Question about phone variants, unlocked etc

• 

  trustnoone on 30/03/2019 - 20:27

  +3

  Network Lock: Unlocked

  vs

  Network Branding: Vodafone

  Network unlocked means it should run on anyone here (doesn't have to be Telstra), network branding means when you switch it on the splash screen may say "vodafone" and there will likely be apps from vodafone installed that you may not be able to uninstall. Think of it like a phone thats originally by vodafone but now its unlocked to all, but still voda branding. Unbranded means theres no brand installed, so very stock.

  Only issue I'm unsure of is if VoLTE works, but I think so as long as its Aus?

  I also think you're at the mercy of Vod or whoever updating their ROM, basically you may get slower updates then stock rom if you get a branded one.

  Dual is about the camera, basically they state:

  Dual Aperture
  Our category-defining Dual Aperture lens adapts like the human eye. It's able to automatically switch between various lighting conditions with ease—making your photos look great whether it's bright or dark, day or night.

  None of these phones as far as I know are dual sim, I could be wrong, but I don't think theres any dual sim stock thats Australian? (Usually found overseas).

  The price difference is probably to do with colour and thats it as far as I can tell.

  I think you're looking for Samsung G965F (Normal) vs Samsung G965FD (Dual Sim).

  • 

    Gerry H on 30/03/2019 - 22:00

    thanks, that helped a lot

  • 

    Gerry H on 31/03/2019 - 12:02

    hi i have another question. in here https://www.optus.com.au/shop/mobile/phones/huawei/p30 the phone is 20/month over 24 month, the plan is $45 even as stand alone. the phone sells for $1000 at cheapest, and 20x24=480. i know it'll obviously be locked, but i read somewhere u can brutal force unlock it with software. whats the catch?

    • 

      trustnoone on 31/03/2019 - 12:33

      +2

      You can unlock it a number of ways (paying Optus to do it, online, new rom etc) to your specific question though, there isn't really "a catch" as such, but its more of a trick of spreading out the price. Take the plan you have here,

      its $20 Phone + $45 Plan = $65 every month for 2 years so 65*24 = $1,560 over 2 years
      Which is the same as the minimum on Optus site

      Min. Total Cost is $1,560 over 24 months.

      This gets you: 4GB of data and unlimited calls and text to domestic and thats it.

      Now compare to the phone outright is: $1098
      Lets try to find a plan thats similar to 4gb of data, lets say Boost: https://boost.com.au/plans/ is 5GB of data, plus unlimited texts and calls Plus 20 places internationally for free (better in every way) and is on the Telstra network (so arguably better coverage) and data roll over.

      This is $20 per 28 days (so 13 recharges a year)

      If we look at over 2 years (26 recharges) we get $20*26 = $520 over two years.

      So if we add an outright phone of $1098 with the prepaid recharge of $520 we get a total of:

      $1098+$520= $1,618 paid over two years.

      With the difference being
      1618-1560= $58 dollars.

      Or to put it more simply, the optus plan is cheaper by $58 over two whole years so over 2 years you would have saved $58 dollars, which is a saving but its not that great as it makes it sound and Optus knows they have you as a customer for 2 years locked. Basically the phone isn't as cheap as you think, because they recover their cost by overcharging you on the plan because on average that plan is over priced. By saving that $58 dollars, you also lose out on extra data, intl calls, data roll over and owning both phone outright and being on prepaid meaning you can jump on better plans at any time. There may even be better companies out there with better priced plans.

      • 

        Gerry H on 31/03/2019 - 12:36

        thanks for the detailed explanation!!!