Purchasing a phone online

AlphaMan · Postby **AlphaMan** » November 13th, 2023, 6:14 pm

Amazon
Ebay
Alibaba
Walmart
Where is your preferred shopping destination?
I normally go with Amazon all the time.

alibaboolal · Postby **alibaboolal** » November 18th, 2023, 8:14 am

This one says unlocked and US version. Will it work in trinidad?

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Factory- ... 214_0&th=1

Postby **Dave** » November 18th, 2023, 9:23 am

Check the model back to GSMArena and see the bandwidths.
There was also a site that tell you if it works in Trinidad again with the model number.

maj. tom · Postby **maj. tom** » November 18th, 2023, 9:55 am

Samsung S series has all the bands these days. Yeah USA firmware and radio and unlocked will work in Trinidad. {edit: they have region locking now for S23 and up} Only thing is if you really feeling lucky with Amazon when you read those 1 and 2 star reviews how they received a used phone, or it still locked with Verizon and you start to realize how shady Amazon has become these days. Hope there will be no problems for you OP.

MaxPower · Postby **MaxPower** » November 18th, 2023, 10:34 am

gastly369 wrote:We doh support 700% profits..

I buy everything online as much as possible...

X3000

I buy everything online even if it is more expensive just because they deserve the business.

Dohplaydat · Postby **Dohplaydat** » November 18th, 2023, 10:41 am

maj. tom wrote:Samsung S series has all the bands these days. Yeah USA firmware and radio and unlocked will work in Trinidad. Only thing is if you really feeling lucky with Amazon when you read those 1 and 2 star reviews how they received a used phone, or it still locked with Verizon and you start to realize how shady Amazon has become these days. Hope there will be no problems for you OP.

Lots of shady sellers on Amazon selling refurbished phones too. Got burned with a refurbished iPhone that looked brand new and came in original packaging. But the screen was horribly dim and dull. Took it to apple and after their diagnostic they said it was a third party screen and the phone wasn't new.

Chimera · Postby **Chimera** » November 18th, 2023, 10:46 am

Yea u hadda be very careful where the item ships from on amazon.

Sometimes you get a new us version unlocked phone but you didn't read the fine print and realize it's unlocked for use in the usa only

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » November 22nd, 2023, 9:39 pm

Chimera wrote:Yea u hadda be very careful where the item ships from on amazon.

Sometimes you get a new us version unlocked phone but you didn't read the fine print and realize it's unlocked for use in the usa only

never came across that.
If it's unlcoked for GSM 1800: AT&T / T-Mobile / etc it will work here.
If its unlocked for CDMA: Sprint / Verixon / etc, it won't.

maj. tom · Postby **maj. tom** » November 23rd, 2023, 9:37 am

The S23 and up are different they do have region locking even though the bands are global.
OP do what Chimera suggests, the man know the business. Next thing the phone reach and you loss out big.

https://www.trinituner.com/v4/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=344331&p=10371504#p10371504

Dizzy28 · Postby **Dizzy28** » November 23rd, 2023, 9:44 am

maj. tom wrote:The S23 and up are different they do have region locking even though the bands are global.
OP do what Chimera suggests, the man know the business. Next thing the phone reach and you loss out big.

https://www.trinituner.com/v4/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=344331&p=10371504#p10371504

I real miss seeing that thread.
Real kicks in there

gastly369 · Postby **gastly369** » November 23rd, 2023, 9:51 am

AlphaMan wrote:Amazon
Ebay
Alibaba
Walmart
Where is your preferred shopping destination?
I normally go with Amazon all the time.

Tbh ebay... Got so much good deals there even yesterday had to buy a "gaming webcam" that on black Friday sale on amazon was $65usd and on sale for $31

Went on ebay and got it new in box for $25 free shipping on a regular day

Postby **Dave** » November 23rd, 2023, 10:27 am

Never MSRP is the ebay seller for phones

nismo1325 · Postby **nismo1325** » November 23rd, 2023, 10:53 am

check swappa.com

bought a refurbished oneplus from them going 2 1/2 years strong. came in excellent condition with no issues and got to see actual pictures of the device and it came with warranty to ensure the phone comes as showed. also bought a couple s21 s22 and iphones with no issues on none of them. Also if its samsung devices make sure and check the chipsets because the US versions are snapdragons which are better then the global exynos samsung ship sets

originalbling · Postby **originalbling** » November 23rd, 2023, 4:45 pm

wagonrunner wrote:
Chimera wrote:Yea u hadda be very careful where the item ships from on amazon.

Sometimes you get a new us version unlocked phone but you didn't read the fine print and realize it's unlocked for use in the usa only
never came across that.
If it's unlcoked for GSM 1800: AT&T / T-Mobile / etc it will work here.
If its unlocked for CDMA: Sprint / Verixon / etc, it won't.

Does the unlocked ones get android os updates in Trinidad or u have to flash it?

Bought from a local store but it was an AT&T unlocked snapdragon version, worked fine except for the os updates.

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » November 23rd, 2023, 5:37 pm

originalbling wrote:[
Does the unlocked ones get android os updates in Trinidad or u have to flash it?

Bought from a local store but it was an AT&T unlocked snapdragon version, worked fine except for the os updates.

yeah. no issues with the apple and samsungs.
only one didnt natively do updates was the US unlocked huawei. but got around that too.

maj. tom · Postby **maj. tom** » November 28th, 2023, 10:13 am

The updates work locally. Received a security patch OTA Samsung US firmware unlocked update today and it was released 1 Nov 2023. So it's about a month to rollout to the update management server for unlocked. Usually locked carriers manage their own OTA as soon as possible.