This deal is back again, not a bad price considering It'll be cheaper than Coles promo tomorrow.
Vodafone Samsung Galaxy A20 $159 Delivered @ Australia Post
1110
CheapAzM8 on 29/10/2019 - 10:49 auspost.com.au (4585 clicks)
Last edited 02/11/2019 - 18:14 by 2 other users
Last edited 02/11/2019 - 18:14 by 2 other users
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Thats just dumb luck though. The OW person serving you screwed up.
Why do you say that?
Locked vs unlocked.
@tempura: Every time I ask for an ex demo discount or price match in Officeworks the staff do their hardest not to honor it or give any/minimum discount.
@ozhunter68: That's why U don't ask for a price match until the product is on the table. That way they can't claim a guy 1h earlier bought the last one.
@imcold: I'm talking about items that clearly are in stock ( you and staff can see many on shelf ) or they say the item on display ( in my case a laptop ) is the last one and you are prepared to buy it at a negotiated discount.
Just my experience with the stores I shop at whenever I mention or ask for a price beat or discount staff not so happy to help out much or give discount. They make you feel like your taking money of them personally, or even worse begging from a near bankrupt company.
How did you approach them. My local ow said this is vodafone locked and different to what they stock
That's correct. Likely a mistake by OW.
I just rang said it was in the Aus post catalogue
She beat the price and was ready with invoice when I collected it
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/207116/72310/5476bc8f-…
(152)DECLINED
PuRcHaSe CaNcElLeD
why it say purchase $259? bit strange…
That was in the beginning of the Aust Post sale, they made a mistake by having a small picture showing Unlocked Phone, they fixed it later on.
You got in early And Got Lucky.
@ozhunter68: https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/207116/73724/b546a17b-…
Full reciept with the $151 price@Dex38313: Jakob at Epping is copping a warning from a manager right about now. Good one.
Also exactly what ozhunter68 said. Auspost updated their adverts like the day after you purchased your phone.
I got price match at jb. And I told the guy, this also comes with a $30 Vodafone sim, and if you can price beat, I don't care about the sim. Then he did it. Lol
Easy unlock, took all of 5 minutes using the Samsung USB Unlock Tool(fonefunshop.com) which cost 3 GBP (about $5). Works fine with Telstra and Amaysim SIMs.
Steps I used:
Downloaded and installed the Samsung USB drivers and the Samsung Unlock tool from the link provided above.
Enabled developer mode on the phone
Enabled USB debugging mode on the phone
Removed SIM card from phone and rebooted phone
Removed all security (PIN, Pattern, Fingerprint, Face Unlock)
Ran the Samsung unlock tool, loaded in the licence key information
Connected phone to PC using the USB to USB-C cable that came in the box
Pressed "Read Info" on the unlock tool to confirm that the comms was working ok
Pressed "Allow USB Debugging" on the phone multiple times
Selected "Unlock (New)" on the unlock tool.
Accepted "Allow USB Debugging" on the phone more times
Phone rebooted a couple of times
Unlock tool confirmed that Unlock process was successful, and the unlock code had been reset to 00000000
Put a non-Vodafone SIM card in and restarted phone
Phone asked for an unlock code, entered 00000000
Everything worked from here
From what I can work out, the tool does NOT unlock the phone itself. It generates an unlock key based on a NULL SIM (hence why you have to remove all SIMs before starting the process), and changes the unlock code to 00000000. When you then insert a "foreign" SIM, it then normally prompts for the unlock code, except the code is now set to the known 00000000.If someone else can confirm the steps are correct (I'm doing this from memory), that would be good
Credit: tshepherd from previous post
But only on certain IMEI's and bootloaders, correct? Or any everything now?
They key is do not upgrade your software before unlocking.
Does anyone know - can you upgrade the phone's firmware, AFTER unlocking without any issues? Will it stay as "unlocked"?
@clandestino: I opened the box, upgrade was due but waited, unlocked the phone, upgrade the software, phone's still unlock. Using Optus sim since then and have made all software upgrades as and when they came.
"shaybisc" This most likely works on all batches of the Vodafone locked models, not sure about Telstra variants though. Your thinking of certain IMEI's and bootloaders batches that can be unlocked for free using the Vodafone online unlocking service. I asked the list of good numbers in the other A20 post from a commentor, hopefully he has the list to save us time trawling through comments on earlier posts.
Their website says:
SM-A205YN (Australian Vodafone-locked prepaid - boot version U1 & NEW Boot U2 Now Supported as of 10-10-2019)
I'm going to try it on the wife's Telstra locked phone and then on this VF locked phone when it arrives.
How did you end up going with this?
I am thinking to try it on my phone today@sharka: I tried but it wouldn't run properly, then is disappeared because Windows Defender says it's a virus:
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/ac0e3030c95fd10565e94271…I won't run it again and will raise it with fonefunshop.
@OZB Al: Fair enough.
I took a gamble and running it the second time worked.
For some reason it didnt restart the phone on the first round.@sharka: That's my assumption, but it's really slack of the company to not sign their app and not take action when seven AV companies list it as malware. My only windows machine is a work computer and I can't tell it to ignore, so I can't run the app.
@sharka: 23 AV companies now detect it as malware. On the work machine I did run it on that quarantined the file I'm now getting random Outlook errors saying "Either there is no default mail client or the current mail client cannot fulfill the messaging request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default mail client." So it looks like something is running in the background trying to send email.
Thanks for the offer but I now think this is too dangerous to run on any machine (even one I don't own). I might build a machine with Win10 on its own network and disable all the security just to run it….
@sharka: I'm North East Melbourne, if you're in Sydney as your profile suggests that should be a show stopper.
Yep I used this process for one of the phones that I bought. Took maybe 5 minutes. Easy as worked fine.
That, or free unlock from Vodafone for certain IMEI range (see in previous post deal comments)
Quick question. Will I be able to use this phone freely if I unlock it and then take it overseas? Can update after unlocking freely?
Yes
Would this method work even though its secured by Knox?
on the website it says "WARNING: DO NOT USE THIS SERVER IF YOUR SAMSUNG PHONE ALREADY HAS KNOX TRIGGERED AS IT CANNOT WORK"
I just bought this A20 and it says its secured by Knox
Do not use this server if your Samsung phone already has Knox triggered.
I think it was the same for my phone. I think Secured by Knox and Knox triggered are different. So yes it should work. Just don’t upgrade your phone.
Knox is tripped/triggered when you root the phone. Out of the box, all the current Galaxy S and A series phones have Knox.
If you haven't rooted the phone, unlocking using that tool is fine. If you have rooted the phone, then you're unable to unlock it using this method. So, if you're planning to root the phone, unlock it first.
Secured is fine..
Triggered is the one to worry about
Antivirus is detecting a trojan horse when trying to install the SAM Unlock tool from above link. I turned off antivirus and started, however needs licence key. I paid via paypal on their website, but did not get licence key. Will this be sent via email? How long does this take / manual process?
Thanks
It’s via email from memory. Link and license key. Usually couple of hours to get all that along with instructions
I received a shipping confirmation email without code. Called them up and they sent manually. Can take a while to get the licence codes. However unlock worked fine.
would you be able to mention the direct link to download samsung unlocking tool By any chance ..can’t see the link for it??
@sharka: cheers fella…still waiting on my phone …have not received it yet…was trying to get the things before hand to avoid any delays…Ta once gain for your help..
@Sunnyoz: All good!
I’ve posted my steps which are an addition to the beautifully Outlaid steps from tshepherd in an earlier post.
DM me if you get stuck@paulaus: I first tried on the Vodafone unlock site and it asked for $50.I rang support and he said your unlock code it sitting on the site. What I was doing wrong is when it asked if I bought it from Vodafone I was saying no because I bought it at target. He said put yes I bought it from Vodafone and there it was a free unlock code.
Hi thank you for posting this method. I purchased 2 x Telstra A20s from Coles as my local Aus post didn't have any. 1 phone had the U1 firmware, the other had U2. I paid $179 for them.
Just wanted to post regarding the unlocking process for Telstra devices in case others get stuck, as I did.
During the activation, both devices did not restart as expected and unlocking failed towards the end.
Despite the tool saying that the 3 credits
were used at the beginning, I found that the credits were not taken until the process fully completes.So I ran the tool a second time on both devices and they restarted during the process and it completed successfully.
Lastly, I can confirm that this tool only resets the unlock code to 00000000. Once tool completes and you insert Sim, typing this code will then unlock the device.
Good luck and thanks for the great deals.
Edit: I also had problems with tool being picked up as a Virus by Windows Defender. Had to fully disable it before I could download or run, so make sure to temporary disable AV before starting this.
Noob question, but when do the credits apply?
I have purchased the tool but unable to work out the credits part?3 credits are required for one unlock. Credit will be used after successful unlock
Thankyou so much for your instructions!
I had to run it twice but was successful on the second run!Your steps and tshepherds worked a charm!
Saw one at post office today, couldn't resist. Serial started with 17, but this method worked. (My antivirus software kept deleting the unlock tool, suggesting its a trojan. So used my 9 year old laptop to get the job done.)
Thx Ashftc, got one and unlock without issue, thx again for posting this!!!!
Can the Samsung USB Unlock Tool program be shared?
is this any good? compared so SGS5, is this a significant upgrade?
This is a very nice phone for most people. I have a Galaxy S8+ and it looks pretty similar in terms of quality. Small bezels but has the small notch. I've always hated notches with a passion to be honest, but using it, you don't really notice with day to day use. Display is nice and bright, not as sharp as S8, but good enough.
Some slight lag at times, but to be expected for the price. Don't know how gaming would go however, might struggle.
this is very concerning …
Galaxy A20 Review: A Long-Lasting Phone for Less Than $250. While you'll get great battery life for a low price with the Galaxy A20, you'll have to live with performance lag and an easily scratched plastic design.
- Great battery life: Agreed
- Performance lag: Little but tolerable. Don't expect flagship performance
- easily scratches: Put a case
Overall it's a great value for money phone. Display is fantastic
Performance lag: Little but tolerable.
switching from 1 app to another is ok performance ?
Yup absolutely. No issues so far. Just a little lag when unlocking the phone and the rest has been all good. Have been using since last Big W deal
@tempura: $159 with $30 Vodafone sim card. Locked to Vodafone. I managed to successfully unlock it with the method I have posted above.
Maybe its the ebay cases I bought, but there are still minor scratches from sand and what not that gets in there.
3 . easily scratches: Put a case
least of everyone's worry i suppose
Agree 100% with this.
Great screen. There is a bit of lag here and there but it’s not to the point of it being unusable.
One issue that does annoy me. No 5ghz wifi. Only 2.4
Back is VERY easily scratched.
Otherwise it's performance is fine for day to day use.
Can't compare to S5, but significantly faster than S4 on Lineage 16.
Battery life is great, perfect for Pokemon Go. (GPS is a bit iffy at times though)Useless GPS on mine!
GPS status and fix. It'll fix it.
Calibrate all the sensors.
@ruskiromka: Worked for multiple A20's
Just calibrate all sensors with it, install all the software modules it asks for if prompted.
Delete Google maps cache and any other mapping app cache.
For location source within the GPS status and toolbox app, select 'fused' also.
Great battery life.
At this price I'm not bothering with a cover.
No noticable lag.Screen is great BUT I still wish it was 1080p for photos etc. only. Text is fine. The A30 is so much more expensive tho.
There WAS GPS issues (inaccurate and lock on took like 5+ mins) initially but a Samsung update fixed it. Works perfect now.
There IS still an issue that the GPS won't lock on properly if you have Wifi disabled. So keep it on regardless if you're using it. It's a known issue on several previous phones I've used as well.
I'd get some form of cover, the camera glass on the back ended up cracking on mine, luckily it's not across the lens and can still take photos.
The recent update did NOT fix the GPS issue on mine. I still have the GPS fixing issue on the latest ROM.
What version and kernel are you running?
Read my previous comments.
There IS still an issue that the GPS won't lock on properly if you have Wifi disabled
You sure it is't because disabled wifi means it cannot use wifi to locate you?
Yea. For me even with Wifi on it still sucks big time. Considering a refund now.
Wifi is part of A-GPS that most phones use.
"This listing has ended because the item may have been lost or broken" lol.
Maybe mistake and too cheap.
Not a mistake because I received both case + screen protector.
Beware, when phone is screen locked, no Led notification, only vibration (screen doesnt turn on either)
You can download apps but they use up battery and sometimes don't work properly.
Anyone have any work around, please comment.
I got this price beat at 0w paid about $152 unlocked version