Android users in the US and European countries must have definitely heard of the Carrier Unlocking term which is used in many developer networks. Contract based devices are most common among the customers who like to buy the smartphones from suitable carriers, but many Android users wish to change the carrier before the contract period solely because of the restriction imposed by them. Usually unlocking a device involves a hell lot of process which would definitely scare a first-time tinkerer, but what if it’s as simple as changing the SIM cards?
At the time of Nexus 6 launch, Google announced that the device would be available through at least 5 US carriers rather than cornering the customers to buy the unlocked version at Play Store. Well, the announcement is quite exciting as the user can choose among their favorite carriers and grab the device on a contract basis but people were a little surprised to notice the missing Verizon brand on the Nexus 6’s official support page. Finally out of the blue, the Verizon brand is added to the Nexus 6 support page yesterday which made the Verizon official for Nexus 6.
Coming back to the switching SIM cards part, a T-Mobile Nexus 6 user, McKay Nehring had took some time to pop in his spare Verizon SIM card just to face the unbelievable. Switching networks on Carrier locked devices would usually involve tedious process of flashing firmwares and mods, but we guess it’s not in the case of Nexus 6 as the device is reported to have worked on Verizon without any issues. McKay had also shared the screenshot of the quick toggles panel which shows the Verizon text under the network toggle. Well, provided that the information provided by him is true, it would be really awesome for the T-Mobile Nexus 6 users to switch to Verizon anytime they wish just like the unlocked version from Play Store.
If you hold a T-Mobile Nexus 6 and have a Verizon SIM lying around, just give it try and pop in the SIM on your device. Feel free to share your result in the comments sections below.
The T-Mobile Nexus 6s are untouched by T-Mobile. T-mobile has said that there is no bloatware, no T-Mobile branding and they are Sim unlocked. They are essensialy stock Nexus 6 phones right from Google/Moto. Kudos to T-Mobile.
I purchased a Nexus 6 at a T Mobile store last week and popped in the Verizon SIM I had been using on an iPhone 5. It worked immediately, and has provided all functions. LTE works fine.