have you ever thought about what type of phone do you have? No, seriously. Have you ever held up a cell phone without any identifying markings and asked yourself, “What the hell is this?” before slamming it on the table, like the Patrick Star meme from SpongeBob SquarePants Season 3? Wet painter?”
Believe it or not, yes, sometimes people need a little help figuring out what’s on their phone. Some, like my colleague and Android expert Florence Ion, can tell what kind of phone you have simply by looking at the curvature of the corners of the case. For the rest of us, albeit less technically savvy, it’s a much more complicated process. Maybe your phone has been around for so long that the name has been lost over time (you should probably check to see if you’re still getting security updates). Maybe you’re the beneficiary of an old device of strange, alien origin.
Before you comment, please remember that we can’t all be experts.
How to tell what type of iPhone you have
Apple did it Quite easy Inform you of the type of phone you are carrying. If you can still turn it on and unlock it, you can find your phone’s model number by going into Settings, then tapping the “General” and “About” tabs. The iPhone’s model number should be highlighted, starting with “A” followed by four more numbers.
After that, head to Apple Mobile phone model page and press CMD+F to find your specific model in the list, or scroll until you find it. All iPhones will return to the pre-iPhone X “A1” category, while later models will start moving into the “A2” category. If you’re trying to find the right phone based on looks alone, this page provides some visual descriptors (such as the iPhone 3GS’s plastic back) that can be helpful.
If you can’t actually open the phone, either because you don’t have the access code or you no longer have one of those 30-pin connectors, you can still easily find the model number. On iPhone 7 or earlier, this number should be prominently located on the back of the phone, just below the “iPhone” logo. Things are a little more complicated with iPhone 8 or later. First, open the SIM card tray and look directly into the slot. The model number should be on the top edge of the open slot, on the side closest to the screen.
The latest iPhones don’t have SIM card trays, so you’ll need to look for the model number in the Lightning (for iPhone 14) and USB-C (for iPhone 15) ports. It should be on the side closest to the screen, you may need a flashlight or even a magnifying glass to read the numbers there.
How to tell what type of Android phone you have
Finding out what type of Android phone you have is a lot more complicated due to the wide variety of devices available. There are several ways to obtain a phone model with relative ease, but sometimes, you need to be a little more determined to find the source of the phone.
The easiest way is to look in your phone’s settings. First, open the settings window through the notification shade and scroll down until you see the “About phone” tab. You can also find the IMEI number of your phone. This will list the product name, model number, or both. Pixel phones should have the name highlighted in the same space, but for the model number, you’ll need to click on the “Regulatory Labels” tab.
On Samsung phones, the model name will start with “SM”, while Google Pixels will start with “G”. Other companies, however, are much less consistent. one plusHuawei, Motorola and other major phone manufacturers all have different initial letters on their model numbers, depending on the year and model.
There are so many devices that if your phone doesn’t tell you the exact name in settings, it’s best to search for the model number on Google to find the correct device.
But what if you can’t unlock your device? Well, then things get trickier. The phone model may be listed directly on the device, such as older Samsung models, but newer phones may not have any easily accessible identifier. If you still have a connection, you can contact your carrier, although you may already have access to the device at this point.
If you still have the box your phone came in, you can find the model number by looking at the original barcode area (or just looking at the front of the box, of course).Some mobile phones, such as some Huawei models, allowing you to remove the back panel, which will highlight the model number. Other phones may have this information underneath the phone’s battery, a part that can be easily removed if they are old enough.
If all else fails, you can try the following website GSM Arena, which includes a handy phone finder for you to compare and contrast the looks of your devices, but that might mean digging through a mountain of devices to find the right one. If you’re stuck, try posting it in the comments; maybe we can help.
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