I bought an unlocked refurbished Galaxy A53 5G from Amazon about two years ago. Earlier this week the phone prompted me to install the Oct 1, 2025 update (One UI 8.0). After installing the update, the phone no longer detects my sim card. It's saying (Searching) and No service in the upper left corner. The Sim card status says Not available for every single item. The data icon is gone and there is no way to view or change mobile network settings.
According to the phone, the model is SM-A536U1/DS. However, despite the model number, this does not appear to be a dual sim phone. The tray has SIM card slot on the bottom and SD card slot on top, with no way to hold a SIM card where the SD card goes. Also, according to the IMEI checker, the phone is not SM-A536U1/DS but SM-A536U. Model name is SM2A536UZKAXAU according to IMEI checker.
XAG/XAG/XAU
I tried a lot of things, like restarting the phone, taking out the sim card and cleaning the contacts, factory reset, and also manually checked for updated and installed the November 1, 2025 update. No change.
The SIM card works fine in another phone.
The model discrepancy makes me think the seller cross-flashed the phone, which has now essentially bricked it.
My wife also had an A53 5G that was out of warranty that was working perfectly until the UI 8 update caused the phone to no longer see the SIM card. I went through the troubleshooting procedures and did everything except reflashing the update which I was told would have to be done at a service center. The out of state service center said it would cost $80 to try and reflash the update because the phone was out of warranty. I was given the option to send the phone in to a Samsung center instead and was instructed that it would be no charge. Now I am being told that I need to pay twice what the phone is worth for repairs or to cancel the ticket and get her phone back as is. The problem didn't start until right after the phone rebooted to finish the update and then would not see the SIM card. Why should I have to pay for damages caused by Samsungs mandatory update?
Oh my god. I've done the same thing, got a refurbished A53 on Amazon in 2023, model SM-A536U1/DS. It was functioning perfectly fine right up until the One UI 8 update. I let the update happen overnight, and I woke up the next morning to "No Service ๐ซ" (not "emergency calls only," not "no SIM."
I've run the entire gambit on this phone. Boot in safe mode, network reset, full reset. I even went so far as to use Odin to flash the firmware again, the one matching my phone's current state is A536U1UESIGYK2. It *still* isn't working. Not a single thing about my phone changed from the night to the morning, I didn't do anything to it physically. My SIM card and my service with my carrier are all intact and can function on an older device (an A51 I had from a few years prior to that.)
The A51 is working, but a lot of the features I've come to rely on aren't available because of how old the phone is. My Samsung Health data won't sync, I can't get my medication data, can't use NFC or tap-to-pay, you name it.
I am beyond frustratedbecause I only got the phone two years ago, and it has been perfectly fine up to this point. I can't afford to buy a new phone, I can barely even afford to go to a shop and get it fixed, and even then, I have no idea what they'd do when nothing physically changed with my phone, and I've already performed a factory reset of the device. I tried contacting Samsung previously and they just told me to try and go to a service center or send my phone in. Even booking an appointment is met with hurdles because apparently the A53 isn't serviceable in my area, and I've wondered if it's a manufacturing thing or because of how I bought it (and I'm based in the US.)
I am sorry to hear about your struggles with this, though somewhat relieved to know it isn't just me and I'm not crazy lol. I really hope a solution will present itself.
Hey, thanks for sharing your story. I'm still experiencing the issue here. Using Odin to flash the original phone firmware would have been one last thing that I could try but I've been putting it off.
If your phone is the same as mine, then it's NOT a U1 model. It's the U model. U1 is the factory unlocked model while U is carrier locked. If that's the case, that means you flashed the wrong firmware and you have the same issues now with a different (wrong) firmware. The seller flashed U1/DS firmware into U hardware which is what's causing the issue.
Try flashing the U firmware that matches the phone's original carrier.
