Whoo hoo! Samsung Ativ S (Rogers) unlocked and running on TMobile 4G!

[timriley]

Finally managed to get an Ativ S off contract yesterday over lunchtime (called up a local Roger store in Calgary and they had literally just opened up their first shipment of 5 phones). Bought off contract, flew down to San Diego that afternoon, and surprised my husband with the early Xmas gift (my phone is the Lumia920, but he wanted a lighter phone and was willing to compromise on the wireless charging / floating camera / super-sensitive touch screen aspects). Took over an hour on the phone with Rogers (because they didn't see the phone on my account yet) but finally got them to release the unlock code (they 'do' have them) and it's now unlocked and running on T-Mobile! The odd thing is that it is showing a 4G signal - as far as I know, Tmobile hasn't refarmed 1900MHz in our part of San Diego yet (at last not as of last night) so I'm not sure how he's picking up 4G (unless Tmobile literally refarmed it this morning). The Ativ S isn't supposed to be pentaband.. .wish there was a way I could figure out if it actually does have the 1700MHz band.

Only had a few hours to play with it unlocked side by side with my Lumia920 - the low light no-flash photos are definitely uncomparable to the brighter shots on the Lumia920. However, the Ativ S is SO light in comparison.. and running flawlessly so far. The screen is crisp and the slightly larger screensize on the AtivS is noticeable (and welcome). I think we will both definitely like our respective phones and the advantages each has. Happy to finally see Samsung in the WP8 family! It's a nice complement to HTC and Nokia's offering.. i like the AtivS a lot more than I thought I would.

 

[the_thunderbird]

Commentary on Mobile Syrup indicates the screen is working with gloves. Might not be as super sensitive but worth a try?

 

[soxoh4]

Nice job! So how would you rate the Ativ S v the Lumia 920, each out of ten in the following -

Screen brightness
Screen Sharpness
Snappiness of user interface
Battery life
Loudness of speakers
Camera in normal light

I know the Nokia has superior apps, is heavier, better camera in low light and better image stabilization while the Ativ is lighter with removable battery and SD slot. Those above though I'm clueless about. Thanks again!

 

[12Danny123]

man. I love the. grey (I think it's called Cobalt) theme. matches the Ativ S perfectly

 

[the_icon12]

Cobalt is blue...

 

[12Danny123]

It is????. oh shoot never knew that. . I never use Fancy colour names

 

[timriley]

@12Danny123: the theme colour is 'Steel'

@soxoh4: I've had a chance to play with the AtivS and my Lumia920 side by side now. My personal opinions:

Screen brightness - about the same. The 'autobrightness' though I think is off on my Lumia920 - it is too dim. I know that this isn't the case for all Lumia920's because my mother's Lumia920 is at the perfect setting. However I am not alone - a lot of Lumia920 users out there think the default autobrightness is set a bit too low. And yes, that's even after setting the 'manual' setting to high and flipping the autobrightness swtich on (it apparently makes a difference). I hope Microsoft will let us adjust this ourselves. RIght now i have to manually go between low and high myself.

Screen Sharpness - The Lumia920 wins here. It is definitely a bit sharper on the Lumia920, but that's to be expected given the same resolution on a smaller screen. However, that being said, they are both excellent and given the choice between the two, I think I would actually prefer the extra screensize of the AtivS. The difference in screen size is VERY noticeable when you put both phones next to each other. It makes my Lumia920 almost feel small now. I can't imagine how those iPhone5 users can put up with their lower res 4" screen.

Snappiness of user interface - They both feel the same to me.

Battery life - so far the AtivS is winning here. Not only does it have the larger (and removable) battery, but so far the 'battery heating up with certain tasks/apps' issue that I have occasionally with my Lumia920 hasn't shown itself on the ativS. This could be an app issue though or an OS issue, but I defintely see it more on the Lumia920 especially when NFC and Bluetooth are on. On the AtivS, both NFC and Bluetooth are on but I have yet to get that burning hot battery issue that my Lumia920 sometimes has.

Loudness of speakers - I played the same tracks (ringtones) etc on both phones. If you place the speakers of both phones to your ears at max volume, they sound the same volume. The Lumia920 actually distorts just a tiny bit at 30/30 which the AtivS doesn't. However, for regular use when you are looking at the front of the phone or when the phone is sitting on yoru desk or a flat surface, the Lumia920 is actually noticeably louder at the same volume setting. That's because the AtivS's speaker grills are on the bottom back. At first I thought the Lumia920 was just naturally a lot louder (it was noticeable) until I realized it was actually only because of the posiiton of the speakers. I can still hear the ativS's speaker fine, but the back placement does decrease the volume during most uses.

Camera in normal light - I have to hand this one to the ativS for now. I don't know why, but my Lumia920's daylight/indoor shots aren't as sharp and it lacks a lot of the photo settings that the Samsung one has - the photo camera options in the camera settings are very diferent between teh phones. ie. I can set resolution autocontrast etc on teh samsung. However, i 'hope' that this is something that can be fixed with an update on the lumia. But for now the AtivS wins in daylight. So when my husband and I are out, we'll be using his AtivS for daylight shots and my Lumia920 for evening/low-light shots

@the thunderbird: Wow you're right!!! I cna't bleieve it - I can use gloves with the AtivS! It's not quite as super sensitive I find, but it does work 'just enough' even with garden gloves on. Wow. My husband will be thrilled!

 

[12Danny123]

Also. man...... what exclusive apps are there? I know there's chaton and stuff but are there anymore stuff?

 

[soxoh4]

Thanks so much timriley. This is REALLY helpful.

 

[rabit1]

Thanks timriley, I'm too holding back getting 920 because I want to wait for the ATIV S. Since ATIV S is not available yet here, and don't know when, I'd really appreciate if you would like from time to time come back here and update your post on comparing ATIV S and 920. Not too many people here as lucky as you having to play with both 920 and ATIV S.

Could you please compare the sound quality (music) with earphone or headphones?

Thanks again, keep it up ...

 

[jgbstetson]

If its sold by Rogers, then it has 1700. Rogers is your only option if you're on tmo and want a 920 that works with 1700. Excluding dev phones

 

[Yogi76]

I am so happy to hear that you are getting a 4G connection with the ATIV S on T-Mobile in an area that hasn't been officially refarmed yet. I preordered this phone unlocked from Negri Electronics in anticipation of using it on T-Mobile, thinking I would have to just use it on EDGE until the refarm was completed in my area. I was willing to make that sacrifice in return for the advantages of the phone (larger screen, larger and removable battery, SD card slot, thin and light). Now I'm ecstatic to find out that I may be getting full T-Mobile compatibility, as well! If only Negri would hurry up and get it in stock. Or if I just knew someone in Canada that could buy one for me. How much did you have to pay Rogers for the phone outright without a contract? Also, if you buy one from them full price, can you get it unlocked or do you have to have an account with them in good standing like with AT&T?

 

[Yogi76]

If its sold by Rogers, then it has 1700. Rogers is your only option if you're on tmo and want a 920 that works with 1700. Excluding dev phones

Actually, Rogers runs on 850 and 1900 MHz frequencies. The fact that Rogers is selling the ATIV S doesn't necessarily mean that it will have 1700 MHz. In fact, most Rogers phones don't, just like AT&T. The fact that the Lumia 920 being sold by Rogers has 1700 MHz compatibility is an anomaly.

 

[jgbstetson]

Actually, Rogers runs on 850 and 1900 MHz frequencies. The fact that Rogers is selling the ATIV S doesn't necessarily mean that it will have 1700 MHz. In fact, most Rogers phones don't, just like AT&T. The fact that the Lumia 920 being sold by Rogers has 1700 MHz compatibility is an anomaly.

I was mistaken. Wow, that is quite an anomaly. I can think why they would be distributing that to a market with no need for it. Any ideas?

 

[brmiller1976]

T-Mobile has released AT&T/Rogers 4G frequencies in 15 major announced markets this past week, and is aggressively rolling them out. Henceforth, lots of non-AWS phones will be running much faster on Magenta.