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Struggle to buy phone to install onto

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Google Pixel 3a/3a XL
39 Posts 9 Posters 6.8k Views 2 Watching
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    • J Offline
      Joadri @dieharddan
      last edited by Joadri 13 Nov 2021, 00:18

      @dieharddan I got mine from there too with no problems. I got a 3aXL.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • D Offline
        DingDangDoong
        last edited by DingDangDoong 13 Nov 2021, 23:51

        I had to buy two because I got shafted with a verizon model first time. I bought the second 3a from ebay seller "thegizmotrader" and it was guaranteed to be have an unlockable bootloader and be carrier unlocked, both of which it was. Try giving them a shot.

        E 1 Reply Last reply 27 Nov 2021, 09:24 Reply Quote 3
        • A Offline
          ada
          last edited by 15 Nov 2021, 07:30

          I had the same problem; many sellers were just straight up lying about items and saying they were factory unlocked when they were really sim unlocked VZW models. I recommend finding listings of single devices that have the IMEI listed and putting the IMEI into Verizonโ€™s BYOD tool which will specify if itโ€™s a non-VZW pixel.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • N Offline
            nero355
            last edited by 15 Nov 2021, 17:49

            I had no idea that in some countries the old "Provider Locked Phone" thing was still an issue! ๐Ÿ˜ข

            Thank you for this topic!

            It's a good warning when shopping on eBay and other similar places! ๐Ÿ™‚

            My phones :

            • BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Phone Edition - Ubuntu Touch 16.04 LTS
            • ZUK Z2 Pro - ZUI Android 8.x
            • Xiaomi Mi 9T - Jolla SailFish 3.4.x Community Build

            P.S. : I am NOT a developer! ;)

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • L Offline
              lsitongia @lsitongia
              last edited by 15 Nov 2021, 23:08

              Finally, I've received the right phone. It is from Southwest Distributors, via Swappa. I should have followed the recommendation of the UBports site and gone there first. I could tell right away because one of the first steps after powering it up is asking about a SIM and giving the option for an eSIM. Verizon models don't offer that.

              N E 2 Replies Last reply 19 Nov 2021, 17:19 Reply Quote 3
              • N Offline
                nero355 @lsitongia
                last edited by 19 Nov 2021, 17:19

                @lsitongia
                Congrats! ๐Ÿ™‚

                So which phone did you go for this time ?

                I might have to do the same thing next year...

                My phones :

                • BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Phone Edition - Ubuntu Touch 16.04 LTS
                • ZUK Z2 Pro - ZUI Android 8.x
                • Xiaomi Mi 9T - Jolla SailFish 3.4.x Community Build

                P.S. : I am NOT a developer! ;)

                L 1 Reply Last reply 19 Nov 2021, 21:31 Reply Quote 0
                • L Offline
                  lsitongia @nero355
                  last edited by 19 Nov 2021, 21:31

                  @nero355 I bought a Pixel 3a.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • E Offline
                    ezze @lsitongia
                    last edited by ezze 27 Nov 2021, 08:36

                    @lsitongia Congratulations!

                    I want to purchase Google Pixel 3a too but unfortunately Swappa is not available for me. ๐Ÿ˜ž

                    7fb10201-4ef2-4d78-9297-ea56ff010f1d-image.png

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • E Offline
                      ezze @DingDangDoong
                      last edited by 27 Nov 2021, 09:24

                      @dingdangdoong Unfortunately I could not find any items available for order in Russia:

                      adcdc80f-0ba4-499b-bac6-7fa4f041affd-image.png

                      Is it the store you told about?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • E Offline
                        ezze
                        last edited by ezze 12 Mar 2021, 08:43 3 Dec 2021, 08:43

                        I found a candidate to buy on eBay. Asked the seller to confirm that the bootloader and carrier are unlocked, and that it's not a Verizon model. Here is his answer:

                        "The phone is new and original. it's fully unlocked with GSM network.
                        Verizon belongs to CDMA.
                        We can send one IMEI number to you later."

                        Can I believe him? He said nothing about bootloader. @lsitongia you told that you had bad experience with sellers from eBay, that's why I pricked up.

                        Is having IMEI enough for me to check whether a phone is suitable for installing UT?

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • E Offline
                          ezze
                          last edited by 3 Dec 2021, 13:34

                          I've got an IMEI from the seller. Checked it here:

                          9546fb7e-84c9-450d-96e2-972688c35164-image.png

                          Does XL-NVZW mean that it's locked to Verizon carrier?

                          The seller also couldn't provide the info regarding bootloader unlock status. He says that he doesn't know how to check it for me. Any help with it, guys, please?

                          I've also checked IMEI here: https://www.imei.info/ But not sure it's really useful:

                          cd600b16-0ea0-4e32-858c-acc20cbfde17-image.png

                          39f20933-141e-4efa-a111-bf753a697c6c-image.png

                          5d6ef341-770f-463a-ae27-fb07769cb816-image.png

                          There is also interesting free warranty checker there: https://www.imei.info/services/google-pixel-country-sn-warranty/google/check-free/

                          These are my results:

                          40f464e4-543e-4d6e-9b31-3ce28e520042-image.png

                          Does it mean that this device has been already sold to someone in UK in July, 2019, and now the seller located in Hong Kong is trying to resell it as a brand new one? :astonished_face:

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • E Offline
                            ezze
                            last edited by ezze 12 Mar 2021, 13:57 3 Dec 2021, 13:56

                            It seems that first eight numbers of IMEI identify the device model (so called TAC).

                            The TAC provided by seller is 35967809. Unfortunatelly, I'm unable to find a complete free list of existing TAC yet.

                            Another interesting detail from screenshot above is model number GA00974-UK. What is it and how can we use it?

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • L Offline
                              lsitongia
                              last edited by 3 Dec 2021, 16:44

                              The seller also couldn't provide the info regarding bootloader unlock status. He says that he doesn't know how to check it for me.
                              Any help with it, guys, please?

                              If I recall correctly, they have to first enable Developer mode by going into the about phone section of system settings and clicking seven times on the build number. Then, go into the system settings Developer settings. They will see an option for OEM Unlock or something like that. If it is greyed out and therefore cannot be changed, then the phone bootloader cannot be unlocked.

                              E 1 Reply Last reply 4 Dec 2021, 06:52 Reply Quote 0
                              • E Offline
                                ezze @lsitongia
                                last edited by 4 Dec 2021, 06:52

                                @lsitongia Could you check, please, and tell me first 8 digits (TAC) of your IMEI? And do you have IMEIs from your previous phones that you were able to return back? It would be interesting to compare them.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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