How to Easily Find Out What Kind of Phone You Have [2024]
- Knowing your phone model is crucial for buying compatible accessories, diagnosing problems, ensuring app compatibility, determining resale value, and understanding your device's features if received as a gift.
- You can identify your phone by asking an expert, looking for brand logos or markings, checking the phone's model number in settings, finding the model number on the device's back, examining the phone's box for clues, or asking in online forums.
- For a detailed identification, check the phone's model number under the "About" section in settings. This method works across different operating systems, providing specific variant and region information.
For various reasons, it can be important to know which phone you are holding in your hand. However, with every device resembling a rectangular-shaped brick from the outside, it can often be challenging, especially for newbies, to distinguish between different models.
This guide dives deep into all the basic steps you can take to accurately determine the specific phone you’re holding right now.
Table of Contents
Why is Your Phone Model Important to Know?
With the world of smartphones, you’re not just limited to one tech giant or company. It is important to understand that this diverse market has all sorts of devices settling in, each of which works, looks, and functions differently.
This means that your mobile phone experience can differ greatly depending on your choice. For example, an LG user’s experience will likely be quite different from that of an iPhone user, and vice versa. But, there other, smaller but more important reasons to consider too.
- Buying Accessories: Each phone has separate dimensions and physical features, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to mobile accessories. Therefore, to buy the right set of back covers, screen protectors, chargers, or even cables, you need to know which accessories suit your phone and are compatible.
- Diagnosing Problems: If you encounter any issues with your phone, knowing the make and model makes it easier to look up, diagnose and troubleshoot problems more effectively. Different phones have different hardware configurations and software versions, so having this information can lead to quicker resolutions.
- App Compatibility: While many apps have different versions that work on all phones, an app designed for a different device may not work on your phone. For example, you can’t install the native Samsung Camera app on a Google Pixel, and you can’t install the Google Camera on an iPhone. So, it is essential to know your phone’s specific model to ensure which apps work best with your device.
- Resale Value: If you’re planning on changing up your device and selling your current one, it may be important to know the exact model to provide potential buyers with accurate details of your product and to effectively make financial calculations based on the resale value of your current device.
- Gift: It is possible you’ve received your current device as a gift and so have no idea what the device actually is. In that case, it is essential to understand specifics to know if it suits your daily requirements.
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1. Ask Someone
The easiest and most straightforward way to identify your phone’s exact model is to consult someone with more expertise on the subject. Most manufacturers have distinct design philosophies, making it easy for someone with knowledge to single out the device maker. If possible, visit a professional mobile shop where an expert can help you identify your specific model.
2. Look for Brand Logos or Markings
Almost all phones come with some sort of brand identification, or markings, whether in the form of logos, text, or generally in the design. It is quite simple to identify that a marking exists, and then match it up against similar-looking logos on the internet. Here is a list of logos for some of the most popular mobile phone manufacturers.
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3. Check Your Phone’s Model Number
To pinpoint the exact variant and region of your phone, it is best to check its model number and then search it on the internet for exact specifications. To do this, you will have to go to your phone’s Settings and look up your phone’s model number from there. This is usually found under the About section.
- Open Settings.
- Head down to ‘About Phone,’ and tap on it.
- Look for the “Model.”
- Copy and search this model up on Google.
On Apple devices, the methodology is better streamlined, mostly because the interface on iOS devices will be largely the same across the board.
- Open Settings and tap on General.
- Go to About and copy the Model Number.
- Search this up on Google.
- Alternatively, if you only need the phone’s name (not all the details), look beside the “Model Name” label – that will tell you the exact model.
4. Find the Model Number on the Back of Your Device
Phones with small print details on the back often contain a lot of information. Look for the model number engraved there — some phones have it directly on the back. If you don’t find it there, it’s also possible it’s printed elsewhere, like on the box.
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5. Look for Clues on the Box
Almost all phones ship with a box nowadays, albeit a much smaller one than we were used to seeing. Regardless, each one has at least the manufacturer’s identification on it; some even come with the phone’s name. For others, you’ll have to look carefully at the sides for a small sticker with details for the phone, i.e., IMEI and the exact model.
6. Try Asking in Online Forums
If you’ve lost the box or haven’t found definitive answers on Google, online forums like Reddit and XDA offer a helpful alternative. There, you can ask your question directly to the community, and they’ll work with you to find the right answers.
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Conclusion
Though smartphones can look to be deceptively simple on the outside, newbies can easily become overwhelmed without prior knowledge. Fortunately, the methods listed above can act as a small guide for identifying virtually any phone you want.
FAQs
You can look for details on the box, or markings on the phone itself. Additionally, some phones come with an IMEI sticker on the back that, via regulatory bodies can help in identifying the exact model.
If you still have the box your phone came in, it will usually display the model number and brand information. You can also locate your phone’s IMEI number (Settings > About Phone > IMEI) and search for it online on regulatory websites or databases like IMEI.info. These resources can often match the IMEI to the specific phone model and manufacturer.
The simplest way is to search online using your phone’s model number. You can usually find this information on the back of your phone, in the settings menu under “About phone,” or on the manufacturer’s website. Once you have the model number, simply type it into a search engine followed by “specifications” and you’ll find detailed information from various sources.
