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Samsung GS4 SPH-L720T [TRI-BAND] (was "Sprint GS4 with Tri-Band support this Fall Official Thread")


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So much for the theory that Sprint would clear out S4 inventory via a Black Friday sale:

 

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-makes-it-easy-to-give-big-this-holiday-season.htm

 

Being an Employee Referral account holder it is nice to see that the G2 will be available for $49. Of course, Best Buy has had that price for the last two weeks but some of us are not allowed to purchase phones from them.

 

I still think the S4 camera and removable battery are worth waiting for over the Nexus 5 or G2.

 

You are assuming that Sprint has a huge inventory of single band GS4's still that they need another promotion to get rid of that inventory.  I am sure Sprint does not have as much single band GS4's as we might think.  No matter how much GS4 inventory is left Sprint will not be able to sell every single one of the single band GS4's in the US before their internal GS4 Triband transition date. 

 

At some point Sprint corporate is going to make a decision and tell stores either to yank all existing single band GS4 inventory off of their shelves and return it back to corporate OR tell stores to just stock both versions until they can sell every last one of the single band GS4 and it will be a roulette on which version you get.

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You are assuming that Sprint has a huge inventory of single band GS4's still that they need another promotion to get rid of that inventory.  I am sure Sprint does not have as much single band GS4's as we might think.  No matter how much GS4 inventory is left Sprint will not be able to sell every single one of the single band GS4's in the US before their internal GS4 Triband transition date. 

 

At some point Sprint corporate is going to make a decision and tell stores either to yank all existing single band GS4 inventory off of their shelves and return it back to corporate OR tell stores to just stock both versions until they can sell every last one of the single band GS4 and it will be a roulette on which version you get.

That's all assuming that they aren't going to make any special kind of name changes to it. I still think it would make sense to call it the GS4 Spark or something similar.

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Another consideration is that they may not have them in hand yet.  They may not want to deplete stock too early on a phone that is selling well on its own and the replacement may be hung up in the supply chain.

 

This sale is for the entire S4 line:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/samsung-gs4-114738

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I forget did the stuff that has been found so far for the SPH-L720T list the processor or just the bands? If the SPH-L720T is Snapdragon 800 it most likely will be my next phone.

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I forget did the stuff that has been found so far for the SPH-L720T list the processor or just the bands? If the SPH-L720T is Snapdragon 800 it most likely will be my next phone.

AJ suspects, based on an FCC document mentioning clock speed, that it's the same Snapdragon 600(APQ8064AB) in the original S4.

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AJ suspects, based on an FCC document mentioning clock speed, that it's the same Snapdragon 600(APQ8064AB) in the original S4.

thanks I didn't want to go thru 380 posts and not find it.  IF Sprint does a S4 "Advanced" with a Snapdragon 800 later next year it would be my choice if a TriBand Note 2/3 descendant doesn't pop first.

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thanks I didn't want to go thru 380 posts and not find it.  IF Sprint does a S4 "Advanced" with a Snapdragon 800 later next year it would be my choice if a TriBand Note 2/3 descendant doesn't pop first.

I really think we should just wait for the S5 now...it'll be launched sometime in March/April.

Also eyeing the M8.  Wondering what other changes there will be.

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I forget did the stuff that has been found so far for the SPH-L720T list the processor or just the bands? If the SPH-L720T is Snapdragon 800 it most likely will be my next phone.

I know this sounds pedantic, but if you do not want to do your diligence in the thread, read my article and its comments. If the info is important, I almost always ensure that it is included. Then, you can get by with the equivalent of only a few pages of reading.

 

AJ

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Hmm...it'd be more exciting if I hadn't been enjoying my LG G2 "Advance" for nearly a month now...

 

G2 doesn't have my entire shopping list on it so I wouldn't enjoy that.  It'd be 2 steps back for 2 different steps forward.  Remove/replace data card, user replaceable battery, and tri-band (B26) I'd rather not "settle" for close if exact or "plus BETTER" is coming relatively soon down the pipe.

 

I realize that eventually I'm going to have to relent and get the current best option.

 

I was so looking forward to getting a new phone Nov 1 when I became eligible.  It's tough to stay patient with an old photon in hand, but it may be worth it to push to the end and see what comes of these threats of new devices before March.

 

Are there any renewal experts here?  What happens if my contract renewal comes and goes BEFORE the best option phone releases?  Is there any grace period AFTER the renewal to upgrade the phone?  How would that work?

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G2 doesn't have my entire shopping list on it so I wouldn't enjoy that.  It'd be 2 steps back for 2 different steps forward.  Remove/replace data card, user replaceable battery, and tri-band (B26) I'd rather not "settle" for close if exact or "plus BETTER" is coming relatively soon down the pipe.

 

I realize that eventually I'm going to have to relent and get the current best option.

 

I was so looking forward to getting a new phone Nov 1 when I became eligible.  It's tough to stay patient with an old photon in hand, but it may be worth it to push to the end and see what comes of these threats of new devices before March.

 

Are there any renewal experts here?  What happens if my contract renewal comes and goes BEFORE the best option phone releases?  Is there any grace period AFTER the renewal to upgrade the phone?  How would that work?

Honestly, with 32 gigs and a 3000 mAh battery, I don't see as much need for them to be removable. Also, the G2 is triband. If you want a Samsung, the Mini and the Mega are also triband. You also don't have to upgrade. You don't lose your upgrade eligibility. I was due for an upgrade since 2011 until I got the G2.

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I fit into that "not much" category.  I am outdoor / rural / travel a lot.

 

I can get reprieves from charging for as long as I have spare batteries.

If my battery goes bad from abuse, I can replace it with one of my spares within 5 minutes.

I can "top" charge my phone instantly if I find myself going someplace and don't have access to charge power for an extended period of time, (travel in fringe signal areas in a vehicle where others may be charging)

 

With a non-replaceable battery, you are always someplace other than at the top of the charge curve.

With a u.r battery you have far more flexibility to decide when you are at the top of a charge curve.

I'm not tied to an outlet or a vehicle, or having to attach a bulky external aux battery while I use the phone.

 

 

With a removable data card, you have the flexibility to CHANGE and upgrade at will the storage memory on your phone and carry far more data - especially memory wasting multimedia data.  I can synch a LOT more of my laptop/desktop data and have it with me for convenient reference without even a phone signal.  This was even more important with my current Wimax phone.

 

If the phone is damaged, the data is FAR easier to retrieve and transplant if it is physically removable.

 

These two options are more important to me than a minor processor upgrade.  But it'd be great to get that too if it is "coming soon."

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I fit into that "not much" category.  I am outdoor / rural / travel a lot.

 

I can get reprieves from charging for as long as I have spare batteries.

If my battery goes bad from abuse, I can replace it with one of my spares within 5 minutes.

I can "top" charge my phone instantly if I find myself going someplace and don't have access to charge power for an extended period of time, (travel in fringe signal areas in a vehicle where others may be charging)

 

With a non-replaceable battery, you are always someplace other than at the top of the charge curve.

With a u.r battery you have far more flexibility to decide when you are at the top of a charge curve.

I'm not tied to an outlet or a vehicle, or having to attach a bulky external aux battery while I use the phone.

 

 

With a removable data card, you have the flexibility to CHANGE and upgrade at will the storage memory on your phone and carry far more data - especially memory wasting multimedia data.  I can synch a LOT more of my laptop/desktop data and have it with me for convenient reference without even a phone signal.  This was even more important with my current Wimax phone.

 

If the phone is damaged, the data is FAR easier to retrieve and transplant if it is physically removable.

 

These two options are more important to me than a minor processor upgrade.  But it'd be great to get that too if it is "coming soon."

Agreed.  Well thought out and well written. 

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I guess I am not as much of an extreme power user that I thought I was. I've noticed with heavy usage, I get 24+ hours of use from my phone and with everything I have downloaded and all the multimedia I've transferred to my phone I still have nearly 19 gigs of space available. One cool feature on the G2, I am not sure if the Galaxy has it, is the wireless storage feature. It basically creates a network drive with your computer so you can easily move all of your data around wirelessly.

 

I am not trying to tell anyone what to buy. I felt slightly reserved about lack of sd card and replaceable battery, too. I just realized that it was more psychological for me than actual need. I literally sat on an upgrade for years because I didn't want to make a mistake and get something that wasn't "good enough". But, after all this time of being stuck with a poor quality WiMAX phone and wishing for LTE, I finally took the plunge. It was worth it. If waiting until March to get your S5 or M8 is what will work for you, that is cool, too. But with how insanely cheap the phones are now, I just wanted to add a different perspective so you don't end up regretting a missed opportunity like I had last Black Friday. You can get a G2 for $20 on Amazon and a N5 for $30. Just saying...holy smokes, Batman.

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I understand your lack of need to high storage.  I simply don't agree.

Aviation navigation charts and service manuals are storage pigs.

 

This is what I want - except on the Sprint Spark network:

 

http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=5186&view=1&c=samsung_gt-i9506_galaxy_s4_with_lteplus__galaxy_s4_advance_32gb

 

I'd happily settle for the 16 gb version and put the balance on the SD card.

 

It's not apparently in the US / sprint pipeline yet.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-debuts-samsung-galaxy-s-4-with-the-benefit-of-sprint-spark.htm?view_id=9860

 

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

 

 

December 10, 2013

Sprint Debuts Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the Benefit of Sprint Spark

 

 

NEW YORK (BUSINESS WIRE), December 10, 2013 - Sprint (NYSE:S) expects to begin delivery of Samsung Galaxy S® 4 (16GB) with the addition of Sprint Spark™ (enhanced LTE) to its sales channels in the next few weeks. This enhances the current version of Galaxy S 4 with a design change to take advantage of unprecedented speeds by combining all three Sprint bands (800MHz, 1.9GHz and 2.5GHz) of 4G LTE wireless spectrum.

Sprint Spark allows tri-band devices, like Galaxy S 4, to support active hand-off mode between 800MHz, 1.9GHz and 2.5GHz and provide data session continuity as the devices move between spectrum bands.

Sprint Spark provides the capacity to greatly improve the performance of video and other bandwidth-intensive applications while opening the way for futuristic applications. Sprint Spark is designed to support a new generation of online gaming, virtual reality, advanced cloud services and other applications requiring very high bandwidth.

...

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Bittersweet!  Those of us with single band GS4s are presumably offered no reasonable upgrade path to the tri band device (aside from waiting out the contract..at which point this phone will have been rendered rather moot).  But I'm still glad to see it come to fruition.  Let's get bands 26 and 41 rolled out across America!

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Bittersweet!  Those of us with single band GS4s are presumably offered no reasonable upgrade path to the tri band device (aside from waiting out the contract..at which point this phone will have been rendered rather moot).  But I'm still glad to see it come to fruition.  Let's get bands 26 and 41 rolled out across America!

I tried to tell my family to wait till the gs4 with spark support would be announced and they go 4 of em for free :/ I wish they would have listened..

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I tried to tell my family to wait till the gs4 with spark support would be announced and they go 4 of em for free :/ I wish they would have listened..

I wish I had waited, too!  lol.  Oh well..ya live and ya learn, right?  That said.. my GS4 with LTE works great here in a nearly band 25 complete market.  So I'll live : o )

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Official announcement of the Spark version of the S4: http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=11238

Uh, you might want to read back a few posts...

 

AJ

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