Hello all. I am looking to upgrade to the s23 ultra from my s21 ultra. I am having a hard time finding a factory unlocked version though for a good price. any suggestions? the S23 ultra would be perfect for my needs, and not really looking to jump into the s24 ultra at all.

the s23 ultra unfortunately most places brand new now is 1000+ dollars. if I had a decent trade in, I'd go for it. But they are now offering very little for the s21U, let alone mine which is cracked.

First off, I always buy my phones outright, factory unlocked so they don't have specific carrier branding or carrier bloatware. I then use them with a good reputable MVNO for about half the monthly cost of a service plan from a major carrier with the only downside being slower speed when you're around thousands of other people like in a stadium.

The carriers entice people with shiny new objects with gazillion dollars off deals because (a) they know the majority of consumers can't afford to buy the phone outright and (b) they make the big discount a monthly credit spread over 24-36 months so unless you have 3 or 4 lines with the carrier, you will be paying out the nose for the service which is where they make their profit so they can afford to give you low payments on the phone. Try to leave before the 24-36 months and you have to give the phone back or pay it off and lose the remaining credits from the discount.

Google Fi and Spectrum have the best deals. Google Fi is more straight forward though. $600 off the phone at purchase and you just have to stay with them 120 days (Google Fi is a T-Mobile MVNO and also uses US Cellular Towers when it makes sense.) Spectrum is convoluted about getting your money back (there's debate whether it's a service credit that they'll refund the unused portion of if you leave them after 60 days or a Visa Cash card 2 months later or whatever. and you'll get a Spectrum branded phone.

At Samsung Store, the pre-order deal cost with trading in my Note 20 Ultra was $807 including a $46 additional educational discount which pretty much anyone can get. Pass. (Almost forgot, they also threw in for Note 20 trades a free watch that you could net about $125 for on Ebay, so technically net would have been around $680.)

Google Fi, the phone was an instant $600 off or $599 ($649 with tax) 512GB model. The monthly plan is, with a coupon for a $20 credit, a total of $60 more over the minimum 4 months than the comparable US Mobile plan I use. So that's a total cost of $709. The big catch is my Note 20 Ultra is mint condition. Sold it for $483.33 on Ebay. Net after Ebay fees and shipping cost is $403. So the net cost on upgrading to the S23 Ultra is $306. And the best thing is I'm not stuck with a specific carrier branded phone (so it will have better resale value) and don't have to pay for a $40-$70 overpriced plan at Verizon, T-mobile, or AT&T for 2-3 years (I use no more than 10GB a month so a $20 15GB plan for a Verizon MVNO suits me great. Coverage is the same, speeds always adequate(even *real* high-speed 5G supported not basically relabeled 4G LTE speed all the time) and great customer service.)

Hi, everyone. Hoping for advice since I can't decide whether to pull the trigger on the S23 Ultra now. This is going to be my first Samsung device, so I'm seeking inputs regarding deal trends.

Currently, the base model is on sale for $974.99 via the Shop Samsung app.

I was just wondering if this is already a great deal or if I should wait for the October Prime Day deals or the Black Friday sale. I noticed that better offers are given for trade-ins, but I really don't have an eligible device.

Also, I'm not too interested in the extra storage deals since I can barely fill up 64gb. Base model is the only device I'm looking at now.

Hope you folks can shed some wisdom. Thanks!

I need some advice on the best way to proceed with setting up my new S23 Ultra Unlocked which I ordered directly from Samsung and just received. This is the first time I’ve gotten a new phone from somewhere other than Verizon and the first time I’ve gotten an Unlocked phone. My current phone is a S20 Ultra 5G.

1. Since I got the Unlocked version of the S23U I need to get a Verizon SIM card for it. Should I go to a local Verizon store and get a SIM card from them? Will they not want to help me with a SIM since I did not get the new phone from them?

2. Should I just take the SIM out of my S20 Ultra and put it in the S23? Will the 3-year-old SIM from my S20U work in my new S23U? If I take the SIM out of my S20U will the S20U continue to work so I can transfer my apps & pictures to the S23U? If I move the SIM from my S20U to S23U will I have to notify Verizon or will everything just work?

3. The USB-C connector in my S20U is intermittent so connecting the two phones by USB cable to transfer everything is not likely to work well. What’s the next best way to connect the two phones to transfer stuff? WiFi? Bluetooth?

Thanks!

Looking to finance a S23 Ultra and joining Visible from T-Mobile. Current best options I see for the S23 Ultra are:

1. Either buying directly from Visible

2. Through Samsung's website (they have a pickup option to get it from Best Buy to get it earlier vs delivery). If anyone has done the pickup method from Best Buy, they're not gonna tell you to activate the phone through Verizon, T-Mobile, Google Fi, or AT&T right?.. Hope not.

Which is the best option?

• From doing research --> Buying through Visible and not receiving the phone. They tell the customer to file a police report

I am planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy S23 Unlocked due to Verizon coverage being spotty at my house. I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S10+ 4G phone. A couple questions:

1. Will I lose the ability to make WIFI calls from an unlocked S23?

2. Will I need a 5G SIM card from Verizon if I purchase an unlocked phone directly from Samsung
   (Due to my current phone being 4G)

3. Has anyone had negative experiences using an unlocked phone on Verizon?

4. On my current S10+ at home I will sometimes get 0 bars in coverage and it says emergency calls only and I can't even make WIFI calls because of that. Anyone experience this as well? I thought you only needed WIFI connection for WIFI calls?

I appreciate the help everyone.

Thank you in advance.

I know this topics comes up a lot but I can't seem to find definitive answers. I'm looking to upgrade from the S22 Plus (Verizon locked) to the S23 Ultra (Unlocked). The better deal seems to come with the unlocked edition. Plus, I love the looks of the Graphite color in the unlocked version. I know things have changed over the years in regards to feature compatibility but I am curious what I will lose going to an unlocked phone on Verizon.

Will I lose - RCS in general / with Samsung's messenger? HD voice/ VoLTE? Video calling? Visual VM? Wifi Calling? Verizon Customer Service? UWB? Any missing frequencies? Premium streaming quality?

Anything else that I may not be thinking about?

TIA

I'm using Verizon, but decided to get the unlocked S23 ultra instead of the Verizon option, since the unlocked phones get quicker updates. Is there any difference in the bands or are they one and the same? Does the unlocked model have the mmWave bands for VZ also. Thanks

I got a locked S23 Ultra from at&t in USA few years back. I paid all my dues and got it unlocked. Recently I moved to India and started using a local sim, however ever since then I didn't receive any software updates. A few days back I enabled my at&t sim in India and checked for updates and got bunch of them. Is there a way to resolve this. I don't want to keep my at&t sim active but am worried on how I would update my software.

Model Number : SM-S918U

Which are you doing? Pros and cons for each? I have AT&T prepaid by the way

Might b a dumb question but is there anyway to make my T-Mobile S23 Ultra receive normal updates rather than the T-Mobile updates. Thx

Hey everyone,

I’m considering buying the S23 Ultra.
The specs and camera look amazing, but the price is quite high.

What’s your take:

• Is it worth the money?

• Or should I check out other options in the mid-to-high range?

Would love to hear your experiences and suggestions!

Hey everyone i just got an S23 Ultra 1 TB Unlocked from Samsung.com and i am curious if I can use it on my Verizon Wireless account with a grandfathered rate plan and grandfathered features without issue? Verizon never sold a 1 TB version so is it accepted on network?

I can’t find it now, but i thought I remember seeing issues if you activate a Samsung unlocked device on Verizon. Something about it being an issue and removing grandfathered features because it is not sold by Verizon?

Anyone know it will be a problem if i activate the S23 Ultra unlocked on grandfathered “5G Get More” with the “Premium Streaming” feature? Any help or insight is greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

Anyone in here getting the unlocked S23 Ultra to be used with Xfinity mobile? I happened to be at an Xfinity store today and learned that last year the S22 line took quite some time before the unlocked versions were supported on Xfinity mobile.

Update: My S23 Ultra arrived Wednesday 2-15, and I took my Xfinity mobile sim out of my S9+ and put it in my new phone and everything works just as it should! I even connect to 5G which I thought I would need a new sim because 5G wasn't a thing yet when I first got the S9+.

Once my phone was setup, I went into the Xfinity mobile app and when I looked at my device, there was a notice saying something like "It looks like your sim is being used by a different phone", and there was a button there to press that would sync the sim to the right phone so that all the network functions worked properly. A few minutes after I pressed it, it now says that my sim is being used by my new S23 Ultra.

*Side note regarding network connectivity: I did notice yesterday that my phone wasn't connected to cell service and I had to toggle airplane mode to get it to connect, like I was having to do with my S9+. So far, that only happened that one time, where as I was having to do that multiple times a day with my S9+. Also, it doesn't seem to be connecting to 5G in places where my Verizon work phone is connected to 5G (Xfinity uses Verizon cell service, right?). I might have to request a new sim to see if that fixes those issues. These potential Xfinity mobile network issues that are happening with two separate phones are making me even more glad I bought unlocked in case I need to look at other cell network options.

I am on the S10+ and it's been working fine for the past 4 years. I only use it for WhatsApp, browsing, and Reddit. If it wasn't for the battery now holding 70% of the original charge and camera updates, I actually don't need a new phone.

I am traveling in a few months and think the camera might be worth it but having a hard time justifying that much money for a phone. Even my laptop and desktop PC don't cost that much. I am not seeing any good deals in Europe for S23 series. I have the money for it but still, almost 1500 for a phone? That can be stolen or lost and screen can break easily. Anyone else having this issue?

Would you guys buy the s23 ultra for 599 dollars new? The 256gb version. Plus also comes with 25w charger in the box here in my country. Unlocked no carrier affiliation.

Hello,

So I was a S21 Ultra owner for 2 years before it was lost/stolen. Thought I was covered with Samsung Care, but disappointingly found out that Samsung Care does not cover loss and theft in CA (seriously Samsung??). So I'm left shopping for a new unlocked phone from scratch.

Anyways, my question is it worth buying a refurbished S21 ultra in 2023? Or should I go for a brand new S23 ultra. I'm willing to spend the extra money on the new device if it's really that much better and future proof. I do really enjoy taking photos and battery life is also important to me. Basically is the extra ~$600 to drop worth it fort the S23 Ultra? I'm saving money now so it wouldn't be a deal breaker, but I still like to be frugal sometimes.

Edit: spelling

Hey guys I preordered the unlocked version of the S23 ultra instead of tmobile version and just curious. Will VoLTE work? Wifi calling? Enhanced voicemail? Basically that kind of stuff. Thank you for your time.

Can't order yet

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-s23-ultra/