One of my friend got a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (N9005), which was bought from Saudi Arabia. The previous owner used it almost a year there. When we put an Indian SIM on that phone we came to know that it is region locked phone. There were many websites saying different ways to unlock it and most of them require rooting of the phone. When we contacted a local shop they wanted INR 600 to unlock the phone.
Inside the box it was written that, This product should be activated with a SIM card issues from a mobile operator with in Middle East and North Africa countries listed below.
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey , UAE, Western Sahara and Yemen.
To use SIM cards of other regions a cumulative call over 5 minutes must first be made with the SIM cards of the above countries. If a SIM card issued from other region is used for activation, the phone may not work.
In our case the phone was activated already, so we don’t know whether this will be applicable for the phones which are not activated using a SIM.
Now here is what we did. We just contacted Samsung (Saudi Arabia), if you want to contact here is the link. You will have to provide the details such as model number, IMEI number and other details they are asking for. Below is the email I received
Dear customer
Thank you for contacting Samsung.
The device that you have purchased from Saudi Arabia can only work with SIM cards from the middle east. To unlock the phone you need to submit your device to a nearest Samsung certified service center or provide us with the below details.
Kindly send us with the below details to bulmanseo.ksa@samsung.com to process the unlock code.
1. Contact Number
2. Device Model :
3. Serial and IMEI no:
4. copy of receipt of purchase:
I done as advised and first mail I received was
Dear Valued Customer,
Your request has been transferred to the department in charge ,
We will response within 6 or 7 Working days
but on the next day itself they have sent the unlock codes which worked fine. So I prefer you try this method instead of using some software which may void your warranty. You can see the mail I received below
The phone do not have any contract with any carriers by the way.
Thank you Ashwin to suggesting this.