Unlocked vs. Carrier Galaxy Note 9

[French]

Panther:
So you have used the Best Buy Samsung Experience, rather than a dedicated Samsung store? I spoke with an actual store yesterday, but I have plenty of Best Buy's close by w Samsung Experience areas.

And yeah, rooting...definitely NOT going there.

 

[mahanes]

I currently use a factory unlocked note 8 on sprint. I preordered the factory unlocked note 9 128 gb and will use on sprint too.

I love the unlocked version. No silly sprint apps that are wasteful and cdont apply to me. I load what I want on it. I can move it to another carrier if I choose.

I bought the 512gb for use with sprint but I called and they are unable to activate it. Is it possible because it is officially released on the 24th?

 

[FreedomFamily]

I am wondering how many pre-ordered this phone compared to all recent Samsung flagships.

Anyone care to shout out some speculation since we will never probably know. Just for ****s & grins

 

[Blues Fan]

I had the hardest time getting an accurate answer when I was trying to decide between preordering an unlocked or T-mobile branded Note 9. Tmo telephone customer service told me Wi-Fi calling and visual voice mail would work on an unlocked unit. Suspicious the rep was reading from a script and didn't have the foggiest idea I then went on line and contacted Tmo promo who told me those features would not work on an unlocked device. I then contacted Samsung who also stated the features were carrier specific and would not work on an unlocked unit. So I went with Tmo's version. T-mobile was offering a $500 discount with trade in of my Note 8 while Samsung was only offering $400. So make sure you check with both sources to make sure you are able to have access to all the features if you go the unlocked route.

Wrong. I have tmobile and an unlocked version. Wifi calling works just fine on this Note 9.

 

[Panther6834]

Panther:
So you have used the Best Buy Samsung Experience, rather than a dedicated Samsung store? I spoke with an actual store yesterday, but I have plenty of Best Buy's close by w Samsung Experience areas.

I have neither seen, nor heard of, any actual Samsung stores...meaning, a literal "Samsung" brick-and-mortar store. The only thing even close, as far as I am aware of, are the "Samsung Experience" locations within most Best Buy stores. That being said, I received my 512GB Galaxy Note 9 (see below). As others (and myself) have pointed out, the biggest "losses" are Wi-Fi calling, and Verizon Visual Voicemail. While there's no "replacement" for the Wi-Fi calling (which I don't really have a need for, living in Silicon Valley), Google Voice has its own voicemail transcription ability, which is an excellent replacement...plus it's completely FREE ( no monthly fee).

 

[Panther6834]

I bought the 512gb for use with sprint but I called and they are unable to activate it. Is it possible because it is officially released on the 24th?

Shouldn't be. I received mine this morning, and I've had it working ever since. One question: Is yours a Sprint-branded unit, or an unlocked unit? Mine is unlocked, and I had to call customer service to complete the final activation step (this was probably because it's not "officially" released, as Verizon's system wasn't initially able to "see" the handset as a "Samsung Galaxy Note 9"...it just saw it as an "Android device".

 

[bandofbrothers2112]

I have neither seen, nor heard of, any actual Samsung stores...meaning, a literal "Samsung" brick-and-mortar store. The only thing even close, as far as I am aware of, are the "Samsung Experience" locations within most Best Buy stores.

View attachment 288566

We have Samsung owned Samsung Experience Stores "brick and mortar" in the UK.

 

[MOMO52]

I bought the 512gb for use with sprint but I called and they are unable to activate it. Is it possible because it is officially released on the 24th?

ME TOO
Iam having the same issue

samsung says yes it can be connected
sprint says its not on its list for byod

samsung gave me a couple numbers but i got no answers

iam getting the run around
tried puttin my sprint s9 plus sim in the note 9 but its glitchy and gives errors that sim card is not valid

i can call and text but no internet

put it back in my s9 plus and it works perfectly

 

[MOMO52]

Shouldn't be. I received mine this morning, and I've had it working ever since. One question: Is yours a Sprint-branded unit, or an unlocked unit? Mine is unlocked, and I had to call customer service to complete the final activation step (this was probably because it's not "officially" released, as Verizon's system wasn't initially able to "see" the handset as a "Samsung Galaxy Note 9"...it just saw it as an "Android device".

my phone is 512gb unlocked from samsung directly

do you know exactly what i need to ask them to do
it also has no sim card that i see
so i would need a sprint sim card as well but the claim they dont have one for note 9??

any help would be greatly appreciated

ty

 

[steelernole]

I won't get my Note 9 until today, but the unlocked by Samsung version of the S9+ has a voicemail app on it the functions the same as the Visual Voicemail App from Verizon. The voicemail app was preloaded on my S9+ when I brought it from Samsung. I hope the unlocked Note 9 has the voicemail app too.

 

[amyf27]

I've got the Samsung Unlocked Note 9. I had a hell of a time with Sprint trying to activate it to no avail, so I walked into Tmobile and they had it up and running in mere minutes. I am positive there's nothing whatsoever wrong with my phone, it's Sprint and their incompetencies.

I love the unlocked version. Also, it appears I get Wi-Fi calling which is a Tmobile feature and that's nice

 

[yarnsrj]

Did anyone with Verizon have any problems activating your unlocked phone with them? Seems like Sprint is a no go?
?

I have neither seen, nor heard of, any actual Samsung stores...meaning, a literal "Samsung" brick-and-mortar store. The only thing even close, as far as I am aware of, are the "Samsung Experience" locations within most Best Buy stores. That being said, I received my 512GB Galaxy Note 9 (see below). As others (and myself) have pointed out, the biggest "losses" are Wi-Fi calling, and Verizon Visual Voicemail. While there's no "replacement" for the Wi-Fi calling (which I don't really have a need for, living in Silicon Valley), Google Voice has its own voicemail transcription ability, which is an excellent replacement...plus it's completely FREE ( no monthly fee).

View attachment 288566

 

[Panther6834]

my phone is 512gb unlocked from samsung directly

do you know exactly what i need to ask them to do
it also has no sim card that i see
so i would need a sprint sim card as well but the claim they dont have one for note 9??

any help would be greatly appreciated

ty

If there's no SIM card installed, there's your problem. I find it "unusual" that there was no SIM card inside the box. When pre-ordering, even though you selected an unlocked handset, it would have asked you what carrier you would be activating it on, so that they could include the SIM card along with the Note 9 & AKG headset (or the game garbage, if that "bonus option" was selected). If you correctly selected your carrier, there should have been a carrier-specific SIM card included. As for Sprint claiming they "don't have one for the Note 9", this, too, I find difficult to believe, as it is the exact same as the one that was inside my Note 8. You might want to check your "old" phone, and, if it's the same microSIM, try taking it out of the "old" phone, and inserting it into the "new" phone.

 

[Panther6834]

Did anyone with Verizon have any problems activating your unlocked phone with them? Seems like Sprint is a no go?
?

Got mine activated as easy as could be. A pre-activated microSIM was included in the box (along with the Note 9, and AKG headset), which, upon initial booting of the phone, took care of most of the "connection" to Verizon. I did, however, have to call Verizon, to have them send a 'refresh' signal (which requires the phone to be turned off when the signal is sent). After booting the phone back up, everything was 100% good-to-go.

 

[yarnsrj]

My biggest concern. Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question but, will Verizon still allow you to put TOTAL EQUIPMENT PROTECTION on your unlocked phone? Worst case scenario is a completely damaged phone... Will Verizon replace an unlocked phone?

 

[OmegaSparks]

My biggest concern. Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question but, will Verizon still allow you to put TOTAL EQUIPMENT PROTECTION on your unlocked phone? Worst case scenario is a completely damaged phone... Will Verizon replace an unlocked phone?

I doubt it, I know for a fact that Tmobile said no.

 

[Panther6834]

My biggest concern. Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question but, will Verizon still allow you to put TOTAL EQUIPMENT PROTECTION on your unlocked phone? Worst case scenario is a completely damaged phone... Will Verizon replace an unlocked phone?

I had my unlocked Note 8 on Verizon, and covered under their TEP, so I don't see any reason why an unlocked Note 9 couldn't be covered. Granted, I haven't actually taken care of that,. myself,. but I will tomorrow, and will update here.

 

[climb]

Got mine activated as easy as could be. A pre-activated microSIM was included in the box (along with the Note 9, and AKG headset), which, upon initial booting of the phone, took care of most of the "connection" to Verizon. I did, however, have to call Verizon, to have them send a 'refresh' signal (which requires the phone to be turned off when the signal is sent). After booting the phone back up, everything was 100% good-to-go.

Panther....... may I ask, what color is that unlocked Note 9 and is it from Samsung or a reseller on EBay?

Thanks

 

[Camoxjeep]

Got my note 9 unlocked on Verizon on the 22nd and didn't get a Sim card. Took mine out of the old phone and installed it. Turned on phone and that was it. Simple as pie. Working great since

 

[berfles]

I bought the unlocked too and had no issues activating it with Verizon. My question is, what exactly do I gain from this? So far the only different I see is no carrier bloat (is that still a thing?) and there's no option to turn off the stupid shutter sound in the camera.