How to SIM unlock your Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra for free
Carrier contracts can be tempting. This is because the way our phones are priced right now, buying them outright can come across as being rather expensive, but by being able to pay the price of the phone over a 24-month period makes it a lot more attainable.
The downside? You’re locked to your carrier which makes traveling and swapping out SIM cards a bit of a problem.
Thankfully, there are a few different ways to SIM unlock your Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. Services like Android SIM Unlock are able provide a paid SIM unlcok code for your phone, but there is also a free option if you meet certain requirements, don’t mind putting in a bit or work and waiting a few days.
We do want to point out that unlocking your phone’s SIM does not free you from the contract you entered into with your carrier. You’ll still need to make all the necessary repayments and pay your bills, but you now have the added freedom of swapping SIMs around if you need.
Getting the unlock code from your carrier for free
If you’d rather not pay to unlock your phone’s SIM, you can actually get the unlock code from your carrier. There are several requirements that you’ll have to meet in order to qualify for the free code, which are:
If you meet those requirements, then here are the steps to take to get your free SIM unlock code:
- On your Galaxy S21 Ultra handset, launch the Phone app and dial *#06# to display your phone’s IMEI number
- Write the IMEI number down somewhere where you can refer to it easily
- Call your carrier’s customer service hotline and request for your SIM unlock code
- You will then be asked to provide the service rep with your Galaxy S21 Ultra’s IMEI number
- Assuming that you meet all the requirements that we mentioned above, the SIM unlock code will be sent to the email address you provided in the next 2-5 days.
- Once you’ve received your code, you can then feel free to swap out the SIM with a SIM from another carrier
- Enter the SIM unlock code that you received in your email when the prompt comes up and you’re all set!
Getting the unlock code from a paid third-party service
Now, given how new the Galaxy S21 Ultra is, there is a good chance that you might not meet the requirements set out by your carrier to qualify for a free SIM unlock. Don’t worry though because if the free option is not available, there are actually paid services like Android SIM Unlock that can provide you the SIM unlock code for your Galaxy S21 Ultra that won’t cost that much and might be worth exploring.
- On your Galaxy S21 Ultra handset, launch the Phone app and dial *#06# to display your phone’s IMEI number
- Write the IMEI number down somewhere where you can refer to it easily
- Visit Android SIM Unlock’s website
- Enter the device’s IMEI number
- Complete the checkout process with your payment and contact information
- Once that’s all settled and done, you should then receive the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s unlock code either through SMS or email
- The moment you’ve received your code, you can then swap out the SIM on your phone with a SIM from another carrier
- You should be prompted to enter the SIM unlock code that you received in your email, and once you’ve done that, you should be good to go
T-Mobile, MetroPCS Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra SIM unlock
The problem unlocking your SIM if you’re on T-Mobile or MetroPCS is that the carriers have approached SIM unlocking a bit differently, meaning that the method we outlined above won’t work. There is a slightly different method, and thankfully it’s just as easy, just with some slight variations to the process which you can follow in the steps down below.
- Launch the Phone app and dial *#060# to get the device’s IMEI number
- Write the number down
- Find the T-Mobile Device Unlock or MetroPCS Device Unlock service for your phone
- Enter your phone’s IMEI number and complete the checkout process
- You might have to wait a bit, but you will receive an email upon confirmation that your phone has been successfully unlocked
- Insert a non-T-Mobile or MetroPCS SIM card
- Launch the Device Unlock app and select “Permanent Unlock”
- If successful, you should see a message saying “Unlock Approved: Mobile device is permanently unlocked”
Once you’ve completed all the steps mentioned above, your Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra should now be unlocked and you can change carriers and swap SIM cards around with no issues.
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