MiniSIM to MicroSIM Cutter Usage/Review

One of the things that I encountered after purchasing my new LG Nexus-4 was that most of my SIM cards were the "normal" miniSIM and not the microSIM required in the newer phones such as the LG Nexus-4.

Where I used to work, they had a SIM cutter to cut miniSIMs into microSIMs. Because the SIM card that I was using in my Samsung Nexus-S was a T-Mobile miniSIM and I was going to use my LG Nexus-4 as an upgrade to my Samsung Nexus-S, I needed to either convert/cut my T-Mobile miniSIM into a microSIM or I needed to purchase/get a new T-Mobile microSIM and transfer my account from the miniSIM onto the microSIM. I didn't want to go through some of the problems that I had when I first purchased my T-Mobile SIM from the US and have it shipped to Canada so I opted to cut my T-Mobile miniSIM into a microSIM. Since I live in Canada, it also wasn't very convenient for me to purchase a new T-Mobile microSIM.

I wanted to ask a friend where I used to work to cut it for me but because of a scheduling issue, this was not possible during the period that I wanted to do this. I saw a MiniSIM to MicroSIM cutter on sale (under $5) and it was relatively inexpensive compared to how much it would cost me to purchase replacement microSIMs for all the different miniSIMs that I had so I decided to purchase it. Since I have a lot of active miniSIMs, I thought that having my own person MiniSIM to MicroSIM cutter would be useful and based on my purchase of price under $5 (average price is around $7).

I've seen/used the microSIM cutter where I used to work in order to test various work phones so I knew what it involved. I've also done research on the internet and seen various videos and tutorials on how to manually cut the miniSIM into a microSIM using a tracing tool and a knife so I know that a miniSIM could be used in a cellphone which required a microSIM as long as you were able to get the SIM card to microSIM size without damaging it. Rather than taking my chances at manually tracing/cutting my miniSIM, I decided to use a miniSIM to microSIM cutter.

The SIM cutter is basically roughly the size of a small stapler and functions similar to a paper hole puncher. The miniSIM card goes into a slot and you squeeze on the lever causing the SIM cutter to punch out a microSIM card sized piece that you are able to put into your microSIM card phone. Before punching out the microSIM, I placed my finger on the top of the SIM card while it was in the SIM cutter to make sure that it was firmly in place and didn't move while I squeezed the SIM cutter handle and cut the SIM card. After punching out the SIM card, I found that the new microSIM card piece was a bit rough along the edges where it was cut/punched out of the original card but the modified/cut SIM card fit into my LG Nexus-4 without any issues. Just as a precautionary measure, I decided to sand it along the top of the cut SIM card (not the side with the gold contacts) just to make sure that the SIM card wouldn't be lodged/stuck in the SIM slot of my phone.

I powered on my LG Nexus-4 with my recently cut SIM card and it powered on without any issues. It also was able to lock onto the cellular network without any issues as well. I did not try making/receiving a call unnecessarily because of the roaming charges but because the phone showed that it had locked onto the proper cellular network, I don't expect any issues with this.

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