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Samsung Exhibit II 4G

Does anyone know yet if this phone will get ICS? Im thinking of swapping from my LG OV to this, becuase I am near WiFI a lot and tmobile lets you call over wifi without it hitting your minutes.

I'm still new to Android and smart phones in general, I've only been using them for a little over 2 months, but from everything I've come accross, unless the phone is a big name phone, IF the Exhibit II was to get the ICS upgrade, it probably wouldn't be for a VERY long time. But this phone does have Gingerbread, whereas the OV is still only running froyo. I upgraded from the OV and I HIGHLY recommend the upgrade from that phone. HUGE difference.
 
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Thats good to know, I like my little OV, but it does get very laggy when I use Navigation. Since I am always around WiFi I love the idea of calling over wifi without using minutes. That would make it a much better deal (for me) than the virgin plan.

The wifi calling actually does use your minutes unless you use the grooveip/google voice setup, which in my experience just plain sucks, no matter how much I played with the settings, either they couldn't hear me, I couldn't hear them, or there was so much echo or just bad sound in general you couldn't have any sort of conversation. BUT it's only 10 cents a minute after the first 100 minutes, which I personally don't think is bad, at least for me.
 
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For Cereal... it counts against minutes??? That's Lame. I read some FAQs on the tmobile website and it said otherwise (I thought). I may have to rethink switching, but this phone still looks much nicer than my little Optimus V. I would upgrade to the optimus slider on virgin, but that does not seem like much of an upgrade and I don't care about a physical keyboard. The motorola is still running 2.2 so I don't think I will go for that one :(.

Maybe I will just wait until I can getting something with ICS on a prepaid carrier.
 
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The wifi calling actually does use your minutes unless you use the grooveip/google voice setup, which in my experience just plain sucks, no matter how much I played with the settings, either they couldn't hear me, I couldn't hear them, or there was so much echo or just bad sound in general you couldn't have any sort of conversation. BUT it's only 10 cents a minute after the first 100 minutes, which I personally don't think is bad, at least for me.
OK from the Tmobile website...

If you use Wi-Fi to make and receive calls, consider adding our Free Wi-Fi Calling feature. With this feature, calls over Wi-Fi do not count against monthly plan minutes. For more information on Free Wi-Fi Calling visit a T-Mobile store or contact a care representative.

But I do not see any option to add that on the prepaid plan :S
 
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OK from the Tmobile website...

If you use Wi-Fi to make and receive calls, consider adding our Free Wi-Fi Calling feature. With this feature, calls over Wi-Fi do not count against monthly plan minutes. For more information on Free Wi-Fi Calling visit a T-Mobile store or contact a care representative.

But I do not see any option to add that on the prepaid plan :S


I don't have an Exhibit II, I have the 1st Exhibit & it came with a Wi-Fi Calling App installed...I use it a friends house where cell service sucks..from all providers...anyway, every time I start it up, it shows a little warning message that it uses your minutes...I've got unlimited, so I don't care.

The App is listed in the T-Mobile App Store Free Premium Apps With Every Data Plan | Android Marketplace | T-Mobile
 
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OK from the Tmobile website...

If you use Wi-Fi to make and receive calls, consider adding our Free Wi-Fi Calling feature. With this feature, calls over Wi-Fi do not count against monthly plan minutes. For more information on Free Wi-Fi Calling visit a T-Mobile store or contact a care representative.

But I do not see any option to add that on the prepaid plan :S

I've used the wifi calling through the app and was deducted minutes. I don't know if it's only for prepaid or not, but it definitely uses up minutes on the prepaid plan. The wifi option is nice though if you are ever in a situation where you are able to connect to wifi but you don't have a signal otherwise.
 
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Hi ww321q,

I too would like to unlock it and use on AT&T. A couple of quick questions -

1. Would you mind sharing how you unlocked it? I have tried all the methods posted on these forums for unlocking Exhbit I, but none of them work since they all need access to file nv_data.bin, and for the life of me, I cannot find that file on Exhibit II after rooting it. I also looked at commercial services but they costs like $20-$30!!! Very expensive, compared to $2 I paid for unlocking LG Optimus T.

Anybody else figured out out how to unlock the Exhibit II, pleaaaasssse do chime in.

2. Have you tried your unlocked Exhibit II on AT&T 4G? If so, does it work and what kind of speeds did you get?

Many thanks in advance!!!



I got one a week or so ago. I'm upgrading from a very slow 3g Iphone. I had it unlocked and am using it on AT&T till my contract runs out. Seem like a really good deal to me. No problems yet. I rooted it to remove unwanted T-Mobile apps. I picked up a spare battery and battery charger from eBay to use in case I'm not around any place with power. I really liked the size of the Iphone because it was the smallest phone that I could still read text from the web. The Exhibit II 4g is almost the same size . Web pages load several times faster and scroll pretty good too. Lots of cool Android apps and I don't need Steve Jobs blessing to load them :) ! Don't expect it to preform like a $600 phone though . But for $200 and a $30 a month service from T-mobile , This is an unbeatable deal ! for sure !
 
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The wifi calling actually does use your minutes unless you use the grooveip/google voice setup, which in my experience just plain sucks, no matter how much I played with the settings, either they couldn't hear me, I couldn't hear them, or there was so much echo or just bad sound in general you couldn't have any sort of conversation. BUT it's only 10 cents a minute after the first 100 minutes, which I personally don't think is bad, at least for me.

Wifi calling does not use any minutes if you are using NETTALK which is a free app and free calls to usa and canada which is crystal clear,so stop using groovip and wasting your money.
 
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Hi ww321q,

I too would like to unlock it and use on AT&T. A couple of quick questions -

1. Would you mind sharing how you unlocked it? I have tried all the methods posted on these forums for unlocking Exhbit I, but none of them work since they all need access to file nv_data.bin, and for the life of me, I cannot find that file on Exhibit II after rooting it. I also looked at commercial services but they costs like $20-$30!!! Very expensive, compared to $2 I paid for unlocking LG Optimus T.

Anybody else figured out out how to unlock the Exhibit II, pleaaaasssse do chime in.

2. Have you tried your unlocked Exhibit II on AT&T 4G? If so, does it work and what kind of speeds did you get?

Many thanks in advance!!!

Hey guys,i just got my t679 unlocked by t-mobile.
here is what you need.
you need a proof of purchase of the phone,your name,phone #to reach you at,your e-mail address,your phones IMEI# ,if you activated your phone with t-mobile the phone # they gave you,and write down a brief explanation of why you need your phone to be unlocked and the last thing you have to do is call t-mobile and request a Sim Unlock Reference # and ask them for fax # of unlock team.
what you have to do now is simple,put all that information you have up there on a piece of paper starting with ATTN=UNLOCK TEAM and fax it to them,they will send you an e-mail in a day saying that unlock code may take 2 to 14 days,hurray you are done,enjoy your unlocked phone :)
 
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Wifi calling does not use any minutes if you are using NETTALK which is a free app and free calls to usa and canada which is crystal clear,so stop using groovip and wasting your money.

Well "Nettalk" seems to be for outgoing calls only, unless I'm misreading something, but I will definitely be giving this a shot, I will update with my personal experience with Nettalk within a couple days. Plus this app hasn't been updated since January of 2011, but if it works it works I guess, but after looking at all the reviews I'm not too hopeful about it.
 
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So far, not so good. Calls are going through well, we can both hear each other, but every single person I call hears an echo of them selves in the background and they all say it's a pretty bad echo. I've looked through the settings and messed with my volume on the phone like it says to, but to no avail. I've done both wifi and 4g calling. Although it is working a bit better than grooveip, I don't think it's going to work out well again, I'll just have to live with the $.10 a minute after the 100.
 
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So far, not so good. Calls are going through well, we can both hear each other, but every single person I call hears an echo of them selves in the background and they all say it's a pretty bad echo. I've looked through the settings and messed with my volume on the phone like it says to, but to no avail. I've done both wifi and 4g calling. Although it is working a bit better than grooveip, I don't think it's going to work out well again, I'll just have to live with the $.10 a minute after the 100.

well,it is working really well for me,I have $10 a month prepaid plan which carries unused minutes over to next month,when people call me i do not answer the phone then i call them back with nettalk for free(i use the phone kind of a pager thingy)with my exhibit 2 4g it works ok for now,i also rooted my phone and got rid of all the bloat ware from t-mobile maybe that help a bit.
 
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I'm sure it works well in different areas, but I can't use it. Plus now every so often the phone doesn't stop ringing even after it connects. Just doesn't work right for me no matter what I do.

On another note, I highly recommend downloading a new launcher right away if you get this phone. I stuck with the touch wiz launcher as long as I could because I liked the way it was set up, but I couldn't deal with how slow it was anymore, so I downloaded golauncher, wow what a difference in how the phone runs, especially if you use a live wallpaper.
 
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Maybe if we get a good enough community here we can get our own forum!

I bought this phone exactly one month ago.
This was my first initial smart phone (I had used the Optimus V (not mine) on and off with VM for a few months).

There are some very good things about this phone, and some things that I don't like.

Mainly its sluggish at times, Its probably my fault I do like to use alot of apps frequently, so sometimes when I'd like to go back to my home screen.. I'll get a blank wallpaper image and the icons slowly reappear.
It seems like 512MB RAM (which in reality is 350MB or so for apps) is not enough for android.

But the 4G coverage I get very well makes up for that. I have watched/heard live streams/high quality radio stations and doing many things at once thanks to 4G.

This past month? After pretty heavy usage I only had 1.5GB out of 5GB bandwidth used. (It should really be 2.5GB but halfway through the month.. it reset the bandwidth counter.. Shhh!)

Overall, I love this phone... Onto month 2!

I love this phone! I don't use it for apps enough for it to be sluggish. I do agree that it is a little slippery. I don't understand why the top of the phone is more square than the bottom. But I am gonna look into the D3O case for it. Right now I have a rubberized plastic case and it's added some grippage to it.
 
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Also, another thing I've been playing with is Grooveip used with google voice, which allows you to make your calls through your data plan, which in turn does not use your t-mobile minutes. It is not perfect, you have to play with the settings quite a bit to get it right, some people hear echos... But Grooveip only costs $5, and any time you are in a 4g area or wifi, it works great. I will be using this to make calls, but still probably receive calls on my t-mobile plan. But with the 2 apps, you pretty much get unlimited minutes since you're getting 5gb of data.

What settings are you using for Groove IP on the Exhibit II? I'm having little success even on wifi. I too planned to use it only to make calls and would be happy with that.
 
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What settings are you using for Groove IP on the Exhibit II? I'm having little success even on wifi. I too planned to use it only to make calls and would be happy with that.

Lol, actually if you reed down a bit further, I then said

"I've changed my mind about grooveip... at first it was great... now it seems like I'm having nothing but problems with it no matter how much I play with the settings... it was a complete waste of $5.... I'll still be ok with the 100 minutes a month, but grooveip is worthless for me."

Not a fan anymore, lol. Some seem to have it working great though I guess.
 
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So far, not so good. Calls are going through well, we can both hear each other, but every single person I call hears an echo of them selves in the background and they all say it's a pretty bad echo. I've looked through the settings and messed with my volume on the phone like it says to, but to no avail. I've done both wifi and 4g calling. Although it is working a bit better than grooveip, I don't think it's going to work out well again, I'll just have to live with the $.10 a minute after the 100.

Seems endemic to VoIP in general, and with this phone in particular.

I started with Talkatone on the iPad. Has some echo, but not terrible. Moved to the alpha-testing Talkatone for Android on the Exhibit II, and at this point all my 'victims' report significant echo on their end.

Tried muting the mic with my hand and the echo diminished a bit but not completely. The workaround is to use earphones. The echo goes away entirely.

That tells me two things:

a) The echo is acoustic, through the body of the phone. With a mic in such close proximity to a speaker, this is no surprise. Physical isolation in such a small unit while preserving audibility would be nearly impossible.

AND
b) that's why typical cellphone communication sounds non-duplexed. Clearly, the makers of the phone soft/firmware account for it by muting one side or the other depending on when you're talking. If you're not talking, your phone's OS is muting the mic. If you are talking, your phone's OS is muting the earpiece.

So I guess once Talkatone, GrooveIP, et al get the basic VoIP comm circuit working right, their next area of effort will be to work on the conditional muting.
 
Upvote 0
Maybe if we get a good enough community here we can get our own forum!

I bought this phone exactly one month ago.
This was my first initial smart phone (I had used the Optimus V (not mine) on and off with VM for a few months).

There are some very good things about this phone, and some things that I don't like.

Mainly its sluggish at times, Its probably my fault I do like to use alot of apps frequently, so sometimes when I'd like to go back to my home screen.. I'll get a blank wallpaper image and the icons slowly reappear.
It seems like 512MB RAM (which in reality is 350MB or so for apps) is not enough for android.

But the 4G coverage I get very well makes up for that. I have watched/heard live streams/high quality radio stations and doing many things at once thanks to 4G.

This past month? After pretty heavy usage I only had 1.5GB out of 5GB bandwidth used. (It should really be 2.5GB but halfway through the month.. it reset the bandwidth counter.. Shhh!)

Overall, I love this phone... Onto month 2!

How do you reset the bandwidth counter?
 
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Lol, actually if you reed down a bit further, I then said

"I've changed my mind about grooveip... at first it was great... now it seems like I'm having nothing but problems with it no matter how much I play with the settings... it was a complete waste of $5.... I'll still be ok with the 100 minutes a month, but grooveip is worthless for me."

Not a fan anymore, lol. Some seem to have it working great though I guess.

I tried groove ip as well and didn't get good results. I'm now using skype. It's not free, but I'm getting acceptable call quality. It costs $30 a year for unlimited calls, and if you want to have a number where they can call you, you can buy a number for $30. I didn't buy a number yet, maybe I will in the future. What I'm doing is letting the calls come in through groove ip (with my GV number), but not answering them, this allows callers to leave a message on my google voice acct which I can access without calling TMobile voicemail (which uses minutes). Then I call them from skype (I have set my outgoing number on skype as my google voice number so on their caller id it shows the correct number.
 
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