Chance to buy a Galaxy S2 (locked to Three.ie)

Philip42

Hi,

I'm due an upgrade in August of this year, and I was going to go for a Galaxy S3 and looking forward to it, but my mate (who's not into touchscreen phones) bought a Galaxy S2 on the Three Ireland network and is flogging it to me. I'm assuming I'm going to get a bargain here i.e. the upgrade price for the S3 hopefully! (around 239 euro). I'm with eMobile but was thinking of going pay as you go with Meteor when my contract expires with eMobile.

My first question is - is it a big deal unlocking/debranding a Three Galaxy S2? And the other question is, is it a big come down from a Galaxy S3 to a Galaxy S2? Things are tight and I don't really want to commit again to another 60 quid a month unlimited package with emobile for 18 months.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks


Philip

ED E

What are you coming from? The S2 is a great phone still, so if you're several gens back it'd still be worth upgrading.

If your mate has spent 140E in credit he can get a free unlock from the network, otherwise you could buy a code online for like 30-40E.

coldfire1x

FYI: You can get it unlocked from any unlocking shop in city centre for €15.

coldfire1x

And yes, S2 is still a great phone especially if you are getting it at a good price....

Philip42

Excellent - thanks for that. Sounds promising so...I'm trying to avoid signing up to a long term plan in today's climate. I'm coming from a Nokia N8. Now, I've had android before - HTC Desire/ Desire S etc, but for some unknown reason I went to a Nokia N8 for the camera - some idea I got into my head, and have regretted it ever since!

Is it possible to go the full debranding route with a Three phone. I'm technical enough and have debranded other Sony (old phones) before with no problem. Is it something that can be done?

Thanks for letting me know. I like the features of the Galaxy S3 from the reading up, but the build quality seems slightly better on the S2 from what I can see.

Cheers


Philip

The_B_Man

If you root the phone, there's an app you can get on the market that you just run, and it'll unlock it. I did it for two Galaxy S 2's last summer. I'm just assuming the app is still there, but the point is, its piss easy to unlock so I wouldnt even factor in whether or not its network locked into the equation when buying.

EDIT: I can't remember if this was the app I used, so can't guarantee it'll work, but its an example of what I mean: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.sgs2simunlockcode

marcbrophy

That's the app alright!

It's amazingly simple to unlock the S2 if you're willing to root it!

Philip42

The_B_Man wrote: »

If you root the phone, there's an app you can get on the market that you just run, and it'll unlock it. I did it for two Galaxy S 2's last summer. I'm just assuming the app is still there, but the point is, its piss easy to unlock so I wouldnt even factor in whether or not its network locked into the equation when buying.

EDIT: I can't remember if this was the app I used, so can't guarantee it'll work, but its an example of what I mean: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.sgs2simunlockcode

Excellent - cheers mate. I'll see what offer I get off him and decide if it's worth it based on that. Thanks again.

coldfire1x

Debranding is quite simple actually even if you dont want to root.

Just download open UK/Ireland firmware from sammobile and flash it using odin. 10 min and you are all sorted.

Philip42 wrote: »

Excellent - thanks for that. Sounds promising so...I'm trying to avoid signing up to a long term plan in today's climate. I'm coming from a Nokia N8. Now, I've had android before - HTC Desire/ Desire S etc, but for some unknown reason I went to a Nokia N8 for the camera - some idea I got into my head, and have regretted it ever since!

Is it possible to go the full debranding route with a Three phone. I'm technical enough and have debranded other Sony (old phones) before with no problem. Is it something that can be done?

Thanks for letting me know. I like the features of the Galaxy S3 from the reading up, but the build quality seems slightly better on the S2 from what I can see.

Cheers


Philip

Philip42

coldfire1x wrote: »

Debranding is quite simple actually even if you dont want to root.

Just download open UK/Ireland firmware from sammobile and flash it using odin. 10 min and you are all sorted.

Brilliant - I like the sounds of that even more! Here's a question though, if I don't have a Three sim to start and I've just got a locked phone, can I do all the above anyway? My mate's selling it to me for 250 euro....sounds like a really good deal to me. I know it'll be immaculate as he really looks after his stuff and has been only using it for about 3 weeks. He's just fed up of using a touchscreen.

Cheers


Philip

G1032

Philip42 wrote: »

Here's a question though, if I don't have a Three sim to start and I've just got a locked phone, can I do all the above anyway?

Philip

Simple answer............Yep

Philip42

Great so..thanks for that..