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I have just bought a surprisingly-cheap refurbished Samsung S10+ to (eventually) replace my elderly S7.

I have not yet tried to connect it to my Samsung/Google accounts.

The S10+ is running Android 12. Settings > About phone shows:

Phone number                   unknown
Model name                 Galaxy S10+
Model number               SM-G975F/DS
Serial number                      ...
IMEI (slot 1)                      ...
IMEI (slot 2)                      ...
United Arab Emirates       TRA ID: ...
                               TA: ...

The S7 has Android 8 and does not show a country on this setting page.

What is the significance of the country? How does it affect operation of the phone?

I am in UK. Should I be trying to change the display to say UK? Perhaps flash a local firmware?

I can provide information from Software information, etc, if any of that will be relevant.

End Anti-Semitic Hate
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jhnc
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1 Answers1

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Yes, you should change the country.

Country mainly affects the choice of apps that you can install from Google Play, as also other apps on Play store (some developers limit the app availability in different countries for a bunch of reasons. See answer here

Make sure you factory-reset your phone, flash the firmware of your country and register with Google account showing your country (your Google account created in UK), else you will have to undergo the lengthy official process How to change your Google Play country.

There are a bunch of questions on this site as to how to spoof the country but if you are planning to use the phone in UK only, it's best to do it for once as above.

Related: Why are there different versions of each firmware for different country?

beeshyams
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    I'm not sure Google Play is related here, but this looks like CSC (Country Specific Code) for Samsung firmware/service provider. – Andrew T. Sep 01 '23 at 12:21
  • @AndrewT, that's what I recall. Also issues like calendar holidays //That also makes me wonder why Samsung has so many regional versions – beeshyams Sep 01 '23 at 12:43
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    Although nothing obvious changed when I flashed the (identical) firmware (see comment above), after I finally inserted a sim the system forced me to reboot, and I later noticed that "Service provider software version" now ends XSG/XEU, XSG/XSG. Not sure what it had originally as I forgot to record any of the information. – jhnc Sep 08 '23 at 14:20