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- First reviewFebruary 28, 2015
- Last reviewFebruary 28, 2015
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whitedove's Reviews
With Wi-Fi and 4G LTE speed, this Samsung SM-T337AZWAATT tablet makes it simple to connect to the Internet both at home and on the go, so you can access e-mail, social media, Web sites and more. The 8" touch screen lets you navigate content with ease.
Customer Rating
5
great tablet, rooted no problem
on February 28, 2015
Posted by: whitedove
Verified Purchase:Yes
This is for the AT&T version, purchased at Best Buy, along with a very fast 90mbs read/write 64 GB microSD card, which they very happily price matched with Amazon. This tablet is only 16 GB so you'll want an SD card, and there's almost no point in getting a cheap/slow SD card.
After visiting the AT&T and Verizon stores and experiencing their high pressure sales tactics (worse than buying a car!), I came to Best Buy to get impartial advice. It's probably a good idea to visit the carrier stores just to pick their brains about the device, but to decide on a plan (including going prepaid), then go to Best Buy when you are ready to purchase. They are no pressure, knowledgeable, and vey helpful, and most of the time they know just as much or even more than the regular carrier stores. They'll even do things like transfer your contacts, do cloud backups, etc, and after purchase you can walk in and ask for help on anything.
I bought the AT&T version, as I liked one of the prepaid options which don't seem available anywhere else (90 day pass). Also, I read that AT&T 4G is more stable. All tablets these days are unlocked (just pop in a new SIM). I checked this AT&T version with the verizon compatibility and if I switched to verizon, it would work, but I'd get less 4G with verizon becuase this AT&T version is missing one of the LTE bands that verizon uses. FYI, I think ipads have all LTE bands possible. If you're thinking of switching carriers later on, make sure you know the bands and capabilities of this device, compared to what is offered by the carrier.
The Wifi works great, videos and youtube play smooth. It has dual wifi, 2.4 and 5 ghz, which connect very quickly, even if the tablet has been put into sleep mode. The wifi works better on this tablet than my $1000 laptop.
Data LTE work great on the AT&T Dataconnect Pass Prepaid, which is prepaid data plans thru buyasession.att.com. What I did was buy the device at Best Buy and then I activated it at home, because the guys didn't know anything about buyasession. All it is, is a simple online signup. If you don't have wifi access at home, then try and activate at best buy.
TIP - when powering up tablet do not register for AT&T all access or My AT&T, it will install lots of bloat, is a duplicate of the regular website, and is not required to use the tablet. I like buyasession.att.com because there's one data plan option for a 90 day pass, 1GB, for $25, and they also have standard 30 day plans, which I don't really care for. If you want buyasession plans then skip the AT&T all access login and open up the regular internet browser and go to buyasession.att.com, register, and buy a plan with debit or credit card. I think you have to enter the IMEI, which is the SIM card no. I could use the plan right away, but AT&T cust service could not see my account for 5 days or so. Note - with buyasession, you can only pay online, there's no option to pay by phone or thru AT&T cust service, although they can see your account and answer billing and technical questions. Also, be aware that most prepaid plans accrue roaming (which is very expensive) or they forbid roaming all together, which of course means you have less coverage. The buyasession stuff forbids roaming and only operates on AT&T towers, but the plan does include 4G, 3G, and 2G access.
FYI the specs of this tablet indicate that it is 4G and 3G capable, which is probably what you want. I've seen some cheaper tablets out there but they are only 4G. This is not something that sales people will tell you, you have to look up the specs yourself.
The battery life lasts about 10 hours, with background data turned off and location either off or on power save, and where I'm surfing the net for for how to docs and videos about this tablet, as well as doing my email, reading news, shopping, and watching the occasional 5 min online video. I've also frozen the automatic updates thru rooting, and I've disabled automatic app updates in the Google Play Store, which I think saves power, not to mention bloat. Charging time is long, however, I think about 3-4 hours.
The brightness is plenty bright. Under normal household lighting conditions I'm only a few clicks up from the bottom setting. I can also read easily outside as well, where I'm typically about 75%.
I was able to easily root the device, without tripping the KNOX counter, via towelroot, as long as the NF4 firmware is applied. My original firmware was NF4, but the day after I activated it, AT&T automatically downloaded the NK2 firmware, which I guess cannot be rooted. I rolled back the PDA part of the firmware, which is essentially the build date, via a tutorial on xda forums - search for "rooted NK2 AT&T T337a". Unfortunately there is no custom ROM for the T337a, so full OS backup with Nandroid Backup is not possible, but you can still use Titanium Backup Pro to backup install files and settings, as well as freeze or remove bloatware. I froze the automatic updates, whose main function seems to install bloatware. I also use SD Maid Pro to clean up orphan files after removing bloatware. Both Titanium and SD Maid requre a rooted device.
Anyways, I am very happy about this snappy little device. I bought the Belkin Slim Case cover, which is a rather thick vinyl/suede cover that makes it look like a diary, not a tablet, which I think will deter petty thieves. Best buy didn't have any screen protectors...got those at the verizon store, where I did not bring my tablet in (because its the AT&T version), and I applied the protector at home. I have a verizon cell phone, and apparently I had "points" that give me discounts on accessories. You can buy accessories there without being a verizon customer, but to avoid their very intrusive questions, just say you are buying it for your friend and get out as fast as you can!
My Best Buy number: 2988951992
My Best Buy number: 2988951992
I would recommend this to a friend!
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With Wi-Fi and 4G LTE speed, this Samsung SM-T337AZWAATT tablet makes it simple to connect to the Internet both at home and on the go, so you can access e-mail, social media, Web sites and more. The 8" touch screen lets you navigate content with ease.
If I order the samsung galaxy tab with 4g lte without a contract will I be able to attach it to a contract later?
Yes, you can purchase and take it home without activating a plan, as long as you purchase at Best Buy and not an AT&T store. The device comes with a SIM card, but you do not have to activate it right away. I bought this AT&T Galaxy Tab 4 tablet at Best Buy and took it home without activating it. When I powered on the device for the first time, I skipped the AT&T sign up, and used the device for a few days with wifi only. But you will need a gmail or google+ account, which is free, to download apps from the Google Play store, which is how to get most apps.
When you do decide on a plan, as soon as you buy it, the SIM card is attached to that plan, ie. if you go AT&T post paid, it can only be used on AT&T post paid plans. If you decide later to use prepaid, you will need a new SIM card, which AT&T sells online or instore for 5 bucks, and then the blank SIM card can be activated on a prepaid.
If you want a post paid plan, you have to call AT&T cust service or go to an authorized reseller like Best Buy, and they will activate the plan with your SIM card, which you haven't activated yet.
If you want prepaid, most prepaid singups are online only. I have the AT&T Dataconnect Prepaid Pass, which is available at https:\\buyasession.att.com. Register the IMEI (which is the SIM card), purchase the plan with a credit or debit card, and you're ready to go, no need to call cust service to activate, in fact you can only purchase online. FYI, Dataconnect Prepaid will only work on AT&T towers, not 3rd party towers...so there's less coverage compared to post paid because roaming is not allowed. However, 95% of the time, I'm not roaming anyway.
When you do decide on a plan, as soon as you buy it, the SIM card is attached to that plan, ie. if you go AT&T post paid, it can only be used on AT&T post paid plans. If you decide later to use prepaid, you will need a new SIM card, which AT&T sells online or instore for 5 bucks, and then the blank SIM card can be activated on a prepaid.
If you want a post paid plan, you have to call AT&T cust service or go to an authorized reseller like Best Buy, and they will activate the plan with your SIM card, which you haven't activated yet.
If you want prepaid, most prepaid singups are online only. I have the AT&T Dataconnect Prepaid Pass, which is available at https:\\buyasession.att.com. Register the IMEI (which is the SIM card), purchase the plan with a credit or debit card, and you're ready to go, no need to call cust service to activate, in fact you can only purchase online. FYI, Dataconnect Prepaid will only work on AT&T towers, not 3rd party towers...so there's less coverage compared to post paid because roaming is not allowed. However, 95% of the time, I'm not roaming anyway.
9 years, 1 month ago
by
whitedove
Snoqualmie, WA