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Considering getting a note 5, have a few questions.

thisISjoel

Android Enthusiast
Feb 16, 2014
412
119
Sydney
Hey dudes, I'm considering a note 5 for my next phone. It will only be my second android phone with my first being a nexus 5 that I bought direct from google. If I get the note 5 it will be on a plan through optus (Australian telco).

My wife has an S6 on optus and it has certain things like a boot animation from the carrier that I'm wondering if I can remove if I get the note 5? I guess what I'm really asking is can I get the phone to look/act/feel like it's an outright, off carrier phone? What's involved in unlocking the boatloader? What kind of custom rom development should I expect? As a nexus user I'm spoilt for choice as far as custom development, I'm expecting there will be less for the note?

Thanks in advance for any help/information :)
 
AFAIK,no root ATM.
What is your carrier's history w/phones?
Do they add-on to stock to the point of making the phone virtually impossible to root?
We have a couple carriers in the US that do this w/most of their phones.
If OPTUS doesn't usually take these measures,rooting/ROMMING on a Samsung is relatively painless,especially for someone as you who has experience doing such things.
My money says root will just be a matter of time,probably a couple weeks or so.

As for restoring back to stock,again,not terribly difficult,but,Samsung devices have an e-fuse (which is a tattle-tale of sorts,signifying the phone has been tampered with/altered from stock firmware/OS/etc....) which is evident on the download mode screen & again,AFAIK,is not reversible.
Whether your carrier checks for this e-fuse,I don't know,some do,some don't.
Conventional wisdom is if you purchase direct from Samsung & have to send in your device for warranty service,they do indeed check the e-fuse & consider the warranty void.
 
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Thanks so much for the reply, I'll have a look at my wife's s6 and see what carrier stuff is on there, I think it's just the bootlogo and an app to monitor usage.

I'll have to try an Australian forum I think to get more specific advice on what they usually do though. When I got my wife's phone from them they told me that it had a two year warranty (the length of the plan) so I'm not sure how that works, whether they just have a look at the phone in store and replace it on the spot or send it back to Samsung for evaluation or what.

Either way, I imaging custom rom development will take a little bit of time to fully get up and running to a really stable point so I mightn't have to worry too much about it for a while. Thanks again :)
 
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Thanks so much for the reply, I'll have a look at my wife's s6 and see what carrier stuff is on there, I think it's just the bootlogo and an app to monitor usage.

I'll have to try an Australian forum I think to get more specific advice on what they usually do though.
Looks like there was work in progress as we spoke,root & custom recovery (TWRP) are available for some models:
http://androidforums.com/threads/note-5-has-root.938030/

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/08/samsung-galaxy-note-5-gets-root-and-twrp-treatment.html

When I got my wife's phone from them they told me that it had a two year warranty (the length of the plan) so I'm not sure how that works, whether they just have a look at the phone in store and replace it on the spot or send it back to Samsung for evaluation or what.

Either way, I imaging custom rom development will take a little bit of time to fully get up and running to a really stable point so I mightn't have to worry too much about it for a while. Thanks again :)

I've rooted mine (SM-N920T),w/no problems,but,give the XDA thread a good read to ensure there's no issues w/the model you'll getting.
I'm in no hurry for a ROM,but,will try out the TouchWiz (Samsung-based) ones once they're available.
 
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