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The state of Playstore
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
If I understand correctly, carrier locking is different from Bootloader locking. One implies freedom to use the device on any provider network, while the other is for installing a custom ROM. A Samsung flagship can be bought unlocked by paying full price, but you cannot unlock the bootloader and install Graphene, for instance.
The Exynos variants of Samsung devices can have their bootloader unlocked, it's the snapdragon ones that can't and even then there are some instances where it was possible to do it, but it's still a hassle and the Exynos variants tend not to have good development support.