According to internal T-Mobile documents obtained and verified by Android Police, the company plans to drop mobile network support for 19 devices on January 29th, 2021. Devices affected include smartphones from Google, Samsung, Sony, and more, as well as old home security cameras and wireless routers.
This is the full awakening, according to T-Mobile’s internal list:
Phones:
- Google Nexus 9
- Huawei Mate 8
- Huawei P9
- HTC Desire 10 lifestyle
- HTC wants 650
- OnePlus 1
- Quanta Dragon IR7
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (both AT&T and Verizon modules; T-Mobile version of Note 4 is not affected
- Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
- Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos
- Sony Xperia Z3
- Compact Sony Xperia Z3
- Orion Sony Xperia Z3
- Orion Sony D6616 Xperia Z3
- Soyea M02
- ZTE ZMax
Other tools:
- Modem Mikrotikls SIA_R11e-LTE6 miniPCIe
- Arg Netgear Security Camera System
The change affects T-Mobile, MetroPCS, and Sprint customers, but the impact will depend on what carrier network your device is originally using. T-Mobile and MetroPCS devices will lose all network support starting Jan. 29, while Sprint devices will lose T-Mobile’s mobile connection but can still use Sprint’s legacy 3G network until its closure in 2023.
It is possible that there are more unsupported devices, but T-Mobile has yet to make a public release as of writing so that we can only remove Android Police information. That said, T-Mobile will warn customers via SMS text starting Dec. 28, which will only take a few weeks for those who are still using these old products to update.
The short ad is inconvenient, but we would recommend users to upgrade from any of the above smartphones even if T-Mobile did not waive support. Not only are newer phones faster and full of better features and cameras, they also get regular security pieces that old phones won’t.
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If price is an issue, look into mid-range devices like the Pixel 4a and 5a, or Samsung’s Galaxy A51. As long as the phone is still backed by its manufacturer, it will be a huge leap in performance and security, and you can buy one for much less than a brand new flagship handset.