• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.
Hi, I got a new SGS3 and want to know how I can find out if it is branded or not.
My informations are:
AP: I9305XXALI5
CP: I9305BVALI5
CSC: I9305EVRALI5

I have exactly the same phone and have got mixed results from research, though i have other sims they are not micro sized so can't check using them. I have tried using *#7465625# but nothing happens with mine.

mine is an upgrade from t-mobile uk, the firmware details from kies show PDA:LI5 / PHONE:LI5 / CSC:LI5 (EVR). Though i'm not an expert i think the (EVR) bit means mine is locked to EE (Everthing Everywhere). if yours is different then i would research that. the reason why i'm uncertain is that my s2 was upgraded the same way but had (CPW) which was unlocked.

Like you i would be interested if any can shed more light on this.
 
Upvote 0
Thank you for your reply. I am using mine with an orange simcard and don't have problems with that..


Is your carrier orange? T-Mobile and Orange sims might work because EE is their parent company but other carrier sims might not.
I chose to stick with TM because i didn't want to change my contract and in any case i think the 4g contract costs are over inflated.
 
Upvote 0
I found the firmware and yes it is EE branded. Can I just flash an unbranded firmware?

I'm pretty sure you can flash with another stock rom, if you don't get a reply you could try here - forums are lower down page. but my phone hardly shows any branding, the only thing that i can see is that the browsers home page is set to EE which i changed.


Did you find out if your phone is sim locked?

I'm waiting to meet someone with a micro sim that is on a different network to check. you can ask your carrier to supply an unlock code, the charge is
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones