An Easy Fix for What Might Be the Single Most Annoying Thing About the Nexus 6

Nexus 6 units have already started shipping to early buyers, and while many of them may be using the huge Lollipop-running phablet as their daily driver, not all of them are so lucky

Amid the confusion about when Android 5.1 Lollipop is coming out--or what it’s going to fix--reports on Friday said the Google Nexus 6 with Android 5.1 and VoLTE is coming March 12. It's not clear if the March 12 date means 5.1 Lollipop will come out for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10. (Google/AP Photo)

Nexus 6 units have already started shipping to early buyers, and while many of them may be using the huge Lollipop-running phablet as their daily driver, not all of them are so lucky.

It looks like Google has found another way of messing up the Nexus 6 launch — in addition to only having a very limited number of Nexus 6 units to go around, thus preventing many from buying the handset — and that’s adding the phones’ unique IMEI codes to carrier databases, so that mobile operators can activate the Nexus 6 on their networks.

FROM EARLIER: Google is shipping your Nexus 6 order right now

That’s right, it appears some Nexus 6 buyers won’t be able to activate their full-price, unlocked handsets with their carrier of choice as long as their handsets’ IMEIs are not in the database, Droid-Life reports. The Nexus 6 is supposed to work on a variety of U.S. carriers, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon.

Even though the issue is annoying, this problem is likely to be soon fixed — and it’s not even clear how many Nexus 6 buyers are affected by it. In the meantime, Nexus 6 owners who were not able to activate the phone with their favorite carrier can still use the handset after performing some simple, or more complex, tricks.

The easiest way to go is getting a nano SIM card that’s activated on the carrier you want to use the Nexus 6 with, or any other carrier, and insert it in the Nexus 6. The phone should work, even if carriers’ reps were not able to activate it. Users could also activate a nano SIM card on a different smartphone they own, and then move it from the old phone to the Nexus 6.

The same goes for an active SIM card that’s bigger in size than nano SIMs. However, in this case users will have to cut the card down to fit the nano SIM tray, or have it exchanged in a store for a nano SIM card.

The most complex chore is convincing a new carrier to activate a new line for the Nexus 6 even though the Nexus 6 can’t be activated itself. The end result would still be getting an active SIM card that will then activate the smartphone.

Republished with permission from BGR. Read the original.