As advanced as the technology is, there are probably many aspects that you don’t know about your phone or there are some that you don’t necessarily take into account on a daily basis. For some things, less pleasant, such as the theft of a phone, it is good to be prepared. For this reason, it would be good to have at hand the means by which you can identify where the stolen phone is, in order to be able to block it later. This can be done by identifying the phone’s IMEI.
What is phone IMEI?
The phone’s IMEI is like a kind of international CNP of your phone, according to which the device can be identified, in mobile networks or in a physical way. Every phone released on the market has this IMEI, which is unique and whose name comes from International Mobile Equipment Identity.
The IMEI is the type of information that is good to have at hand from the moment you get a new mobile phone. Even mobile phone operators suggest you to know this unique identification number.
At the same time, this IMEI series allows phones to make emergency calls, regardless of whether a SIM card is inserted in the phone or not. Important to mention here is the fact that dual-SIM phones have two such codes.
It is also good to know that this IMEI series of your device should not be confused with the IMSI series, which represents the International Identity number of the mobile subscriber and which is stored and printed on the SIM card. In the purchase form of a mobile phone, the two codes are filled out separately.
The main purpose of the IMEI is to assign a unique registration number to your mobile phone. It is, if you like, similar, to a certain extent, to the registration number of the car.
If you haven’t found out about this series yet, you don’t have to worry. In the following, we present the methods by which you can check the IMEI for the iPhone, as well as for the Samsung and Huawei models.
What is the phone’s IMEI made of?
The IMEI of mobile phones is usually made up of 15 digits. The first three show the phone model code – TAC (Type Approval Code). The next two digits represent the country code in which the device was assembled, for example 03 is the code for China. The other six digits that follow represent the phone’s serial number (SNR – Serial Number or SN). The last digit in the IMEI does not have much significance.
How do you find the IMEI of your phone?
Immediately after you take possession of your phone, you will already take possession of this IMEI series. The first and most convenient place where you can identify the IMEI of your smartphone, before you even open it, is, in the case of new phones, right on the box in which you received the phone or on the purchase invoice. If you come into possession of its original box, you will most likely find this IMEI of the phone on the back, which you can communicate further to your mobile operator. Some devices have this series written on them, either under the battery, or on the back of the case, or on the SIM card holder, if we are referring to phones with a unibody type case.
The simplest and easiest way to find the IMEI
The IMEI series can be found by entering the following combination on your phone’s keyboard: *#06#. This is the code used to find out your IMEI serial number. It is the simplest and most accessible method by which you can find this code. If your phone is dual-SIM, two IMEI series will appear on the window that will open. Below this series or series, you will see, within the same message, a new code called SN or SNR that designates the phone’s Serial Number.
To remember these indications, you can take a screenshot with your phone so that you can have them at hand later to use them when you need them. Although it is one of the most popular methods to check the phone’s IME, an aspect that must be mentioned here is that this combination of characters sometimes gives errors.
The only smartphone that offered the expected results was the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, from 2016. On the Huawei P Smart 2019, the phone’s IMEI appeared on the screen only on the third attempt. It didn’t work on the LG V40 ThinQ either, just like on the iPhone models. For the latter, Apple’s instructions do not include the *#06# combination for checking the phone’s IMEI. For this reason, we will continue to show you the ways in which you can check the IMEI for your iPhone.
How do you check the IMEI on an iPhone?
If you own a device produced by Apple, we will show you how to identify the IMEI series, right from your phone. Although you think you don’t need this identification number, well, find out that you might need it when you least expect it.
iPhones are phones that attract attention, especially for their attractive design and market value, which steals the eyes of the curious, but also of potential thieves, unfortunately. For this reason, the chance that your precious device ends up in someone else’s hands increases significantly. The IMEI series will help you identify the phone that was stolen or that you accidentally lost. In these situations, you must contact a representative of your mobile phone operator who, after receiving your phone’s IMEI, will be able to access your phone’s location.
But, first of all, the simplest method by which you can identify this number is to go to the phone settings, to the General > About > IMEI section. Also, on the iPhone, you can still find the IMEI in the Finder or in iTunes through a search, if you no longer have the original box of the phone, or if you have decided to purchase a second-hand phone.
If an iOS 6 or newer operating system is installed on your phone, then you will also have the option to copy this number to your phone, so you can later “paste text” where you need it. It is recommended that, for security reasons, you do not share this identification number with anyone, except your mobile operator or Apple support and technical assistance personnel.
Another way to find out the IMEI for your iPhone is to access appleid.apple.com, from Safari, on your Mac, where you will log in with your Apple ID. Afterwards, you must scroll down until you reach the “Devices” section, where you will also see the IMEI of your device. If you have an iPhone with an operating system iOS 10.3 or the versions that appeared after it, you will be able to identify the IMEI series after you connect to your Apple account, after which you will access the Settings > Your name option.
An option that proves simple to put into practice is to enter the phone and access the Preferences option, then enter the Apple ID, and then the iPhone.
iPhone IMEI, written on the SIM holder
Whether or not the IMEI appears on the screen depends on the model of your phone. There are several iPhone models that have written the IMEI on the SIM holder:
iPhone 15
iPhone 14
iPhone 13
iPhone 12
iPhone 11
iPhone XS
iPhone XR
iPhone X
iPhone 8
iPhone 8 Plus
iPhone 7
iPhone 7 Plus
iPhone 6s
iPhone 6s PlusChecking IMEI on Android
And in the case of Android phones, the first and most convenient way to check the phone can also be done from the settings (from the device’s Settings menu). Depending on the phone version, you can check the IMEI following the following steps:
● Settings > About phone > Status > IMEI
● Settings > General > About device > Status > IMEI
● Settings > System > About phone > Status > IMEI
● Settings > About Device > Status > IMEI
IMEI check for Huawei and Samsung models
Huawei’s official website offers four methods by which smartphone users can find out the phone’s IMEI.
Type the combination *#06# on your phone's keypad for the query.
When the device is turned on, all you have to do is go to "Settings", then enter the "About" section and then access the current status for querying.
Check the IMEI of the device on the label on the back of the phone, if I can remove its case.
Check the serial number of the device on the product package, i.e. on the box it came in when you bought it.Checking the IMEI for the models in the Samsung portfolio can be done following the same steps as in the case of the models produced by Huawei. Moreover, Samsung officials offer as guidance for checking the phone’s IMEI and SNR the actual invoice that you receive as proof of the transaction concluded between you and the company.
IMEI Blacklist check and second-hand phones
Competition between companies in the mobile phone industry has intensified in recent years. The manufacturers we are already used to promise us more and more performing models, which surprise us in terms of quality and innovation. However, we all know that we often do not have the budget necessary to purchase a phone that has recently appeared on the market, which is why it is good to consider the possibility of buying a second-hand device, which comes with significantly better prices.
You will come across offers of second-hand phones that will be hard to refuse, due to the fact that they are affordable, but in this chapter you have to pay attention to one more aspect. What you have to consider is whether or not the phone you decided to get is on the so-called “blacklist” of phones, nicknamed “blacklist”. The way you can see this is through an IMEI blacklist check.
What does an IMEI blacklist mean?
An IMEI blacklist or a blacklist is a database through which you can identify if a certain mobile device has been reported as lost, stolen or as originating from a fraud (eg: non-payment of the subscription or installments), based on the IMEI- the phone. Therefore, if you decide to buy a phone, especially a second-hand one, you will have to find out what the status of your phone is. For this, you can access imei.info, a platform based on one of the largest technical assistance centers in terms of information about IMEI and IMEI check.
Your phone can still be entered on this blacklist, due to an additional reason. We are referring here to users who do not fulfill their duties that are stipulated in the contracts concluded between a mobile phone operator and the respective person.
The black list also contains the IMEI numbers of the phones that belong to people who have not respected the terms and conditions imposed in the contracts for the purchase of a phone, such as repeated non-payment of invoices. Most companies in the telecom industry transmit so-called black lists from each other, with these IMEIs, so that, if the person in question decides to port to another mobile network, he will not be able to use the phone under the umbrella to any other local or even regional operator.
4 examples of sites where you can check the IMEI for free
The phone’s IMEI can also be checked for free on the following sites:
imei.info
imei24.com
www.imeipro.info
www.iphoneox.comWhy is the IMEI of the phone important?
We have seen that every phone is assigned an IMEI, i.e. a unique code, specific only to that device, which allows the buyer of a second-hand phone to check if the phone has been reported as coming from a fraud, or its country of origin, what is the model of the phone and other important details about the phone. The IMEI was created basically so that mobile phones can be easily identified at any moment of their life.
