Struggle to buy phone to install onto

nero355

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

Thank you for this topic!

It's a good warning when shopping on eBay and other similar places!

lsitongia

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.

nero355

@lsitongia
Congrats!

So which phone did you go for this time ?

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

lsitongia

@nero355 I bought a Pixel 3a.

ezze

@lsitongia Congratulations!

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

ezze

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

Is it the store you told about?

ezze

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?

ezze

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

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:

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:

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?

ezze

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?

lsitongia

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.

ezze

@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.