International Galaxy S II (i9100) vs AT&T (i777)?

[ErebusRaze]

So I have the US Galaxy S II variant which is an amazing phone but it's not the GS2 I fell for in February. I managed to flip (sell) my phone for a hefty price which is more than enough to buy the International version but in your opinion -- is it worth it?

I know the Nexus Prime, Razr, etc are being announced in 24 hours but I don't care -- for now. If I get the GS2 off or Amazon will it have NFC compatibility when it gains ground in the US? Is the home button really as flimsy as people make it out to be? All of your opinions are welcome.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App

 

[gtg465x]

What about the international version do you like so much better? They are nearly the same.

 

[ngocdao]

They are the same, minus home button.

Only nfc-ready place I've been to is starbucks. That's like having an lte phone but no lte connection in your city

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

 

[ErebusRaze]

Maybe because I've had the original Galaxy S and am not fond of the capacitive button layout, and I had numerous issues with the search button freaking out on the Captivate. The international version looks a lot better IMO, but lack of NFC is a drawback. The bad thing is someone already bought my At&t version.

 

[Misterjunky]

re: i777 vs i9100

So I have the US Galaxy S II variant which is an amazing phone but it's not the GS2 I fell for in February. I managed to flip (sell) my phone for a hefty price which is more than enough to buy the International version but in your opinion -- is it worth it?

I know the Nexus Prime, Razr, etc are being announced in 24 hours but I don't care -- for now. If I get the GS2 off or Amazon will it have NFC compatibility when it gains ground in the US? Is the home button really as flimsy as people make it out to be? All of your opinions are welcome.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App

There are a lot more differences than just the front mechanical button which everyone talks about.

#1: the i9100 has a built-in FM stereo RDS radio
#2: the i9100 has three front buttons one of which is mechanical
#3: the i9100 is factory unlocked (it was NEVER locked to start with)
#4: the i9100 has slightly thinner & smaller housing dimensions
#5: the i9100 weighs a few grams less

Here are the size/weight specs for each:

Samsung Galaxy SGH i777: Dimensions 126 x 66 x 8.9 mm Weight 121.9 g

Samsung Galaxy S II i9100: Dimensions 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm Weight 116 g

Most likely there are other slight differences which I have not yet investigated.

Check it out yourself at GSMARENA on their website.

 

[designgears]

faill quote 10 char

 

[ErebusRaze]

faill quote 10 char

The man himself...

I see you traded your S II and have the At&t version at the moment. A reason you settled on this one (though your phone repertoire is pretty extensive)?

 

[BarryH_GEG]

The man himself...

I see you traded your S II and have the At&t version at the moment. A reason you settled on this one (though your phone repertoire is pretty extensive)?

There are only three things that are in any way advantageous in choosing the ASGS2 over the ISGS2:

1) Subsidized pricing
3) Warranty with overnight replacement from AT&T
3) The ability to buy insurance from AT&T in case its lost or stolen

You can say NFC's an advantage but everyone will probably be on their next phone by the time you'll be able to do anything meaningful with it.

What you give up: (note: a lot of these are meaningless if you root/ROM)

1) Updates directly from Samsung
2) 2 year vs. 1 year warranty
3) FM Radio
4) Features and settings removed by AT&T
5) Multi-purpose hardware home button
6) $10 unlimited fake-4G

The ISGS2 was my first non-subsidized phone. I'll never buy another carrier molested phone again. I travel overseas a lot so don't have the luxury to root/ROM because every device I've modified always had problems registering on foriegn networks.

 

[ngocdao]

[email protected] grams and less than 1mm even worth mentioning...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

 

[Misterjunky]

re: grams

[email protected] grams and less than 1mm even worth mentioning...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

116g to 121.9g equals just about 6 grams difference, not 4

 

[ngocdao]

lol .. even at 6 grams. seriously, i cant even tell the phones in my hand or in my pocket. How light and how thin do you really need your phone to be?

i hope you dont weigh your order of french fries too fearing a few missing fries.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

 

[foxbat121]

2) 2 year vs. 1 year warranty

None of the international versions have any warranty in US. You will have to deal with someone outside the US or the seller for any warranty work.

 

[bella92108]

I'm in Bangkok all week w\ my SGSII (AT&T) and the thing that drives me absolutely INSANE is that AT&T blocks the ability to select which network you want to use. I have a local Thai SIM (DTAC), but I have to let the radio\ROM auto-select the network, which bugs the sh#$ out of me, because many countries have the ability to roam on several networks, and not being able to chose annoys me.

I was at the market today and they sell the SGSII International version for $516 USD, I think I may take the plunge. The US version doesn't nor never will have the number of accessories available as the international one does, so I think I'm good there, and I know I can sell my ATT version for $450-500, so likely I'll pick one up tomorrow. Good idea? For $516 it's a good price I think.

---------- Post added at 04:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 AM ----------

How light and how thin do you really need your phone to be?

You're the guy on the plane next to me who pulls out the 17" Dell from 4 years ago that's 4 inches thick aren't you?

i hope you dont weigh your order of french fries too fearing a few missing fries.

Although congrats for the worst analogy of the day!

 

[Misterjunky]

re: network selection

I'm in Bangkok all week w\ my SGSII (AT&T) and the thing that drives me absolutely INSANE is that AT&T blocks the ability to select which network you want to use. I have a local Thai SIM (DTAC), but I have to let the radio\ROM auto-select the network, which bugs the sh#$ out of me, because many countries have the ability to roam on several networks, and not being able to chose annoys me.

I was at the market today and they sell the SGSII International version for $516 USD, I think I may take the plunge. The US version doesn't nor never will have the number of accessories available as the international one does, so I think I'm good there, and I know I can sell my ATT version for $450-500, so likely I'll pick one up tomorrow. Good idea? For $516 it's a good price I think.

All you need to do if you want to be able to select different networks
is to unlock the AT&T phone........

As far as accessories you are right!

 

[bella92108]

All you need to do if you want to be able to select different networks
is to unlock the AT&T phone........

As far as accessories you are right!

That's absolutely incorrect. You can NOT select network just by unlocking, that simply allows you to use the sim's default network. The manual network selection does NOT become usable after unlocking (I know from personal experience with the ATT SGSII AND the Infuse 4G). The only way to manual select on Infuse was to flash Rogers radio and install custom rom. Unfortunately no alternate radios are avail for i777 yet (if ever)

 

[Misterjunky]

That's absolutely incorrect. You can NOT select network just by unlocking, that simply allows you to use the sim's default network. The manual network selection does NOT become usable after unlocking (I know from personal experience with the ATT SGSII AND the Infuse 4G). The only way to manual select on Infuse was to flash Rogers radio and install custom rom. Unfortunately no alternate radios are avail for i777 yet (if ever)

Of course you need to put a different sim chip into the phone if you want to
change service providors with an unlocked phone.

The advantage of a unlocked phone is just that, the ability to use different sim
chips from different service providors as long as they use the gsm networks.

 

[bella92108]

Of course you need to put a different sim chip into the phone if you want to
change service providors with an unlocked phone.

The advantage of a unlocked phone is just that, the ability to use different sim
chips from different service providors as long as they use the gsm networks.

I understand that. Tell ya what. Unlock your phone and pop in a t-mobile SIM and try to access the network selection screen. You CAN'T. I've been through this time and time again. AT&T LOCKS the menu. So unless you replace the radio AND install a custom ROM (ie on my Infuse I had Infused 2.3.3 and Rogers Radio), you CAN NOT even get into the manual network selection screen regardless of what sim you put into the phone.

 

[Misterjunky]

re: network settings

I understand that. Tell ya what. Unlock your phone and pop in a t-mobile SIM and try to access the network selection screen. You CAN'T. I've been through this time and time again. AT&T LOCKS the menu. So unless you replace the radio AND install a custom ROM (ie on my Infuse I had Infused 2.3.3 and Rogers Radio), you CAN NOT even get into the manual network selection screen regardless of what sim you put into the phone.

You are right, getting into the manual network selection with a locked or
unlocked phone depends on which rom you are using, some roms let you
do that others don't. CyanogenMod 7 roms do have that feature and some
other custom roms have it too.
But changing the network selection settings is not a very good idea even
if we can do it.

But what's the point in getting into the network selection if lets say you have
an AT&T or T-mobile sim card? With an unlocked phone both of these two
sims will work fine without needing to change the network selection.

The unlocked phone will automatically detect the correct network settings
for any sim card which it's compatible with.

 

[bella92108]

You are right, getting into the manual network selection with a locked or
unlocked phone depends on which rom you are using, some roms let you
do that others don't. CyanogenMod 7 roms do have that feature and some
other custom roms have it too.
But changing the network selection settings is not a very good idea even
if we can do it.

But what's the point in getting into the network selection if lets say you have
an AT&T or T-mobile sim card? With an unlocked phone both of these two
sims will work fine without needing to change the network selection.

The unlocked phone will automatically detect the correct network settings
for any sim card which it's compatible with.

You don't travel much internationally, I see.

Yeah, if you are in Los Angeles with an AT&T sim it's likely going to find it's way onto the AT&T network, obviously. Try roaming across to Japan... you'll find that AT&T has roaming agreements with NTTdocomo, and SoftBank. NTTdocomo is great if you're sitting at Narita airport, but you may want to venture outside the airport, to say, downtown Tokyo, where Softbank dominates in coverage and reliability in parts of town. You can't switch because the ATT ROM\Radio will ALWAYS favor NTT, why? Because ATT likely has a more favorable roaming rate negotiated (ATT doesn't have customer experience first priority as you likely already know). Not being allowed manual selection means you take what ATT gives.

Now take an international SIM... say you go to Thailand, where I am this week. I go home with the SIM and I want to use it in the US. ATT's ROAMING list they force on me will allow me ONLY to use it on ATT... but wait, my SIM I bought here in Thailand doesn't roam with ATT, only T-Mobile... so I'm fu$#ed... see what I mean? If I had manual network selection, 2 clicks and I'd select t-mobile. To take that right away from a customer is 100% anti-customer, and demonstrates what a regional carrier ATT really is. The people who control these things don't leave their cubicle in Dallas, so they don't get it that someone might just want to not be screwed without phone service when they travel because the furthest the programmer geek has travelled is the $5 happy ending massage shop at the edge of town, lol

 

[id10terrordfw]

You don't travel much internationally, I see.

Yeah, if you are in Los Angeles with an AT&T sim it's likely going to find it's way onto the AT&T network, obviously. Try roaming across to Japan... you'll find that AT&T has roaming agreements with NTTdocomo, and SoftBank. NTTdocomo is great if you're sitting at Narita airport, but you may want to venture outside the airport, to say, downtown Tokyo, where Softbank dominates in coverage and reliability in parts of town. You can't switch because the ATT ROM\Radio will ALWAYS favor NTT, why? Because ATT likely has a more favorable roaming rate negotiated (ATT doesn't have customer experience first priority as you likely already know). Not being allowed manual selection means you take what ATT gives.

Now take an international SIM... say you go to Thailand, where I am this week. I go home with the SIM and I want to use it in the US. ATT's ROAMING list they force on me will allow me ONLY to use it on ATT... but wait, my SIM I bought here in Thailand doesn't roam with ATT, only T-Mobile... so I'm fu$#ed... see what I mean? If I had manual network selection, 2 clicks and I'd select t-mobile. To take that right away from a customer is 100% anti-customer, and demonstrates what a regional carrier ATT really is. The people who control these things don't leave their cubicle in Dallas, so they don't get it that someone might just want to not be screwed without phone service when they travel because the furthest the programmer geek has travelled is the $5 happy ending massage shop at the edge of town, lol

Just have to correct you on something, the $5 Happy ending places are NOT on the edge of Dallas, they are on Harry Hines near downtown... Not that I would know anything about that.