Move sim card to duplicate phone?

[CaliforniaCowboy]

My kids phone finally got tossed in the garbage, He had it for a while and dropped it one too many times and it is no longer working. I took his sim card out and tossed it.

I was wondering, If I got a used phone off of ebay, the same model of phone and put his sim in the phone, would it function as his original phone? Have the same phone number, be connected to our phone plan as if nothing happened or is there more to it?

I realize any apps and the such would have to be re-downloaded but I am speaking about popping the sim in a different identical phone and it work as his original.


If so, what if I got a different model phone that takes same size sim card?

[ErikC12]

If it is a phone that works on your providers network, it will keep the same number and should work fine. Contacts, apps, etc wil have to be added.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

If it is a phone that works on your providers network, it will keep the same number and should work fine. Contacts, apps, etc wil have to be added.

Cool, even if it is a different model of phone? As long as the provider uses that phone model?

[hermosabeach]

The number is on the sim

The contacts could be on either phone or sim
It’s depends on the set up

[sfe187]

Cool, even if it is a different model of phone? As long as the provider uses that phone model?

As long as the phone is made and/or unlocked for the same network as your son's old phone.

[the86d]

I believe most everything modern is a nano-SIM.

Most SIMs can be cut to the Nano-SIM size, but your provider can swap the SIM out and the new ones with T-mobile typically have punch-outs for all SIM sizes.

If Android, use the same Gmail account and any contacts saved to Gmail will autosync, (ATT phones do some whacky shiz with contacts, but I digress) and I think it works the same way on iPhruity devices...

Typically on an Androids one can save new contacts to Gmail, SIM, or Phone... I can't speak to other tech.

You can get a nice NIB (New In Box) LG V20 on eBay for <$200, which is 2 gens behind, but w/a replaceable battery, but if coming from a non-Smartphone, with every provider but T-mobile (last I heard) they would start charging data if the prior phone didn't have it before (I know AT&T for sure does this, last we spoke), and VZW.

[Kokopelli]

I do this with ATT iPhones. Backup the old phone with iTunes. Take the SIM card out of the old phone and put it in a new ATT "pay-as-you-go phone" from Best Buy. Do a restore from backup and you're good to go.

I did this last month when my wife's phone got ruined because it fell in water.

[dracer]

I interchange between a gs6 and gs8 and gs9 works just fine

[Cuda440]

I pulled the sim out of my Iphone 6s and suck it in my Huawei m10 pro, still get great service.

If youre going from an Iphone to an android or anything else, shut off imessage on the old phone first or your texts will never come through

[sl0re10]

Cool, even if it is a different model of phone? As long as the provider uses that phone model?

sometimes. I was on tmobile I had a android smartphone and a $20 no feature phone from ebay. If I broke my android I'd switch to the $20 one until I got the smartphone fixed.

[Robotron2k84]

I pulled the sim out of my Iphone 6s and suck it in my Huawei m10 pro, still get great service.

If youre going from an Iphone to an android or anything else, shut off imessage on the old phone first or your texts will never come through

https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/

You can deregister your iDevice number from this page if you forgot to do so before moving off the Apple platform.

[bigbearbear]

There are a few things you should be aware of:

1. The same phone model might be designed for carriers with different radio technology. For example, an iPhone 6S designed for AT&T and T-Mobile will not work for Verizon and Spring. This is because the former uses GSM and the later uses CDMA type network technology. So make sure the phone you buy will work on your network.

2. Even if the phone is designed to work for your provider, it may be configured for another provider of the same network type (e.g. factory set t work for AT&T but you're using T-Mobile). If this is the case, you'll have to configure the APN and other settings on the phone to make it work correctly.

To save yourself the hassle, why don't you go buy one of those prepaid type phones from your carrier's store? You can get those for as low as $50 for simple phones. If you're using a MVNO with no physical store, you can also check Amazon.com for unlocked phones.

[dracer]

ebay you can have your pick of what you want

[the86d]

ebay you can have your pick of what you want

Yuuuuup.

Generally I do a search for "make" "Model" and "T-mobile" (all no quotes) when I am looking for my T-mobile plan. I usually buy something 1-2 models behind current, mainly due to the price being sub/<$200, although I used to get the sub $120 models for my son who went through them too quick. Check search Descriptions too. Check new on the left...
I don't usually buy pre-owned, or used, but I have in the past for the kids if they were careless.

Wow... it looks like the V20 is going for $141 NIB, w/no rush shipping now... AND a replaceable battery...