GrapheneOS

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An unofficial discussion community for anyone interested in GrapheneOS.

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How can you tell if the phone you're buying is unlocked? (mander.xyz)

submitted 3 weeks ago by acockworkorange@mander.xyz to c/graphene_os

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Basically no sellers I’ve seen whether their Pixels can have their boot loader unlocked. So how did you get yours and how can I avoid getting a lemon?

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[–] Marvelicious@fedia.io 1 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but if I understand correctly, any Pixel that is carrier unlocked can have its bootloader unlocked via the "developer options" menu. I've bought two used "unlocked" Pixels on Swappa and had no trouble unlocking the bootloader on either.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Apparently that isn’t the case. Carriers can and will use signed boatloaders that prevent unlocking, regardless of whether you can port your device to another carrier or not. At least that’s what I could gather in my research. The two locks are independent.

[–] Marvelicious@fedia.io 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They are independent, but if it was originally carrier unlocked, you're definitely okay. The way I understand it, Swappa at least, only allows OEM unlocked phones to be sold as unlocked.

https://swappa.com/buy/unlocked

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks, I’ll check it out.