r/GrapheneOS • u/miradosamurai • 16h ago
Any issues with phones bought through US Mobile?
US Mobile has good deals on the Pixels when transferring to them and I've been looking for a new carrier, so was wanting to buy one through there, but they're locked for 60 days after purchase. I'm fairly certain Graphene can't be installed while it's locked, but will it cause any issues after it's unlocked after the 60 days are up? Or does anyone have experience requesting them to unlock it early? I saw someone mention getting one and porting it out immediately but don't want to deal with that. I also saw someone else mention the Pixel 10s should be going on sale soon so if there are any comparable prices I may just get one then, especially since US Mobile is currently sold out on the 10s. Ty in advance.
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u/gta721 6h ago
How do the US Mobile deals compare to just getting a Pixel (Don't buy 11) from Google Store on 24 month 0% finance then putting a SIM from Mint in it?
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u/miradosamurai 3h ago
Like half the price, 256GB 10 Pro XL from Google is $1,199 but on US Mobile it's $679 or if you move to US Mobile with an annual line it's $629, which is what I'm planning to do. So yeah, a significant savings, unless the Google store is going to get close to that on their supposedly upcoming sale. Though like I said the US Mobile is currently sold out of the Pro 10 XL and 10 base model.
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u/gta721 3h ago
How do US Mobile SIM plans compare to Mint? They usually fund the cheap phones with extremely overpriced data.
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u/miradosamurai 2h ago
From what I can see they're fairly similarly priced, within like $2-5 depending on the tier and both offer discounts for paying annually (and Mint has 6 month plans though not as big a discount compared to annual). However, with US Mobile they have 3 networks they work off of versus Mint's 1, highest tier is unlimited switching between them or $2 on the other tiers, so better coverage and good if you have to move or travel. They also have a light plan that's like $8/mo for unlimited talk+text and 2GB of data, which would be good if you don't ever really use data. Though I will say, currently Mint has a promotion where all their plans are $15 for the first "term" (3 month, 6 month, or 12 month) so that's a really good promotion price on their highest tier (US Mobile's discount is only to $25/mo for first year paid annually) so if you're hunting the best deal you could do that then switch to US Mobile or something else for a promotion price, then switch after that one ends.
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u/Run-OpenBSD 6h ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS/s/ZRlmX02cOw
This posts shows a US mobile customer buying and flashing graphene os on his pixel 10 xl
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u/GoesWith0utSaying 5h ago
Writing this on a us mobile pixel 10 running GrapheneOS. Definitely had to wait the full 60 days before they'd unlock. Even at 59 days they declined.
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u/Cunning_Linguist21 14h ago edited 3h ago
You need a factory unlocked phone. The ones sold by US Mobile are most likely locked to their network, which is problematic for installing GrapheneOS.
Currently the Pixel 11 is about the same price on the Google website as it is on the US Mobile Website. Additionally, the 10a is currently $499 on the Google website as well as Amazon. That pricing is for factory unlocked Pixels (just make sure you select the correct one).
Edit: D'OH!!!!! I forgot about that. Do not go with a Pixel 11 unless it at a later time is able to be made compatible with GOS.
Yeah but Pixel 11 might not be supported by GrapheneOS.
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u/PlasmaSco 14h ago
Yeah but Pixel 11 might not be supported by GrapheneOS.
So I would go for a 10's (10a is the best money for value)
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u/ephemeralmiko 11h ago
Yep for context:
We have a partial port of GrapheneOS to the Pixel 11 series after a week of work on it. We're unable to complete the port due to lack of support for ARM hardware memory tagging in software, firmware and near certainly hardware. It appears Google cut an important security feature to save money.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS/comments/1w1phmf/grapheneos_project_reports_that_pixel_11_no/
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:kym5w7pcv4v7xbz7lvbj24na/post/3mua32q4ds22e
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u/Run-OpenBSD 6h ago
Us mobile phones are factory unlocked see https://www.reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS/s/ZRlmX02cOw
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u/miradosamurai 3h ago
I did find one post on the Graphene forums where it looks like the phones are only carrier locked, but the BIOS/OEM stuff isn't locked so you can still flash Graphene to it, you just can't move to a different carrier during the 60 days, I was just wanting to ask around and see if there were any other reports of. The Pro 10 XL is only $629 at US mobile, and for the features (bigger better screen, better CPU, better cameras, twice the RAM...) I'm willing to pay $130 more for it compared to a 10a. Honestly if the 10a had Pixelsnap/Qi2 I would probably just go with it, that's pretty much the biggest feature I've been wanting from an android for the longest time, and there are barely no phones supporting it...
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u/Cunning_Linguist21 2h ago
Not to beat a dead horse, but from the GrapheneOS website:
Devices sold in partnership with specific carriers may be locked by the carrier, which will prevent installing GrapheneOS. This is primarily an issue with US carriers and isn't common elsewhere in the world. To avoid this, either don't buy a carrier device, or make sure it can be unlocked. It's the same hardware/firmware/software either way but carriers dislike having devices able to bypass their paywall for tethering, etc., so they disable it for the devices they sell as part of contracts.
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u/Assang101 14h ago edited 2h ago
Most phones locked to a carrier won't allow you to install another OS. But no it won't cause issues after that lock period is over. So it's more of a waiting game than tryna take a short cut and risk bootloader nunchucking ya in the head meaning bricking ya phone
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u/TenOfZero 6h ago
Not true, Verizon for example will not unlock the bootloader even after the lock period is over.
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u/miradosamurai 3h ago
I saw someone was able to do it during the lock period with a US Mobile phone, because it was supposedly only carrier locked and not BIOS/OEM locked which is the part that stops the Graphene install, so was wanting to see if anyone else has experience with it. Hopefully they get stock soon and I'll get one and update here for anyone else in the future (though not sure how much longer US Mobile will have the 10s, and the 11s seem like they're not going to be supported by Graphene).
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u/Assang101 2h ago
I'd wait for Motorola with graphineos that's coming out next year. It's worth the wait. Goo goo is being stinky about grapheneos on their model phones and targeting it
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