Lumia 950 AT&T or Unlocked?

[jxshbxxth]

Here we are... I haven't had a Windows Phone since my 1020. I got an iPhone 6 a couple of years ago and I'm ready to get a new phone. I'd love to come back to WP. I know the Lumia line is no more... but the 950 is still a great phone for a great price. I have no worries it can get me through a year, or a little longer. And seeing that it's probably not until 2018, if ever, for a Surface mobile device, I'm not going to just sit around and wait. lol

I've read some things about the differences between the Unlocked version and the AT&T version of the 950... What's the actual differences? Is it enough to say I should get one or the other?? I'm ready to buy the device soon, I just need to know.

Thanks.

 

[EspHack]

never buy a phone from a carrier, just like you would never buy a car from a gas station, avoid the headaches, a potentially lower entry price is not worth it

 

[edoug]

Dual sim is the one big physical stand out. If you either travel our must keep a second cell with you.

The lack (or at least real delay of) updates to firmware from att is the biggest software difference

 

[jxshbxxth]

Well, I'd be buying the phone from the Microsoft Store, but it's just the AT&T version.

I don't travel and I don't have a need for a second SIM, either. What are the setbacks of getting the unlocked version? Is the visual voice mail thing a myth? Does it get full LTE? I've heard these two things are kind of messed up... is that all myth? I'll probably be getting the phone this weekend.

Thanks for the replies.

Also... is getting the unlocked version kind of like getting a signature edition pc? like it's raw OS and no bloat? When I turned my 1020 on, the first thing that showed up was an AT&T logo. Which I don't love.

I really just want to make sure I'm getting everything when getting the unlocked version. Specifically the best network connection I can get and visual voice mail. If I have to call for voice mail, I'm just going to turn it off. haha

 

[edoug]

Visual voicemail on the UNLOCKED Microsoft is fixed and not an issue anymore

 

[edoug]

... And yeah, more or less. No ATT logo on boot. I can't answer the LTE question.

 

[libra89]

It should be able to get LTE for the supported bands, I got LTE on T-Mobile just fine.

 

[Palm_forlackofchoice]

My question too. Will the dual sim get all att bands?

 

[libra89]

My question too. Will the dual sim get all att bands?

From Microsoft's product page for the unlocked dual sim 950:

LTE FDD network: Band 1 (2100MHz), Band 17 (700MHz), Band 2 (1900MHz), Band 20 (800MHz), Band 3 (1800MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz), Band 5 (850MHz), Band 7 (2600MHz), Band 8 (900MHz), Band 28 (700MHz), Band 12 (700MHz)

It should be just fine.

The AT&T single sim 950 bands:

LTE FDD network: Band 1 (2100MHz), Band 17 (700MHz), Band 2 (1900MHz), Band 20 (800MHz), Band 3 (1800MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz), Band 5 (850MHz), Band 7 (2600MHz), Band 8 (900MHz), Band 28 (700MHz), Band 12 (700MHz)

Exactly the same between the two. There's really no reason to be concerned at all, just go unlocked and get a taste of that sweet freedom!

 

[Palm_forlackofchoice]

Thank you. Coming from Sprint where they only use couple bands and have to use there phone gsm world is more confusing. I have been trying cricket wireless for three weeks and am going to move my lines soon.

 

[mightymask69]

i have an unlocked 950 on at&T.
it works on LTE just fine.

 

[jxshbxxth]

Thank you so much for the answers! Looking forward to getting it!

 

[EspHack]

the only difference with LTE you could see is the carrier modifying how many bars to show at each dbm threshold on their self-branded phone, making it show full bars when it isn't getting full signal, as long as the phone supports the bands the carrier is using, it should work just the same

if you're buying full price on microsoft store I sincerely don't see the reasoning behind getting an ATT version, they both run the same bands

 

[jxshbxxth]

So, just to say... I got the AT&T version from the Microsoft Store. Tis better to save $100, tbh. I still got it with the dock, too. It was a $$ decision, basically. I may not even have to spend $300 on it. I only have to pay 50% of the phone off before trading it in with AT&T. So I could end up only paying $150 if MS ends up sneaking a surface phone in there at some point before 2018. So if that's the case, $150 is quite a bit better than $400.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[TunedM52]

Sorry to revive such an old thread. Just wanted to clear some things up w/o creating a new thread.

There is a difference between the unlocked 950 and branded AT&T 950. I have both. They are technically the same device, but the AT&T one has its own modified firmware, hence the AT&T logo upon booting. With the unlocked one, you don't get "Enhanced AT&T LTE Service" aka HD voice aka VoLTE. I had option in my SIM settings with my original branded 950 but I dropped it one day and the screen shattered. Bought a new unlocked 950 while MS had that BOGO deal, so I got both the 950 and 950XL unlocked. They both connect to all of AT&T LTE bands, and work perfectly fine, however, the option to turn on "Enhanced LTE Service" is not present in the SIM settings.

It's a pretty big difference. I only had a chance to try it a few times, but the audio is so incredibly crisp compared to UMTS voice. If you ever tried FaceTime audio on an iPhone, AT&T HD voice VoLTE is on par with the audio quality. It's incredible how clear the audio is. It's like calling a landline, but even clearer. I'm not exaggerating, it really is that good.

Screenshot of my unlocked Lumia 950XL.


Screenshot from my shattered screen AT&T branded 950. It's also unlocked, paid in full and simply requested an unlock code from AT&T for free.


An AT&T HD Voice call, says right below the contact name when it's active.

 

[Scott Meyer3]

I read your post on the model differences- would you mind telling what the MPB for the ATT model is?
I have seen RM 1104, 1105 and 6017a all for the Lumia 950 ?
I'm thinking the 6017a is the ATT version?

 

[TunedM52]

I read your post on the model differences- would you mind telling what the MPB for the ATT model is?
I have seen RM 1104, 1105 and 6017a all for the Lumia 950 ?
I'm thinking the 6017a is the ATT version?

I'm looking at my AT&T 950 box and the model number is RM-1105. The SKU is 6017A, pretty sure that is just for internal use at AT&T to keep track of their inventory, has nothing to do with the phone itself. My current factory unlocked 950's model number is RM-1104.

So, I'm just guessing here, RM-1105 is the locked AT&T version while RM-1104 is the unlocked international variant.

These are both single-SIM 950's, I'm sure the dual-SIM 950's has different model number, 1118 or something close to that.

 

[libra89]

I'm looking at my AT&T 950 box and the model number is RM-1105. The SKU is 6017A, pretty sure that is just for internal use at AT&T to keep track of their inventory, has nothing to do with the phone itself. My current factory unlocked 950's model number is RM-1104.

So, I'm just guessing here, RM-1105 is the locked AT&T version while RM-1104 is the unlocked international variant.

These are both single-SIM 950's, I'm sure the dual-SIM 950's has different model number, 1118 or something close to that.

You should check this out: http://forums.windowscentral.com/mi...rm-1118_13058-059x5g2-into-t-lumia-950-a.html