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treo 331K Views
Mar 23, 2023 2:59 PM

256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G 2-in-1 Smartphone (Various Carriers)

from $300

$1,800

(Activation Required) + Free Shippingat Best Buy
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Deal Details
Best Buy has 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G 2-in-1 Foldable Smartphone Tablet (AT&T or Verizon) on sale from $299.99. Shipping is free or select free store pickup where available.

Thanks to Community Member treo for finding this deal.

Note: Activation on cellular carrier is required. Be sure to select your carrier and select 'Activate Today' to see pricing. Availability for store pickup may vary by location.

Available Carriers:Available Colors:
  • Phantom Black
  • Phantom Green
  • Phantom Silver
Specs:
  • Screens:
    • Main: 7.6" Infinity Flex display - Cover: 6.2" Dynamic AMOLED
    • 120Hz AMOLED 2X Screen
  • Memory: 12GB
  • Storage: 256GB
  • Main Camera: 12MP Wide, 12MP UW, 12MP Tele + 2x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, 10MP Front
  • Battery: 4,400mAh / 25W Super Fast Charge
  • S Pen Support
  • IPX8 rating

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Activation on a cellular carrier is required for from $299.99 pricing. Activation fees may apply and vary by carrier.
  • About this product:
    • Rating of 4.4 from over 140 Best Buy customer reviews.
  • Additional Note:

Original Post

Written by treo
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Best Buy has 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G 2-in-1 Foldable Smartphone Tablet (AT&T or Verizon) on sale from $299.99. Shipping is free or select free store pickup where available.

Thanks to Community Member treo for finding this deal.

Note: Activation on cellular carrier is required. Be sure to select your carrier and select 'Activate Today' to see pricing. Availability for store pickup may vary by location.

Available Carriers:Available Colors:
  • Phantom Black
  • Phantom Green
  • Phantom Silver
Specs:
  • Screens:
    • Main: 7.6" Infinity Flex display - Cover: 6.2" Dynamic AMOLED
    • 120Hz AMOLED 2X Screen
  • Memory: 12GB
  • Storage: 256GB
  • Main Camera: 12MP Wide, 12MP UW, 12MP Tele + 2x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, 10MP Front
  • Battery: 4,400mAh / 25W Super Fast Charge
  • S Pen Support
  • IPX8 rating

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Activation on a cellular carrier is required for from $299.99 pricing. Activation fees may apply and vary by carrier.
  • About this product:
    • Rating of 4.4 from over 140 Best Buy customer reviews.
  • Additional Note:

Original Post

Written by treo

Community Voting

Deal Score
+132
Good Deal

Top Comments

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1.7K Comments

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Apr 4, 2023 4:49 PM
404 Comments
Joined Oct 2007
perdesiApr 4, 2023 4:49 PM
404 Comments
Quote from NFS851 View quoted comment :
Mine bubbled up and competely detached through the entire middle of the screen top to bottom after one day of regular use. I had it replaced 2 days ago through ubreakifix( under warranty)and its been perfect since. Mine is also a manufactured date of December 2021.
With so many people having issues with the Fold, is it event worth the $300?
Apr 4, 2023 5:27 PM
170 Comments
Joined Sep 2017
m.rokeryaApr 4, 2023 5:27 PM
170 Comments
I have not received the phone nor I have activated the line, but I received bill of $114. what should I do?
Apr 4, 2023 5:45 PM
1.5K Comments
Joined Dec 2011
garymeter48Apr 4, 2023 5:45 PM
1.5K Comments
Quote from Anhsirk78 View quoted comment :
I submitted on 3/30/23 evening. FCC served ATT on 3/31 morning which a Friday. Today is Tuesday I got the call.
Thanks. My timeline is the same as yours...lol. No call yet, hopefully soon.
Apr 4, 2023 6:33 PM
213 Comments
Joined Dec 2005
AJollyApr 4, 2023 6:33 PM
213 Comments
Quote from ScarletPolice7780 View quoted comment :
Did you activated your line with ATT? I got the same email and then it disappeared after activating my phone and number with AT&T.
Hm. Works just fine with the SIM in my iphone, but does not like my one plus 9 pro
Apr 4, 2023 6:36 PM
352 Comments
Joined Nov 2014
Anhsirk78Apr 4, 2023 6:36 PM
352 Comments
Quote from garymeter48 View quoted comment :
Thanks. My timeline is the same as yours...lol. No call yet, hopefully soon.
Good luck.
Apr 4, 2023 6:51 PM
7.5K Comments
Joined Jul 2007
lou2004Apr 4, 2023 6:51 PM
7.5K Comments
Quote from m.rokerya View quoted comment :
I have not received the phone nor I have activated the line, but I received bill of $114. what should I do?
go pickup the phone then unlock it and cancelled.
Apr 4, 2023 7:01 PM
7 Comments
Joined Mar 2023
OliveCrow4837Apr 4, 2023 7:01 PM
7 Comments
Quote from garymeter48 View quoted comment :
I also submitted a FCC complaint. How many days passed, from the day you submitted the complaint before AT&T got in touch with you?
did someone called or you got the unlocked code

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Apr 4, 2023 8:04 PM
1.5K Comments
Joined Dec 2011
garymeter48Apr 4, 2023 8:04 PM
1.5K Comments
Quote from OliveCrow4837 View quoted comment :
did someone called or you got the unlocked code
I received an email from the Office of The President at AT&T. They wanted a copy of my BestBuy receipt. I'm waiting to hear back regarding the unlocking.
Apr 4, 2023 10:48 PM
3.7K Comments
Joined Jan 2005
zettlerApr 4, 2023 10:48 PM
3.7K Comments
Sorry to be a pest but I need a little hand holding as i am not sure what files to download in order to get rid of the ATT crap and make sure its a VERIZON recognized cell - can you assist?

I did try restoring/rebooting the FOLD3 with my VERIZON SIM but the ATT stuff was still there...

I tried sending you a message but not sure it went through.

Thank you!
Pro
Apr 4, 2023 11:12 PM
4.4K Comments
Joined Nov 2012
gadgetNerd
Pro
Apr 4, 2023 11:12 PM
4.4K Comments
Quote from zettler View quoted comment :
Sorry to be a pest but I need a little hand holding as i am not sure what files to download in order to get rid of the ATT crap and make sure its a VERIZON recognized cell - can you assist?

I did try restoring/rebooting the FOLD3 with my VERIZON SIM but the ATT stuff was still there...

I tried sending you a message but not sure it went through.

Thank you!
So you have to flash the z fold3 with an unlocked OS image to get rid AT bloatware. Here are the steps I listed before.

1. There are many models of z fold 3 but in US two models are imp. F926U is carrier locked version and F926U1 is the unlocked US version. The firmware for these versions are interchangeable so you can flash the ATT model with F926U1 firmware.
2. Download patched odin v3.14.1_3B_PatchedD.zip from https://forum.xda-developers.com/...1.3762572/ as regular odin does not allow flashing mismatched firmware.
3. Download the firmware from F96U1 XAA version from https://samfrew.com/download/Gala...1OYZ2FWB3/. Extract as there will be multiple files.
4. Connect z fold 3 to the windows PC.
5 .Put z fold 3 in download/recovery/odin mode. Power down. Press Volume up and down together and then press Volume up to go into recovery (a green screen would appear).
6. Start odin and then select different files for different categories and then start.
7, It should be now the US unlocked version.

If you want to flash the verizon specific firmware instead you can do the step 3 with this image https://samfrew.com/download/Gala...UOYN3FWC1/
Last edited by gadgetNerd April 4, 2023 at 04:20 PM.
Apr 4, 2023 11:33 PM
1.1K Comments
Joined Dec 2011
xjimmyxApr 4, 2023 11:33 PM
1.1K Comments
Thanks to all for your contributions out here, especially gadgetNerd whose Odin tutorial is gold.

I used the sim-swap to unlock (easy peasy), and Odin to install the US unlocked software (a little trickier but worthwhile for certain.) I thought I was home free but for some reason other carrier sims were not working on the Fold- it recognized the network but would not complete calls or send texts. I persevered and kept swapping sims (between Mint, US Mobile, and Cricket) and after about a half hour and 4-5 sim swaps and restarts, the Mint sim worked perfectly....as did all of them then when I popped them in.

That was great fun- now to cancel my service and figure out if I am going to keep this really cool screen-problem-waiting-to-happen.
Apr 5, 2023 12:04 AM
263 Comments
Joined Jul 2006
sbc06Apr 5, 2023 12:04 AM
263 Comments
I put my sim in a pixel today, made two calls, saw the portal updated my active device. Filed for unlock based on IMEI and got approved in 2 minutes.

I put an "unreal mobile" sim in my fold to try to get the prompt to show up to unlock, but nothing is happening. Is there an alternative way to get the prompt to show up? I don't have any other SIM cards, all of my other are e-sims
Apr 5, 2023 12:24 AM
59 Comments
Joined Mar 2021
CrimsonWren899Apr 5, 2023 12:24 AM
59 Comments
Quote from skyteak View quoted comment :
Have you tried updating the phone via OTA, then odin an unlocked firmware?
Yes correct I used Samsung switch and updated to andriod 13 and now I'm try to use Odin.
Apr 5, 2023 12:37 AM
3.7K Comments
Joined Jan 2005
zettlerApr 5, 2023 12:37 AM
3.7K Comments
Quote from gadgetNerd View quoted comment :
So you have to flash the z fold3 with an unlocked OS image to get rid AT bloatware. Here are the steps I listed before.

1. There are many models of z fold 3 but in US two models are imp. F926U is carrier locked version and F926U1 is the unlocked US version. The firmware for these versions are interchangeable so you can flash the ATT model with F926U1 firmware.
2. Download patched odin v3.14.1_3B_PatchedD.zip from https://forum.xda-developers.com/...1.3762572/ as regular odin does not allow flashing mismatched firmware.
3. Download the firmware from F96U1 XAA version from https://samfrew.com/download/Gala...1OYZ2FWB3/. Extract as there will be multiple files.
4. Connect z fold 3 to the windows PC.
5 .Put z fold 3 in download/recovery/odin mode. Power down. Press Volume up and down together and then press Volume up to go into recovery (a green screen would appear).
6. Start odin and then select different files for different categories and then start.
7, It should be now the US unlocked version.

If you want to flash the verizon specific firmware instead you can do the step 3 with this image https://samfrew.com/download/Gala...UOYN3FWC1/
Sorry, one more question (for now) and that is do I download ALL the files at the link in #3 above AND extract them all???

That was really my primary question as I might not read any directions that come with a purchase, I get anal about not missing a step or the like with something like this that has the potential to brick a $322 purchase....LOL

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Pro
Apr 5, 2023 1:23 AM
4.4K Comments
Joined Nov 2012
gadgetNerd
Pro
Apr 5, 2023 1:23 AM
4.4K Comments
Quote from zettler View quoted comment :
Sorry, one more question (for now) and that is do I download ALL the files at the link in #3 above AND extract them all???

That was really my primary question as I might not read any directions that come with a purchase, I get anal about not missing a step or the like with something like this that has the potential to brick a $322 purchase....LOL
There should be one zip file (XAA unlocked version) in the link? It extracts various different files for BL, CS, AP etc. In the Odin tool you select them correspondingly. If you are asking about the links in xda forum download the latest patched Odin so like 3.14.1_patched or something similar.

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