A shop’s stamp and a brand’s warranty are different promises. Here is what each covers, where to check a phone’s warranty on the brand’s own site, and how to claim.
Two phones can look identical on the counter, yet one comes with the brand’s official warranty and the other with a shop stamp that says “1 year warranty”. They are very different promises. One is backed by the company that made the phone and honoured at its authorised service centres; the other is only as good as the shop that wrote it. Here is what each really covers, how to check a phone’s warranty on the brand’s own website, and how to claim without surprises.
An official warranty comes from the brand, through its official distributor in Pakistan. Its terms are published on the brand’s website, and repairs happen at the brand’s authorised service centres. Samsung’s Pakistan warranty page, for example, says warranty repairs must be done by a Samsung authorised service centre (Samsung Pakistan).
A shop warranty is a promise from the seller. It can be a few days to check the phone or a longer period, and it covers whatever the shop writes on its slip or stamp. It is only as strong as the shop itself: if the shop closes, moves or simply says no, there is nobody above it to go to.
The two don’t mix, either. OPPO and realme say in their Pakistan warranty terms that verbal promises made by dealers are not covered by the brand (OPPO Pakistan). What the shopkeeper says is the shopkeeper’s promise, not the brand’s.
| Official warranty | Shop warranty | |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing faults | Covered for the period in the brand’s terms | Whatever the shop agreed to |
| Drops, cracks, liquid damage | Excluded by the brand’s terms | Depends on the shop: get it in writing |
| Battery and accessories | Often a shorter period than the phone | Depends on the shop |
| Where it is repaired | The brand’s authorised service centres | The shop, or a repairer it picks |
| Phone bought abroad | Usually not covered locally | Depends on the shop |
An official warranty is a promise against manufacturing faults, not insurance against accidents. On the brands’ Pakistan pages, the phone itself usually gets around 12 months (TECNO lists 13 months on its Carlcare page) and in-box accessories such as the charger and cable usually get 6 months. Samsung’s Pakistan page lists the battery at 6 months and accessories as not covered. Terms change, so read your brand’s page before you rely on a number, and don’t take anyone’s word for it, including ours.
Every brand below has an official page where you can check a phone with its IMEI or serial number. Some show the warranty date; some only confirm that the phone is genuine. Dial *#06# to see the IMEI.
| Brand | Official check | What you enter |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung | Samsung Pakistan warranty check: sign in and register the phone | IMEI or serial from the phone itself |
| Apple | Apple coverage check | Serial number (Settings > General > About) |
| Xiaomi | Xiaomi verify page: genuineness only | IMEI or serial number |
| Infinix | Carlcare warranty check, Infinix’s official after-sales service | IMEI |
| Tecno | TECNO Pakistan warranty check, or Carlcare | IMEI |
| OPPO | OPPO authenticity and activation date check | IMEI 1 (serial for audio products) |
| vivo | vivo IMEI authentication: genuineness only | IMEI |
| realme | realme authenticity and warranty date inquiry | IMEI or serial number |
| Honor | HONOR warranty query, on the regional site that covers Pakistan | Serial number |
Two notes. Pakistan isn’t in the country list of Apple’s coverage page, so for Pakistan-specific help use the number on Apple’s contact page. And realme says the final warranty status depends on an inspection at its service centre, while OPPO calls its activation date only one reference for when the warranty starts, so treat any online date as a guide, not a guarantee.
Take a photo of all three on day one and keep it in your email or cloud storage. Paper fades and gets lost; a photo doesn’t. If you are not sure the IMEIs match, our guide on how to check a phone’s PTA status shows how to read them with *#06#.
Find your nearest centre on the brand’s own locator: Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Infinix and TECNO (Carlcare), OPPO, vivo, realme and HONOR. Apple’s locator lists authorised service providers in Pakistan.
Describe the fault clearly (“the phone restarts when the camera opens”, not just “it’s not working”), and don’t let anyone outside an authorised centre open the phone while it is under warranty. That alone can end the warranty.
Every brand’s terms list exclusions, and they are remarkably similar:
Brand warranty pages don’t mention PTA directly, but grey-market phones sit outside these channels. TECNO, for example, warns that grey-market units can cause problems later with PTA status, warranty and after-sales support (TECNO Pakistan). Our guide to PTA-approved, non-PTA and patched phones explains the rest.
We only sell new, box-packed, PTA-approved phones and genuine accessories, with the brand’s official warranty wherever the brand provides one. Every order comes with an invoice, and we check each unit before dispatch, so the IMEI on the phone, the box and the invoice all match. If something goes wrong, our warranty page explains who to contact, and our returns policy covers problems on delivery. You can always reach us through the contact page.
No. Brand terms exclude accidental and liquid damage. An authorised service centre can usually still repair it, but you pay for the repair.
Don’t count on it. Samsung says its warranty doesn’t apply if the warranty card and proof of purchase aren’t shown, and vivo asks for a valid proof of purchase. OPPO and realme fall back on dates such as the manufacture date when the invoice is missing, but the service centre decides.
Often not. Samsung’s Pakistan terms say its warranty is limited to the first purchaser, and Carlcare says the same for Infinix and TECNO warranty cards. Check the brand’s terms before you pay extra for “warranty” on a used phone.
Not always. A short shop warranty from a reputable seller is handy for problems on day one. It just isn’t a replacement for the brand’s warranty, so get its terms in writing.
A refurbished phone can look just as shiny as a new one. This ten-minute box-pack phone check, built on the checks we run before dispatch, tells you which one you are holding.
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