Video review: Marques Brownlee
MY NEW (REFURB) GSM WORLD PHONE - Samsung NOTE 4
My objective is to have a phone that works anywhere I get off a plane, in the states and in MX for example - and I like this phone's size and performance. It has all the features of an expensive new Galaxy phone, but not the price tag. And I don't want to pay major carrier prices for service either; my bill will be under $20 per month.
I love Phablets! - Because it has a large hi-rez screen, I use it like a tablet. I can also use it as a phone. So I have one device that does it all, and it still fits in my pocket (some pockets).
Let's talk about getting signed up for inexpensive phone service in the States first, but before that, here's this phone's specs:
Factory Unlocked Samsung Note4 N910W8
- a factory unlocked international phone. Unlike CDMA phones by Verizon and Sprint, it is designed to work anywhere in the world. This phone can be used in the US with Tmobile, AT&T, or in other countries on all GSM carriers.
I purchased the Samsung Note 4 world phone refurbished for $180 on AMZ, and it looks almost new. I already own a Sprint version of this phone, and the only thing I don't like about it, is that I can't take it with me on international trips. I know people that are afraid of losing their nice new phone when they travel, so they leave it at home, and take a cheap Walmart phone with them when they travel; these phones are a complete step down in functionality and that does not work for me.
Also, I considered the newer Galaxy Note 5, which is also available, for about twice the price, and decided I prefer the Note 4. I'll cover why, as I explore the features of this phone and why I love it so much in general.
I love the Note 4 because:
- a great phone for designers and artists, it has a built in S-pen stylus and pressure sensitive drawing and handwriting recognition
- it does not attempt to auto-load the carrier software updates - My Sprint phone constantly attempts to download new OS updates (it might be possible to turn this off in Settings I know..)
- does not come with carrier bloat-ware - it's faster that way
- a true "factory unlocked" GSM world phone - no begging the carrier to unlock - SPRINT would not agree to unlock my phone and told me "it cannot be unlocked"; which may be true, if it may come from the factory that way.. made for SPRINT. Getting nice phones to be unlocked has been a real pain in the ass for me; I did it with Verizon, and failed, and sent the phone back to the seller, and then again with Sprint. After crash and burn twice, I'm done with carrier model phones!
- memory card may be added; up to 128GB - unlike Note 5!
- large 5" Hi-Res screen, is almost like using a tablet
- excellent camera, it will take 4K video for long periods of time without overheating
- phone back comes off; and wireless charging may be added
- battery can be changed out quickly for another day of power - unlike the Note 5!
- I've read it's possible to get a hacked SIM card for it, that works with mobile carriers in most countries…(?) I can imagin if a SIM card is hacked to activate all features of the phone, then it may open the phone up to working on all supported frequencies - Please leave a comment if you know something about this; I intend to search Ebay and talk about it at some point!
After paying high prices for Verizon for many years, and looking at major GSM carriers in the US, I decided to go with an MVNO. What’s that?
Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the United States lease wireless telephone and data service from major carriers, like AT&T and T-mobile (the 2 major GSM mobile carriers in the US).
After looking at carrier maps and coverage, out of these 2 major carriers, there are some places I plan to visit in the next year that are better served by T-mobile 4G-LTE data.
MVNO carrier choices for T-mobile towers and coverage:
- TING
- US Mobile
I looked at plans for these 2 T-Mobile MVNOs and decided on US Mobile. They have a plan that is $11 a month 100min/100txt (100MB) and if you go over, you are charged an additional $3 for more data only if needed that month (for 500MB). There are plenty of months I only use my phone for txt and phone, so this makes sense for me. And my bill is always less than $18 a month for T-mobile LTE service.
After getting my new SIM card in the mail (card was $7.99 for 2 day delivery) I popped it in (take out battery first) and signed up for service on their web site.
Porting my phone number over from FreedomPop (ugh) only took an hour. I was amazed it was so fast!
Then I got on a chat with US Mobile support and gave him my SIM number. He asked for a few minutes to do the setup. He then pointed me to an instruction page that gives the procedure to connect the phone to their services.
I tested outgoing and incoming calls first. It was not working. Turned off wifi too..
After doing a quick reset, and pulling the battery, I got calls and text working, but no data. We did some more configuring and checking of settings, another reboot, and LTE connected.
Whala!
I walked around the next hour calling anyone I could think of to talk to (mom) and walked in every room; this is the best phone coverage I've ever had in this place, and beats the heck out of Verizon for my location; Sprint too.
What I have learned from this:
Don't expect a given carrier (by reputation) to be the best in your area, or support the most locations. It will come down to actually checking coverage maps and knowing what to expect, and sometimes, just trying it. If you are not happy with your phone coverage, definately keep trying carriers until you are.
Moral of this Story:
It is not necessary to spend very much to carry a world class smart phone these days. The Note 4 is almost identical to the Note 5, they are difficult to tell apart, and the Note 4 provides many features the Note 5 does not, at half the price. And using an MVNO carrier, it can cost less than $20 per month for excellent coverage and the fastest data rates.
In part 2, we'll get into how to connect this phone for service in Mexico, and how to research which carriers are available internationally in any country. Also, if you prefer a given carrier in Mexico, please comment and tell us why!