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I'm a T-Mobile US customer, and I'm quite interested in getting a phone with Band 12 support, and one that'll actually let me have a better understanding of the network and whether I'm receiving the benefit of having the upgraded phone with the Band 12 support.

As per https://sites.google.com/site/cellularbinder/compatible-phones and the specs of the phoe itself, Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 does appear to support LTE Band 12.

However, does it have the ability to show which band is presently being used, like some other non-Google phones can? (I currently have a couple of Google Nexus phones, and am quite disappointed that there appears to be no way to see which exact bands of LTE or UMTS do they use.)

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I currently have the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, and yes it does support band 12. In fact, my phone is currently using band 12 over band 4 which is what my OnePlus One was using, since it doesn't support band 12.

  • One way to check is to download the LTE Discovery app.

  • Or, open your phone's dialer and type *#*#4636#*#* -- this will open up Testing mode.

    • Go to Phone information and it will show which band your phone is using.

    • See screenshots below. First two are from my Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 and the last two are from my OnePlus One. As you can see, the Phone information mode for the OnePlus One does not show the LTE band for some reason. (Depends on the phone I guess.)

      Also notice how band 4 is in use on the OnePlus One according to LTE Discovery and there are no bars, whereas the Idol 3 has 2 bars of Band 12 LTE.

Note that these two phones are placed right next to each other.

Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 (Image 1) Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 (Image 2)

OnePlus One (Image 1) OnePlus One (Image 2)

Click image(s) for larger version

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  • Supporting Band 12 is one thing, but what about VolTE? Can you make a call on the Idol 3 and take another screenshot while in the call?
    – Ajith Antony
    Commented Aug 4, 2015 at 4:17
  • @AjithAntony Yes, the phone itself does support VoLTE, however its not enabled. It needs a software update to enable it. Calls instead, will be done through 2G (EDGE) or 3G(HSPA+) and switch back to LTE once the call is completed. Yes, you can take a screenshot while in a call.
    – Michael Trinh
    Commented Aug 13, 2015 at 5:56
  • thanks for the update. I doubt we will ever see a software update to let the Idol do VoLTE on T-Mobile. This is a problem becuase the point of Band 12 support is to have coverage where only Band 12 is available as it has a better range and building penetration than band 2 and 4. If there is no band 2 or 4 signal to fall back to then one cannot make calls unless you have VoLTE.
    – Ajith Antony
    Commented Aug 19, 2015 at 21:30
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Just to highlight Michael Trinh's answer: Yes, as of this moment, it supports band 12 data. No it does not support band 12 calling. If you are in an area of only band 12 coverage, then you will not be able to send or receive calls or SMS despite the signal bar claiming coverage.

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