Motherboard change with upgrade to LTE

[lampo808]

Hello everyone,
the motherboard of my S4 mini duos (i9192) failed, probably the EMMC, and I need to replace it. Since where I live the 4G/LTE signal is so much better than the 3G and I don't need the dual SIM anymore, I was thinking to buy the i9195 motherboard and substitute it for the original one.

When looking at the components of my phone, I saw two other parts which seem to be related to the 3G version (i9190/2, as written on top of them): the USB connector board and the antenna on the top part of the back housing (the one with "3G" stamped on it), see the figures here.

So I suppose that I should be fine by replacing all three pieces with the i9195 version, also given that they seem to be the only 4G-related pieces in the phone, as per this thread and the video linked therein.
Has anyone tried this? Or, do you have any comment/advice?

Thanks in advance!

 

[IronRoo]

Hello everyone,
the motherboard of my S4 mini duos (i9192) failed, probably the EMMC, and I need to replace it. Since where I live the 4G/LTE signal is so much better than the 3G and I don't need the dual SIM anymore, I was thinking to buy the i9195 motherboard and substitute it for the original one.

When looking at the components of my phone, I saw two other parts which seem to be related to the 3G version (i9190/2, as written on top of them): the USB connector board and the antenna on the top part of the back housing (the one with "3G" stamped on it), see the figures here.

So I suppose that I should be fine by replacing all three pieces with the i9195 version, also given that they seem to be the only 4G-related pieces in the phone, as per this thread and the video linked therein.
Has anyone tried this? Or, do you have any comment/advice?

Thanks in advance!

it is a gamble I think, it has been reported that even swapping the connector brd for a new one sometimes didn't work with older motherboard, though swapping all 3 it might work for you, but no guarantee. Also then you might have problem loading software & need jtag

But is there much of a price difference to buying a new phone?

 

[lampo808]

Ok, I bought an i9195 used mainboard together with the USB connector board for 30 €, mounted them and flashed the latest Resurrection Remix. The phone is working pretty well (a really big upgrade from my S3 mini) even without changing the middle frame. Actually, what is missing on the middle frame is the 4G antenna, so the 4G is not working at the moment, but for the rest no problems whatsoever.
I'll try to buy the middle frame in the future and report if the 4G starts working, or if the circuitry got fried for the lack of the antenna.
@IronRoo thanks for the suggestion, the main point going for a new phone is the price of one with screen size less than 5" (this is 4.7" and is perfect, bigger ones are uncomfortable to hold for me): the cheapest one is Samsung A3 which is 200 € at the moment. Also, I'm also kinda annoyed by throwing away a phone that could be fixed and given new life.

 

[qounik]

Strange... My 9192 also fail EMMC some months ago and I also replaced it to 9195 from a local shop. It just 2 case of failing EMMC is seems like a design flaw? Maybe?
Anyways my phone is fine except for battery life I don't get even 1 full hour in performance mood also on RR ROM android 7, and it's my secondary device so I don't use 4G on this device can't report back how good probably I won't even get bit of charge xD

Sent from my Samsung GT-I9195 using XDA Labs