Motorola Moto G31

chargerchamp

Just noticed something wild about the motorola moto g31 and I can’t stop thinking about it. It looks like different “retail channels” (RETEU, RETIN, RETAPAC, etc.) on the same exact hardware expose totally different features: native call recording toggle shows up for some, VoWiFi is hidden for others, even the IMS menus and APN defaults seem to change. And that’s without root or custom ROMs - just stock firmware from a different channel.

Has anyone here actually crossflashed to a different retail channel on the G31 using Lenovo Rescue and Smart Assistant (or other official tools) and kept everything working normally? I’m trying to figure out if this could be a clean way to enable features like native call recording and stable VoLTE/VoWiFi on carriers that support it but keep it hidden by region.

Questions I’m hoping we can crowdsource:

Did Widevine stay L1 or drop to L3 after the switch?
Did OTA updates continue from the new channel?
Any change in LTE band availability or carrier aggregation combos? If you use NetMonster/Network Signal Guru, did your CA combos change?
Did IMS services (VoLTE/VoWiFi/ViLTE) provision automatically on your SIM, and do the toggles appear in Settings without hacks?
Any differences in Motorola Camera features (e.g., Night Vision behavior, 50MP mode) between channels?
Battery life or thermal changes after moving channels?
Region-specific features like emergency alerts, call recording, or Wi-Fi calling toggles showing up or disappearing?

If you’ve done this on a Moto G31, could you share:

Original retail channel and build number
New retail channel and build number
Country/carrier
SIM type (single/dual)
VoLTE/VoWiFi/Call Recording status before vs after
DRM status (L1/L3), SafetyNet/Play Integrity result, Google Pay working or not
Whether OTA still works on the new channel
Any network band/CA differences you noticed

Bonus curiosity: does the OLED calibration (color profiles, gamma at low brightness) vary by channel? It sounds crazy, but on budget OLEDs small tuning differences can be obvious.

If this turns out to be consistent, we could build a little matrix of “which channel exposes which features” for the G31 and save a lot of people from unlocking or switching phones just to get VoWiFi or call recording.

ROMRunner

Quick data points from two XT2173-2 units I crossflashed with Lenovo Rescue (locked BL, stock only), keeping to the same Android branch each time:

Channels tested: RETEU → RETIN and RETEU → RETAPAC
DRM: Widevine stayed L1 on both; Netflix/Amazon in HD unaffected. Play Integrity passes (DeviceIntegrity), Google Pay fine.
OTA: Device followed the new channel immediately; security OTAs continued normally for that channel. No need to relock (was never unlocked).
Bands/CA: No change in LTE bands or CA on Vodafone DE and Jio IN. NetMonster still showed the same 2CA combos as before (e.g., B1+B3, B3+B20 where supported by carrier/network).
IMS: On RETIN, VoLTE/VoWiFi toggles appeared automatically and IMS registered on Jio/Airtel with no hacks. On RETAPAC, VoWiFi toggle also visible on Singtel and registered. On RETEU with O2 DE, VoLTE worked but Wi‑Fi Calling toggle stayed hidden unless carrier allowed it; moving to RETAPAC didn’t magically enable it for O2 (carrier whitelist still rules).
Call recording: Google Dialer toggle visible on RETIN/RETAPAC, absent on RETEU. Works with Google’s voice announcement.
Camera: No change in features or quality (Night Vision, 50MP mode identical). App package/version matched across channels on the same base build.
Battery/thermals: No measurable difference across a week of mixed use; same idle drain and sustained performance in 20‑min CPU throttling runs.
Region bits: Cell Broadcast/Emergency alerts menu layout differed (EU vs IN/APAC presets), but functionality intact.

Caveats and tips:

Keep within the same major build line when switching (e.g., S→S); mixing S↔T is where I’ve seen OTA hiccups on other Motos.
Check your CID before trying: fastboot getvar all (look for cid/channel). If your unit uses a carrier/subsidy channel, LMSA won’t push a different RET without service tooling.
NVRAM/modem: Didn’t change; APNs and CarrierConfig swapped to the new region defaults, but custom APNs persisted after SIM reinsert.
OLED calibration: No visible differences in color profiles or low‑brightness gamma; PWM behavior unchanged.

If folks add more pairs (RETBR, RETLA, RETUS) we can map which ones surface the IMS/call‑recording flags without touching bootloader.

USBWizard

Haha, Motorola’s regional roulette is peak budget phone chaos-love how they hide features like it’s a spy novel. I tried RETEU to RETBR on a G31 (XT2173-1, Brazilian variant) via LMSA, same S build. VoLTE/VoWiFi toggles popped up instantly for Claro BR, call recording too (with the annoying beep, naturally). DRM held L1, OTAs rolled in fine, no band shifts on 4G (still B3+B7 CA max). Battery same, but emergency alerts now scream in Portuguese-cultural immersion win? Only quirk: APNs defaulted to Vivo, so manual tweak needed. Anyone tested RETUS? Curious if it unlocks US carrier hacks without the bloat. Let’s fill that matrix!