Buying a 930 - A couple questions

[brian stabinger]

Ever since the 930 came-out, I've obsessed over it's gorgeous design. But being in the USA, this was not for me. Alas, a few months ago I pulled the trigger on an unlocked, GSM, NOS 930, on eBay. It shipped, and looked to be mint. After playing with it for a day, I noticed it would have next-to-no cell service (H, H+), and suffered from the dreaded 'phantom touch'. I sent it back, and all was good.

A few days ago, I stumbled across a 930 on the local Craigslist. For $40? Yep. I got it home, reset it, loaded W10M, and this thing works great! Amazing, in fact. Great 3G service on AT&T. What a score!

Now, it IS a little scuffed around the edges, and the glass isn't perfect. So I'm thinking, was it the certain variant that didn't work, and why this one, does? Because, I'd love to find one in better shape, if that's the case. Or was the eBay one maybe a refurb, and had issues?

The one that didn't work had a silver frame, and from my recollection, had some sort of French carrier associated with it. This one has a black frame, and a carrier by the name of 'Vivo' (Brazil? It was all in Portuguese when I reset it).

Thanks!

 

[libra89]

Congrats on your 930!

Yeah, it sounds a carrier variant difference here. Carrier variants can have different bands, which explains the difference in your connectivity. Usually phones that are meant to work in Latin America also work in the United States. There used to be an easy way to check what your model version but unfortunately that changed with Windows 10 Mobile.

 

[Reflej0]

Hi, about connectivity. I know that the 930 in Argentina only has 3G, and the Lumia 929 is the variant with 4G LTE compatibility that in the US was marketed with Verizon.

 

[brian stabinger]

Thanks for the info. I'm now a few weeks in, with the 930, and it's working great. For the most part.

A few things I've run into:

*Running 10.0.15254.1
**I cannot vouch if any of this worked when it was on 8.1

- When speakerphone is enabled in a standard phone call, the microphone(s) no longer function
- Can no longer receive Group SMS (Can send to a group, but all replies show-up as a single contact)

 

[Doug_M]

I just got a 930 on eBay from Orange in the UK. While I'm not on ATT (I'm in Canada) whenever I buy phones from the US I buy ATT ones as they work on my carrier (Telus/Koodo). Don't know if all UK phones would be ATT compatible but I'd guess the Orange ones would at least.

As for group SMS you need to do it as MMS. Open Messaging and go to settings. Then tap "Change more settings for Messaging". Make sue you have MMS group text on. I group text with my family daily and it works. I have all the MMS options on but I believe the MMS group text is all you need so long as you've got data on.