[app_Developer]

Yes I have and he addresses that. Specifically AT&T, NO, VZW doesn’t answer but assumed NO based on current VoLTE rules that are strict like AT&T just started. VZW has been stricter that AT&T for years. TMO lenient but will that remain? Sprint was far more restrictive than VZW and TMO paid a lot of money for that Sprint customer base that happily purchased carrier locked devices almost exclusively. My background in M&A tells me TMO factored that policy into a higher price to pay for merger. If you look at TMO USA company website, a list of supported devices exists which is ridiculous to compile unless enforcement planned.

True, but this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that this will be a novelty 2nd, 3rd, or 5th phone for some. I wonder how many would commit to this as their primary dd? Do people even use voice on anything other than their primary phone? Idk

[Chuck Finley69]

True, but this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that this will be a novelty 2nd, 3rd, or 5th phone for some. I wonder how many would commit to this as their primary dd? Do people even use voice on anything other than their primary phone? Idk

Well, I have novelty devices and that’s one reason I’ve kept TMO but I’m not sure 1) TMO will continue support BYOD as well as in the past 2) At least in USA, many are planning on using as only device on TMO without truly understanding the white-listing issue fully.

TMO does enforce on prepaid lines and on postpaid, a TMO sales manager confirmed huge device sales push with Sprint merger and sales reps were given the supported devices list. We aren’t going to know until shutdown happens. I used to switch around my SIMs but that stopped with outdated Android for me. It seems that AT&T would have stopped me recently anyway.

[ci00aaj]

Gotta agree with some of the others, this incessant chat about US specific purchasing model is dry as hell, and frankly putting people off reading this thread.

Maybe you guys could start a separate thread to discuss this.

[Chuck Finley69]

Gotta agree with some of the others, this incessant chat about US specific purchasing model is dry as hell, and frankly putting people off reading this thread.

Maybe you guys could start a separate thread to discuss this.

Why? It falls within the general topic and title, does it not? It’s definitely a consideration for a large Unihertz targeted market and because of that is actually significant. Even the reviewers it seems are based here and discuss the issue too.

[bh7171]

About $20k away from Titan Kickstarter amount, though they got a bit backers for this one.

Adam's review is nice, I wish the keys weren't as hard to press as he says they are initially, but if that's something that breaks in over a few weeks then it's a non-issue for me.

Nice to get back from a couple tech free days on the beautiful Northern California coast and see Tech Odyssey's full review. His review is logical, well done and comprehensive.

It's unfortunate UniHertz didn't source a better rear camera and failed to use all the available screen space. Those are truly missed opportunities for this niche device.

If one resides in the US and is interested in using one of these when available I concur with Tech Odyssey's recommendation to simply avoid AT&T. There is no need to deal with their overpriced shenanigans. Their coverage doesn't and hasn't stood out in any real significant way for years.

To those outside the US what are your various carrier proclivities? How do they handle devices purchased direct or outside of carrier stores. Do some of your carriers limit devices like the Titan Pocket or others that are VoLTE capable? If your carrier choose not to allow your device(s) to utilize their capabilities did you then shop around and try out others. Or just accept the limitations, control and pick whichever device was on the carrier shelves.

[Molfus]

Over here in good ol' Germany / Europe pick any phone from any souce and it'll work with any provider without limitation. Periode.

[howarmat]

To those outside the US what are your various carrier proclivities? How do they handle devices purchased direct or outside of carrier stores. Do some of your carriers limit devices like the Titan Pocket or others that are VoLTE capable? If your carrier choose not to allow your device(s) to utilize their capabilities did you then shop around and try out others. Or just accept the limitations, control and pick whichever device was on the carrier shelves.

It’s wild Wild West for the most part. People pop in and out sims quite a bit and with ease from various carriers. They won’t have near the issue we do in the states. They have 2g in areas still along with 3g and higher of course. There is just not the drive and need for tower space for 5G in many places around the world and most will have 3g for quite some time. US is more of an oddball case as Canada is also more lenient on things.

[Grungni]

Nice to get back from a couple tech free days on the beautiful Northern California coast and see Tech Odyssey's full review. His review is logical, well done and comprehensive.

It's unfortunate UniHertz didn't source a better rear camera and failed to use all the available screen space. Those are truly missed opportunities for this niche device.

If one resides in the US and is interested in using one of these when available I concur with Tech Odyssey's recommendation to simply avoid AT&T. There is no need to deal with their overpriced shenanigans. Their coverage doesn't and hasn't stood out in any real significant way for years.

To those outside the US what are your various carrier proclivities? How do they handle devices purchased direct or outside of carrier stores. Do some of your carriers limit devices like the Titan Pocket or others that are VoLTE capable? If your carrier choose not to allow your device(s) to utilize their capabilities did you then shop around and try out others. Or just accept the limitations, control and pick whichever device was on the carrier shelves.

We have no restrictions here in the UK... If you buy an unlocked mobile phone you can use it on any network here in the UK...

[Paulelmar18]

Carrier locked phones are prehistorical. Does anything like this exist anywhere in the world outside the US?

[Chuck Finley69]

Carrier locked phones are prehistorical. Does anything like this exist anywhere in the world outside the US?

Not from a support perspective which is why consumers have always supported. The Carrier/OEM warranty aspect means that even when a device probably and sometimes, definitely is no longer covered by the warranty, it still gets covered because the carriers make their money on the lines. It’s probably more how we’ve ended up with the OEM starting roster today.

When BlackBerry Limited was a real OEM player ten years ago, the carrier support was absolute since BlackBerry Limited didn’t really have consumer experience or infrastructure.

[Ben xfg]

Another review and video.
https://www.makeuseof.com/unihertz-titan-pocket-review/

Video.

[bh7171]

Another review and video.
https://www.makeuseof.com/unihertz-titan-pocket-review/

Video.

Nice share. Pretty universal that this will be a good qwerty PKB device.

[Molfus]

So often carrier customer support is mentioned here? What kind of support is that? Take your phone, insert your SIM and you're good to go. What else should a carrier "support" ?

(maybe it's just me simply unaware of all and anything)

[spARTacus]

So often carrier customer support is mentioned here? What kind of support is that? Take your phone, insert your SIM and you're good to go. What else should a carrier "support" ?

(maybe it's just me simply unaware of all and anything)

I agree. I am in Canada and "carrier support" will be used by the carriers and by licensed resellers to try to discourage folks from using discount carriers. Some of it is just BS in my opinion. The big three in Canada (Bell, Telus, Rogers) certainly support their infrastructure in terms of cellular networks, but they seem to have an aim of minimizing any customer support for individuals. Try getting one of them on the phone to discuss something - nearly impossible (and when they are finally on the phone it often ends up as simply a marketing opportunity for them to try to sell you something more). Try to get them to fix something that they billed incorrectly - good luck.

We switched our phones to Public Mobile a while back. Public Mobile specifically says that they don't provide a lot of customer support (buy a SIM card from wherever and then plop onto the web to activate it, use their online forums also for questions/answers from the community, etc...). We got the SIM cards at Wal-Mart electronics department. The guy was strongly suggesting we avoid buying the SIM cards saying we'd have lots of problems and nowhere to turn to when we ran into problems (maybe he was also being paid commission from Apple or the big three). We almost laughed at him and told him to shut up and hand us the SIM cards from the cabinet and stop spreading BS (in his defense, he may actually have not known better, way too many sales reps nowadays have no idea what they are talking about). We haven't looked back. Zero problems thus far from Public Mobile (now, Public Mobile is a subsidiary of Telus, so it's not like we were taking a big risk in terms of not having cellular network coverage). The 7-11 SIM cards in Canada that used to be for sale in the gas stations used to also offer good deals for data plans, but we haven't been tracking those recently.

Overall, it will be interesting when Canada switches on 5G, because some of the discount carriers were marketing as only selling under used 3G (although my phone almost always says that it is on LTE).

[turbopapagaai]

Over here in good ol' Germany / Europe pick any phone from any souce and it'll work with any provider without limitation. Periode.

Same here in the Netherlands.

Posted via CB10

[spARTacus]

Same here in the Netherlands.

Posted via CB10

In Canada, we need to get together and lobby the CRTC and others to get the carriers and phone manufacturers to do the same.

[Ben xfg]

Overall, it will be interesting when Canada switches on 5G, because some of the discount carriers were marketing as only selling under used 3G (although my phone almost always says that it is on LTE).

They will probably use the 5G network just like they use 4G and LTE now, they'll just limit the network speed to 3G (or maybe a bit higher) like they do now.

[gdugic]

Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, we all don't have any problems. As far as I know, it is the same in all of Europe. Every country still has 2g and all works without problems

[saint300]

In Greece there's no such thing as a locked to a carrier phone. All phones are unlocked, and everyone is free to buy the device they want from any source. Of course carriers do offer devices, which are subsidized, to some level, but in any case, after the original manufacturer's guarantee expires ( two years in most cases), you are on your own.

Which brings me back to the TP and to the fact that it will work here just fine; after all, it is a 4G LTE device, therefore no concerns at all.

[Chuck Finley69]

In Greece there's no such thing as a locked to a carrier phone. All phones are unlocked, and everyone is free to buy the device they want from any source. Of course carriers do offer devices, which are subsidized, to some level, but in any case, after the original manufacturer's guarantee expires ( two years in most cases), you are on your own.

Which brings me back to the TP and to the fact that it will work here just fine; after all, it is a 4G LTE device, therefore no concerns at all.

In the USA, carrier subsidies were eliminated as part of contracts. It’s a game of semantics but consumers benefit from not having to pay full price up front. The $1200 smartphone is $40/month interest-free. Neither consumers nor businesses here are complaining about our unique system that we learn to game as well.

[bh7171]

Awesome to see all the responses about lack of carrier BS in other countries and allowing phones to operate as they are designed and intended.

I simply don't understand any persons here in the US defending some of our carriers utter and total BS with "network support" which prevents certain devices from working as intended. It is and always has been about control, steerage of specific brands and unnecessary premature obsolescence.

Fortunately for me I ditched the main culprit of this nonsense here in the US in 2015 and have never looked back. I'll be able to use the Titan Pocket on T-Mobile similarly as I do my unlocked NA BE KeyOne.

[saint300]

In the USA, carrier subsidies were eliminated as part of contracts. It’s a game of semantics but consumers benefit from not having to pay full price up front. The $1200 smartphone is $40/month interest-free. Neither consumers nor businesses here are complaining about our unique system that we learn to game as well.

Yes, I see what you mean. Well, here it is a little bit different, although I can't tell if it comes down to the same thing in the end. What we have here is a selection of different "plans", where every plan offers free calls and data, which goes up when you upgrade, until you reach the high end of this thing, which is unlimited calls and data. Whichever you choose, you get some subsidy for the device you decide to get from your carrier, but then you pay full price of the selected "plan". And if your carrier does not have the device you want, you can then have a reduced price for your chosen part. Maybe it's the same in the end; I mean same here and in the US.

[howarmat]

I simply don't understand any persons here in the US defending some of our carriers utter and total BS with "network support" which prevents certain devices from working as intended. It is and always has been about control, steerage of specific brands and unnecessary premature obsolescence.


Sent from my KFONWI using CB Forums mobile app

OMG really?!? You have been arguing forever about how NO ONE BUYS FULL PRICE phones and this is why people do. People get to use any phone on any network because they BUY THEM AT FULL PRICE over there for the most part. US you buy on monthly payments and in trade you have to stay on that carrier so they get your service for that entire 2-3 years.

[conite]

Awesome to see all the responses about lack of carrier BS in other countries and allowing phones to operate as they are designed and intended.

I simply don't understand any persons here in the US defending some of our carriers utter and total BS with "network support" which prevents certain devices from working as intended. It is and always has been about control, steerage of specific brands and unnecessary premature obsolescence.

Fortunately for me I ditched the main culprit of this nonsense here in the US in 2015 and have never looked back. I'll be able to use the Titan Pocket on T-Mobile similarly as I do my unlocked NA BE KeyOne.

Sent from my KFONWI using CB Forums mobile app

But that's just it - you have the freedom to move to other networks with different business models. But for 99% of people, the system in the US works perfectly fine the way it is.

This AT&T whitelist issue affects only a relative handful of actual devices out in the wild.

[saint300]

OMG really?!? You have been arguing forever about how NO ONE BUYS FULL PRICE phones and this is why people do. People get to use any phone on any network because they BUY THEM AT FULL PRICE over there for the most part. US you buy on monthly payments and in trade you have to stay on that carrier so they get your service for that entire 2-3 years.

Well, not entirely correct, at least for Greece. You see, if your carrier does not have the phone you want and you have to buy it from elsewhere, then you don't have to stay with them any more, unless you have traded the non available device with some very good discounts on your chosen plan. Usually this a two year commitment on your part. I think this is quite nice indeed. As an example, I did renew my contract with Vodafone, no device from them, and I got totally unlimited calls and data, plus free intrnational calls to more than 48 countries, I think, and I pay 50 euros every month, which is about $60; not that bad.