H8296 which of LTE (band 1, 3 or 20) are locked by Sony?

[batirkh]

I have bought my XZ2 H8296 in China. Currently I have relocated to Kazakhstan  where local carriers supports only LTE Bands 1,3,20. But as I see not all of these bands are supported by H8296.  In some places where I have only H+ on XZ2, my second phone X performance shows LTE with the same simcard, in another places of the city Xz2 shows LTE. I have changed simcard at carrier, no result. It mean that I have correct APN and valid simcard. Please advise if some of LTE bands 1, 3, 20 are programly locked by Sony. And why it is not announced in technical specifications published on Sony mobile H8296 supports all LTE bands? If I'm wrong and Sony didn't locked bands, please advise how I can activate all of LTE bands on my phone. 

[Uliwooly]

@batirkh

That's odd, what if you flash the phone with the global generic firmware? 

[batirkh]

Firmware for H8296 exist only for CN, TW, HK and India. I have tried all 3 of them, thereafter tried German firmware for H8266. No results. 

[Uliwooly]

@batirkh

I can't find any info on that, have you contacted Sony directly?

[batirkh]

Not yet, will do it tomorrow. Wil revert with outcome. 

[batirkh]

Here is answer from sony support

Thank you for contacting Xperia Support by Sony.
 

With regards to your inquiry, we would like to inform you that after checking IMEI number with our internal tool, we can confirm that this smartphone Xperia XZ2 (H8296) isn`t intended for sale in Kazakhstan and is not eligible for warranty service on its territory. So, your product isn`t covered by a Limited warranty. The device was manufactured for sale in Hong Kong.

 
We inform you that some type of services (including some applications) can function only in the country, for which the phone was manufactured, and the device characteristics, produced for sale in Hong Kong, may differ from similar models for the Kazakhstan market.
  
Therefore, to obtain more information about the availability of your phone functional Xperia XZ2 (H8296) and its maintenance, including which LTE bands are supported, we recommend to contact the shop where you purchased the device, or technical support of country of origin using next link: https://support.sonymobile.com/hk/contactUs/.  

Sent question to Hong Kong.

But I do not understand why there is no disclsmer on it on sonymobile.com?

Below is specification from https://www.sony-xperia.com.hk/xperia_xz2.php

記憶體64GB UFS內存
6GB存取
最高400GB microSD™卡 (共用SIM2插槽)

Here is clearly stated that H8296 supports following LTE bands
網絡制式GSM (2G) 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz
HSPA+ (3G) Band 1/2/4/5/6/8/19
LTE FDD (4G) Band 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/19/20/26/28/29/32/66
LTE TD (4G) (國內) Band 38/39/40/41
LTE 最高速度1.2Gbps (下載); 150Mbps (上載)**

I think if in specifications on official store site declared that phone supports all bands it means that phone need to support it. If not it must be clearly declared about it.

Very disappointed with Sony's position.

There are a lot of on-line stores selling H8296, and a lot of people will face the problem like me. And also will be disappointed.

[batirkh]

The answer from HK support, but no answer to my question.

Thank you for your feedback

according to your description, kindly provide the following information for you to refer.

1. Greater China comprises China Hong Kong, China Taiwan, China mainland, we are customer service hotline in Hong Kong region, we are not aware of which part you have purchased your phone.

1. For Hong Kong official product, we kindly provide you with the following bands available for your reference.

for 3.5G: 3.5G(UMTS HSPA+ 800 (Band VI), 800 (Band XIX), 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1700 (Band IV),1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I) MHz).

for 4G Lte: (Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 17(700), 19(800), 20(800), 26(850), 28(700) ,29(700) , 32(1500), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500), 66(***))*(LTE Cat 18).

according to your description, the Hong Kong official H8296 is compatible with band1,3,20. we suggest that you can consult the local Telecommunication operator whether those band are compatible for local service.

1. for active this function, you can get into setting>network&internet>internet settings>accept>wait for completion，then you can get into mobile network>preferred network type>lte and mobile network>network operators>choose the operator. thank you.

My view:

1. KZ support confirmed that phone is for HK market

2. HK support confirmed that phone support 1,3,20 bands of LTE, why it is not working

3. I have wrote in my request that Internet settings are correct and my pld Xperia X performance  with the same sim card works perfectly on all mentined bands.

So I have not recived and adequate solution to my problem. My friend has the same model H8296, and he has the same problem like me. It meaты it is not hardware problem, it means it is software bag or locking by Sony without cleare declaring it in specification.

[batirkh]

Sony does not recognized that they lock some bands and advised to send the phone to Hong Kong. Finally I have defined that band 20 locked on H8296 models, band 1,3 works fine. H8296 it is my latest phone from Sony. It is very sad, because I used xperia z, z3, x performance and bad xz2. Will wait dual sim from Apple.  Hope they will release it this year.