though - I can just deal with them if I have an issue, less hassle and If I don't buy my phone outright the payments are added to my bill instead of having a separate payment with Samsung. With the pre-order trade in deal I went with payments & it only added 16.33$ monthly over 30 months. Samsung wouldn't even give me the trade in deal anyways since the back of my S7 was beat up and cracked - At&t had zero issue!
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You won't get all the features from the carrier on an unlocked phone from any of the manufacturers. That includes Samsung.
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