• Hardware

  • Samsung Galaxy S4 i9505 in Lebanon?

Soooo...tell me about Amhaz. Aren't those politically affiliated as well?

Who cares. We're doing business with them. I don't care if they like the devil. My dealing with them stops at business.
vegetaleb wrote
Aveline wrote
vegetaleb wrote
Check their Facebook page (Samsung Lebanon) and you will see what ''Like'' CTC did as politician.
I always respect business that don't enter politics,why CTC why?
Who said i9500 is the international version? i9505 is the most sold S4 in Europe and Asia,only poor countries aka 1/3 world have the i9500
Not to defend Samsung, but Liking the minister of telecommunications is more like common courtesy than political affiliation. Samsung certainly don't need him to be as successful as they are now, rather it's Sehnaoui needs Samsung :P

As for the i9500 being the international version, it's like Samsung politely saying, "We will also offer a version to countries that aren't civilized enough to keep up with our target markets. We've even called it international version just to make them feel special!"
Dude we are in Lebanon,and this minister is a very controversial guy in politics,even in ''normal'' countries like France and UK neither Samsung or Apple will put a poster or ''like'' the minister of telecommunications.
Business has nothing to do with politics and should not.
They got the i9500 because it's just cheaper and they can sell it at the price of the i9505,and who win in that? the black market again who can bring i9505 without warranty.
An excerpt from a GSMArena article featuring both the i9500 and i9505:

"The Galaxy S4 Octa is available only on a few select markets, and the Snapdragon 600 version is shaping up to be what we like to call the "international" model. Despite what some would have you believe, the reason for pushing the (initially intended only for the US) Snapdragon version to international markets is not its exclusive LTE support. It seems both chipsets are perfectly capable of providing LTE connectivity. It's manufacturing issues that Samsung is blaming for the low production numbers of its home-brewed Exynos 5 Octa chipset. This is the reason behind the shift of the Snapdragon 600 into being the more widely available offering."

When it said "both chipsets are perfectly capable of providing LTE connectivity" it means Samsung could have added an LTE chip to the i9500 on top of the octa-core Exynos. i9500 cannot run 4G connectivity.

As for business and politics, frankly I don't care. I don't live my life according to what other people do or "Like". It could be the personal views of the employee responsible for the Samsung page for all I know. If it bugs you that much, you can go to the Samsung HQ in Amaret Chalhoub and file an official complaint. Such matters are trivial and meaningless to me.
I wonder if they will bring S4 Active and S4 LTE-A with S800...
vegetaleb wroteI wonder if they will bring S4 Active and S4 LTE-A with S800...
OMG that would be a beast! I might even get rid of my Nexus 4 for this S4 LTE-A!
Aveline wrote
LifeEngineer wroteYeah it's snapdragon 600 so you can also install the AOSP ROM extracted from the google version of the S4. Besides there's LTE.
If you find any please make sure to tell us :-)
First of all, even if you install a US or UK ROM, LTE won't work because simply the i9500 doesn't have the LTE chip. The reason the i9505 isn't octa core is so that there is sufficient power and capacity to run an LTE chip. Samsung is releasing a newer variant of the S4 called the Galaxy S4 LTE-A (SHV-E330S), which has even better speeds than the LTE S4 and includes the Snapdragon 800 chipset, which beats the two other S4s in the benchmarks. Second, you also have to consider the frequency of the 4G used here in Lebanon. We have yet to know what it is. It would be a waste to buy a phone with LTE and turn out to work on a different frequency than that of Lebanon.

The SHV-E330S is only being released in South Korea. It might not even be an S4 at all. It might be the Note 3.

EDIT: On a side note, please also let me know if any of you find an I9505.
tt400 wrote
Aveline wrote
LifeEngineer wroteYeah it's snapdragon 600 so you can also install the AOSP ROM extracted from the google version of the S4. Besides there's LTE.
If you find any please make sure to tell us :-)
First of all, even if you install a US or UK ROM, LTE won't work because simply the i9500 doesn't have the LTE chip. The reason the i9505 isn't octa core is so that there is sufficient power and capacity to run an LTE chip. Samsung is releasing a newer variant of the S4 called the Galaxy S4 LTE-A (SHV-E330S), which has even better speeds than the LTE S4 and includes the Snapdragon 800 chipset, which beats the two other S4s in the benchmarks. Second, you also have to consider the frequency of the 4G used here in Lebanon. We have yet to know what it is. It would be a waste to buy a phone with LTE and turn out to work on a different frequency than that of Lebanon.

The SHV-E330S is only being released in South Korea. It might not even be an S4 at all. It might be the Note 3.

EDIT: On a side note, please also let me know if any of you find an I9505.
The SHV-E330S is confirmed to be a variant of the S4, and yes, it is only available in South Korea. It can be bought from eBay with a PayPal account for $950+, and can work in Lebanon as well.
7 days later
So no new sources for i9505?
Class is claiming they have it but it's very expensive (as usual with them) 680$ with a 1 week warranty lol
1 week warranty, can't get any better than that. Abuse the phone for a whole week and see if it holds up :P
Yeah but it's way too expensive for an S4,damn new law and damn CTC!
It would have been at 500$ now
A few days ago I asked a sales rep in the Samsung store. He said they aren't interested in getting it now since the 4G networks aren't fully operational yet. They plan to get it when the 4G networks become operational. He also said it would be more expensive than the i9500.
The i9500 is just cheaper for them, 4G is just an excuse, the i9505 has CM roms while i9500 doesn't,and it's a killer thing as touchwiz on S4 is laggy
vegetaleb wroteSo no new sources for i9505?
Class is claiming they have it but it's very expensive (as usual with them) 680$ with a 1 week warranty lol
Wait, what? Class has it? I will buy it for that much if it means it hasn't been opened. I found a guy on Elmazad who's selling his and I managed to get the price down to $570 with an E6. He was originally asking for $650.

EDIT: By the way, I've been looking for an I9505 everywhere. Everywhere. I can't believe I didn't ask at Class.
Class ABC claimed to have it but not at Mar Elias, I think they just say anything to sell at ABC.
The guy from elmazad used the phone for a week already,he just say ''it still has the screen protector on'' big LOL.
For me S4 i9500 = zero interest, it looks like Lebanese who bought it don't even know we can flash custom roms
Believe it or not, most people actually like and prefer TouchWiz. So the mass consumers don't even know or care about custom roms. But yeah I agree with you, personally I wouldn't even think of getting the i9500.

By the way, HTC claimed that they will release the stock Google rom for anyone to install on their One. In addition, they will allow us to revert back to the Sense rom. Will Samsung do the same for the i9505 or are you forced to use leaked roms?
Google Edition rom is already available at XDA,I didn't flash it yet because I will lose the Zoe and internet pass through from Sense,though I may try MIUI just for fun
vegetaleb wroteThe i9500 is just cheaper for them, 4G is just an excuse, the i9505 has CM roms while i9500 doesn't,and it's a killer thing as touchwiz on S4 is laggy
The i9500 is the international model. That's to be expected.
yasamoka wrote
vegetaleb wroteThe i9500 is just cheaper for them, 4G is just an excuse, the i9505 has CM roms while i9500 doesn't,and it's a killer thing as touchwiz on S4 is laggy
The i9500 is the international model. That's to be expected.
From GSM Arena http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_i9500_vs_i9505-review-930.php

''The Galaxy S4 Octa is available only on a few select markets, and the Snapdragon 600 version is shaping up to be what we like to call the "international" model. Despite what some would have you believe, the reason for pushing the (initially intended only for the US) Snapdragon version to international markets is not its exclusive LTE support.''
I just found one on waseet for 650$.
Hahaha my HTC One is still the most expensive phone out :P
Today I saw my friend's S4 ,he dropped on a table (it's what he said) the right lower corner was like a chewing gum, I dunno if I will swap anymore,the main complaint of the One is that it easily get micro scratches on the silver border just like the iphone5,but if my friend is telling the truth and the S4 become a chewing gum with a 10cm drop...