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Root [Virgin Mobile] Galaxy S3 Android 4.1 to 4.4 upgrade

S

supertech

Newbie
I'm considering buying a new Samsung Galaxy S3. VM is selling it currently for $199.99 with Android 4.4 but QVC (of all places) is selling it for $149.99 with Android 4.1. The question is, if I get it from QVC will I be able to download the 4.4 upgrade easily or would I be stuck with 4.1? Thanks!
 
Thanks, I was hoping that would be the case. Will save me $50. I wasn't sure because my older LG Optimus V never got any upgrade beyond 2.2.
 
If you are planning on rooting or anything, make sure you take the OTA update 1st. If not you'll have to manually flash it with Odin. You should get the update notification quickly. If it doesn't pop up right away just give it time and try a profile update.
 
Sean19661,

Thanks for the comment. Since I'm new to Android upgrading, can you elaborate on what you meant by, "don't get knox up"? Is there an issue with 4.4 that I don't know about?

Supertech
 
Knox is nothing to worry about.
In the beginning people thought it was going to be a problem but we found long ago that its no big deal. Some ppl keep spreading fear about it though. :what:
Don't let them bother you
 
supertech said:
I'm considering buying a new Samsung Galaxy S3. VM is selling it currently for $199.99 with Android 4.4 but QVC (of all places) is selling it for $149.99 with Android 4.1. The question is, if I get it from QVC will I be able to download the 4.4 upgrade easily or would I be stuck with 4.1? Thanks!
Click to expand...
What store has it 4.1qvc what's that
 
Knox is a technology that Samsung has in place to detect tampering. For security-conscious environments, like government or corporations, it allows them to better practice good security policy. If Knox is installed, it will detect if the recovery partition has been changed. You can still upgrade and root 4.4 and not trip Knox, but you would not be able to install alternate ROMs. Doing so would trip Knox, and may affect your ability to get warranty work done. Since 4.1 doesn't have Knox, the poster you replied to suggested that he would keep the bootloader version at 4.1, but upgrade the system partition to 4.4. Hence, you would have the latest Kit Kat installed, but without the Knox bootloader.

That said, I've only had an Android for a few days now. Also, you can get brand new Virgin Mobile S3's with the 4.3 firmware on eBay for $170. If I had known about QVC I would have gone that route and had a Knox-free phone. Ultimately, though, It's really not that big of a deal.
 
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