Galaxy S2 questions.

[Brandon8427]

Hi, I apologize if their are lots of similar threads, I'm new here and just some quick answers.
Ok, first off, I want to buy a white S2 that's unlocked. Easy enough, right? Well I was reading up on them and a few people said they were having issues getting 3G to work. I'm on T Mobilefyi, so hopefully some can confirm that it will work. No I do NOT want the T Mobile version.

Ok, next question, slightly similar to the last but more general. Is there ANY downside (other then price) to getting said phone? I mainly want to use it for web browsing, a few apps/games maybe, netflix, youtube, ya know all that stuff. Also another last minute thought is the hd version. Anyone know if and when they will release it in white? Or if it's worth it to get that instead? I like the fact that it has a HD screen and upped specs... but don't know if I should wait, lest I endlessly wait for the next big thing haha.

/rant haha

Thank you for reading and again in advance for any replies, help, or suggestions.

 

[chanchan05]

1. The problem with buying an unlocked phone in the US is compatibility (assuming you are in the US). Unlike the rest of the world where we pretty much use the same bands for 3G, the different networks in the US uses different bands. A T-Mo phone may not necessarily work for Sprint, and vice versa. So if the unlocked phone you have has sprint bands on the antenna (these are hardware limitations, so no software can change this), 3G may not work for T-Mo.

2. For your usage, games may be an issue, there are not a lot of games that are optimized for the Mali-400 GPU the SGS2 has (despite it having actually great performance), however this can be gotten around by installing CHainfire for compatibility.

3. No knowledge on HD version apart from the screen resolution will most likely also up battery consumption of the unit.

 

[Brandon8427]

1. The problem with buying an unlocked phone in the US is compatibility (assuming you are in the US). Unlike the rest of the world where we pretty much use the same bands for 3G, the different networks in the US uses different bands. A T-Mo phone may not necessarily work for Sprint, and vice versa. So if the unlocked phone you have has sprint bands on the antenna (these are hardware limitations, so no software can change this), 3G may not work for T-Mo.

2. For your usage, games may be an issue, there are not a lot of games that are optimized for the Mali-400 GPU the SGS2 has (despite it having actually great performance), however this can be gotten around by installing CHainfire for compatibility.

3. No knowledge on HD version apart from the screen resolution will most likely also up battery consumption of the unit.

Thanks for the fast reply! I'll keep what you said in mind about the compatibility. Also, when O said games, I meant like angry birds and fruit ninja. Those don't seem very demanding lol I can almost run angry brids with no lag my mytouch 3g. I guess I don't really need the hd either, I just thought it might be worth the wait for better video quality and resolution. I think I'll just get the S2 for now, 3g or not, as most of my usage is at home. Then upgrade to the S3 when it comes out.

 

[chanchan05]

The games issue would only affect games that need GPU acceleration AFAIK. Some will play, some wont. For games like cut the rope, angry birds, and similar casual game titles, it would work fine.

 

[jerofld]

1. The problem with buying an unlocked phone in the US is compatibility (assuming you are in the US). Unlike the rest of the world where we pretty much use the same bands for 3G, the different networks in the US uses different bands. A T-Mo phone may not necessarily work for Sprint, and vice versa. So if the unlocked phone you have has sprint bands on the antenna (these are hardware limitations, so no software can change this), 3G may not work for T-Mo.

A T-Mo phone will most definitely not work on either Sprint or VZW, as both of those carriers are CDMA and T-Mo is GSM. Even the bands between AT&T and T-Mo are different. However, you can transfer a phone from AT&T to T-Mo (but not the reverse). AT&T uses 1 band for 3G up and down. T-Mo uses 2 bands (1 for up and 1 for down). But one band can be used for up and down on T-Mo. That's why you'll see some people with older unlocked iPhones from AT&T on T-Mo, but you won't see anyone who wants mobile data doing the reverse.

You can, in theory, move a phone between VZW and Sprint (and vice versa) as they use the exact same bands (for voice and 3G, 4G is different for the time being). But there is rumors on the interwebs (so I don't know how exactly valid it is, but seems correct) that VZW (and possibly Sprint) will not permit IMEIs and ESNs that don't match devices on their network to use their network. So, I couldn't take my Evo 3D and move to VZW, because they can detect that the phone I have is an Evo 3D and they didn't sell it to me, so they don't let it on.

 

[rui-no-onna]

A T-Mo phone will most definitely not work on either Sprint or VZW, as both of those carriers are CDMA and T-Mo is GSM. Even the bands between AT&T and T-Mo are different. However, you can transfer a phone from AT&T to T-Mo (but not the reverse). AT&T uses 1 band for 3G up and down. T-Mo uses 2 bands (1 for up and 1 for down). But one band can be used for up and down on T-Mo. That's why you'll see some people with older unlocked iPhones from AT&T on T-Mo, but you won't see anyone who wants mobile data doing the reverse.

Actually, people who have unlocked iPhones with T-Mobile service only get 2G speeds. They probably limit majority of their internet use to wi-fi and only use cellular data for quick email checks and the like. Either that or they're willing to put up with slow speeds just to get an iPhone.

The same thing applies if you use a T-Mobile 3G phone on AT&T. You'd be hard pressed to find a phone that supports 3G on both AT&T (850/1900) and T-Mobile (AWS 1700/2100). I only know of two - Nokia E7 and N8. There are probably others but I doubt there's a lot of them.

Most new phones are GSM quad-band so basic voice/SMS/MMS/GPRS is covered whether you go with T-Mobile or AT&T. You just don't get 3G speeds when using the internet.

Addendum:
I was just looking at the specifications for the Galaxy Nexus and it looks like the GSM version will support 3G on both AT&T and T-Mobile as well as 3G in other parts of the world (900/2100). Yummy. Hate the name, though. I wish they'd stuck to using Nexus Prime.