Bypass SIM Locked Phones with SmartSim
Posted on 04 June 2008, at 6:21 am, by Wayne Schulz
Looking for a way to use your carrier locked phone on another provider without having to physically unlock it (which may void the warranty). iSmartSim 2008 is billed as a cheap and fast way to bypass the operator lock on certain SIM based phones. It works by inserting the SmartSim between your SIM card and the phone (in some instances you must trim your SIM card as shown in the photo above). Click on over to the next page for a list of phones this is supposed to work with, as well as a YouTube video demonstration.
The manufacturer claims that the following phones can use SmartSim to bypass a carrier lock :
Alcatel
BlackBerry
Foma
Huawei
iPhone
LG
Lobster
MDA
MODEM
Motorola
Nokia
Panasonic
Sagem
Samsung
Sharp
Siemens
SonyEricsson
SPV
Toshiba
Vodafone
ZTE
DOCOMO
SOFTBANK
Though some people claim that this works with the iPhone, I’m a little concerned because the SmartSim adds some bulk to your SIM card which seems like it would make it too large to fit into the iPhone SIM slot.
This solution does NOT permanently unlock your SIM based phone. The manufacturer claims it BYPASSES the built-in check for an operator lock.
When you remove the SmartSim the phone will revert back to fully locked status. Seems like a smart way to avoid warranty problems and also enjoy your phone on different carriers!
Here’s a YouTube video showing the SmartSim in action:
Link: SmartSim – $7.26 shipped at DealExtreme
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June 4th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Just in time for the new iPhone it seems. But yeah, I do agree about the small black chip at the end might not fit well with some phones.
June 4th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I might order one and try it with a prepaid phone. Wouldn’t it be cool to use any prepaid GSM phone as a spare without regard to the carrier.
That’s assuming that it works as advertised.
For $7 shipped I have a hard time seeing what could go wrong…unless of course it somehow shorts out the phone.