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Support ends October. 2021

Minimum update & support periods
Phone No guaranteed Android version updates after No guaranteed security updates after
Pixel 3a May 2022 May 2022
Pixel 3 XL October 2021 October 2021
Pixel 3 October 2021 October 2021
Pixel 2 XL October 2020 October 2020

The Verizon firmware may not support eSIM / dual SIM capabilities, but if you can truly unlock the bootloader, you could put on the non-Verizon firmware or a third-party ROM (I personally like PixelDust).

The VZW variant is physically the same as the unlocked variant, it's just the software that says what can and cannot be used (which is the reason I use PixelDust, so I can use tethering without the phone asking for permission from the carrier).

My Pixel 3 (unlocked) uses WiFi calling on Red Pocket with the CDMA-V (Verizon) network.



Here's the guide I wrote over on XDA: https://forum.xda-developers.com/...y.3922275/

It hasn't been updated recently, but everything is still valid. Post #2 starts the actual how-to process, but if you're not familiar with it, I suggest you read Post #1 first.


This is my concern. It's technically capable, but I advised a friend to buy one of these back when they were ($150?) and he said Red Pocket wouldn't let him use it with VZW, that he had to purchase an AT&T SIM for $5 to keep his balance. The phone couldn't pass provisioning.

Unless someone with actual experience with this actual phone chimes in to say otherwise, this makes a kind of sense: Verizon still uses a whitelist and the IMEI / MEID fails because the phone is listed as a Verizon-specific model in their system while you're trying to use it on a cheaper MVNO (which of course they don't want you to do). Ever since Verizon launched Visible, they've been absolutely terrible with other MVNOs that use their network (for the obvious reason that they want to drive customers to their own).

I am really thinking of getting 4 of these for my parents and in-laws, but they're all on Red Pocket using Verizon and I'm afraid I'll be left with useless (to me) phones.

A major difference for Verizon unlocked vs UNLOCKED is that the VZW version does not support eSIM / dual SIM capabilities.