Using an Indian bought S22 Ultra in the UK

[poeticdystopia]

Hi all! Hope you're well and safe.

I'm moving to the UK soon and bought a S22 Ultra a couple of days ago. Did not find out about Samsung's inexplicable and baffling region locks on the phones and certain features (Samsung Pay, etc.) before I bought the phone. Consequently, I've been researching on all issues I think I could face once I move to the UK later this month. Had a few questions about the same, so thought I'd reach out for help here.

a) I understand that Samsung Pay will not be available in the UK on my Indian S22, due to the region lock. Is this correct? To clarify, I don't intend to change the CSC if I'll only be losing Samsung Pay, as I'm sure Google Pay will be sufficient.

b) I understand that UK S22s are Exynos-based and not Snapdragon-based. Therefore, am I correct in assuming that I will be unable to flash UK firmware on my device, due to the SoCs being different?

c) I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. I tried installing Google Pay on my watch, but was unable to find the app on the Play Store. Further reading led me to Google Pay's website, which states that Google Pay for Wear OS is only available in select countries, including the UK, with India not being included. Would I be correct in assuming that once I change the country on my Google account, I will have access to the app on my watch? Also, would the watch automatically have access to apps in the UK once my Google account's country is changed?

d) I understand that the international version of the S22 Ultra (which I believe is the model I'm using) will have no problems connecting to 5G networks in the UK, since most networks in the UK use band 78. Can anyone who's travelled to the UK confirm if they've been able to successfully access 5G networks in the UK on their Indian S22s?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Grateful for any help I can get!

Cheers!

 

[mustang7757]

Welcome to AC!

You sure the Indian s22 has a snap dragon chip ?
Whats your model number?
If you do have the snap dragon you Can't flash to Exynos firmware.

 

[bandofbrothers2112]

Hi.

I once imported a Samsung Note²⁰ Ultra from Hong Kong to the UK as I wanted the Snapdragon SoC to try out.

A few issues I experienced was.....

1. The Samsung Members App benefits section is blank.
2. Samsung Uk will not apply the Limited 2 Year Manufacturers Warranty to an imported model so if something goes wrong you may be stuck.
3. Samsung Pay didn't work but Google Pay did.
4. I didn't use 5G anyway and the phone did receive 4G+. My contract didn't give 5G. Some did say they received 5G OK. You would need to double check what bands and frequencies your chosen network uses and then check what the phone uses. Obviously my phone wasn't from India too although I'm not sure that wouod make a difference. Unfortunately it would be a try it and see.

Region Lock is meant to try and stop grey imports however this is simply removed by using the phone in the region it was meant to be used in via using a local sim card in it and making at leat 5 - 10 minutes of calls.

The phone I received from Hong Kong didn't have a region lock in it.

In regards to looking at changing the csc / firmware / rom then I'd suggest to check on xdadevelopers.com.

Disclaimer 》
Using a Custom Rom / trying to use other methods to rollback firmware / change firmware / csc can bring about an unstable phone or it may not work properly if the process glitches or the wrong Rom is used. It may trip your Knox Counter.A person takes full responsibility if they perform this process and do so at their own informed decision. Again the process may trip Knox and take into account your Samsung Warranty may not be supported on this phone.

I would suggest to buy the phone in the UK instead.