Unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus May Work On Any US Carrier

[DroidModderX]

There is one thing I really hate in life and that is being forced to buy phones from Verizon. For years some phone manufactures have made phones CDMA or GSM specific in the US. Many of these phones were also locked to the carrier and the only way to get a phone that worked on your carrier at launch, if you were a Verizon customer was to buy your phone from Verizon. In other words the unlocked variants of the devices would only include GSM radios which would not work on Verizon.

Recently many manufacturers have been including both GSM and CDMA radios in their devices. Apple, and Motorola have been a few that have been doing this for a few years. The Galaxy S6 was also sold like this if memory serves me right. Reports also indicate that the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be sold unlocked with both radios in the US meaning the phones should work on any US carrier. This is great because you are able to buy your phone directly from Samsung and won't have to get the phone a week late. Verizon has been notorious for releasing phones a week or two after everyone else. Hopefully everyone will be able to get the device at the same time this year!

via FCC

 

[GAstorino]

Question. If you buy an unlocked phone direct from Samsung and then take it to my Verizon dealer for activation would I be then getting a phone without all the Verizon Bloatware?

 

[Narsil]

If you are replacing an existing Verizon smartphone with this one, there should be no need to go into Verizon at all. I took the SIM card out of my Verizon Note 4, put it in my [purchased from Google Play Store] Nexus 6P, and everything worked just fine.

 

[JKZ]

Question. If you buy an unlocked phone direct from Samsung and then take it to my Verizon dealer for activation would I be then getting a phone without all the Verizon Bloatware?

Yes, you are correct. There would be no Verizon garbage on the phone. That is one of the main reasons people prefer to go this route if possible. Also as previously mentioned, if you are already a Verizon customer and have your SIM card from a previous phone, just pop it in the new phone and you are all set.

 

[grunt0300]

I know that the Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7edge can be bought UNLOCKED at BestBuy, and various other places. They work on any carrier, without the bloat.

 

[grunt0300]

There is one thing I really hate in life and that is being forced to buy phones from Verizon. For years some phone manufactures have made phones CDMA or GSM specific in the US. Many of these phones were also locked to the carrier and the only way to get a phone that worked on your carrier at launch, if you were a Verizon customer was to buy your phone from Verizon. In other words the unlocked variants of the devices would only include GSM radios which would not work on Verizon.

Recently many manufacturers have been including both GSM and CDMA radios in their devices. Apple, and Motorola have been a few that have been doing this for a few years. The Galaxy S6 was also sold like this if memory serves me right. Reports also indicate that the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be sold unlocked with both radios in the US meaning the phones should work on any US carrier. This is great because you are able to buy your phone directly from Samsung and won't have to get the phone a week late. Verizon has been notorious for releasing phones a week or two after everyone else. Hopefully everyone will be able to get the device at the same time this year!

via FCC

OK, just to clear things up. When you say "unlocked", do you mean bootloader unlocked? So then i can root the phone right out of the box?

 

[mountainbikermark]

OK, just to clear things up. When you say "unlocked", do you mean bootloader unlocked? So then i can root the phone right out of the box?

No. Carrier unlocked.

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[grunt0300]

I got it. For me, the word "unlocked" means bootloader unlocked. Samsung phones are notorious for being non-rootable. There are a bunch of petitions going on at XDA Dev, that involved Samsung phones. When the S8 comes out, i guess that they can add it to their list.

 

[xeene]

As someone who has switched from Verizon to TMobile in the past month here is my advice about carrier unlocked phones.

Verizon unlocked phones like droid turbo 2, droid turbo, lg g3, lg g4, galaxy s7 and moto z play have gsm radios and some lte bands but not all, which makes phone useless on gsm network in some buildings and locations.
Gsm unlocked phones like moto z play have all of the lte bands that Verizon uses but none of the CDMA bands so you won't get 3g or 1x reception on Verizon.

Before buying unlocked phones, double and triple check to make sure it includes ALL bands that your provider uses. If it's missing even one band, it could be a huge impact on your service.