# Is an unlocked bootloader worth switching carriers?



## Hobart (Dec 27, 2011)

So I am in a dilemma, I want an unlocked galaxy s 3 but I am a verizon customer. Is an unlocked bootloader worth switching carriers? I know that sounds like a dumb question, because I'm not new at this, I have a droid x which is great but a pain in the ass. It sounds like the galaxy s 3 on verizon is going to be another droid x. Is the unlocked version on at&t and sprint that much easier to flash and switch kernels and all that stuff? Will custom roms on unlocked versions have everything working? No camcorder doesn't work here and SMS doesn't work there? I am just trying to understand. Plus my GF is on mine..or I'm on hers and she has a contract til April next year. She doesn't get that I want to switch for spite! And an unlocked boot loader..lol....can someone explain?

Thanks
Hobart

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2


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## SySerror (Jan 5, 2012)

It will never be as painful as a moto phone because it is only "partially" locked. The recovery partition is unlocked which really makes things a lot better because as long as you're not messing with the boot.img you can flash whatever you want (no kernels). I have no doubt that within the next month we will have all the same stuff as completely unlocked phones but maybe we have to deal with a workaround of some sort.

I'm more upset that this is likely going to become a verizon business practice and OEMs will have to lock anything that is sold on verizon. I'm assuming in the future dealing with locked phones will become a real pain and force many power users to only have the choice of a nexus.

TLDR: It will not be as bad as your moto phone. Yes, on an unlocked version it is very easy and safe to flash whatever you want. You should prolly wait a month to see what happens in the community.


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## joemagistro (Dec 19, 2011)

i got tmobiles one... jumped ship from verizon.... not because of the bootloader, however the bootloader was the icing on the cake...

root took me all of a minute to do... second i flashed romans OCed kernel.. simple as a flash in cmw.... then i flashed the supersonic freegs3 rom.. again simple.. everything works.. deboated and a couple new features added.... i fn love my phone..


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## Hobart (Dec 27, 2011)

joemagistro said:


> i got tmobiles one... jumped ship from verizon.... not because of the bootloader, however the bootloader was the icing on the cake...
> 
> root took me all of a minute to do... second i flashed romans OCed kernel.. simple as a flash in cmw.... then i flashed the supersonic freegs3 rom.. again simple.. everything works.. deboated and a couple new features added.... i fn love my phone..


That's what I am looking for..lol...simple...not all crazy programs and workarounds and missing features...right?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2


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## joemagistro (Dec 19, 2011)

Hobart said:


> That's what I am looking for..lol...simple...not all crazy programs and workarounds and missing features...right?
> 
> Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2


i mean.. alot of people told me t-mobile is garbage.... from what i can tell you... i have full 4g in my house... soo as long as i can poop and surf, thats a start and a big plus for me...... I compared 4g speeds with verizon and att..... it matched up with att, however verizon was significantly faster... but i dunno about you, 10mbps is fast enough for me.... in my area i get good service so i cant complain about tmobile yet... the plans costing me cheaper soo thats a plus...

and yes there are no work arounds... a half idiot could root and rom this phone... just as easy, if not easier then the galaxy nexus to accomplish


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## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

I thought about this as well but with Verizon I have unlimited data still and the best coverage across the country so I am going to stick with Verizon and hope a leak happens or change in their policy, or someone figures out how to free this phone from lock down.


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## johnomaz (Jul 18, 2011)

I considered switching but still have my unlimited data plan. If I didn't have unlimited, I would have gone to att. I have no loyalty to any carrier, they screw us over too much.


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## acras (Jan 10, 2012)

The bootloader , blaming Sammy , then admitting it was them , and now the screw up for people with unlimited and the constant wifi reminder were all icing on the cake for me . I have unlimited , but that isn't enough for me to stay . Contract ends, I'm gone . I'm rarely over 2gb/mo. , and as long ass I remember to use wifi at the house , I won't have any problems. For me the unlimited is a needless expense when I can manage without , and save a butt-load of money every month.


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## johnomaz (Jul 18, 2011)

acras said:


> The bootloader , blaming Sammy , then admitting it was them , and now the screw up for people with unlimited and the constant wifi reminder were all icing on the cake for me . I have unlimited , but that isn't enough for me to stay . Contract ends, I'm gone . I'm rarely over 2gb/mo. , and as long ass I remember to use wifi at the house , I won't have any problems. For me the unlimited is a needless expense when I can manage without , and save a butt-load of money every month.


I just made that same decision today. I know I'll be charged a restocking fee at Verizon, but I'm going to be going down today, return the phone and get my contract ended and go to ATT. I have wifi nearly everywhere I'm at. I like having unlimited because its a security net in case I go over the limit. I'll just have to set my phone up to limit my data if I approach 3gigs on ATT.


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## acras (Jan 10, 2012)

johnomaz said:


> I just made that same decision today. I know I'll be charged a restocking fee at Verizon, but I'm going to be going down today, return the phone and get my contract ended and go to ATT. I have wifi nearly everywhere I'm at. I like having unlimited because its a security net in case I go over the limit. I'll just have to set my phone up to limit my data if I approach 3gigs on ATT.


Try some creative haggling with the store you are returning it to , esp. if its unopened. This will still be high demand so you might get lucky and convince the local to waive the restock so they have another one to sell in store. Don't tell them its because of the bootloader , come up with something like your sisters daughters babysitters cat needs laser eye surgery so you need to make sacrifices right now. be sweet and talk about getting a new phone in a couple months. make them think they will still have you by your delicate bits. Then , when you DO leave tell them the real reason. When I returned mine , I told the CSR I felt that all the problems I had with the order process meant bad vibes for switching to Sammy from Moto , and that I was going to wait and get the Moto device that was coming in a couple months. Granted mine was stuck with fed ex and never made it to me , but the CSR put in the order to cancel and said when the phone gets back to them , they will restore my original contract and refund all my money , no restock fee. We will see about that in a couple days.


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