Faiba 4G compatible phones and devices

Faiba mobile is one of Kenya's mobile network providers launched in December 2017.
At the time it became and is still the most affordable mobile network provider on the country thanks to it's innovative products including very  Affordable Data bundles and free on net calls and SMS.
Currently facing two major challenges including limited network coverage in the country and limited number of smartphone that support the network, it is a Worthy investment if you can get a Faiba sim.
Below is our up to date list of mobile phones that support faiba network, but first maybe we can explain why not all smartphone support Faiba mobile.
Though we will cover this in detail in a different article, it's good to understand how mobile phones work;
Phones use a part of the electromagnetic spectrum, also used by other wireless devices to communicate.
The mobile frequencies are subdivided into bands, based on the mobile technology e.g GSM or 3 G, etc.
Below is a summary of common mobile technologies currently in use:

• GSM: Ranges from 300 MHz to 1900 MHz. Commonly known as 2G.
• UMTS: From 2100MHz to 1500 MHz. This is used by 3G and is much faster than 2G, with better upload and download speeds.
• LTE: Also known as 4G LTE, this is much faster than 3G, ranging from 450 to 5900 MHz.
• 5G: This is the fastest network currently in use in various parts of the world, and caused a lot of controversies when first introduced. This network works on the millimeter waves, and has numerous advantages over other cellular technologies.

Under these technologies there are what are known as bands, e.y there is band 2, 20, 28 etc under LTE.

Band 28(700MHz) was initially used for analog TV broadcasting, and became available for mobile network use when TV transmission was switched to digital all over the world.

While other network providers like Safaricom support both 2G, 3G and 4G networks, Faiba mobile on the other hand only supports 4G LTE.

That means if you're using a 3G phone, then you won't use Faiba.

Also, Faiba mobile runs only on band 28, which is supported by very few phones, (since this was initially for TV broadcasting), though many 2020 phones now support this band.

Faiba compatible smartphones.

When launched December 2017, there were very limited phones that supported band 28 in the country, except for Nokia which had a number of Android devices in the country most of them readily compatible. That's why during the launch, faiba mentioned that it was partnering with Nokia to provide all it's interested customers with 700 Hz frequency phones.

Since then we have seen many smartphones include the band 28 in their smartphones, and  we the and the list will keep on growing with each and every smartphone launch. So far we have seen a number of Infinix and Tecno phones ship with this elusive band, but it's still quite unfortunate that most affordable or budget smartphones still don't support this network.

Phones that support both faiba voice and data.

• Nokia 1 plus, Nokia 2, Nokia 2.4, Nokia 3.1, Nokia 5, Nokia 5.1, Nokia 5.4 Nokia 6, Nokia 6.1,Nokia 6.1 Plus, Nokia 7.1, Nokia 8. Nokia 8.1, Nokia 8 Plus. Nokia 6.2, Nokia 8.3.
• Tecno Camon X pro, Tecno camon 11, Tecno canon 11 pro,T Tecno Spark 3, Tecno Spark 3 Pro, Tecno camo X, Tecno Phantom 8, Tecno Phantom 9.
• Infinix Zero 6, Infinix Note 8.

Phones that support data only.

• Motorola Moto G5, Moto Z, Moto Z2 play, Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus, G5, G5+,Moto Z, Moto Z play, moto Z2, Moto Z2 play.
• Samsung Galaxy A5, A7, A9 pro S6, S7, S7 edge, S8, S8+, Note 8, Note FE, S6 edge, J7, J7 pro, J2, J2 prime, J5 prime, Grand prime, J1 Ace, Note FE, J2, A9 pro(2016) C7 (2017), Samsung Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, Galaxy S10 lite, Samsung Galaxy S20.
• Oppo F5, F5 youth, A57, F1S, F3 plus, F1, R5, R7.
• Huawei P8, P9, Mate 5, Mate 7, Mate 8, Mate 9, Mate 9 pro, Mate 10, Mate 10 pro, P10, P10 pro, P10 plus, GR5, Honor 6.
• HTC 10, HTC U Ultra, U play, U11, Desire 825, Desire 530, Desire 10 pro, Desire 610, Desire 610, Desire 628, Desire 626, Desire 820, Desire 530, One M9, One M8, One X9, One E9 +, One A9.
• Sony Xperia Z3, XZ premium, XA, XZ, XA1  Ultra, Z5, XA ultra, X, M4 Aqua, Z3 compact, Z3+, Z5 premium, C5 ultra, E5, M5, X compact, X performance, C3, C4, Z2a.
• Lenovo P2, K6 Note.
• Xiaomi Mi mix 2, Xiaomi Mi note 2.
• ZTE Axon 7.
• One Plus 5, 5T.
• Tecno  camon  CX, Tecno  Spark.
• Infinix Zero 4 Plus, Zero 5.
• LG G3 (Dual - ZTE) G4, G5, G6, Q6, V10, V20, V30.
• BlackBerry Prix, keyone , DTEK50, DTEK6.

Faiba 4G compatible Routers(data only)

• Alcatel Linkhub hh40.
• Huawei B5255-65a.

How to check if your phone supports Faiba 4G network.

With many carriers being licensed over the world to use band 28, many phone manufacturers are now adding this band to their phones, and you will not be surprised that the list above might not cover all phones that actually support Faiba mobile.

If you have a 4G LTE device, there are various ways Check which 4G bands your Phone supports including faiba 4G.

A.Using Will my phone work website.

To know if your phone can support a particular carrier, follow these simple steps:

1. Go to   httpswillmyphonework.net/.
2. Select your phone brand, e.g Nokia.
3. Select your country then click 'search'.
4. Next select your phone model, e.g Nokia 5.
5. Select your carrier and click search again.

It will give you a list of all bands of the requested carrier that the specific phone supports.

The downside here is that not all phone brands and models are listed, and in a specific country not all carriers are also listed.

B. Using engineering mode.

This step is quite simple though it works only for mediatek processor phones.

1. Dial *#9646633# to access engineering mode.
2. Go to band mode.
3. Select sim.
4. Scroll down and find out if band 28 is listed and is checked.

Faiba 4G devices.

If you don't have any of the supported phones and live in a region where faiba 4G network is available, you can explore other options to stay connected and enjoy the highly affordable 4G data bundles.

You can either go for a mifi or buy any of the two faiba phones as detailed below:

The Wonder Phone.

This is a simple yet powerful phone available at any faiba store for just Ksh.2,999.

The phone is dual SIM, powered by a 1400 mAh battery and runs Kaios OS. Though small the Wonder phone is a powerful WiFi hotspot. 

You can use this phone to make free on-net calls once you purchase a Data bundle of your choice. The phone can also act as a hotspot router that can connect upto 10 devices on the go.

ZTE Blade A3.

If the Wonder phone isn't that wonderful enough for you, the you can opt for the ZTE Blade A3 available @ Ksh.6,500.

The phone is dual SIm, has a 4.95 inch screen with 1 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage, the same capacity for many Infinix and Tecno phones that cost slightly above 10 K. It has a 5 MP rear Camera and a 2 MP front camera and powered by Android go edition.

ZTE MF-927U.

This is a simple light weight yet powerful Mifi introduced by faiba.

The device, which supports up to 10 users is compatible with a number of OS including Windows XP and Linux and has speeds of upto 150 Mbps and 50 Mbps upload.

ZTE MF 920V.

This is another compact wireless hot-spot router available at any faiba shop near your or online at the faiba site.

The device supports upto 10 users and is currently available @ Ksh.5,400.

ZTE MF 79S.

This is a lightweight wireless modem with WiFi hotspot support.

It supports upto 10 users and compatible with anumber of Operating Systems including Windows 7/8/10/XP/Vista, Linux and MAC.

Available for Ksh. 4,850.

With all the above options, there should be no reason why you're spending much on data when Faiba offers you extremely cheap 4G data plans.
Also Read:

• Phones that support Faiba esim